Bernier, Paul among federal election’s five biggest losers

The Liberals’ narrow win Monday has cost them a couple of prominent cabinet ministers and imperilled the careers of two rival party leaders. Here is a look at five of the most prominent candidates who were overlooked at the polls:

MARYAM MONSEF

The Liberal cabinet minister for women, gender equality and rural economic development lost her riding of Peterborough-kawartha to Conservative candidate Michelle Ferreri.

Monsef, who had held the Ontario riding since 2015, likely lost support after last month’s controversy surrounding her remarks on the Taliban’s capture of Afghanistan. During a news briefing, she referred to the terrorist group as “our brothers” and implored them to “ensure the safe and secure passage of any individual in Afghanistan out of the country.”

When asked to clarify her comments, Monsef refused to withdraw her comments and instead defended them with a reference to the Islamic community’s practice of referring to its members as “brothers and sisters.”

She insisted that she viewed the Taliban as a terrorist group, but still faced a public backlash.

The Peterborough-kawartha win is an especially unique one as the riding, long considered a bellwether, has voted for the winning side in 19 of the past 20 general elections.

BERNADETTE JORDAN

Jordan, who served as the sole Nova Scotia federal minister, overseeing Fisheries and Oceans, lost her riding of South Shore-st. Margarets in a major upset to Conservative candidate Rick Perkins.

Perkins told Global News that Jordan likely lost over her handling of the province’s lobster fishery dispute between commercial fishermen and Sipekne’katik fishermen and her inability to find a resolution.

Jordan lost the vote by a margin of 2,000 votes, CBC reported, after holding the riding since 2015. Perkins ran for election in the riding in 2019, but lost.

LENORE ZANN

After one term in office, Liberal incumbent Zann was unseated in Cumberland-colchester, N.S., by

Conservative candidate Stephen Ellis by a margin of more than 2,000 votes.

Zann declined to comment on her defeat to Saltwire, stating that she would wait until the mail-in ballots are counted.

“It’s the people speaking and the people will vote and I’m totally accepting of whatever they decide,” said Zann earlier in the night.

Earlier in the campaign, she expressed hopes of garnering more votes in this election than the previous round, now that people knew her better.

MAXIME BERNIER

For the second time, the People’s Party of Canada leader was unable to gain a seat in the riding of Beauce, Que., losing to Conservative incumbent Richard Lehoux.

Bernier had said that his riding would be a “tough race” but remained jubilant over the increased support for the People’s Party of Canada.

“Thank you so much to the purple army! We made history today. We more than tripled our total vote,” he tweeted Tuesday morning.

Saskatoon police told Global News Monday night that it was working with public health to investigate the party leader’s election night party after reports emerged of several people attending the event without masks.

ANNAMIE PAUL

For the third time, the Green Party leader lost the race in Toronto Centre, coming in fourth, while her party recorded lower support nationwide.

Liberal MP Marci Ien, first elected in a byelection just a year ago, held onto the seat handily on Monday night, garnering nearly 50 per cent of the vote, with Paul winning just eight per cent of the vote.

Paul conceded during her campaign that internal party strife had dampened public perception of her in the weeks leading up to the vote.

Members of the Green Party board have attempted several times to have her removed from leadership, with Jenica Atwin, the party’s first elected MP outside British Columbia, crossing the floor over to the Liberals.

The party limited the budget she could use to campaign for the Toronto-centre seat, and at the time of the vote she was still facing a legal challenge to remove her from her post.