Don Rusnak captures Thunder Bay-Rainy River for Liberals

Superior Morning6:15Election Reaction - Northern Policy Institute

Before the election the Northern Policy Institute rated the federal parties on how well they address Ontario priorities. They all got a C. The president of the Northern Policy Institute Charles Cirtwill talks about the election results,

Thunder Bay-Rainy River Liberal candidate Don Rusnakrode a wave of Liberal support to victory Monday night, soundly defeating NDP incumbentJohn Rafferty by approximately 6,000 votes.

• LiveBlog| Post-election day coverage

With all 195 polls reporting, Rusnak had 18,523votes to Rafferty's12,439. Conservative Moe Comuzziplaced third with8,876, while the Green Party's Christy Radbourneincreased the riding's Green vote to2,201.

According to the Elections Canada website,voter turnout in the riding was approximately 66 per cent. That number does not include voters who registered on election day.

Rusnaktold CBC News his first steps will be to meet with mayors, business leaders and community groups to educate himself about the issues in the riding.

"It's going to be a bit of a learning curve, but in my career, I've climbed steep learning curves quite easily before so I have the experience to do it," he said.

He added the Liberals' plan to invest in infrastructure should help address voters' concerns about drawing industry back to the riding.

Rusnak is the riding's first aboriginal candidate;he said that although aboriginal groups such as the Assembly of First Nations favouredthe NDP's platform, not all aboriginal voters agreed.

"We canvassed the First Nations here in the riding, and we were hearing a different storythat, much like all the people in the riding, they saw Justin Trudeau and the plan as a positive plan for change," he said.

Things changed two weeks ago

Rafferty, who easily swept the riding in 2011, said he noticed a change in voter intentionsabout two weeks ago.

"People were saying that they were going to be voting for Trudeau. Most people didn't know who Mr. Rusnak was, but they said they're voting Trudeau," he said, addingthe result reflects a desire for change thatended up goingagainst the NDP.

"The sense that I was getting from people at the door was that it was anybody but Conservative, anybody but Mr. Harper," he said. "People went back to, I guess, their comfort zone."

Rafferty said Monday night that he had tried to call Rusnak but had not yet reached him. He said he left a message wishing Rusnak the best and offeringto help make his transition as easy as possible.

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