A chink in the armour

The provisional results of tonight's by-election in The Straits and White Bay North:

   Dean (Lib)       1925    47.6%
   Pelley (PC)      1799    44.5%
   Colbourne (NDP)   321     7.9%

A narrow win, to be sure — 3.1%, unofficiall — but a win. And even as the Eighth Floor is revving up the lines to highlight the narrow margin by which it lost, let's flash back to by-election night, 2001, when another incumbent's executive assistant went down to defeat:

   Taylor (PC)      2590    50.1%
   Pilgrim (Lib)    2374    46.0%
   Mitchelmore       160     3.1%
   Patey (NDP)        41     0.8%

A staggering 4.2% margin. Next door in St. Barbe, the result was even closer that night.

And what did the political pundits have to say at that time? Well, one pundit in particular was very emphatic:

I think the people here have spoken very, very clearly and they're saying they want a change of government. Our theme was that the Northern Peninsula was being taken for granted and it was time that they voted for the future, and they voted for change.

Tonight, what might you say of the people of the Straits and White Bay North?

Perhaps that they were proud.

And strong.

And determined.

On to Terra Nova.