May 3, 2011
Gallant wins
landslide victory
by Terry Myers
There were lots of happy faces at the Conservative Party's election
night rally in Pembroke Monday, and why not?
MP Cheryl Gallant was returned to the House of Commons with another
landslide victory, winning more than 50 per cent of the ballots cast,
and in national results, Prime Minister Stephen Harper was poised to
form a majority Conservative government.
 “The job isn't done -
the job is just beginning,” Gallant told
supporters at Joey's Only restaurant in downtown Pembroke.
The celebrations began shortly after polls closed in Ontario at
9:30 pm
and TV news coverage reported that the Conservatives were leading the
election race with 14 Members of Parliament elected from Atlantic
Canada, compared to 12 for the Liberals.
The crowd of about 40 people grew through the evening, with cheers
going up at the news of notable Conservative victories, such as cabinet
ministers Tony Clement, John Baird, Peter McKay and Jim Flaherty.
By 10 pm it was clear the trend was set in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke,
as the ticker tape results showed Gallant in the lead with 701 votes to
220 for Independent candidate Hec Clouthier and 207 for New Democrat
Eric Burton.
By 10:30, results showed Gallant had stretched her margin to almost
1,500 votes, and a huge cheer went through the crowd as CTV news
predicted a Conservative majority.
In her comments, Gallant paid tribute to all the volunteers who have
worked on her past five successful election victories.
“As I look around the room, I see people who have been with us since
(her first win in) 2000, when we broke through in a riding that had
been Liberal for 73 years,” she said.
“It's not just at election time that you win elections - it's between
elections.
“The reason we are here tonight is because you have been in constant
contact with me, keeping me in touch with the issues (in the riding).”
Gallant also hailed the breakthrough of her party nationally.
“I know a lot of people wanted this to be a dress rehearsal for another
election down the road,” she said.
“But at this point it looks like we're going to have a Conservative
majority. We will be able to focus on creating jobs, keeping taxes low
and growing the economy.”
In a brief scrum with the media, Gallant brushed aside suggestions that
controversial comments in the past might have led to a different
outcome this time around.
The election results were “very humbling,” she said.
“All I know is I've done enough for the riding to earn another term
from my constituents.”
With 221 of 221 polls across the riding reporting, Gallant had far
outpaced her rivals, earning 27,462 votes.
Clouthier ran a distant second at 9,611, followed by Burton with 6,902.
Reflecting the historic collapse of her party's support across the
country, Liberal candidate Christine Tabbert was in fourth place in the
riding with 6,546 votes.
Green Party candidate Roseanne Van Schie trailed well behind with just
877.
With more than 51,000 ballots cast in all, voter turnout in the riding
was strong at almost 67 per cent.
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