Kenora, ON — Ogichidaa Francis Kavanaugh, Grand Chief of Treaty #3 congratulated re-elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and said today that he is looking forward to immediate action and working together to further the priorities of First Nations citizens in the Treaty #3 territory and across Canada.
“Now that the federal government has been re-elected to its second term, we look forward to strengthening our relationship with them as full partners to act on climate change, economic prosperity, justice, and health and improve on the range of issues our people are facing on a daily basis,” said Ogichidaa Kavanaugh. “I also would like to acknowledge First Nations citizens across Treaty #3 for participating in this election and congratulate all the Indigenous candidates who not only ran for the first time but have won their ridings. I look forward to working with all elected parliamentarians on the important work ahead of us. We are ready to work with you.”
The Liberals won 157 seats, falling short of the 170 seats they needed for a majority, the 177 they had at dissolution and the 184 won in the 2015 election.
Voter turnout was 65.95 per cent of eligible voters, according to Elections Canada’s figures on Tuesday morning. That’s down from 68.3 per cent in 2015.
Election Day voter turnout in the Kenora riding of 59.76 per cent saw 27,304 eligible voters of 45,692 registered electors cast ballots. With 147 of 148 Kenora riding polls reporting in, the distribution of votes among the candidates is as follows: Eric Melillo, Conservative Party, 9,313; Bob Nault, Liberal, 8,188; Rudy Turtle, NDP, 7,781; Kirsi Ralko, Green Party, 1,475; Michael Di Pasquale, PPC, 382; Kelvin Boucher-Chicago, Independent, 165.
“I would like to congratulate Eric Melillo and Marcus Powlowski both elected within our region. I look forward to working with you both,” said Ogichidaa Kavanaugh. “I would also like to take this opportunity to hold up Chief Rudy Turtle who ran for the first time as an NDP candidate and also outgoing MP Robert Nault who has served the region for over 20 years.”
