Former cabinet minister Amarjeet Sohi lost one of Alberta’s few Liberal seats in Monday night’s federal election.
Voters in the Edmonton Mill Woods riding chose Conservative Tim Uppal to represent them.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you everybody,” Uppal told supporters gathered at his headquarters Monday night.
“I know for so many of you this has been such a long road to come back and thank you so much. I really appreciate it.
“This is an amazing team. It’s easy to assemble a large team when you’ve been winning but after a loss like last time, for so many people to come back and say, ‘You have to do this again and we need your voice,’ thank you for believing in me. Thank you for believing in this team.”
Prior to dissolution, Alberta had four Liberal seats. As of 10:30 p.m. MT, all but one Alberta riding had been declared as wins for the Conservatives. The remaining riding – Edmonton Strathcona – was declared a win for the NDP candidate.
“We will be that strong voice for Mill Woods,” Uppal said. “We will be the voice for families who have been hurting because of Justin Trudeau’s policies. We will stand up for those families. We will stand up and keep Justin Trudeau to account and get that pipeline built.”
Sohi said he was proud of the work he has done.
“What we accomplished over the last four years is unparalleled to what the previous government did over the past 10 years,” Sohi said to a cheering room Monday.
“I am so proud that I had a chance to work on a project that is critical to the success of our province, getting our resources to non-U.S. markets, building a pipeline that has not been built for so many years.
“The work I did on Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, the consultation I did with Indigenous communities to fix a broken system, and have that project move forward and have the construction underway is something I’m so proud of and you should all be so proud of.”
He thanked his team for all their work.
“You worked so hard each and every day to make sure our message is getting out and I can’t tell you how proud I am of all of you.”
Sohi also congratulated Uppal on his win.
In the 2015 federal election, the race between Uppal and Sohi was so close, it had to go to a judicial recount. In the end, it was determined that Sohi took the Edmonton Mill Woods seat, topping Uppal — who was a Conservative cabinet minister at the time — by 92 votes.
Prior to losing his Mill Woods seat, Uppal was a Conservative MP for the Edmonton Sherwood Park riding for seven years.
Before entering federal politics, Sohi served three terms as an Edmonton city councillor.
Uppal has come under fire because he hasn’t lived in Edmonton since 2008. If elected, he said he will keep his home in Ottawa but also get one in Edmonton.
Sohi, meanwhile, has taken heat for bills C-69 and C-48, which Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has slammed as being attacks on Alberta. He’s also taken jabs for delays on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, construction of which is now underway.
In 2015, Sohi was appointed federal minister of Infrastructure and Communities in Justin Trudeau’s first cabinet. Then, he took over the Natural Resources portfolio in 2018.