Chris Warkentin will return to his parliamentary seat in Ottawa following Monday’s election, although it was not the results he hoped to see nationally.

The Liberal Party will form a minority government with Mark Carney continuing as Prime Minister. 

As of press time, the Liberals won 168 seats and the Conservative Party 144, followed by the Bloc 23, NDP 7, and Green 1. 

Locally, Warkentin received 47,472 votes, followed by 6,974 for Liberal Maureen Mcleod, NDP Jennifer Villebrun 2,545, PPC Shawn McLean 828, Rhino Donovan Eckstrom 311 and independent Elliot McDavid 236.

Notably, Warkentin’s vote count was up significantly from 2021 where he received 35,106 votes. That year, the NDP’s Jennifer Villebrun finished in second spot with 6,200, followed by 5,263 for PPC Shawn McLean and 2,314 for Liberal Dan Campbell.

“I am looking forward to going back to Ottawa and fighting for Peace country residents,” said Warkentin. 

“My continued commitment will be making sure that people in the Peace country have economic opportunities, ones that have been challenging over the last number of years with a Liberal government that has been intent on shutting down the industries that are so important to folks here.” 

Warkentin’s share of votes sits at 81.3 per cent compared to 2021, where he had 68.4 per cent and 84 per cent in 2019.

“This is not the result nationally that we had hoped for, but I can tell you that this is a long ways from over,” said Warkentin at his election party on Monday night. 

“We're going to see where these numbers land tonight. But obviously, conditions that have developed over the last number of months meant that this was a totally different campaign than we would have ever imagined.

“We're seeing the collapse of the political system as we knew it here in Canada, where we in the past have had four major political parties, really falling down to two political parties.”

Warkentin said he believes Canadians will soon be heading to the polls with no majority government. 

“I suspect that there is a chance that we may be back at the polls within a matter of months,” he said.

“The NDP has collapsed, and the Bloc has been reduced by current numbers. It's unlikely that the Liberals will have a committed dance partner like they had with the NDP.”

“The challenge for Mark Carney now is that he has said one thing to one group of Canadians, and in many cases, a completely different thing to a different group of Canadians in other parts of the country,” said Warkentin. 

He said Canadians are yet to see the real Carney. 

“We're going to continue to fight to do the things that we had promised during this campaign to ensure that prosperity, opportunity and freedom will be preserved in this country for future generations,” said Warkentin. 

He said the night was still a win for Conservatives. “We're seeing a higher support in regions across this country, unprecedented support in ridings that we haven't seen ever, and I think what we're seeing is a breakthrough of support.”

He said the Conservative support is due to the party leader Pierre Poilievre.

The Conservative party gained 25 seats in Monday’s election. 

“What I've always committed to do is continue to work on behalf of every single Peace Country resident, regardless as to their political affiliation, but to see the support that I've received tonight is just a confirmation and a heartwarming feeling to continue to press on and fight for folks that live here in the Peace country.”

Prime Minister Carney

Prime Minister Carney also said he is looking out for all Canadians. 

“My message to every Canadian is this, no matter where you live, no matter what language you speak, no matter how you voted, I will always do my best to represent everyone who calls Canada home,” said Carney in his acceptance speech on Monday night. 

He also focused on future negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump.

“President Trump is trying to break us so that America can own us; that will never ever happen, but we also must recognize the reality that our world has fundamentally changed.”

He said the United States wants Canada’s land, resources and water and that the president's remarks “are not idle threats.”

“When I sit down with President Trump, it will be to discuss the future economic and security relationship between two sovereign nations, and it will be with our full knowledge that we have many, many other options, and the United States, to build prosperity for all Canadians.”

Poilievre lost his seat in the Carleton riding after holding it for about 20 years. 

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh also lost his seat and announced he would step down as the party leader. The NDP won seven seats, down from 24.

Premier Smith 

Premier Danielle Smith released a statement Tuesday morning congratulating Prime Minister Carney but also said many Albertans “are deeply frustrated that the same government that overtly attacked our provincial economy almost unabated for the past 10 years has been returned to government.”

“As Premier, I will not permit the status quo to continue.”

“In the weeks and months ahead, Albertans will have an opportunity to discuss our province’s future, assess various options for strengthening and protecting our province against future hostile acts from Ottawa, and to ultimately choose a path forward.”

The Grande Prairie-Mackenzie riding had a voter turnout of 70.1 per cent, compared to 61.84 per cent in 2021.

Nationally, voter turnout sat at about 67.35 per cent.