Yellowhead byelection results: Conservative Jim Eglinski elected in riding

ConservativeJim Eglinski waselected Mondayin the Alberta riding of Yellowhead.

Voter turnout in the federal byelection could near a historic low, with CBC estimating that fewer than one in five eligible voters makingthe trip to the polls.

But the numbers were enough forEglinski, a retired RCMP officer, toglideto victoryin one of two federal byelections tonight.

Eglinski, 65, is a former mayor of Fort St. John, B.C., but now lives on an acreage outside Edson.

CBC made the call 30 minutes after polls closed at 7:30 p.m. MT.

It was a similar story to2011 when the federalridingelected the now retired Conservative MP Rob Merrifield with a 77 per cent share of the vote.

Merrifield resigned after 14 years to work for Alberta Premier Jim Prentice as the province's representative to the United States in Washington, D.C.

The sprawling, largely ruralriding stretches from just west of Edmonton all the way to theBritishColumbiaborder,encompassing Jasper National Park.

Former prime minister Joe Clark represented the riding from1979 to 1993.

The Conservatives also won thesecond byelectionMonday,held inthe Ontario riding of Whitby-Oshawato fill the vacancy left by thedeath of former finance minister Jim Flaherty.

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