Despite Liberal win in Canada, Conservative candidate easily wins re-election in B.C. parliamentary district north of Spokane

Although Canada’s Liberal Party  was the clear winner in Monday’s election nationwide, the Conservative Party easily retained the seat in southeastern British Columbia.

In the parliamentary district, called a riding, north of Spokane, the Conservative Party’s incumbent candidate, Rob Morrison, had captured more than half of the votes with most votes counted.

Morrison, who was first elected in 2019, said last week that he’s baffled by President Donald Trump’s antagonistic stance toward Canada, but that he isn’t worried about Canada maintaining its sovereignty. He said he’s concerned about tariffs but more worried about affordability and inflation.

“Affordability was already a big problem, especially cost of housing,” Morrison said at a campaign barbecue Wednesday in Salmo, British Columbia, a town 15 miles north of the border of Pend Oreille County, Washington. “Our biggest issue here is people just want to have more money in their pocket to be able to afford to feed their kids.”

Morrison had 50.6% of the vote with 304 of 310 polling stations counted as of 8:30 a.m. Tuesday .

The Liberal candidate, Reggie Goldsbury, was far behind in second place with 28% of the vote.

The New Democratic candidate, Kallee Lins, was in third with 18%.