The Member of Parliament for Provencher says he would like to see Pierre Poilievre stay on as Leader of the Conservative Party.
Not only did the Conservatives fall to the Liberals in Monday's election, but Poilievre also lost his seat in the Carleton constituency.
"That's the one real big disappointment for the evening," says Ted Falk. "But I'm sure our team is working on finding out how we can get Mr. Poilievre back into Parliament."
Falk says Poilievre will go through a leadership review at caucus, however, he says the longtime MP has demonstrated that he is a phenomenal leader. Falk refers to him as a gifted individual, with high energy and high capacity.
"He is certainly someone I will support in the leadership when it comes up for discussion at our next caucus meeting," says Falk.
Falk says there are several victories to take from Monday's election. Locally, Falk took 66.3 per cent of the votes.
"Having a 66 per cent vote is something that I'm very proud and pleased with," he adds.
Not only was his margin of victory greater in this election than in 2021, but 66.3 is the highest percentage of votes that Falk has received in the five elections he has entered.
"I was very pleased with my results here in Provencher, tremendous constituency support and had an excellent campaign team," says Falk. "My wife and my family and friends really came out, supported me, and then a lot of Conservative people that really wanted to see change happening, came and supported as well. And the reception at the doors was great."
Falk says another positive from the night was the gains made nationally by the Conservatives. The Conservatives added 25 seats. They are now only 25 seats behind the Liberals, compared to 41 after the 2021 election.
Though the next federal election does not need to happen for another four years, Falk says the minority Liberals will need to make some deals if they hope to make it that long. He notes they will need the support of either the NDP or Bloc Quebecois to reach a majority in order to pass throne speeches, budgets, and legislation. Falk says all it takes is for one non-confidence vote to topple the Liberals and he is hopeful that another election will happen in the not-too-distant future.
As for the carbon tax, Falk says Poilievre was the champion of bringing to the attention of Canadians its damaging impacts. He says the Liberals realized this, which is why Mark Carney put a pause on the consumer carbon tax, garnering him some favour. However, Falk says it was never axed and so the expectation by the Conservatives is that it will come back.
"Because (Carney) had been, as Justin Trudeau's senior economic advisor, advising Mr. Trudeau to raise the carbon tax and that it wasn't high enough," adds Falk. "I think we're going into again high spend, high tax regime under this Liberal government."
Meanwhile, Falk says it is time to get back to Ottawa. He notes the Conservatives are eager to return in order to hold this new government to account and fight for Canadians. He says they will fight to make life more affordable, to bring down taxes, and reduce inflation. Falk says we need to get rid of the inter-provincial trade barriers that exist today. He adds we need crime legislation that will reduce crime instead of penalizing law-abiding firearms owners.