Manitoba

Winnipeg was scene of tightest election race in Canada

The closest race in the 2015 federal election was in Winnipeg's Elmwood-Transcona riding, which was decided by 51 votes.
Daniel Blaikie is all smiles after being declared the winner in Elmwood-Transcona early Tuesday morning. (CBC)

The closest race in Canada's 2015 general election happened in Winnipeg and in a throwback to 1993, it once again involved a Blaikie.

Shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday, Elections Canada officially declared Daniel Blaikie the winner in Winnipeg's Elmwood-Transcona riding, over Conservative incumbent Lawrence Toet.

The margin of victory, after the two candidates traded leads through the night, was just 51 votes.

The next closest contest in the country was in Saskatchewan's Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, where the NDP's Georgina Jolibois defeated Liberal Lawrence Joseph by 70 votes.

The tight race in Elmwood-Transcona wasn't unfamiliar territory for Toet, who took the seat from the NDP by a slim 300 votes in the 2011 election. He hasn't decided yet if he will seek a recount of the 2015 results.

And it wasn't the first time a Blaikie was involved in a nail-biter for the seat.

In the 1993 general election, Bill Blaikie (Daniel's father) was chased to the finish line by Liberal candidate Art Miki. In the end, Blaikie won by 219 votes.