October 7, 2011
Yakabuski rolls to
third term
by Terry Myers
It was a night of public triumph and personal tragedy Thursday as John
Yakabuski rolled to his third term as the Member of Provincial
Parliament for the riding of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke.
Yakabuski celebrated his election victory with a crowd of about 60
supporters at the Pembroke Best Western Inn.
But the gathering was tinged with sadness as Yakabuski announced that
his wife's brother had died suddenly earlier in the evening.
The family received the call at about 8 pm, he said, just an hour
before the polls closed.
“These things happen, whether it's the right time or the wrong time -
life is just like that sometimes,” Yakabuski said.
“It's life - life is real and sometimes life is hard.”
The outcome of the local election was never in doubt once results
started to flow in.
In early returns, Yakabuski was already outpolling his nearest rival,
Liberal candidate John O'Leary, by roughly 1,200 votes.
By late evening, with 253 of 258 polls reporting, Yakabuski's margin
was more than 20,000.
The incumbent Progressive Conservative MPP had received the support of
more than 25,900 voters in the riding, or more than 70 per cent of the
ballots cast.
O'Leary trailed far behind with 5,800, while NDP candidate Brian
Dougherty had received just over 4,000 votes.
Yakabuski was first elected in a close contest with Liberal candidate
Derek Nighbor in 2003, following the retirement of long-time MPP Sean
Conway.
He was re-elected easily in 2007 with more than 62 per cent of the
ballots, outpolling Liberal challenger Sean Kelly by more than 15,000
votes.
This year's result was his strongest showing yet.
Yakabuski said the scale of the victory was both “staggering” and
“humbling.”
“It's a great victory here in Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke, but it's not
one I achieved alone,” he said.
“So many people worked so hard for this, and not just in the last 28
days (of the campaign).”
His voice breaking, an emotional Yakabuski said that over his past
eight years as MPP and as he has campaigned throughout the riding, “I
find out more and more each day how good people are in this riding, and
how much love they have for me and my family.”
“So I'm proud of this result, but it's not because of me. It's because
of the way you helped me to do my job,” he said.
“We're all in this together, folks, because this is the best place in
the world to live and to raise a family.”
Yakabuski said that as he and his wife Vicky drove around the riding on
election day visiting his campaign offices and talking to campaign
workers, he commented on “how blessed we are to live here.”
“I always believed the good Lord had a plan for me, and I didn't think
he was quite done with me being MPP yet,” Yakabuski said.
“But as you travel around this great riding, you have a chance to
absorb what you have.
“Regardless of the result today, regardless of the tragedy that has
befallen our family today, we are blessed, we really are.”
With the final results of the election across the province still
hanging in the balance, it appeared certain that the Liberals under
Premier Dalton McGuinty would form at least a minority government.
Yakabuski said he was “disappointed” that the PCs under leader Tim
Hudak would remain in opposition, but said the party would “continue to
do the best that we can.”
“It's certainly a different situation for us and for me in Parliament
(under a minority government),” he said.
“It's going to necessitate some very, very strong negotiations with the
government. We will be reminding them that people didn't vote for just
their agenda.”
Yakabuski said the results would also require the Conservatives to take
a look at what happened.
The PCs had a solid lead in the polls back in the summer and appeared
headed towards a majority government of their own.
“We will be asking ourselves some questions about where things went
wrong,” Yakabuski said.
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Final election night results
(unofficial):
John Yakabuski, PC Party - 27,594 (70.8%)
John O'Leary, Liberal - 6,231 (16.0%)
Brian Dougherty, Ontario NDP - 4,272 (11.0%)
Kyle Jones, Green Party - 569 (1.5%)
Murray Reid, Ontario Confederation of Regions Party - 309 (0.8%)
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