Liberal Dominic LeBlanc elected a 9th time in Beauséjour
57-year-old has held key roles in cabinet under Trudeau, Carney
Prominent Liberal cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc was cruising Monday night to a ninth term in the southeast New Brunswick riding of Beauséjour.
LeBlanc was projected to win the riding with more than 60 per cent of the vote as of 10:50 p.m. Monday when 155 of 221 polls had been counted.
"I'm really proud and happy to be re-elected in my constituency," LeBlanc told reporters at an event in Shediac on Monday evening.
LeBlanc, 57, has held the seat since 2000. The riding includes the communities of Shediac, Sackville and portions of Dieppe.
He said he's nervous each election day and slept badly the night before.
"I never take an election for granted," LeBlanc said. "Every time you drive by somebody's house and you see your opponents sign on their lawn, you can imagine that it just increases your nervousness. I've been like that every election."
He ran against Conservative Nathalie Vautour, Alex Gagné with the NDP, Josh Shaddick with the Green Party, Eddie Cornell with the People's Party and Libertarian Donna Allen.
Speaking in another interview with CBC News before results were known outside Atlantic Canada, LeBlanc said he was confident the Liberals would form a majority government.
"That's certainly what I'm hoping for," LeBlanc said. "I think it's realistic, but we have to wait for the votes to be counted."
Late in the evening, CBC projected the party would form the government but it was too soon to say if it would be a majority government.
LeBlanc has held a variety of high-profile cabinet roles during his time in office, including minister of fisheries and oceans, intergovernmental affairs, public safety and recently finance under Justin Trudeau.
When Mark Carney became prime minister, LeBlanc was named minister of international trade and intergovernmental affairs, taking a key role in the trade dispute with the United States.
LeBlanc was diagnosed with lymphocytic lymphoma in 2017, when he was fisheries minister, which he overcame. He spent time in hospital during the 2019 election.
LeBlanc's father, Roméo LeBlanc, held the riding between 1972 and 1984 for the Liberals.
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