LeBlanc wins in Beauséjour; Conservatives to form another minority government

Liberal incumbent Dominic LeBlanc swept the riding of BeausÉjour during Tuesday's national election, with some 7,000 more votes than his nearest opponent, Conservative Omer Leger.
The unofficial tally shows LeBlanc with 19,972 votes, followed by Leger with 12,512. NDP candidate Chris Durrant garnered 7,219 while the Green Party's Michael Milligan had 3,187. More than 69 per cent of registered voters turned out to vote in BeausÉjour on Tuesday, a full 10 per cent more than that of the national voter turnout rate of 59 per cent.
Across the country, Prime Minister Stephen Harper failed in his bid to gain a majority government, taking 143 seats. The Liberal party, with 76 seats, will form the official opposition. The NDP won 37 seats; there will be two Independent MPs in the House of Commons; the Green Party was shut out completely while the Bloc QuÉbÉcois took 50 seats in the province of Quebec.
Fresh from his own personal victory on Tuesday evening, LeBlanc told a large crowd of supporters in Shediac that there is one thing he has learned from talking to thousands of people in the riding of BeausÉjour over the past five weeks.
"I've talked to people in every corner of this riding and I've learned that the best days for Canada are ahead of us…we have to work together…to build a more prosperous country, to deal with the challenges of climate change, to assure people who are worried about the economy that there are better days ahead…" he said.
LeBlanc refused to comment on his role in the federal Liberal party in the days ahead, preferring to leave that decision up to current party leader StÉphane Dion.
"The only role I'm worried about tonight is working for the people in my riding. I think Mr. Harper should have the courage to face the Canadian Parliament quickly. I think it's important for us to get to work on the economic preoccupations of people. The reason Mr. Harper did not do as well as he'd hoped is because he completely failed to recognize the concerns people have for their jobs or their pensions or their savings…I think we need to get to work tomorrow and deal with the economic crisis we're facing," he said.
LeBlanc downplayed a suggestion from the media that he might consider offering as a candidate in a Liberal leadership race which may be held in the near future.
"My only ambition is to work hard as a member of the Liberal team, to work hard for the people who have given me a chance to represent them in the next parliament. There'll be plenty of time to worry about those other things at some other time," he said.
LeBlanc also spoke on the concerns of the First Nations peoples, noting that he believes the Harper government was wrong not to honour the Kelowna Accord, an agreement which sought to improve the education, employment, and living conditions for Aboriginal peoples through governmental funding and other programs.
"I thought it (the accord) was the beginning of a new partnership (with First Nations peoples). It was investing in things like education, in economic development and housing…it's my view that the government should partner with First Nations on their priorities…so I hope the next government will spend more time in trying to address the problems of First Nations than they did in the previous parliament…we need to force whatever party is in government to do the right thing by First Nations people," he said.