Red was the colour of victory in Etobicoke-Lakeshore last night as Liberal incumbent Michael Ignatieff was re-elected to represent the riding on the federal stage.
During his campaign, as well as in his victory speech, Ignatieff indicated that the faltering Canadian economy is one of the major concerns nagging at residents of the mixed residential and industrial west-Toronto riding.
“On the doorsteps of Etobicoke-Lakeshore I saw my fellow citizens worried about their jobs, their mortgages, their investments, their savings, their economic future,” he said.
Originally elected MP in 2006, Ignatieff says he has refined his grasp of the needs of both his community and the nation at large.
“Canadians want us to make this Parliament work,” he said. “They want us to lift our game and be worthy of the trust that they have put in us and I hope we will.”
Earlier in the evening, supporters had been watching and waiting anxiously at Hollywood On The Queensway as results appeared on four different TV screens. Cheers erupted as the numbers solidified Ignatieff’s win over Conservative candidate Patrick Boyer, a former MP in the riding.
Other Liberal family members, including MPP Laurel Broten as well as Toronto city councillor Mark Grimes, showed up to offer their support.
Other candidates in the Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding included Liam McHugh-Russell of the NDP, David Corail of the Green party and Janice Murray of the Marxist-Leninist party.