Liberal MP celebrates ‘rollercoaster' win, flipping Quebec seat by one vote
A 24-year-old Quebecer is celebrating one of the closest victories in the history of federal politics after flipping a Bloc Québécois seat to Liberal by an incredibly narrow margin.
'It's been a rollercoaster. From winning to not winning, and then winning again,' said Tatiana Auguste, the new member of Parliament for Terrebonne, Que., northeast of Montreal.
She won her seat by a single vote, following a judicial recount by Elections Canada.
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'It still feels a little bit surreal,' she said on Mother's Day, with her mom looking on during the interview.
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'(My family is) very proud, very happy. I don't know if they understand what's to come, but we shall see,' Auguste said.
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The rookie politician was born in Haiti and grew up in Montreal. She has a degree in economics and worked as a political staffer before running for public office.
Auguste says she, and the Liberals, represented a 'breath of fresh air' in the riding, where the separatist party had been in power for a decade.
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Quebecers were instrumental in electing Prime Minister Mark Carney, where voters increasingly preoccupied by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and threats to Canadian sovereignty moved away from the Bloc and towards the Liberals.
Auguste was projected to win on election night, but the incumbent Bloc candidate Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné moved ahead in a validation process. The seat ultimately went to Auguste after the recount.
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'We had confidence in the system that it would do what it had to do, and we waited and thankfully for us it went well,' Auguste said.
Neil Wiseman, a retired political science professor at the University of Toronto, says while tight races are common, they're rarely this razor thin.
'It's amazing. You have about 50,000 people vote, and it comes down to one vote. That is very unusual,' he said.
The victory means the Liberal seat count now stands at 170, just two shy of the number needed for a majority government.
'It doesn't matter whether they get a majority of not. They're going to act like a majority,' said Wiseman. 'This is now in the Canadian tradition.'
Last week, interim NDP Leader Don Davies told Global News the Liberals are making phone calls to NDP members of Parliament to see if they will join the Liberal Party in an effort to reach a majority government.
Carney is preparing to unveil his cabinet Tuesday and will have a significant Quebec caucus to choose from — that now includes Auguste after her nail-biting victory.
Terrebonne resident Marilyn Vena said she's breathing a sigh of relief after the recount results.
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'I'm thrilled, (there's) finally somebody Liberal in Terrebonne,' she said. 'It was very tight. It's going to be difficult for her because this is established Bloc country. I hope she does well.'
— with files from Global News' Jillian Piper and Mackenzie Gray, and The Canadian Press
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