Voter turnout jumps for Atlantic Canada's Liberal wave

Atlantic Canadians have spoken — and more of them spoke up than during the 2011 election that saw Stephen Harper capture his majority that year.

Justin Trudeau will be Canada's next prime minister after leading the Liberal Party to a stunning majority government win.

This will be the second time Canada will be led by a Trudeau, as the 43-year-old Liberal leader follows in the footsteps of his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who served as prime minister for almost 16 years before retiring in 1984.

Voter Louise Burchell was happy to see another Trudeau win.

"This is a multi-cultural country and of course that's part of Pierre Elliott Trudeau's legacy, as well, and to have his son come in as prime minister, I think it's great," she said.

This time around, more people came out to ensure Trudeau was in.

In fact, voter turnout was up across all Atlantic provinces:

• In Nova Scotia, voter turnout jumped to 71 per cent — not including those who registered on election day — from 62 per cent voter turnout from the previous election in 2011.
• In New Brunswick, voter turnout jumped to 75 per cent — not including those who registered on election day — from 66 per cent voter turnout from the previous election in 2011.
• On Prince Edward Island, voter turnout slightly increased to 77 per cent — not including those who registered on election day — from 74 per cent voter turnout from the previous election in 2011. It had the highest rate of voter turnout across the country.
• In Newfoundland and Labrador, voter turnout jumped to 61 per cent — not including those who registered on election day — from 52 per cent voter turnout from the previous election in 2011.

In general, more Canadians came out to vote in this election with voter turnout at more than 68 per cent or about 17,546,697 registered electors. In 2011, voter turnout was 61 per cent, 2.3 percentage points higher than the all-time low of 58.8 per cent for 2008. 

• Results: Everything you want to know about last night's election

'If you're not content, you say so'

Voter Jim Graham thinks the increased turnout was due to a dissatisfaction with the previous government.

"I guess it's the negative that drives people. If you're content, you're content and if you're not content, you say so," he said.

Voter Edwin MacDonald echoed those comments.

"I will give former prime minister — I love saying that, former prime minister — Harper one thing, he energized the voters. Not the way he wanted, but he energized the voters," he said.

Kathleen Fogarty is unhappy the Conservatives lost. She says Harper was the best prime minister Canada ever had and praised his background in economics.

"I think it's a sad, sad day for Canada," she said.

Fogarty is worried Nova Scotia will lose the shipbuilding project because of the Liberals and thinks there will be negative changes made to programs such as employment insurance and the Canada Pension Plan.

She also doesn't think Trudeau is up to the job.

"We have now a whitewater rafting instructor and a radical environmentalist leading the way and it's going to be a sad, state of affairs," said Fogarty.

New initiatives helped more people vote

Elections Canada was bracing for a high turnout after people flocked to advance polls over the Thanksgiving weekend. More than 3.6 million ballots were cast over four days of advance polls, an increase of 71 per cent in the 2011 election, when only three days of advance polls were held.

Elections Canada also launched initiatives to try and get more people out to vote. It launched programs to increase accessibility for target groups that are usually under-represented, including youth and aboriginal Canadians.

One pilot project to put advance polling stations on some campuses attracted 70,000 students to cast a ballot.