Liberal candidate has 'guarded optimism' as Milton East—Halton Hills South riding flips

But after a vote validation process, Elections Canada’s results indicate that Tesser Derksen received 32,130 votes, while Gill received 32,101 votes — a difference of 29 votes.

Tesser Derksen said the week has been an emotional “rollercoaster” with some lows and highs, but “the highs are cautious,” she said. 

“We’re only 29 votes ahead,” she added, noting that there will be an automatic judicial recount. “The gap is pretty narrow, it could flip back. We’re happy with some guarded optimism.”

The Liberals’ minority government is now back up to 169 seats, while the Conservatives now count 143 seats.

Gill did not respond to a request for comment by publication. 

Mere months ago, the Liberal party was poised to lose to the official opposition Conservative party, but the comeback is nothing short of “remarkable,” Tesser Derksen said. 

“Mark Carney is just the right person for the right time and Canadians are smart, they recognized what they needed now to address these concerns (of threats from the U.S.), and they elected the right person,” she said. 

Once the judicial recount is finalized, if Tesser Derksen wins the riding, she said she will make affordability and housing her top priorities.  

Rick Di Lorenzo, who was a Milton city councillor from 2010 to 2022, sat with Tesser Derksen on Milton Town Council for five years, and said he’s happy “Kristina is now MP-elect.” 

“Her connection to Milton has always been strong,” he said. “It’s not over yet though, there is still an official recount that will occur so the final verdict still needs to be confirmed. She is a smart person of integrity. I think she would be a great MP for Milton,” he said.

Di Lorenzo said he feels that using paper ballots federally versus the provincial computerized system has its downsides — a computerized system is better as it reduces human error.

Elections Canada spokesperson Matthew McKenna said the validation process involves a returning officer examining the record of votes counted at polling stations to catch and correct any data entry or calculation errors in a riding.

A recount happens automatically if the difference in votes between the first- and second-place candidates is within one one-thousandth of the total number of votes received, McKenna said. 

Monday’s election revealed a 905-belt blue wave that was isolated to parts of the region but strong enough to help deny Carney’s Liberals a majority government, and to give them concern for the next federal election that, under a minority government, could come sooner rather than later.

Tesser Derksen keenly watched the GTA results roll in, and said all elected people should “take note and listen,” as segments of the population that normally Liberals could count on — specifically young people — sent a message that their voices aren’t being heard. 

“These concerns are coming forward; they want to have a prosperous future, they want to have that promise of the Canadian dream that my parents and I had and it seems a little out of reach for them right now,” she said.

“It’s not necessarily a message against the the Liberal party, it’s a message that ‘government please listen, take note, and we’re going to send that message with our votes.’”

With files from Canadian Press