In a race that many thought could be competitive, Liberal Ottawa Centre MP Yasir Naqvi is heading back to Parliament Hill with a decisive vote of support.
Naqvi won the recent federal election with 51,026 votes, totalling 62.7 per cent. His primary challenger, NDP candidate Joel Harden — who previously served the riding provincially — took 15,906 votes, or 19.5 per cent. Conservative candidate Paul D’Orsonnens came in third place with 12,712 votes, 15.6 per cent.
On election night Monday, Naqvi and his team of supporters met at Beyond the Pale brewery in Centretown. He thanked the community for trusting him again and said the work began now to fight U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“I feel very honoured and humbled by the support from the community,” Naqvi later told the Kitchissippi Times. “We have a lot of hard work ahead of us both in terms of the big issue dealing with Donald Trump and the United States and making sure that our economy is strong not only across the country but here in Ottawa as well.”
On a local level, Naqvi said he’s committed to building more affordable housing. That includes converting former unused office complexes like the Jackson Building downtown, which he’d like to see transformed into Indigenous housing.
“I have been working on that issue before the election, and now that we are re-elected, I want to continue to find a way to complete that project,” said Naqvi. “That’s not to mention housing at Tunney’s Pasture and Confederation Heights.“
This was a particularly challenging election for the NDP, which lost 17 seats across Canada. Many speculated Harden would win in Ottawa Centre, as he beat Naqvi provincially in 2018.
Speaking to KT after his defeat, Harden said he heard from many voters who typically vote NDP but went Liberal instead to keep the Conservative Party under Pierre Poilievre out of power.
“I think what I saw consistently was the fear in the eyes of people given what this election represented. There were people who levelled with me who said they supported me in the past but they are worried,” said Harden. “I’d follow up with those folks on the phone and email, visiting their doorsteps for a second time. It was extremely difficult for Canada’s national third party because this election seemed to be about who would be the best prime minister — not the best candidate, which our electoral system is meant to do.”
With the Liberals forming a minority government, there is speculation an election could be called sooner than four years from now. Asked whether he’d run again, Harden expressed interest, saying he leaves that up to the party membership.
Strong Liberal support in Ottawa-West Nepean
Over in Ottawa-West Nepean, Liberal incumbent Anita Vandenbeld is also celebrating another win. First elected in 2015, she saw her best results in percentage and number of ballots cast.
Vandenbeld took home 43,553 votes, totalling 63.6 per cent. Conservative Ryan Telford came in second with 18,515 votes, or 27 per cent. The NDPs Josh Bizjak came in third with 4,837 votes, which was 7.1 per cent.
In an interview with KT, Vandenbeld said she is excited to get back to work on the hill. She thinks Ottawa and Gatineau will significantly benefit from being made up of all Liberal representatives. The long-held Conservative seat of Carleton, which party leader Poilievre held, turned red for the first time in 20 years.
“It’s going to be wonderful to have Prime Minister Mark Carney as one of our local caucus members of Parliament. I think it also gives us quite a bit of voice,” she said. “On both sides of the river, we’ve worked very well together to advance the issues that matter here in the National Capital Region.”
On a local level, Vandenbeld says she wants to see federal lands used for housing. That includes converting a parcel across from the Queensway Carleton Hospital.
‘I’m hoping we can turn that into something where we can work with the hospital and others to build some housing for the frontline workers, but also for people transitioning out of hospital, and perhaps a combination of long-term care.” she said. “We’ve already started some of the discussions on this on being able to provide that land at a nominal cost, like a dollar a year, to the right combination of partners.”