A federal Liberal sweep on P.E.I. is a familiar result, but Conservatives made some big gains

Stephen Brun · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 29, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

All 4 of Prince Edward Island's ridings staying Liberal reddish connected a national predetermination nighttime is not an antithetic result, but this clip it wasn't a guaranteed effect by immoderate means. 

The Liberal Party of Canada's 3 Island incumbents, positive 1 rookie candidate, yet won seats connected Parliament Hill erstwhile each the votes were counted Monday nighttime and aboriginal Tuesday. 

In what ended up being a two-party contention betwixt the Liberals and Conservative Party of Canada, a inclination that was mostly reflected crossed the country, the bluish marque did look to marque immoderate important gains implicit the erstwhile predetermination successful 2023. 

"The fashionable ballot for the Liberal Party is surely impressive, but it's not truthful acold up of the CPC," said Don Desserud, a governmental subject prof astatine UPEI. "The bigger story… is the spot of the Conservative vote, which is an unusual happening to accidental due to the fact that it wasn't that agelong agone that we were looking astatine a Conservative landslide." 

By 1:30 a.m. AT Tuesday, the Liberals had racked up astir 58 per cent of the fashionable ballot connected P.E.I., compared to 37 per cent for the Conservatives. Nationally astatine the aforesaid time, the Liberals had 42.8 per cent of the ballot and the Conservatives had 41.8 per cent. 

With polls inactive being reported crossed the state aboriginal Tuesday, the CBC Decision Desk was projecting that Mark Carney's Liberals would signifier the adjacent government, though it remained to beryllium seen whether it would beryllium a bulk oregon minority. 

As Desserud remarked, that benignant of Liberal triumph would person seemed astir intolerable conscionable a fewer months ago.  

Canadians had soured connected erstwhile premier curate Justin Trudeau and canvass aft canvass suggested Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre would drawback up the bulk authorities he'd agelong been waiting for.

Then came Trudeau's resignation successful aboriginal January, recently re-elected U.S. President Donald Trump's commercialized warfare against his country's accepted allies, and persistent barbs astir making Canada the 51st authorities — flipping the governmental script.

With Trump announcing, pausing, past re-announcing devastating tariffs connected Canadian goods, the run mostly became a contention astir who could champion steer Canada done planetary uncertainty. And astatine the extremity of the day, Canadians formed ballots successful favour of Carney, a erstwhile politician of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England. 

Egmont

Still, the imaginable of two-horse races did supply immoderate play connected P.E.I., peculiarly successful our westernmost riding.

The Egmont riding's incumbent Liberal, Bobby Morrissey, and Conservative campaigner Logan McLellan were wrong 100 votes of each different for astir of the archetypal hr of results coming successful from Elections Canada.

McLellan adjacent held a slim pb astatine 1 point, and the men were tied astatine another, but Morrissey yet pulled up to triumph by astir 2,000 votes. 

Desserud was peculiarly amazed by however choky that contention was, fixed Egmont was the lone riding wherever the Conservatives did not tally a erstwhile provincial Progressive Conservative furniture minister. McLellan is simply a concern proprietor calved and raised successful Summerside.

"That was the 1 that I had the slightest consciousness of; I conscionable genuinely didn't know," Desserud said. "Obviously the Conservative campaigner successful that riding had a bully run and did very, precise well, but possibly did not person the illustration that we saw successful the different ridings."

Cardigan

Things were little adjacent down eastbound successful Cardigan — a Liberal stronghold for much than 35 years nether Lawrence MacAulay, who did not reoffer successful this predetermination aft 11 consecutive wins. 

Stepping successful arsenic a first-time campaigner successful MacAulay's stead was Kent MacDonald, described connected the Liberal website arsenic "a seventh-generation dairy husbandman from Little Pond, P.E.I." He faced a situation from erstwhile provincial PC furniture curate and person James Aylward. 

"I was ne'er sure… whether successful that riding if radical were voting for Lawrence MacAulay oregon voting for a Liberal," Desserud said.

"The 1 happening I'd wondered astir was whether Aylward's basal successful Stratford would construe to the remainder of the riding, peculiarly arsenic you get further east, and possibly it did not." 

Charlottetown and Malpeque

Things didn't plaything arsenic dramatically successful the Island's municipality and cardinal ridings. 

Liberal Heath MacDonald held Malpeque implicit different erstwhile PC minister, Jamie Fox.

In Charlottetown, Sean Casey defeated Natalie Jameson, who stepped down from her station arsenic P.E.I.'s acquisition curate earlier this twelvemonth to tally federally. 

When the Conservatives were favoured successful the polls, Desserud said that appeared to boost some Jameson and Fox — peculiarly erstwhile Carney didn't sanction immoderate furniture ministers from P.E.I. aft helium was sworn successful arsenic premier curate past month. 

"It was not that agelong agone that some those Conservative candidates were seen arsenic the favourites," Desserud said. "Now we spot it went backmost to a much accepted vote, but I'd beryllium consenting to stake that each eyes are going to beryllium connected the adjacent furniture and seeing who's going to get the nod."

Other parties

Of course, the surge successful votes for some the Liberals and Conservatives came astatine the disbursal of parties similar the Greens and NDP. 

On P.E.I., the NDP had garnered 2.55 per cent by 1:30 a.m. AT connected Tuesday and the Greens had 2.22 per cent.  

Desserud expects the New Democrats successful peculiar to rethink their priorities aft this election, which led to Leader Jagmeet Singh announcing his resignation aboriginal Tuesday morning. 

"This is the emblematic rhythm of our system," helium said. "It's 1 of the problems… of the fist-past-the-post strategy wherever smaller parties similar the NDP, similar the Greens tin bash good up to a definite constituent but tin get pushed backmost down to the smaller numbers and person to commencement implicit again."