Heath MacDonald keeps P.E.I.'s Malpeque riding painted Liberal red

Liberal incumbent Heath MacDonald will be going back to Ottawa as the MP for the central P.E.I. riding of Malpeque.

With all of the riding's 97 polls reporting by Tuesday afternoon, MacDonald had a lead of 5,569 votes over Conservative candidate Jamie Fox, a former provincial Progressive Conservative cabinet minister and interim party leader.

MacDonald earned 15,415 votes, Fox had 9,846 votes, the Green Party's Anna Keenan had 1,049 votes, the NDP's Cassie MacKay had 441 votes and People's Party of Canada candidate Hilda Baughan had 132 votes.

The numbers may still be adjusted slightly before Elections Canada staff validate the results. 

MacDonald has held Malpeque for the Liberals since 2021.

He said he heard along the campaign trail that Islanders saw Liberal Leader Mark Carney as the best-qualified person to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump's continued threats of a trade war. 

"It was a really different campaign. It's something that I've never experienced," MacDonald told CBC News following his projected win Monday night. 

"There wasn't a lot of issues being discussed; there was a lot of tariff talk, Donald Trump…. We had a little bit of health care at the doors. But people are concerned with… the country and the direction it's going [relative] to the United States." 

The central P.E.I. riding of Malpeque is one with a growing population, particularly in towns like Kensington and Cornwall.

Balancing population growth and the need for housing with the protection of farmland is something residents in the riding have expressed concerns about, some candidates said. 

It's also home to the P.E.I. end of the Confederation Bridge to New Brunswick, the toll on which has been a concern for Islanders for some time. Federal leaders have weighed in on the issue in recent weeks, promising to reduce or eliminate the toll should they be elected. 

The riding has remained Liberal for more than 30 years.