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•Th e IFP• H alton H ills, Thursday, June 19, 2014 3 2006 Kia Rio + HST/LIC • Auto/4 cyl Certified & E-tested • A/C • Keyless Entry • Heated Seats • AM/FM CD Player $6,500 2006 Saturn ION $6,500 + HST/LIC • Auto/4 cyl Certified & E-Tested • Power Steering/Locks • Steering Wheel Controls e-mail: hassellsauto@bellnet.ca www.hassellautomotive.com Warranty 2007 Mazda3 GX • Auto/4 cyl • Certified & E-tested • A/C • Power Windows/Mirrors • Alloy Wheels • Cruise Control $9,200 + HST/LIC CALL WarrantyWarranty 2009 Hyundai Santa Fe GL Warranty • Auto/6 cyl • Certified & E-tested • A/C • Cruise Control • Driver/Passenger Air Bags $13,600 + HST/LIC 45 Mountainview Road North Georgetown, Ontario 905.877.7958 Although it was a rough ride for his party across the province, Ontario PC Ted Arnott cruised to an easy win Thursday evening in the Wellington-Halton Hills riding. Unofficial results saw incumbent Arnott top the riding with 22,600 votes (46.68 per- cent). Liberal Dan Zister had 14,095 votes (29.12 per cent), NDP Michael Carlucci earned 6,848 (14.15 per cent), Green Party candidate Dave Rodgers had 3,566 (7.37 per cent) Libertarian Jason Cousineau 1,104 (2.28 per cent) and Freedom Party candidate Mitch Sproule 198 (0.41 per cent.) "I'm honoured and privileged to go back to work tomorrow," said Arnott. "I'm not the type who waves my arms around on election night, because it's not so much a win, it's the privilege and honour of serving." Arnott and about 50 of his supporters watched election results come in at Erin Le- gion. At the end of the night the Liberals had won a majority government with 59 seats, PC had 27 and the NDP trailed with 21 seats. While he was pleased with the outcome of the local campaign Arnott said he was "obvi- ously disappointed that we didn't get to form the government." "Opposition is not the place you want to be ideally, but if you accept it, there are oppor- tunities to raise issues and concerns and I've always been willing to reach across the aisle to other parties to get things done." He said they started the campaign off lo- cally with "the wind in our sails" and when the party's platform came out calling for the reduction of 100,000 government jobs it was a turning point in the campaign. "It was difficult for us to explain that to our constituents," said Arnott, who added he believes in leader Tim Hudak and the party's platform and he tried to explain it as best he could. He said he saw the reduction of jobs as something to be accomplished through a flex- ible hiring freeze, attrition and restructuring. But he said unfortunately it was "mischarac- terized" by the other parties who suggested 100,000 people would be fired the next day. "Ultimately it was a failure on our part to communicate it effectively," said Arnott. Ar- nott says the province is in trouble in terms of the budget. "We can't just wish this away," he said. Arnott said Thursday night, he will be back to work Friday in his riding office and he has three issues he wants to raise with the new government: all-day GO service in George- town, the Hwy. 6 Morriston byway project, and lack of high speed internet in rural On- tario. Friday he sent a letter to Premier Kath- leen Wynne congratulating her and outlining those issues. (An edited version is in today's paper.) Arnott thanked everyone who had helped with his campaign including Bill Baxter his campaign manager. "We had a magnificent team of really good community-minded people who came for- ward to support me," said Arnott. "I can't say how appreciative I am for the work they did." In reaction to the fact Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak is stepping down as party leader Arnott said on Tuesday that Hudak led the party for five years and through two elections. "I wish he and his family all the very best," said Arnott. Some angry Conservative caucus mem- bers are urging Hudak to leave immediately. "I'm not one of the MPPs in our caucus that is trying to hasten his departure," said Arnott. "Any leader of our party deserves a dignified departure from the role of leader and he does too." Early election night, Liberal Dan Zister watched election returns with his campaign workers at The Pickled Piper on Guelph St. in Georgetown. The watchers were encouraged by the early results showing Liberals pulling quickly to an early lead province-wide. A first-time candidate in Wellington-Hal- ton Hills, Zister said his campaign went pretty well. "It was a bit of a roller coaster, with some ups and downs at times, but overall we were very pleased with it," he said, adding his re- ception was generally quite favourable." Zister said he would definitely run again, "hopefully as a re-election campaign," he quipped on Election Night. With about a half a dozen supporters, NDP candidate Michael Carlucci watched the elec- tion results on a TV at the Mill Street Cross- ing in Acton. However, he was frustrated by the lack of information on the riding, and had only seen results once in the first hour since the polls closed at 9 p.m.-- Arnott had been declared elected by the major TV networks by 9:30 p.m. Carlucci, another first-time candidate, said the campaign went well and he got a favour- able reaction when door knocking, saying people viewed him as a welcome change. "I absolutely enjoyed it. I have always been someone who enjoyed speaking to people at the doors and doing it as a candidate, even better, " he said. He described the favourable reaction com- ing from Conservatives who turned away from Tim Hudak's plans, and were turning to the NDP as a reasonable alternative. He said it was still too early to tell whether he would consider running again. Green Party candidate Dave Rodgers said he wants to thank the "dedicated cadre of Wellington Halton-Hills Green supporters for their generous support in our campaign. We managed to more than double the Green vote in our riding to over seven per cent. At the same time, we helped Mike Schreiner win close to 20 per cent of the vote in Guelph and just under 5 per cent across the province." By LISA TALLYN & C. GAMBLE Staff Writers Election 2014 wrap-up: Arnott cruises to victory PC Ted Arnott applauds his campaign workers at his Election Night victory party at the Erin Legion. Photo by Jon Borgstrom The count 2014 (unofficial): PC (Ted Arnott)--46.68%, 22,600 votes Liberal (Dan Zister)-- 29.12%, 14,095 votes NDP (Michael Carlucci)--14.15%, 6,848 votes Green (Dave Rodgers)-- 7.37%, 3,566 votes Libertarian (Jason Cousineau)-- 2.28%, 1,104 votes Freedom Party (Mitch Sproule)-- 0.14%, 198 votes 2011: PC (Ted Arnott)-- 55.62%, 23,495 votes Liberal-- 26.83%, 11,334 votes NDP-- 14.45 %, 6,106 votes Green-- 3.10%, 1,309 votes 2007: PC (Ted Arnott)-- 49.16%, 21,533 votes Liberal-- 30.39 %, 13,312 votes Green-- 10.25 %, 4,489 votes NDP-- 8.94 %, 3,914 votes Liberal candidate Dan Zister (second from right) watches election results with cam- paign workers, from left, Colin Prince, Pat Kennedy and Steve Williams at the Pickled Piper in Georgetown. Photo by Victoria Thoms NDP candidate (second from the right) is cheered on by (from left) George Isley, Robert Sevigny, and Helen Gerteis at the Mill Street Crossing in Acton on Election Night. Photo by Victoria Thoms