Liberal minority back up to 169 after Elections Canada validates close Ontario race

Darren Major · CBC News

· Posted: May 02, 2025 7:11 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Elections Canada's validation process has revealed a 2nd intimately contested riding's victor has changed aft Monday's preliminary effect — this clip from the Conservatives to the Liberals.

The unofficial results posted connected predetermination nighttime showed that Conservative Parm Gill had won the redrawn riding of Milton East-Halton Hills South by 298 votes.

But aft double-checking the numbers, Elections Canada present reports that Liberal Kristina Tesser Derksen won by 29 votes.

This latest riding flip brings the Liberals backmost to 169 seats portion the Conservatives driblet to 143.

The Liberals mislaid a riding connected Thursday aft a akin validation process successful the Montreal riding of Terrebonne revealed that the Bloc Québécois had won.

Validation is not a recount

The validation process — which is antithetic from an authoritative recount — is simply a mode for Elections Canada to verify the unofficial results that are reported connected predetermination night. Each section returning serviceman goes done the results reported by each polling presumption to weed retired immoderate imaginable errors.

"When you're talking astir hundreds of oregon thousands of polling locations and tons of results coming in, errors tin happen. Whether it's thing gets misheard connected the telephone oregon idiosyncratic accidentally types successful the incorrect fig connected the keyboard," Matthew McKenna, a spokesperson for Elections Canada, told CBC News earlier predetermination day.

"The returning serviceman for each riding goes done the statements of the ballot from each canvass and makes definite that that's checked against the records truthful that we tin set for immoderate small errors oregon mistakes."

Even aft the validation process, some Milton East-Halton Hills South and Terrebonne's last tally are truthful adjacent that it volition trigger an authoritative recount. Such a recount is overseen by a justice and is automatically triggered if a campaigner wins by little than 0.1 per cent of the wide vote.

Official recounts person flipped ridings successful the past. In 2021, the Bloc campaigner was declared the victor of the then-named riding of Châteauguay-Lacolle. But an authoritative recount 2 weeks aboriginal gave the triumph to the Liberals.

An authoritative recount volition besides beryllium triggered successful the N.L. riding of Terra Nova-The Peninsulas, wherever the Liberal campaigner edged retired the Conservative by 12 votes.