Voters choose Liberal Chris Malette as Bay of Quinte’s new MP

Bay of Quinte riding voters have chosen Liberal candidate Chris Malette to represent them in Ottawa in a  minority government lead by Mark Carney.

Mark Carney with Chris Malette

Malette took the lead in the Bay of Quinte riding as soon as the first polls reported, and kept his lead – albeit close at times – over Conservative candidate Ryan Williams, who had won the riding in 2021.

(Updated) With all 223 polls reporting, Malette led the riding with 50.4 per cent of the vote (32,844). Williams had 44.6 per cent of the vote with 29,124.

The NDP’s Kate Crothers gained 2,373 votes or 3.6 per cent and the Green Party’s Erica Charlton won 833 votes, or 1.2 per cent.

There were 65,174 valid votes cast – 69.49 per cent – of 93,784 registered electors.

Malette is a well-known former newspaper journalist in the Quinte area with The Intelligencer and for the past six years, he has been a member of Belleville city council. During his terms he served as chair of several committees, including Belleville Council’s Green Task Force, and Hastings County’s Joint Services Committee for Community and Human Services and the Quinte Conservation Authority Board of Directors.

For comparison, results of the 2021 federal election:
Voter turnout was 64.95 per cent as 62,105 of 95,615 voters cast their ballot:
Conservative Ryan Williams 25,479 votes (41.3 per cent)
Liberal Neil Ellis 22,542 votes (36.5 per cent)
New Democratic Stephanie Bell 9,284 votes (15 per cent)
People’s Janine LeClerc 3,045 votes (4.9 per cent)
Green Erica Charlton 1,350 votes (2.2 per cent)

Bay of Quinte riding history:
2025 – Chris Malette, Liberal
2021-2025 – Ryan Williams, Conservative
2015 to 2021 – Neil Ellis, Liberal
Former Prince Edward Hastings riding
2004 to 2015 – Daryl Kramp, Conservative
1988 to 2004 – Lyle Vanclief, Liberal
1979 to 1988 – Jack Ellis, Conservative
1968 to 1979 – George Hees, Conservative

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Rookie politician Mark Carney will lead the Liberals’ in a fourth straight term in government – a rarity in Canadian politics – defeating 20-year MP, Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre.

As of 2 a.m. the Liberals had won 169 seats; the Conservatives 144; Bloc Quebecois 22; NDP 7 and Green 1. A party now needs 172 seats for a majority, instead of 170. Elections Canada paused the counting of special ballots early Tuesday morning with a handful of ridings too close to call. The chance of a majority government remains as the Liberals were leading or elected in 168 seats – four short of a majority government. Counting is to resume Tuesday at 9:30 a.m.

The political map in Canada was re-drawn ahead of this election, with the House of Commons increasing to 343 MPs from 338.  Of the five new seats, one is in Ontario, one is in BC and three are in Alberta. Boundary changes happen every 10 years to reflect changes in population and attempt to have ridings contain approximately the same number of people.

In late fall 2024, polls suggested Poilievre was all but guaranteed a majority government following calls for and then the resignation of former prime minister Justin Trudeau. Carney won the Liberal leadership March 9 and was prime minister for nine days before calling an election.

Canadian nationalism bloomed through US president Donald Trump’s rhetoric on trade wars and his calls for Canada to be the 51st state.

The two main parties ran practically neck-and-neck throughout the 36-day campaign.

Poilievre lost the Carleton riding seat he had held for 20 years but did not indicate he plans to step down from being Conservative leader. He was challenged by 90 other candidates on the ballot in his riding due to a protest group called the Longest Ballot Committee, convincing independents to run as they oppose the firs-past-the-post voting system and seeks reform.

Carney, 60, won his Nepean riding by more than 10,000 votes. He portrayed himself as the candidate with the solid financial background and crisis manager to protect Canada’s economy, stating several times that the nation’s traditional relationship with the U.S. is “over”. He warned there is “no silver bullet” for the “long road ahead”.

Carney was governor of the Bank of Canada during the 2008 global financial crisis (and his signature is on our money); and head of the Bank of England during the Brexit years.

The NDP’s Jagmeet Singh, in a gracious speech, stated he will step down as party leader after losing in his Burnaby Central riding, and his party failed to get the 12 seats it needs for official party status.

The Bloc Quebecois also saw significant losses, with 23 seats but leader Yves-Francois Blanchet won his riding.

The Greens’ Elizabeth May won in her British Columbia riding and will serve a fifth term. Co-leader Jonathan Pedneault lost his seat in Outremont.