Tonight was a night full of people waiting with baited breath for for the results of Canada’s 42nd Election. Numbers began pouring in shortly after 7 p.m. and early indications suggested that the Atlantic provinces (which were mainly Conservative/NDP following the 2011 election) could become a Liberal majority.

With the polls officially closing at 9:30 p.m. eastern time in all provinces save for British Columbia, anticipation built for the rest of the country’s results to show. Within the first half hour, the Liberal Party held a hefty potential lead over the Conservatives, with the NDP, Bloc Quebecois and Green Party trailing far behind.

Locally, by 10 p.m. incumbent David Tilson was in the lead by 100 votes over Liberal candidate Ed Crewson at 1685 votes to Crewson’s 1584. Nancy Urekar of the Green Party was trailing behind at 314 votes, with Reyha Yazbek at 274.

Although at midnight a number of poll results across the nation had yet to be reported, it was confirmed that the Liberals had won a majority government under Justin Trudeau, and Dufferin-Caledon’s MP was incumbent David Tilson.

“It feels great,” said Mr. Tilson in an interview following the election. “Elections are a challenge to go through; they’re nerve-wracking, and you really don’t know how things are going to go. You can have a good feeling going through the doors, but there have been plenty of politicians who had a good feeling and lost.”

And while the Conservatives did not see a win at the Federal level, Mr. Tilson’s mood and demeanour was not dampened at the prospect of a Liberal government.

“The people have spoken, and as I have said in other interviews, I will do my best — as all Conservatives who are elected, new and old do — we will hold him to account,” he said.

With the new government formed, Mr. Tilson added that he intends to continue to stand up for his constituents and for Canadians and challenge policies that may not benefit Canadians.

“The philosophy of the Liberals are quite different,” he said. “The philosophy of the Conservatives was not to increase taxes, not to go into a deficit, not to increase the debt of the country and pay what you can afford.”

He continued, saying that Mr. Trudeau intends to create a deficit of at least $10 billion each year over the next three years, resulting in a $30 billion debt.

“It takes a long time to pay that off,” said Mr. Tilson. “How are you going to pay that off? The Conservatives think that’s the wrong philosophy to take. People today who have a household debt, get to the point if you can’t afford it, you don’t get it. We don’t think that Canada can afford to get into a heavy debt with our finances.”

Late Monday evening it was also announced via a press release that Stephen Harper has resigned as Party Leader.

Conservative Party President John Walsh explained via a statement that he had spoken to the former Prime Minister, who had instructed him to appoint an Interim Leader through the newly elected parliamentary caucus as well as to implement the leadership selection process through the National Council.

Prior to the press release, Mr. Harper stated in a concession speech in Calgary that he accepted the evening’s defeat without hesitation, but did not mention his resignation when speaking to supporters.