It's official.
Peter Julian will return to Ottawa as the NDP representative for the sixth consecutive time, after securing 44.2% of the vote following a long night of vote counting on Monday night.
The battle for second place went to Liberal Will Davis, with 23.5% of the vote, over Conservative Megan Veck, with 21.6%.
UPDATE: 8:55 p.m.
Peter Julian is prepared to play whatever role the NDP leader wants him to take on - if he’s re-elected.
While Julian currently leads comfortably - with 43% of the vote, and 65 of 201 polls reporting - he’s not calling it until the results are clear.
“In 2004, the Liberal candidate declared the winner that night,” he said. "She was declared the winner by 2,000 votes. And then as the evening wore on I caught up and eventually won.”
If re-elected, Julian said he will take on whatever role the leader sees fit.
“He will make those decisions in the coming days, but I am happy to play any role I can," Julian said.
8:04 p.m.
The more interesting race in New Westminster-Burnaby is now the fight for second place, as Conservative Megan Veck and Liberal Will Davis remain separated by 10 votes (at 21.3% and 22.3% of the vote, respectively).
Julian continues to sit comfortably well ahead of the rest of the pack, with 47.9% of the vote.
Nationwide, Justin Trudeau's Liberals are now leading or elected in 155 ridings, while the NDP are leading or elected in 24.
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7:55 p.m.
Results are trickling in, and Peter Julian (NDP) retains his lead, still sitting at 49.5% of the vote with 715 votes counted.
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7:34 p.m.
As expected, Peter Julian (NDP) is off to an early and comfortable lead as he prepares to defend his seat for a sixth term.
With only 663 votes in, he's got just shy of half of them (49.9%), while Megan Veck of the Conservatives and Will Davis of the Liberals are in a tight race for second place.
Suzanne de Montigny of the Greens isn't vanishing into the woodwork, either, as she's sitting at 8%.
Nationally, it seems the Liberal Party of Canada is heading back to power, but with a minority government, as the party is leading or elected in 146 ridings (170 is needed for majority).
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Have you got the snacks and beverages lined up? Ready to tune in to watch the election results roll in?
The Record team will be on the job for you tonight, keeping watch on New Westminster-Burnaby as results start coming in some time after the polls close at 7 p.m. local time.
A quick recap for those who don’t know the riding well: New Democrat Peter Julian is gunning for a sixth term in office.
Liberal candidate Will Davis and Conservative candidate Megan Veck will be hoping to break the New Democrats’ stranglehold on the riding – which has gone NDP orange since Julian’s first win in 2004.
While the riding boundaries have changed at different times, New Westminster has primarily been represented in the House of Commons by an NDP MP since 1972. From 1993 to 2006, Paul Forseth served as the city’s MP (New Westminster Burnaby – 1993 to 1997; New Westminster-Coquitlam-Burnaby – 1997 to 2004; and New Westminster-Coquitlam – 2004 to 2006) under the Reform, Canadian Alliance and Conservative banners.
The 2015 election saw Julian earn 43.46 per cent of the vote (down from his personal high of 49.67 per cent in 2011). The Liberals’ Sasha Ramnarine was second in 2015, with 28.97 per cent of the vote, while the Conservatives’ Chloe Ellis earned 19.97 per cent.
Will those percentages and placements shift this election? We’ll know in a matter of hours.
Also on the ballot this year are the Suzanne de Montigny, Green Party of Canada; Hansen Ginn, People’s Party of Canada; Neeraj Murarka, Libertarian Party of Canada; independent Ahmad Passyar; and Joseph Theriault of the Marxist-Leninist Party of Canada.
Bookmark this story, which will be updated throughout the night with live news from our team on the road and in the office. You can also watch our Twitter feed, @TheRecord, and follow our roving reporter @TheresaMcManus in the field.
