With more ridings reporting results, the Canadian Press and The Reminder can now project that Canada’s next federal government will be a Liberal minority.
As of 10:20 p.m., the Liberals were either leading or likely to be elected in 157 ridings, while the second-place Conservatives sat at 121 likely spots. The Bloc Quebecois have surged firmly into third place with 32 likely seats, including 27 called races, while the NDP have fallen to a likely 24 seats nationally.
One of those NDP seats will belong to Niki Ashton, who is projected to win the northern riding of Churchill-Keewatinook Aski for the fourth time in a landslide victory. Ashton, as of 10:20 p.m., had received more than half of the vote, receiving 4,178 votes out of 7,880 total.
Things are looking different across the provincial border in Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, where Tory candidate Gary Vidal is projected to likely enter Parliament for the first time. In one of western Canada’s few true three-way races, Vidal has clawed out a lead of more than 2,000 votes over Liberal Tammy Cook-Searson and NDP incumbent Georgina Jolibois.
