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Family, friends and supporters, Thank you so much for joining me here tonight to participate in this very exciting evening. Welcome to the era of accountability! I am very proud to stand before you tonight and to tell you how pleased I am for us as Canadians that Stephen Harper is the Prime Minister of Canada! He is a good man, an honest man, who will ensure that our government works for Canadians once again. In addition to this excellent news, there is of course the very exciting news that I will indeed be your Member of Parliament for Glengarry-Prescott-Russell! I am both honoured and humbled at the prospect. I have served our nation in uniform for two decades and I am honoured that I now have the opportunity to serve Canada again as your representative in Parliament. I look forward to working with Stephen Harper and with my Conservative colleagues. We will stand up for Canada. We will stand up for you. I won’t speak long, but there are some important things I would like to say. First, as I think back to May 2005, a little over 8 months ago, there were so many people who did not believe that this could ever happen. A Conservative win in a Liberal stronghold – impossible they said ! Within the Glengarry-Prescott part of our riding, 43 years of Liberal rule has come to an end. But even more amazing is that in the Russell part of our riding, the last Conservative elected was a Mr Moss Kent Dickenson in 1882 ! That would be 123 years ago ! Truly, as of tonight, the Liberal ‘fortress’ has crumbled. This is a historic moment that was brought about, not by me, but by the people of our riding. But let us look forward to the future. You know that I am committed to working hard and earning the trust and respect of you, the people of my riding. I go to parliament with Stephen Harper and fellow Conservatives, but I will be working for you. I will protect our interests, speak up for our community and work to re-establish your confidence in government. You can count on me to listen, to act and to stay true to my principles and the values you and I share. I would like to thank those who have done so much for me from the very beginning. I would like to thank my family - my wife, Audrey and our children. They were with me the whole way – through each up and down of the Campaign. Each of them have supported me throughout this endeavour. I am very proud of each of you and you know how much I love you. I thank my parents, Guy and Diane, who were out of country when the election was called and yet returned to participate in this campaign. Thank you. I want to thank the members of the GPR riding association executive, who rallied to my cause and gave me so much of themselves and their time. I also thank those farmers who gave so much to this campaign and worked so hard for me. Every medium and large sign of mine that you see in this riding was mounted into the frozen ground by a farmer. And thanks to all those who have donated both their hard earned money and their precious time to this campaign. The office managers, office staff, sign coordinators, poll clerks, scrutineers and to my Election Day manager. You each know who you are and I thank you and salute you. Finally, a special thank you to Peter Naglik, my Campaign Manager, whose hard work and invaluable advice kept everything on track through what has had to v have been one of the longest and hardest campaigns ever. Lastly I thank my three fellow candidates: Rene Berthiaume of the Liberal Party, Jo-Ann Fennessey of the NDP and Bonnie Jean-Louis of the Green Party. They fought the good fight and they should be proud of their efforts. They have done a service to Canada by running for office. And, let me close thanking the voters of GPR. Over the last eight months, I have met people in every corner of this riding. It is you that has brought about victory tonight. I am truly honoured by the trust and confidence which you have placed in me. Thank you to all!
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