Derek Kilbourn
Sounder News
Canada’s next federal government will be led by the Liberal Party of Canada, with Mark Carney continuing to serve as Canada’s Prime Minister.
In Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Tamara Kronis with the Conservative Party will be serving as the Member of Parliament. She beat out Michelle Corfield (Liberals); Lisa Marie Barron (NDP); Paul Manly (Green); and Stephen Welton (PPC).
Voter turnout in Nanaimo-Ladysmith was 73,112 of 102,177 registered electors (71.55 %).
National turnout was 19,015,415 of 28,525,638 registered electors (66.65%).
Kronis is the first Conservative MP for Nanaimo-Ladysmith since the riding was formed ahead of the 2015 Federal Election. Reed Elley was the last Conservative MP to serve Gabriola, in office from 1993 to 2004, with the Reform, Alliance, and Conservative parties.
While the results bounced up and down for most of the night and into the wee hours of Tuesday morning, the ballots showed a likely Liberal government early on.
Speaking from her campaign celebration late Monday night, Kronis told the Sounder she is, “really excited to serve the people of this riding. I think it is a wonderful place. I’m ready for the challenges ahead and ready to work hard for my cocnstituents.”
Kronis said the first job of an MP is to run a good constituency office, and she plans to get right to work setting that up.
“I want to be accessible to the people who live here, in Nanaimo-Ladysmith, to my fellow citizens. I look forward to meeting more people. And really working hard for the people who live here.”
Commenting on the 2025 campaign Kronis said, “it’s been an incredible journey. We had literally hundreds of volunteers. All people who were united in a sense.
“United in wanting to make our lives here better. I think we ran a hopeful and positive campaign. I’m looking forward to being an effective advocate for the things people care about.”
Vancouver Island and the North saw a shift in many of the ridings, as the NDP’s Gord Johns (incumbent) won Courtenay-Alberni, and was the only island NDP elected.
Elizabeth May won for the Green Party in Saanich-Gulf Islands. She, Carney, and Bloc Québécois leader Yves-François Blanchet were the party leaders who won their seats.
On Monday night, the Liberals were projected to win 168 seats, the Conservatives 144, the Bloc Québécois 23, the NDP 7 and Greens had won just Elizabeth May’s seat.
Based on the preliminary results of Monday night, neither Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre nor NDP leader Jagmeet Singh won in their own ridings. Singh announced he would be stepping down as the leader of the NDP, with the party was dropping from 24 seats in the previous parliament to just the 7 as projected.
The Liberal Party made inroads on the island with wins in Victoria, and Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke.
The rest of the Vancouver Island voted in candidates for the Conservative party.
Mark Carney, speaking to Canadians on CBC on Monday night said, “good evening. What an evening. I have a question. Who’s ready?
“Who’s ready to stand up for Canada with me?”
Carney congratulated the other party leaders on their campaigns, and thanked them for their service to Canada, and to everyone who was elected, Carney said, “I am looking forward to working together for Canadians.”
I chose to enter politics because I thought we needed big changes, guided by strong Canadian values.
Those include humility. It’s Canada after all. Ambition. And unity. It’s Canada.
“These are good Canadian values. These are values I will do my best to uphold every day as your Prime Minister.”
He pointed to one of the responsibilities of government being to prepare for the worst, not hope for the best, saying, “America wants our land, our water, our resources.
“Never.
“These are not idle threats. President Trump is trying to break us, so America can own us.
“That will never ever happen.”
He promised that this is also a time for Canadians to be bold. To build.
“We have to look out for ourselves, and we have to take care of each other.
“We will strengthen our relations with reliable partners in Europe and Asia. And if the US no longer wants to be in the forefront of the global economy, Canada will be.
“We are masters in our own home. We will build millions of homes.
“Be an energy superpower.
“And one economy, not 13. Because this is Canada, and we decide what happens here….we can give ourselves far more than the Americans can take away. The coming days and months ahead will be challenging, and they will call for sacrifices.
“United, we will win this trade war, and build an economy that is the strongest in the G7. In recent months, Canadians have done their part.
“They know, when we are threatened, we will fight with everything we have to get the best deal for Canada.
“Together, we will build a Canada worthy of our values.”
Made possible by: Covering Canada: Election 2025 Funding
Gabriolans working for Elections Canada had voting polls open at the Gabriola Island Community Hall on April 28, with voters lined up outside the doors at 7am. Data was not available on election night for turnout specific to Gabriola to show what the island turnout was. Derek Kilbourn photo
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