Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday November 18, 2016
PC candidate Sam Oosterhoff, 19, wins Niagara West-Glanbrook
A 19-year-old Smithville man has made Ontario history by winning the Niagara West-Glanbrook byelection.
Progressive Conservative candidate Sam Oosterhoff has become the youngest person elected to the Ontario legislature.
His victory was hailed Thursday night by PC Leader Patrick Brown, who attended Oosterhoff’s election night party at the Casablanca Inn, a hotel just off the Queen Elizabeth Way in Grimsby.
Oosterhoff, who brought controversy to the contest because of his social conservative views, thanked his supporters just before 10 p.m. The mood was buoyant at the well-attended party, which brought out Milton MP Lisa Raitt, a federal Conservative leadership candidate.
The riding became vacant because of the departure of former PC leader Tim Hudak. It was always said to be a safe conservative seat, but Oosterhoff’s opposition to abortion and questioning the new sex-ed curriculum was thought to raise some doubt.
In the end, it didn’t matter. With 130 of 236 polls reporting just after 10 p.m., the first-year-political science student at Brock University had about 52 per cent of vote.
The New Democrat candidate and former Hamilton police officer Mike Thomas of Binbrook was in second with about 26 per cent of the vote. Oosterhoff had more than 4,300 votes than Thomas. Liberal candidate and Hamilton lawyer Vicky Ringuette, also of Binbrook, was in third with about 15 per cent of the vote. She trailed Oosterhoff by more than 6,000 votes.
Oosterhoff said people were angry about their hydro bills and industrial wind turbines but Ringuette said she wasn’t hearing complaints from voters about electricity rates.
The Liberals held on to Ottawa-Vanier with lawyer Nathalie Des Rosiers. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)