Conservative incumbent John Brassard won his third consecutive term as the Member of Parliament for the riding of Barrie-Innisfil.
As of 12:30 a.m., Tuesday morning, Brassard had 14,599 votes to second-place Lisa-Marie Wilson (Liberal) who had 9,052 votes. Aleesha Gostkowski (NDP) had 5,580 and, in fourth place, Corrado Brancato from the People's Party had 2,392 votes.
Celebrating with family and friends on the patio of Beertown Public House on Fairview Road in Barrie, Brassard used his victory speech to thank his staff and volunteers for keeping the campaign going, especially at the beginning when he was dealing with an "emotional" issue.
"The first couple of weeks of this campaign were difficult because I was dealing with the Afghanistan issue, as the critic for Veterans Affairs. It was emotional, it was trying, there were calls at 3 a.m. But you all kept it all together for me and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the work that you've done to keep the constituency office function and function well throughout this campaign" Brassard said.
Brassard was watching the TV and his phone intently to see the results at the federal level. When it was determined that Justin Trudeau and the Liberals would remain in power with a minority government, Brassard said that was a message to the Liberals and the Conservatives.
"Tonight, a clear message was sent to all the parties, particularly the Liberals and Conservatives, that Canadians need us to put our partisanship aside. They need parties to work together to fix the issues they as Canadians have everyday," said Brassard.
Brassard has served as MP for the riding since it was first created in 2015.
In 2019, Brassard garnered 23,765 votes for 43.8 per cent. That was almost 7,900 more votes than second-place finisher, Liberal candidate Lisa-Marie Wilson. Brassard was first elected to parliament in 2015 when he secured 22,901 votes for 46.41 per cent. Liberal candidate Colin Wilson finished second in that election with 18,308 votes, or 37.11 per cent.
Since then, he has been appointed as the critic for urban affairs, Opposition critic for Veterans' Affairs, Conservative leadership team/deputy Opposition whip and the shadow minister for Veterans’ Affairs.
Prior to being elected as Barrie-Innisfil's MP in 2015, he also spent nine years as a Barrie city councillor.
BarrieToday asked Brassard how, after three terms as MP, he fights off complacency.
"I don't have a complacent bone in my body. All I do is work, from when I was 12 years old washing dishes to being a firefighter and having two or three jobs," he said. "It's all I know, to the point where a lot of my friends refer to me as a duck, calm on top, paddling fast underneath.
"Being a MP is a huge honour, a privilege that I don't take for granted."
