Gerry Ritz is heading to the opposition benches in the next Parliament.
Ritz was re-elected by a wide margin as Member of Parliament for Battlefords-Lloydminster in Monday's federal election.
But it was a different story nationally as Justin Trudeau and the Liberals toppled Stephen Harper's government after nine years in power. Ritz's eight-year tenure as federal agriculture and Agri-foods minister ends right along with it.
The Liberals won a majority in Monday's election. Final results showed 184 seats for the Liberals, 99 Conservatives, 44 NDP, 10 Bloc Québécois and one Green, enough for a majority government.
It was also a rough night for several Conservative cabinet ministers, with Finance Minister Joe Oliver leading a long list of cabinet ministers who lost their seats, names that included Julian Fantino, Chris Alexander, Bernard Valcourt, Gail Shea and Leona Aglukkaq among others.
The national results made it a somber evening for Conservative supporters at the Tropical Inn in North Battleford Monday night, as supporters quietly watched the results on TV.
For Ritz it was a night of mixed emotions. “Bittersweet” was the word he used.
“I’m thrilled with the results here in this riding again,” said Ritz.
“At the end of the day, though, we see a different colour as a majority government in Ottawa, and as I said, it’s a little bit bittersweet.”
As for the national result, Ritz said he was disappointed. “We ran a great government, certainly we were respected for that around the world.”
The local result marked the seventh victory for Ritz in Battlefords-Lloydminster going back to 1997.
With all 139 polls reporting, Ritz had 20,537 votes (62 per cent), NDP Glenn Tait had 5,935 (17.6 per cent), Liberal Larry Ingram had 5,570 (16.5 per cent), Independent Doug Anguish had 1,076 (3.2 per cent), and Green Mikaela Tenkink had 575 (1.7 per cent).
Compared to 2011, the Conservatives and New Democrats were down slightly from their performance that year, while the Liberal vote was way up from the roughly three per cent obtained in that election.
Across Saskatchewan, the Conservatives were down in the seat count compared to previous elections as the NDP picked up three seats.
The Conservatives held 10 of the 14 Saskatchewan seats, with the NDP taking three and the Liberals one.
Among the Conservatives re-elected was Kelly Block, who easily won reelection in the neighbouring Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek constituency.
The three NDP wins represent the first wins for the NDP in the province at the federal level since 2000. The winners included Erin Weir in Regina Lewvan, Sheri Benson in Saskatoon West and Georgina Jolibois in Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, who edged out Liberal Lawrence Joseph by just 70 votes.
The lone Liberal elected in Saskatchewan was Ralph Goodale in Regina-Wascana, who easily won the seat with 55 per cent of the popular vote. Goodale is now poised for a major cabinet portfolio in the new Trudeau government.
