Popular MP goes down after 11-year run

As the tide of a Conservative majority government washed over the nation and the New Democrats turned in their own historic election finish,

As the tide of a Conservative majority government washed over the nation and the New Democrats turned in their own historic election finish, local supporters of Liberal-incumbent Larry Bagnell sat and waited.

“We’re not asking for much,” said one man in a banquet hall of subdued Liberals gathered at the High Country Inn Monday night. “All we want is Larry.”

But it was not to be as Bagnell joined 42 other Liberal MPs, including party leader Michael Ignatieff, defeated in the Grits’ worst-ever election showing.

When the votes were counted, the Conservatives won 167 seats and the NDP captured an unprecedented 102, replacing the Liberals – reduced to 34 seats – as official Opposition.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May won her party’s first seat and the Bloc Québécois clung to just four; literally obliterated from the francophone province’s federal political landscape.

Shortly after 8 p.m. local time, two giant televisions beamed Ignatieff’s concession speech made from Toronto into the Whitehorse hotel’s banquet hall, during which the former Harvard professor pronounced: “Democracy teaches hard lessons and we have to learn them all.”

But Bagnell and his team remained hunkered in their hotel room for two more hours waiting for further returns in the Yukon, fingers crossed they would not suffer the same lesson as Ignatieff.

From the first poll, Bagnell trailed Conservative candidate Ryan Leef; however, the gap between them never grew beyond 350 votes, giving hope that the incumbent could scrape out a fifth election victory.

First elected in 2000 by a razor-thin margin of 70 votes, nearly 11 years later Bagnell would not be as fortunate, and in the end lost to Leef by just 132 votes.

At approximately 10:15 p.m., Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive erupted from loud speakers, Bagnell joined his supporters in the banquet hall and was greeted with enthusiastic applause before delivering his own concession address.

“We accept what (voters) decided. The world’s unfolding as it should and things happen for a reason, so there’ll certainly be bright days ahead I’m sure,” Bagnell told the crowd before congratulating Leef, calling him “a great competitor.”

Bagnell then thanked his supporters and his family.

“You are the soldiers of democracy, you are what keeps democracy strong,” Bagnell said of his campaign team and volunteers.

Of his wife, Melissa Craig, who stood holding the couple’s daughter Aurora at the podium beside Bagnell, the outgoing 61-year-old MP acknowledged their dedication and in the process, pointed to the silver lining in what was a stunning upset.

“They sacrifice so much of their time and they won’t have to now, which will be great for our family,” Bagnell said.

During a scrum with reporters following his speech, Bagnell made no apologies for his flip-flop on the long-gun registry and downplayed it as the reason for his loss.

“As you know, there are certain votes in Parliament where you don’t have a choice, so that wasn’t an issue,” Bagnell said of why he voted against a private member’s bill to scrap the registry – legislation he twice supported – when forced by Ignatieff to toe the Liberal line in a whipped vote.

The Conservatives vilified Bagnell for his decision and though Leef used it as a wedge issue during the campaign, the outgoing Liberal questioned its impact on the final tally.

“I’m sure it had an effect; it’s had an effect every election. But the Conservatives didn’t change that much in their (vote) percentage in this election, so it didn’t have a major effect on their vote.”

The numbers bear this out and indicate many of the votes Bagnell lost found their way to the New Democrats and Greens.

In the 2008 general election, Bagnell earned an incredible 45.6 per cent of the popular vote, but this time around was reduced to 32.9 per cent.

In raw votes, Bagnell got 1,456 fewer this time around, the Conservatives picked up 634 more than in 2008, while the Greens earned 1,156 more votes and the NDP 1,032.

There were an additional 1,336 votes cast in the Yukon in this federal election compared to three years ago and voter turnout here was 67.8 per cent compared to 61.4 per cent nationwide.

Yukon Liberal MLA Darius Elias described the outcome as the polarization of Canadian politics and said federal Liberals had some serious introspection ahead.

“This is a telltale sign that there’s some work to be done, there’s an uphill battle ahead and that builds leaders in itself,” Elias said before his veiled criticism of Ignatieff.

“To (NDP L eader) Jack Layton’s credit, he didn’t try to show Canadians how smart he was,” Elias said.

“What he did was he tugged at the heart strings of Canadians, especially in Quebec, and that paid dividends for him. Those kind of things turn the tide and man, was the tide ever turned today.”

It was after 11 p.m. when Bagnell made his way to Leef’s campaign party at the 11th End lounge at the Whitehorse Curling Club to concede defeat and offer the Yukon’s rookie MP-elect his congratulations.

Conservative supporters cheered when Bagnell raised Leef’s hand to acknowledge the 37-year-old former RCMP officer, assistant jail warden and fledgling professional mixed-martial arts fighter’s election victory.

Leef told Bagnell he was humbled by the win and when asked if he would work as hard in Ottawa as Bagnell – twice voted the hardest-working MP by his colleagues – Leef said he had big shoes to fill.

“He certainly set a standard and I think Yukon wouldn’t expect any less,” said Leef. “There’s no doubt everybody knows how hard he’s worked and that’s created a lot of pressure for me and some great expectations.”