Sheehan re-elected in Sault Ste. Marie

SAULT STE. MARIE -

Days after the polls closed, voters in the Sault Ste. Marie riding now know who will be representing them on Parliament hill. Liberal incumbent Terry Sheehan has been re-elected following a very close contest with Conservative rival Sonny Spina.

Sheehan collected 15,231 votes while 14,984 votes went to Spina. New Democrat candidate Marie Morin-Strom came in third place with 8,043 votes while People's Party candidate Kasper Makowski collected 1,943 votes. Voter turnout in Sault Ste. Marie comes in at 60.8 percent, just below the national turnout of 61.58 percent.

Sheehan said he's ready to return to work as the Member of Parliament for Sault Ste. Marie when the Liberal party is once again sworn in as the Government of Canada.

"I'm going to continue to finish cleaning up my (campaign) office here, and yes, I will be heading back into my constituency office and meet with a lot of wonderful people that I have met with and dialogued with to further enhance their ideas and their suggestions," said Sheehan, who adds he will be focussing on initiatives designed to grow the region.

"We're seeing an influx of people coming back home, but also people discovering this area for the first time. I want to capitalize on that and see us grow exponentially over the next few years."

Meantime, Sault Ste. Marie Mayor Christian Provenzano is congratulating Sheehan on his re-election.

"I think Terry Sheehan has done a very good job for Sault Ste. Marie," Provenzano said. "I think he cares about it deeply. I think he works hard for it. And I want to congratulate the Prime Minister on the re-election of his government."

With Sheehan returning to Parliament hill, Provenzano said he's looking forward to getting back to work on some projects - namely attracting a new federal agency to the Sault.

"One of the main ones that we're focussed on is the Canada Water Agency," Provenzano said. "We're going to hit the ground running there and we'll keep on working on that. And again, we'll see where our agendas align and we'll support the government in any way that we believe is in the best interest of Sault Ste. Marie."

Calls for comment from Conservative candidate Sonny Spina were not immediately returned.