Charles Sousa, a former Ontario finance minister, seems headed for a return to government, this time as a member of Parliament for Canada, according to preliminary results from a byelection held in the Greater Toronto Area on Monday.

As the results were still coming in, Sousa came at a campaign event in Mississauga and announced himself the winner to the applause of more than a hundred supporters.

As your representative in Ottawa, Sousa stated in a speech, “I want you to know that I am here to support you, to work with you and the community, and to be pragmatic in finding the correct answers to the difficulties that we confront.”
As of Tuesday morning, 233 out of 234 polling had returned results, and Sousa had garnered 51.2% of the vote.

Ron Chhinzer, a member of the Peel Regional Police Service and an expert in gang prevention, defeated him with 37.3% of the vote. Julia Kole, a New Democrat, received 4.9 percent of the vote; the Green Party received 3.2 percent, not far behind the NDP. 1.2% of ballots cast went in favor of the People’s Party of Canada.

Sousa was expected to win the seat, according to projections made Monday night by the best car accident lawyer near me decision desk.

In a tweet congratulating Sousa on his victory, Chhinzer claimed that taking part in the election had given him a newfound respect and love for Canada.