When it comes to elections, some people may ask whether their vote really counts.
The Quebec riding of Terrebonne, northeast of Montreal, showed that every vote really does make a difference, after a judicial recount on Sunday flipped the seat from the Bloc Québécois to the Liberals by a single vote.
“I think it’s going to be some interesting debate going on because of the one vote difference,” said Benoit Girardin, who was working in the Terrebonne area Monday.
The day after election night, on April 29, Liberal candidate Tatiana Auguste was the projected winner of the riding, which is typically a Bloc stronghold.
The riding then flipped back to the Bloc during the validation process — which is different than a recount — with incumbent MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné defeating Auguste by 44 votes.
Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer called for a judicial recount on May 7, since the win was by less than 0.1 per cent of the votes cast.
Daniel Béland, director of the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada, said that small polling margin meant the Terrebonne seat could be easily flipped.
“In that case, the gap was so small — 44 votes — that it didn’t need that much to basically change the outcome of the election in that riding,” he said.
Following the recount of more than 61,000 votes, Auguste has 23,352 votes, while Sinclair-Desgagné has 23,351 votes.
“It was quite close; it’s surprising,” said Montrealer Thomas Bazin, who was working in Terrebonne.
“It’s really surprising to see that there they were this close,” echoed Terrebonne resident Marie-Josée Leduc.
“A single vote, that means that there was really a disparity – maybe everything that happened with the United States and Trump, it surely influenced several people,” added Montrealer Marie-Josée Chicoine, who works in Terrebonne. “I imagine that’s what made the difference, because historically here, it’s the Bloc.”
Béland, too, cited Trump-related anxieties as a main reason the traditionally Bloc riding went Liberal.
“The Liberals won extra seats this time around against the Bloc, and I think that might be related to the Trump effect,” he said. “Of course, we’ll have to look at exit polls.”
In a statement on social media, Auguste thanked the citizens of Terrebonne for their trust and promised to “get to work.”
“We’re Liberal, so we’re happy,” said Leduc.
“I think it’s democracy; that’s the way it works,” said Girardin. “I think you need some judiciary process to make sure we know, and we found out, who’s the MP winning the district.”
The result gives the Liberals 170 seats in the House of Commons, with the Bloc now down to 22. Recounts are underway in three other ridings in Ontario and Newfoundland.
With the Liberals just two seats shy of a majority government, Béland calls the party’s current status “a very strong minority government.”
“They only need a few extra votes to stay in power during confidence votes,” he said.
“Some people would have thought, ‘I should have gone and voted on that day, and I didn’t go,’” said Girardin. “That would have made a difference.”
–With files from The Canadian Press
