By Joel van der Veen

MOOSE JAW — Canada’s political landscape shifted dramatically following Monday’s federal election, but voters in Davidson and area awoke Tuesday to find their local outlook was, on the surface, much the same.

Conservative Tom Lukiwski, who has represented the area federally since 2004, sailed to victory in the new riding of Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan, receiving 55.5 per cent of the vote.

He easily defeated his nearest opponent, the NDP’s Dustan Hlady, who garnered 23.8 per cent of the vote.

Entering his fifth term as an MP, Lukiwski is a familiar face to voters in the district. However, he now finds himself not only representing a different riding, but also headed to a different side of the House of Commons.

The Conservatives will form the official opposition, as the Liberal Party under leader Justin Trudeau moved from third place to power, taking 184 seats and claiming a majority win with 39.5 per cent support.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced his resignation as party leader, issuing a press release before the night’s end, as his party was reduced to 99 seats and 31.9 per cent support.

Speaking to supporters in Moose Jaw on Monday, Lukiwski pledged that he and his colleagues would accept their new roles with fervour.

“We will persevere, and we’ll be a very good opposition,” he said, adding that he wants to be as effective as possible in co-operating with the Liberals.

“I want to work with them,” he said. “I’m a little bit concerned about Prime Minister Trudeau . . . I’m not sure if he’s got the experience.”

Still, Lukiwski said, he and the Conservatives accept the election results — noting that “voters are never wrong” — and he hopes to be able to have a positive effect on forthcoming legislation from the new government.

• • • • •

Lukiwski’s supporters were gathered at the Eagles Club hall on Moose Jaw’s South Hill when the candidate made his appearance around 9 p.m.

The mood was subdued as attendees watched the televised results — pleased with the local outcome, but disappointed to see the national party’s fall from power.

Campaign manager Amos Dowler said things had gone smoothly over the past 11 weeks, with a strong team and a positive response from voters.

“Everything that we did and the strategy that we laid out went exactly to plan,” he said. “It was long, we were all happy it’s over . . . (but) it’s certainly well worth the effort.”

Dowler said the campaign focused on “natural events” in the riding until Labour Day, observing, “A lot of people aren’t focused till then . . . They’re more worried about barbecues, or enjoying the lake or cabin.”

A Q&A session with agricultural producers in Duval, where guests had the opportunity to ask questions directly to Lukiwski and to former ag minister Gerry Ritz, drew a large crowd on Oct. 13.

During his victory speech, Lukiwski noted that he put 10,000 kilometres on his car during the campaign.

“I was campaigning on unchartered territory,” he said, noting that the win was gratifying, but “it’s more humbling than anything else.”

In thanking his campaign team, he offered particular gratitude to sign co-ordinator Butch Lasek, whose team installed hundreds of signs across the riding.

“When we had that big wind a few weeks ago,” Lukiwski recalled with a smile, “we had to go back over all that territory and put them all back up again.”

On Monday, Lukiwski expressed a desire to co-operate with the Liberals but warned that it would be “sheer folly” to back out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.

Reflecting on the Conservatives’ loss, he said it was clear that voters desired change and that feeling was “too powerful” to overcome. He added that the final result was the greatest surprise of the campaign.

Hlady called the Conservative campaign sometime after 9 p.m. to offer his congratulations to Lukiwski, who noted he had not had such a call from an opponent since the 2004 election.

“I told him it showed a lot of class,” he said, adding that Hlady ran a good campaign and “did his party proud.”

Lukiwski said his first priority will be to set up a constituency office in Moose Jaw, noting that he will have at least one additional office in the northern part of the riding, likely in one of the communities along Highway 11.

While receiving fewer votes overall than in 2011, Lukiwski increased his percentage of the popular vote from the previous election, when he took 53 per cent in Regina-Lumsden-Lake Centre.

For the full story, including an interview with second-place finisher Dustan Hlady and reports from the Student Vote at Davidson School, please see the Oct. 26 edition of The Davidson Leader.