Federal Conservative candidate Jonas Smith didn’t concede victory in Monday’s vote until Tuesday morning after the results of 533 more ballots were received from Ottawa.

Vote night at the Conservative election night headquarters at the Coast High Country Inn was a tightrope walk. Smith and Liberal MP Larry Bagnell were literally neck-and-neck through more than three hours of returns.

With one of 91 polls left to report at 10:18, Bagnell held a 54-vote lead – 6,765 to 6,711.

Results from the final poll received 12 minutes later gave Bagnell a 72-vote edge.

But the local returning officer for Elections Canada promptly informed the five campaign teams that there were still the results of several hundred ballots to be reported by Ottawa that had not yet been received because of a delay. (For explanation, see story on p. 8.)

“While updated official numbers are in the process of being confirmed, it would appear that they are unlikely to change the outcome of yesterday’s election,” Smith said in a statement Tuesday morning.

His comments follow earlier reported results that did not demonstrate a clear winner at the time of his election-night remarks and media interviews, which, out of respect for his supporters, limited him from commenting further, said the statement.

With the last of the votes counted, the final tally put Bagnell in front with 7,035 votes, or 33.5 per cent of the popular vote.

Smith finished 164 votes behind, with 6,871 or 32.7 per cent of the popular vote.

NDP candidate Justin Lemphers tallied 4,617 votes and 21.9 per cent of the popular vote; Green Party candidate Lenore Morris earned 2,201 votes and 10.4 per cent of the popular vote while Joseph Zelensky tallied 284 votes or far less than one per cent of the popular vote.

In his address Monday night to an audience of campaign workers and party supporters after the last of the 91 polls showed Bagnell as the winner – presumably – Smith offered no congratulations to the incumbent. Rather, he suggested without much clarification that the race was not over.

“It is a democracy and the people are always right, so we might have a few more hours to see how right the people were,” he said.

He did, nonetheless, use his time at the podium on stage to thank what he described as an amazing team who worked their tails off to spread the Conservative message.

He did pay a special thanks to his wife, Erika Oppen Smith, who was carrying their two-year-old daughter Liv when the family entered the ballroom, while Smith carried their four-year-old daughter Ivy.

For the last year, said the Conservative candidate, there have been nights he was unable to be home to help out with their young children.

“So thank you for putting up with me, especially in the last four hours,” he told his wife in obvious reference to the seesaw in polling returns through the night.

His party supporters concurred that Smith has worked tirelessly since announcing his candidacy in September 2018.

“I personally think it is going to be close but I think Jonas deserves every vote he gets,” Melanie Brais, a lead hand on the campaign team, said in an interview shortly after the first results were posted at 7:04 p.m.

“We worked hard,” she said. “It has been a solid campaign and we did everything with the utmost integrity.”

Brais said the team did everything they absolutely could do.

Yukon Party MLA Geraldine Van Bibber said she has ultimate respect for everyone who comes forward to let their name stand as a candidate.

But it was Smith who Yukoners needed as their member of Parliament in Ottawa, she said.

Most all of the Yukon Party MLAs, and their staff, were in attendance Monday at the election night headquarters.

Many longtime party faithful were there, along with members of the business community.

Through the night, the size of the gathering grew as poll returns began coming in, but later dwindled as the returns began taking longer than many anticipated.

National coverage was on screen at the front of the room, along with local returns.

There were moments of joy expressed with applause and quiet cheering when favourable results were displayed, like the moment when the national network announced PPC Leader Maxime Bernier had lost his Quebec seat. Or when it was announced senior Liberal cabinet minister Ralph Goodale had been defeated in Regina.

Conversely, there was a sigh when it was learned Conservative deputy leader Lisa Raitt would not be returning to Ottawa.

A five-year resident of the territory, Rosemarie Veldt was at the Conservative headquarters with her husband to support change.

As new arrivals to the territory, they didn’t vote in the 2015 federal election but have voted NDP in the past, she said.

“I like what Jonas and Andrew (Scheer) had to say about making cuts to the carbon tax,” Veldt said.

She said the carbon tax is expensive and adds to the cost of living, especially living in the Yukon, where many rely on home heating fuel.

Change in general is good, she said.

“I’m just tired of what Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau is doing.”

As the returns continued to come in shortly after 7 p.m. Monday – one, two, five polls at a time – the lead changed hands several times, with either Smith or Bagnell out front.

It wasn’t until close to 9 p.m. that Bagnell began to hold onto the most votes with each return, but never by more than 200 and more often closer to 100.

With 88 of the 91 polls reporting at 10:01 p.m., the incumbent was 142 votes ahead of Smith.

With 90 of the polls reporting at 10:18, the lead had been cut to 54 votes.

Many remarked on how they’d never seen such a tight election race.

One fellow commented they could use the 200-plus votes the PPC candidate had taken from the right of centre.

As the wait for the final poll seemed to drag on, Smith and his family walked into the ballroom without knowing the final result.

There was applause, hugs, and hand shaking as the Conservative candidate made his way through the room carrying Ivy.

It wasn’t long afterwards that the final result was posted, giving Bagnell the 72-vote margin.

Smith took to the stage but never conceded victory. Rather, he recognized his campaign team.

“I am very proud of our team, from coast to coast to coast for all of our effort,” he told the party faithful. “We all rallied behind trying to make life more affordable for Canadians.”

Smith’s communication manager explained to reporters that her candidate did not concede victory because there were ballots still unaccounted for.

In a scrum with the media afterwards, Smith did not take exception to the 280 votes cast for the PPC candidate.

As a defender of democracy, he accepts everyone has a right to participate in the electoral process, and he accepts the result though he doesn’t have to like it, he said.

He explained there were a number of factors between the substantial difference of Monday night’s results and the 2015 election, when Bagnell annihilated former Conservative MP Ryan Leef by a vote count of 10,715 to 4,800.

There was, for instance, the call from the grand chief of the Council of Yukon First Nations to support the Liberals, despite there being an Indigenous woman running for the NDP, he said.

Smith said there was a national electorate looking for change after nine years of a Conservative government.

And there were the headwinds Trudeau brought upon himself over the last four years, he said.

In his statement Tuesday morning with the final vote count in, Smith said: “I’m grateful for the opportunity to have connected with so many people and would like to thank all of my incredible supporters across the territory for their unwavering support.

“I heard very clearly that Yukoners do not support a carbon tax or additional restrictions on licensed firearms owners and I urge Mr. Bagnell to heed these concerns as he heads back to Ottawa.

“I would also like to thank all the candidates for their dedication to our territory and wish them some much needed rest.

“As for myself, I look forward to making up the time I missed over the last year with my wife and young daughters.”