CONSERVATIVE Arpan Khanna, a Brampton lawyer, has won in the southern Ontario riding of Oxford in Monday’s by-election.

Khanna won 43.6 per cent of the vote, while the Liberal Party candidate David Hilderley got 35.6 per cent with 245 of 267 polls accounted for.

The riding has been a Conservative stronghold for nearly two decades. However, the former Conservative MP from the riding, Dave MacKenzie, who won in the 2021 federal election with almost 47 per cent of the vote, endorsed the Liberal candidate. MacKenzie had resigned in January.

Khanna had faced a controversial nomination with party members alleging that Poilievre and former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer had favoured him. Khanna had run as a candidate for Scheer in a Brampton riding in 2019. One of those who was seeking the nomination was MacKenzie’s daughter, Deb Tait.

Khanna says on his website that he played an integral role during Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative leadership campaign as his Ontario Campaign Co-Chair. He is the Conservative Party’s National Outreach Chair.

Khanna says: “I have been an active community volunteer helping raise funds and awareness for many local organizations, food banks, and charities including Global Medic, and the True Patriot Love Foundation.”

He adds: “Since my university days at Western, I have been dedicated to the Conservative movement here in Southwestern Ontario and across Canada…I’m a licensed firearms owner and I enjoy recreational sport shooting at the local range in my spare time.”

By-election results in the other three ridings:

* Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount  (Quebec): Liberal Anna Gainey won with 50.8 % of the total vote (204 of 204 polls).

* Portage—Lisgar (Manitoba): Conservative Branden Leslie won with 64.8 % of the total vote (246 of 248 polls).

* Winnipeg South Centre (Manitoba): Liberal Ben Carr won with 54.4 % of the total vote (193 of 198 polls).

MORE TO COME