The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

14 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday October 15, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Raitt walks away with MP's seat in Halton Continued from page 1 "It ends tonight," she said, which was met with by a round of cheers. The married mother of two went on to thank her campaign team, the Halton Conservative Association, her family and people at the Toronto Port Authority, where she was the president and CEO until recently taking an unpaid leave of absence to run in the election. "It was a team victory," she said. "Everyone on our team dedicated themselves and pulled together." She also acknowledged the other local candidates who she said worked hard to deliver their messages on behalf of their parties. "They have made democracy stronger," she said. While things often became heated between Raitt and Turner during the campaign, she said she thinks he's a "talented individual" who has superlative writing skills GRAHAM PAINE / OAKVILLE BEAVER IN VICTORY: Halton Conservative candidate Lisa Raitt gets a big kiss from husband Dave as they celebrates her election win. and great public speaking skills. She closed by saying she's looking forward to taking her seat in the House of Commons. "I will do everything in my power to ensure the trust you've placed in me is used to make Halton a better place to work and to live," she said. Going forward, Raitt said one of her first priorities will be to make sure people understand what kind of riding Halton is. "Halton is new Canadians, it's new families, it's rural, it's farmers. It's growing so fast that we have to have attention paid to it," she said. "We have to make sure the pace of the expansion is met by the infrastructure needs we have. I'm going to fight for what's needed in Halton, and that's infrastructure." She said she wants to develop a plan with Regional Chair Gary Carr and the local mayors to help deliver on the infrastructure needs. No surprises for Green or NDP By Stephanie Hounsell METROLAND WEST MEDIA Elections Canada Unofficial Halton Results -- 270/284 polls -- Conservative Lisa Raitt 31,029 47.5% Liberal Garth Turner 23,553 36.0% NDP Robert Wagner 5,815 8.9% Green Party Amy Collard 4,628 7.1% Christian Heritage 317 0.5% Tony Rodrigues Total number of valid votes: 65,342 For two parties championing change, the outcomes of the Green Party and the NDP in Halton remained surprisingly similar as in the 2006 federal election. At press time last night, the Green Party's Amy Collard had captured just over one per cent more of the vote, while the NDP's Rob Wagner had managed to snag an additional 0.1 per cent more. But both party candidates insist it's all about baby steps. Collard, who joined faithful supporters at the Olde Dickens last night, seemed disappointed when initial numbers flashed across the TV screen, but retained her optimism toward the end of the night. "I feel the heart of voters is with the Green Party," she said. "I think a lot of people wanted to vote for us, but were afraid and voted strategically." She set out hoping to get 10 per cent of the vote but the numbers didn't seem to be swinging that way. "I can't be disappointed when I know I've run a campaign with integrity." She said she thinks many people think the economy and the environment are mutually exclusive and that the economy had to take precedence; the Green Party believes they're inseparable. Wagner said he was pleased. The percentage of votes he received was consistent with his expectations, he said; there were no surprises. Christian Heritage Party candidate Tony Rodrigues wasn't available for comment. Turner ousts reporter just before he is ousted By Steve LeBlanc METROLAND WEST MEDIA GROUP Moments after his January 2006 victory, Garth Turner said he was "proud to be a foot soldier in Stephen Harper's army." Last night the outspoken and now ousted politician -- turfed out of the Conservative caucus for his controversial blog and later joining the Liberals -- could only sit back in dismay as the Harper invasion made its way back into Halton. Unable to maintain his foothold in the area following a heated and at times, nasty campaign -- which featured plenty of online mudslinging -- Turner lost a decisive race to Tory Lisa Raitt. Shortly before his defeat was official, Metroland West Media Group editor Steve LeBlanc was escorted out of Turner's Milton campaign office by a security guard -- who wouldn't give his name or a reason for the dismissal. It's presumed the move -- coming just before the polls closed at NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER IN DEFEAT: Halton Liberal incumbent Garth Turner, originally elected as a Conservative before he was booted out by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, continued in the role of MP, first as an independent and then a Liberal. On Tuesday, he lost to Conservative candidate and Oakville resident Lisa Raitt. 9:30 p.m. -- was backlash for the paper's endorsement of Raitt last Wednesday in an editorial. When asked if he could call later in the night for comments, Turner's campaign manager, Esther Shaye, simply replied, "You can call tomorrow." Arriving at election headquar- ters just after 9 p.m., Turner told reporters that it had been a spirited race and that the Conservatives had "thrown everything they have at me." Those comments refer to Harper's appointment of Raitt, who was criticized by Turner for being handpicked by the prime minister rather than being allowed to be voted for by members of the Halton Conservatives. Speaking to a television news reporter upon his arrival last night, the rogue politician said he felt the negativity surrounding Halton's election had had minimal impact on voters. "People here have lives and they have real concerns," he said. As far as his party's platform was concerned, Turner did admit midway through the campaign that while Stéphane Dion's Green Shift plan made sense on two fronts -- curbing pollution and giving families a tax cut -- it may take a while for people to absorb.