Photo: Michael Potestio

Frank Caputo embraces his wife shortly after learning he had won re-election as MP for Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola.

It was a sad scene in victory along Seymour Street on Monday as Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola MP Frank Caputo learned he would return to Ottawa for a second term, and ecstasy in defeat a block up on Victoria Street, as Iain Currie lost locally while the Liberals formed government.

The inverse of emotion was apparent as soon as the polls closed at 7 p.m., but Caputo ended up garnering more than half the vote in the Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola riding — collecting more than 31,000 of about 61,000 votes tallied.

“I’m so overwhelmed. It’s going to be such a joy to return to the House of Commons,” Caputo told Castanet a few minutes after his victory was declared.

"I’m going to take tomorrow to clean up, then sleep, then hopefully Wednesday I’ll get back to work.”

Caputo met with a small cohort of supporters in what was a sombre atmosphere inside a vacant storefront at Kamloops Square, while Currie hosted a raucous party in the Terrace Room at the Delta a block up with lower expectations.

Currie was all smiles as he told Castanet Kamloops he expected his campaign would produce a historic share of the vote for the Liberals in this riding — but he wasn’t expecting to win.

“It’s a blue riding in the sense of the MP that we’ve had over the last many years, but it has been a riding that has considerable votes for the left and left centre,” Currie said.

Emotional in victory

Returning to Ottawa in an opposition role once more after his party fell in defeat, Caputo was teary-eyed — a far cry from the ear-to-ear grin he showed when he was first elected in 2021.

“It's not sad — it's overwhelming,” he said. “I’m a bit more emotional this time, I'm not sure why, but, I've got a couple reasons.”

Asked for these reasons, Caputo said there were “some surprises in this campaign” but said it would be “a joy to return to the House of Commons.”

Caputo said he didn’t know what to expect from this election.

“Obviously you always want to form government,” Caputo said.

“Right now I'm proud locally, is what I can say. Of course, we want to win. NDP collapse was really big, but you know, right now there's a lot of emotion coming through and I don't know that I can really put it into words. I need some time to process all of this to be honest with you.”

'So much uncertainty'

Terry Lake, a former Kamloops mayor and B.C. health minister who ran unsuccessfully for the Liberals in the 2019 federal election, said many Canadians are likely frustrated today.

"There’s so much uncertainty in the world right now with what’s going on with Donald Trump, that I think Canadians were hoping that we’d have some certainty after this,” Lake told Castanet.

“And right now, it doesn’t look like we’ll have that certainty.”

Lake commended Currie for a “respectable” runner-up showing in Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola.

“He’s intelligent and a good candidate. I knew he would attract some votes,” he said.

“But that conservative temperament in the Interior of B.C., particularly around Kamloops, is just too much to overcome."

Lake said he’s happy to see the Liberals hang on to power with a minority government.

“If you would have said that three months ago, we would have all been laughing,” he said.

"So much has changed in that time, with the election of Mark Carney as leader and, of course, the situation in the White House with tariffs and talk about threats to Canada’s sovereignty has just changed the picture entirely.”

More than half the votes

Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola voters gave Caputo a stronger mandate than he received in 2021, with more than 51.6 per cent of the vote (31,768 votes with 271 of 272 polls reporting) and the strongest mandate for a Conservative since Cathy McLeod in the 2011 election.

The Liberals had a strong showing locally compared to their previous campaign with 40.1 per cent (24,714 votes) going to Iain Currie — their highest vote total in the last eight elections, compared to previous highs of Steve Powrie’s 21,000-plus in 2015 and Terry Lake’s 19,000-plus in 2019.

The NDP had a historic collapse in the riding with just 5.9 per cent of the vote (3,660 votes) going to Miguel Godau.

In 2021, Caputo won Kamloops-Thomspon-Cariboo with 43 per cent of the vote and 30,000-plus votes, the NDP had 29 per cent (20,000-plus votes) and the Liberals 18 per cent (12,000-plus).

As he restarts his work, Caputo said he will begin by meeting with local government officials. He said he intends bring “the same tenacity as before” to support the residents of the riding.

"Talking to people, meeting with people, working with people," he told Castanet. "My job is to represent the people of Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola.”