With a 118-vote mountain between herself and Ontario PC candidate Chris Scott, Lisa Vezeau-Allen of the Ontario NDP has no plans to call and concede the Sault Ste. Marie seat at Queen's Park.
Vezeau-Allen arrived at the campaign celebration at the Grand Gardens Downtown on Dennis Street, with about 100 people in attendance.
Once the final poll closed and a gap remained, Vezeau-Allen offered only a few comments to the media.
"I feel fantastic that I'm with the people I love right now. That we worked hard. I'm with the people I love and that's all that matters," she said.
"I will know more what the process is tomorrow — tomorrow . . . the next day, I don't know," said Vezeau-Allen.
"I'm not in charge. I'm not the regulatory authority here," she added.
Asked if she has spoken to Scott, Vezeau-Allen said she has not.
"We aren't calling it and so I will wait to — perhaps he could reach out to me. None of this is official. So it's all unofficial, so until it's official, I'm happy to make a statement, but right now it's all unofficial," she said before excusing herself to be with family.
Vezeau-Allen's 12,964 votes are more than any other provincial NDP candidate has recorded in the Sault Ste. Marie riding since Tony Martin.
Green Party candidate Jaycob Jacques, who appeared in no local election events and did not respond to SooToday's media requests, received 421 votes. If some of those progressive voters had instead cast their ballots for Vezeau-Allen it could potentially have secured a win for her.
A city councillor for Ward 2, Vezeau-Allen was nominated by the local Ontario NDP riding association less than a month ago.
Aside from her time on city council, Vezeau-Allen is the founder of two local social enterprises — Grocer 4 Good and Cafe 4 Good.
At her nomination meeting, Vezeau-Allen spoke of the need to address issues in the Sault such as affordable housing, accessibility and food insecurity, in addition to province-wide issues like mental health and addictions, and improved health care.
“This has been something I’ve been wanting to do,” Vezeau-Allen told SooToday following the meeting.
“I really think that I can make a difference in Sault Ste. Marie, because I really understand what the issues are, and I really have a keen understanding of how we need to navigate and manoeuvre all the ministries and the asks and all of that.”
Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles spent a day and a half in the Sault earlier in the election campaign, making campaign stops at a rally in the Mane Street Cafe and Lounge, as well as a closed-door tour of Algoma Steel, among others.
During the visit, Stiles said she believes the NDP could win in the Sault.
"Absolutely, we are in it to win here. We think we can flip this riding from blue to orange, and we have an incredible candidate," said Stiles of Vezeau-Allen during the Feb. 6 rally.
Stiles has been leader of the Official Opposition at Queen's Park since February of 2023, when she took over as party leader from Andrea Horwath, who held that position since 2009.
— with files from James Hopkin