Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands—Rideau Lakes remains Conservative blue with Barrett win

Conservative Michael Barrett has held on to the Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands—Rideau Lakes Riding after the Monday, April 28 federal election.

Elections Canada called the riding for Barrett at about 11 p.m. Monday night. By 7 a.m. on Tuesday, he had collected 33,141 votes (50.2 per cent). Liberal Lorna Jean Edmonds was a close second with 29,199 (44.2 per cent). New Democrat Paul Lancione took 2,315 votes (3.5 per cent), Green Randi Ramdeen 774 (1.2 per cent), and Peoples Party of Canada candidate Hailey Simpson 589 (0.9 per cent). Voter turnout in the riding was 72.9 per cent (not including electors who registered on Election Day.)

“It’s so exciting and humbling to have been re-elected,” Barrett told Brockvilleist at his victory party at in Brockville. He called the win a “strong mandate from the residents of Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands—Rideau Lakes,” and said it’s “the honour of a lifetime to serve in parliament and fight for our community in Ottawa and I’m excited to have the opportunity to do it again.”

Barrett thanked those who voted for him. “Their trust is something that I value tremendously, and the work that we have to do is so important. We knocked on over 14,000 doors, so I’ve connected with so many people in the last five weeks. I’ve heard them, I’ve heard their concerns and I’m ready to continue to do that work for them.”

His top priority heading into this new parliament, he said, is “all about affordability.”

“We heard about it again and again,” Barrett continued. “People are having a tough time, working one, two, sometimes three jobs and they can’t make ends meet. We need lower taxes, we need a tax system that’s more fair, and we need to make sure that there are more opportunities.”

Capitalizing on opportunities for natural resource development across this country will be key, Barrett said. “It would serve to create jobs and create GDP in every single province and territory. It would benefit first nations communities, and it would help strengthen us in the face of tariff threats and economic uncertainty with the United States.”

“We need to give more opportunities to our youth. It’s a promise that we have as Canadians that you will be able to find a good job, and if you work hard that you will be able to afford a home, live on a safe street, feed your family, and that you will be able to afford to retire. That’s the what we’re fighting for.”

Barrett was first elected to office in the 2018 byelection, following the death of previous Conservative MP Gord Brown.

Barrett will join a parliament headed by Prime Minister Mark Carney, whose Liberal party was on track to win at a minority government as of 7 a.m. on Tuesday with 99.16 per cent of polls reporting. The Liberals picked had up 168 seats at that time (43.5 per cent), the Conservatives 144 (41.4 per cent), the NDP seven (6.3 per cent) and the Green Party one (2.4 per cent). Final numbers will be updated as they are made available.

Voter turnout nationwide was 67.15 per cent.

With files from Sarah Burtch