Although the Liberals have again formed a minority government, political neophyte Michelle Ferreri has unseated former Liberal Cabinet minister Maryam Monsef in Peterborough-Kawartha.
This is only the second time in almost 60 years that Peterborough-Kawartha, known as a bellwether riding, has elected a candidate who is not a member of the party that has formed the federal government. The only other time was in 1980, when Progressive Conservative Bill Domm defeated Liberal Sylvia Sutherland in the federal election when the Liberal Party, led by Pierre Trudeau, won a majority.
Ferreri, a social media marketer and former broadcaster running for political office for the first time, defeated Monsef — who has been a Cabinet minister in the past two Liberal governments led by Justin Trudeau — by 2,738 votes.
Although Ferreri’s campaign was not without controversy, when it was revealed she was campaigning at long-term care homes without being fully vaccinated, Monsef likely lost support as a result of a comment she made in August when she referred to the Taliban as “our brothers”.
The comment infuriated many Canadians despite a later clarification from Monsef, whose family fled the Taliban in the 1990s, that it was a cultural reference.
In the rest of the greater Kawarthas region, Conservatives were re-elected in all three ridings.
In Northumberland—Peterborough South and Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, Conservative incumbents Philip Lawrence and Jamie Schmale easily held on to their ridings, beating the Liberal candidates by almost 8,000 and 20,000 votes respectively.
In Hastings—Lennox and Addington, Conservative Shelby Kramp-Neuman defeated Liberal candidate Mike Bossio by almost 6,000 votes. Derek Sloan, who was the Conservative incumbent until he was expelled from caucus in January 2021 for controversial comments, ran in Banff-Airdrie with no party affiliation (where he came in fifth).
Here are the official final results from Elections Canada from all four ridings in the greater Kawarthas region, as of September 27.
Peterborough—Kawartha
297/297 polls reported
| Candidate | Votes | |
|---|---|---|
| Michelle Ferreri – Conservative Party of Canada | 39.0% 27,402 votes |
|
| Maryam Monsef – Liberal Party of Canada (incumbent) | 35.1% 24,644 votes |
|
| Joy Lachica – New Democratic Party | 18.9% 13,302 votes |
|
| Paul Lawton – People’s Party of Canada | 4.4% 3,073 votes |
|
| Chanté White – Green Party of Canada | 2.2% 1,553 votes |
|
| Robert M. Bowers – Independent | 0.3% 218 votes |
Total number of valid votes: 70,212
Rejected ballots: 395
Total number of votes: 70,607
Northumberland—Peterborough South
300/300 polls reported
| Candidate | Votes | |
|---|---|---|
| Philip Lawrence – Conservative Party of Canada (incumbent) | 44.5% 31,015 votes |
|
| Alison Lester – Liberal Party of Canada | 33.5% 23,336 votes |
|
| Kim McArthur-Jackson – New Democratic Party | 14.1% 9,809 votes |
|
| Nathan Lang – People’s Party of Canada | 5.5% 3,813 votes |
|
| Christina Wilson – Green Party of Canada | 2.5% 1,764 votes |
Total number of valid votes: 69,737
Rejected ballots: 459
Total number of votes: 70,196
Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock
262/262 polls reported
| Candidate | Votes | |
|---|---|---|
| Jamie Schmale – Conservative Party of Canada (incumbent) | 52.3% 35,418 votes |
|
| Judi Forbes – Liberal Party of Canada | 23.1% 15,645 votes |
|
| Zac Miller – New Democratic Party | 14.4% 9,730 votes |
|
| Alison Davidson – People’s Party of Canada | 7.0% 4,769 votes |
|
| Angel Godsoe – Green Party of Canada | 2.5% 1,696 votes |
|
| Gene Balfour – Libertarian Party of Canada | 0.7% 463 votes |
Total number of valid votes: 67,721
Rejected ballots: 493
Total number of votes: 68,214
Hastings—Lennox and Addington
203/203 polls reported
| Candidate | Votes | |
|---|---|---|
| Shelby Kramp-Neuman – Conservative Party of Canada | 45.1% 24,651 votes |
|
| Mike Bossio – Liberal Party of Canada | 34.9% 19,056 votes |
|
| Matilda DeBues – New Democratic Party | 11.0% 6,020 votes |
|
| James Babcock – People’s Party of Canada | 5.7% 3,131 votes |
|
| Reg Wilson – Green Party of Canada | 1.5% 971 votes |
|
| Jennifer Sloan – Independent | 1.5% 838 votes |
Total number of valid votes: 54,667
Rejected ballots: 296
Total number of votes: 54,963
This story has been updated with the official vote counts from Elections Canada.
