Not the result locally that the Liberal Party of Canada candidate for Swift Current-Grasslands-Kindersley was hoping for, but federally, he's pleased.
William Caton, running in his sixth federal election, collected over 4,300 votes, good for about 11 percent of ballots cast in the riding. Both numbers are up significantly for the Liberals compared to the 2021 federal election when they received 1,492 votes or 4.35 per cent. It's the largest support they've obtained since the 2015 federal election.
"I'm happy with that," he said. "That's a milestone for Liberals in this constituency, and I'm really glad we got that done."
The Liberal party appears poised to capture a strong minority government.
"I'm very happy the Liberals are going to form government," he said before hoping his party can secure a few more seats for a majority. "It doesn't look like we're going to get there, but who knows. There are still so many close ones, they're going to do recounts. We likely won't know for a few days."
Caton has run for three separate parties since 2000. He finished fourth in votes as a Progressive Conservative in 2000, second in 2004 as a Liberal with his highest vote count of 5,547, third in 2006 as a Liberal, fourth in 2015 under the Green Party, and third as a Liberal in 2019.
He thanked all of the Swift Current-Grasslands-Kindersley voters who cast a ballot in his favour. He also called Conservative MP Jeremy Patzer to congratulate him on his win.