In summing up his final thoughts in his concession speech to the party faithful on election night, Liberal candidate Jeff Kawzenuk said “we ran a good campaign; it just wasn’t our time.”
The Northumberland-Peterborough South Liberal candidate presided over a subdued gathering at the Carpenters’ Union Hall in Port Hope on election night, June 2, in a night where Ontario Liberals fell well short of expectations.
Kawzenuk was one of the many Ontario Liberals — including Liberal leader Steven Del Duca — to get swept under by a blue wave on election night that delivered a Progressive Conservative majority government. The PCs captured 83 seats, followed by the NDP — who will form the official opposition — with 31 seats. The Liberals failed to meet the 12-seat threshold for party status, winning only eight.
Piccini, the incumbent MPP who won a second term in Queen’s Park, cruised to victory in Northumberland-Peterborough South. With 102 of 104 reporting late Thursday night, Piccini was well in front with 24,829 votes (51 per cent) to Kawzenuk’s 12,017 votes (24.7 per cent). The NDP’s Kim McArthur-Jackson received 6,427 (13.2 per cent).
In an interview following his concession speech, Kawzenuk acknowledged the “huge blue wave” that engulfed Ontario on election night. He also congratulated PC incumbent Piccini for “a fabulous campaign”.
“At the end of the day, I’ve got to tip my hat to him and his campaign team. They did a fabulous job. There is some disappointment, not from my campaign team, they did a wonderful, wonderful job, I was blessed and
humbled, I’m going to have to sit back and think maybe there is something I could have done differently. I’m not sure at this point. I was blessed with a great campaign team who gave unconditionally,” said Kawzenuk in an interview.
Although it was a disappointing election night for Liberals, Kawzenuk said the party must continue to listen to Ontarians and continue to rebuild trust with voters in the province.
“We were kind of a new Liberal party. We were devastated as everyone knows in the 2018 election and kind of the same (this election). We did a lot of listening, we did a lot of rebuilding and we have to continue to do those things. I believe in Liberal values, I believe in the good things we want to achieve and I thought we had a very, very strong platform,” he said.
After a gruelling campaign, Kawzenuk said he hopes to get some extra rest in the coming days.
“There will be plenty of time to reflect about the future,” he said.
(Written by: Alan Rivett)
