Liberals make big gains in Winnipeg with Robert-Falcon Ouellette, MaryAnn Mihychuk

The Liberal Party made big gains in Winnipeg as poll results came in from across Manitoba Monday night.

Several long-sitting MPs were ousted by Liberals, a trend seen across Canada as the party took a majority government for the first time in more than a decade.

• Justin Trudeau to be prime minister as Liberals surge to majority
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In a hotly contested race in WinnipegCentre, Liberal Robert-FalconOuellette unseated longtime NDP MP Pat Martin, CBC declared. Also running in the riding was Tory Allie Szarkiewicz, the Green Party's Don Woodstock, the Communist Party's Darrell Rankin and the Christian Heritage Party's Scott Miller.

"The goal of this campaign was never, never, never just to win.The goal of this campaign was to see your values reflected in Ottawa, to see your values reflected in our Parliament,"Ouellettetold supporters."There will be challenges in Winnipeg Centre.

"We should be putting more people back to work, and we can," said Ouellette, who's aboriginal. "We should be lifting people out ofpoverty, and we can."

After the results came in, Martin told supporters,"It's been the honour of a lifetime to be your representative for 18 years, and I thank you all for that great privilege....Thank you again for all you're doing to keep the movement alive in this riding."

Martin had some words of caution for the newly elected Liberal majority, though.

"If there's one thing I've learned about Liberals is they need a bunch of New Democrats in Parliament to drag them over and make them act like Liberals, because left to their own devices, they act like Conservatives every single time," said Martin. "It won't be me, but it will be a lot of good people."

CBC declared Liberal Dan Vandal elected in theSaint BonifaceSaint Vitalriding around 9:15 p.m. CT. Vandal was running against theNDP'sErinSelby, ToryFranoisCatellierand the Green Party'sGlennZaretski.

"I feel really fortunate to be on the ground for something extraordinary," said Vandal, who's Mtis, as he arrived at his victory party.

Shortly after,CBC declared ToryCandiceBergen the winner ofPortageLisgar.Bergen was running against Liberal Ken Werbiski, the NDP's Dean Harder, the Green Party's Beverly Eert and the Christian Heritage Party's Jerome Dondo.

InElmwood-Transcona, NDP candidate DanielBlaikie beatTory incumbent LawrenceToet by just51 votes ina close race that stretched for hours after the polls closed.

Blaikiegot14,699 votes and Toetrecieved14,648 votes a difference thatis not enough to automaticallytrigger a recount under Elections Canada guidelines.Liberal Andrea Richardson-Lipon came in third with just over 12,500 votes.

"We'll see how things eventually go in the end here. We'll see the final, final numbers and we'll take a look at that tomorrow, but at this point in time people have said what they need to say," said Toet.

As for asking for a recount, Toet said:"That'll be a question for tomorrow. We'll sit down, and we'll analyze things tonight and tomorrow morning, and we'll make our choice as to what we need to do at that point in time. I'm not going to jump to any conclusions tonight."

In DauphinSwan RiverNeepawa, CBC declared incumbent Tory Robert Sopuckre-elected. He was running againstLiberal Ray Pich, the NDP'sLaverne M.Lewycky, the Green Party'sKate Storey and independentInky Mark.

"We made some tough decisions for the country," Sopuck said, pointing to the economy and recent foreign policy decisions. "But there are vested interests that oppose what we did, and that's obviously their right to do so, but we made the decisions that were right for the country."

In Winnipeg South Centre, CBC declared Liberal Jim Carr the winner, a gain for his party.Carr was running against Tory incumbent Joyce Bateman, the NDP's Matt Henderson and the Green Party's Andrew Park.

"The people of Winnipeg South Centre say they're ready,and I'm ready to be your member of Parliament," Jim Carr said in a rousing victory speech at his party at the Caboto Centre.

"Red Red Red!"Carr yelled to hundreds of supporters in the packed room.

CBC declared Liberal Kevin Lamoureux re-elected in Winnipeg North. Lamoureux was battling Tory Harpreet Turka, the NDP's Levy Abad and the Green Party's John Redekopp.

"I'm just overwhelmed and humbled by the type of support demonstrated this evening with the vote that we received," Lamoureux said.

InBrandonSouris, CBC declaredTory incumbent Larry Maguirere-elected. He was running againstLiberal Jodi Wyman, the NDP's Melissa Joy Wastasecoot and the Green Party's David Neufeld.

CBC declaredLiberal DougEyolfsonelected inCharleswoodSt. JamesAssiniboiaHeadingleya victory over long-time Tory MP Steven Fletcher. Also running in that riding were the NDP's Tom Paulley and the Green Party's Kevin Nichols.

"[I'm]not actually that surprised, because I knew we actually had a shot at this," said Eyolfson."I mean, we took nothing for granted.I didn't assume that we won this, but I knew we had a very good chance."

In Provencher, CBC declared Tory incumbent Ted Falkthe winner.He was running against Liberal Terry Hayward, the NDP's Les Lilley and the Green Party's Jeff Wheeldon.

As fortheChurchill-KeewatinookAskiriding,CBC declaredNDP incumbentNikiAshtonre-elected, beating outLiberal RebeccaChartrand, Tory KyleMirecki, the Green Party's AugustHastmannand Libertarian ZacharyLinnick.

As for SelkirkInterlakeEastman, CBC declared incumbent Tory James Bezan the winner,beating out Liberal Joanne Levy, the NDP's Deborah Chief, the Green Party's Wayne James and Libertarian Donald Grant.

Bezan called his win "bittersweet"andsaid he was surprised by the results.

"I knew we were going to be in for a tough night and was expecting a Liberal minority government, not a majority like we've witnessed today," he said. "I don't think any of us expected to see the NDP vote collapse.At the end of it, it comes down to the NDP support completely collapsing and that vote going to the Liberals."

In WinnipegSouth, CBC declared Liberal Terry Duguid elected. He was running against Tory candidate Gordon Giesbrecht, the NDP's Brianne Goertzen and the Green Party's Adam Smith.

InKildonan-St. Paul,LiberalMaryAnnMihychukbeat outConservative Jim Bellin a close race, CBC declared.Also running was the NDP's Suzanne Hrynyk, the Green Party's Steven Stairs, the Christian Heritage Party's David Reimer and Independent Eduard Hiebert.

"I'm feeling really elated and so proud that the team did it," said Mihychuk. "Kildonan-St.Paul was looking for change and they could see that I was going to bring it with Justin Trudeau. It's just incredible."

Mihychuk started knocking on doors more than 18 months ago, she said.

"We started giving out literature, talking to people, and you can't do that alone. You can't sit back and hope that the tide takes you in a riding like this," she said. "You see a lot of people that believed in the vision that Justin Trudeau had, and [they] came forward."

Mihychuk was one of four Liberal candidates who won in Winnipeg after failed mayoral bids. She, Vandal, Duguid andOuellettehave all run to be mayor of Winnipeg and come up short.

In the end, all but one seat in Winnipeg was handed to a Liberal candidate in Monday night's election.

Blaikie was the only non-Liberal winner in the city, and his race came down to just 51 votes.

Manitoba results by riding

• CBC declares NDP candidate DanielBlaikie takesElmwood-Transconain close race
• CBC declaresLiberal Robert-FalconOuellettewinner inWinnipeg Centre
• CBC declaresLiberal KevinLamoureuxre-elected in Winnipeg North
• CBC declares Liberal TerryDuguidelectedinWinnipeg South
• CBC declaresLiberal candidateJim Carr winner inWinnipeg South Centre
• CBC declaresDauphinSwan RiverNeepawa Tory incumbent RobertSopuckre-elected
• CBC declares Tory incumbent Candice Bergen winner inPortageLisgar
• CBC declares Tory incumbent TedFalkwinnerin Provencher
• CBC declaresLiberal candidate Dan Vandal winner inSaint BonifaceSaint Vital
• CBC declaresLiberal DougEyolfsonelected inCharleswoodSt. JamesAssiniboiaHeadingley
• CBCdeclares incumbent Tory JamesBezan inSelkirkInterlakeEastman
• CBC declares Tory incumbent Larry Maguire re-elected inBrandonSouris
• CBC declaresLiberalMaryAnnMihychukwinner in closeKildonan-St. Paul race
• CBC declares NDP Niki Ashton re-elected inChurchill-KeewatinookAski