After a judicial recount, the Quebec riding of Terrebonne has flipped to the Liberals, who have beaten the Bloc Québécois by one vote. The result means the Liberals have 170 seats in the House of Commons — just two shy of a majority government.
On Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer of Canada Stéphane Perrault announced the judicial recount after results showed incumbent Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné beat Liberal challenger Tatiana Auguste by 44 votes.
Now, Elections Canada’s website shows Auguste received 23,352 votes. Sinclair-Desgagné received 23,351 votes.
According to Canada’s election rules, a recount is automatically triggered when a candidate wins by less than 0.1 per cent of the overall vote in that riding, which applied to Terrebonne. In certain circumstances, candidates can also request a recount.
The recount was conducted by Superior Court of Quebec Justice Danielle Turcotte.
Terrebonne had originally been called for the Liberals the day after the votes were cast. But the riding flipped to the Bloc during the validation process — which is different from a recount. Validation is a procedure in which Elections Canada double-checks and verifies the numbers reported on election night.
Results in three other ridings are currently being recounted.
Elections Canada announced Friday that a recount will take place in Milton East-Halton Hills South, where the Liberal candidate edged the Conservative by 29 votes. That riding was initially declared for the Conservatives, but flipped to the Liberals after the validation process.
A recount is also taking place in the Newfoundland and Labrador riding of Terra Nova-The Peninsulas, where the Liberal candidate won by 12 votes.
On Friday, a judge ordered a recount in another Ontario riding — Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore, where the Conservative candidate won by 77 votes.
The Liberal candidate had requested that recount, citing more than a dozen affidavits from scrutineers for his campaign who had witnessed ballots be rejected that they say were valid.
The Liberals are now just two seats short of the 172 required of a majority government. But even if the recounts all turn out Liberal victories, the party will still be one short.
The recounts in Terra Nova-The Peninsulas and Milton East-Halton Hills South will begin next week. Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore’s recount will start on May 20.
