Surprise as Conservatives sweep Liberal strongholds

TORONTO, On. – Many high profile Liberal candidates across the Greater Toronto Area are now the victims of a Conservative coup.

Among the casualties included Martha Hall Findlay in Willowdale, who lost her seat to Conservative candidate Chungsen Leung.

The Willowdale seat has been red since 1984, and the win by Leung was a considered a huge surprise. He won with about 41.7 per cent of the vote.

Hockey legend and Hall of Famer Ken Dryden will not be returning to York Centre. After three terms in office, Liberal incumbent Dryden lost his seat to the Tories’ Mark Adler.

Dryden represented the York Centre riding since 2004, and the seat had once been considered a Liberal stronghold.

Another shocker came in the Eglinton-Lawrence riding, which has been been dominated by Joe Volpe since 1988.

Joe Oliver of the Conservatives stole the seat from Volpe, after losing to him during the 2008 federal election.

It was predicted early on that the riding of Pickering – Scarborough East would remain red; however, both councillors and residents were shocked as long-time incumbent Dan McTeague lost to Conservative candidate Corneliu Chisu.

McTeague represented the area since 1993, when he was first elected as the MP for Ontario Riding.

But it was in Ajax-Pickering, considered a key riding and one of the toughest battlegrounds this election that Liberal incumbent Mark Holland lost to the blue wave.

Holland fell short in numbers to Conservative celebrity candidate Chris Alexander, who worked as Canadian ambassador to Afghanistan and a special deputy representative for the United Nations

A long-time resident of the area, Holland held the riding since 2004. He championed the long-gun registry support, and has been described by The Toronto Star as a “sharp-tongued critic” on the Conservatives’ “tough on crime” policies and summits.