St. Paul’s Senate nomination candidate, Raymond Germain, placed fifth out of 13 candidates in the April 23 election. Germain earned 299,415 votes across the province, 11 per cent of the Senate votes, according to unofficial results.
Progressive Conservative candidates Doug Black, Scott Tannas and Mike Shaikh won the top three spots in the Senate nomination, followed by Wildrose candidate Rob Gregory, who beat Germain by only 96 votes. Germain followed Shaikh and third place by 8,924 votes. Rounding out sixth was the Wildrose Party’s third candidate, Vitor Marciano.
Germain said he did not expect to place as well as he did, with nearly 300,000 votes cast for the local rookie political campaigner.
“I’m in awe. I was very, very surprised, and very grateful. I just want to thank everybody that supported me,” he said last week. “It was an awesome experience for me.”
Germain said he received a positive local response. He earned the votes of 6,165 voters in Lac La Biche – St. Paul – Two Hills, (27 per cent of 22,878 votes), and 4,031 votes in Bonnyville – Cold Lake, winning both constituencies with wide margins. Voters could choose up to three names on the ballot.
“I’m already disappointed and upset that the PC party got in,” he said, pointing to $350 million for a new museum in Edmonton. “Why don’t they find a place for all our seniors to live? When our seniors have a place to live, then you build your museum … I like museums like everyone else but it’s not the time to be spending that kind of money.”
As his first foray into politics, Germain said “only time will tell” if he runs for office again.
“Raymond Germain did an excellent job,” said Lac La Biche – St. Paul – Two Hills MLA Shayne Saskiw adding he would like to see Germain run again in the future.
Germain credited Saskiw’s hard work on the campaign trail for his electoral success. “Shayne was door knocking every single day nonstop. I really don’t know where he found the time to sleep.”
While not required by law, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said he will advise the Governor General to appoint from the top three nominees to seats in the Senate as they become available. Alberta is the only province in Canada to hold Senate nomination elections.
The three Wildrose nomination candidates filled out the fourth, fifth and sixth spots, outside of the top three to be considered for appointment. Germain said the results show most people voted along party lines.
