A voter approaches a federal election polling station in Toronto on Oct. 14, 2008.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
The spin wars began early Tuesday morning - with the Liberals sending out emails just after midnight crowing about their win in the Winnipeg North by-election and not yet conceding the squeaker of a race in Vaughan, Ont.
"What a night!" a senior Ignatieff official wrote at 12:42 am Tuesday. "Vaughan - a virtual tie at the worst we dropped 2 points against the biggest name they could ever run in that riding."
At that point it was still too close to call in the suburban Toronto riding. The Liberal held the seat for 22 years - and threw a lot into the by-election as MPs and Senators tried to help out candidate Tony Genco.
He was running against star Tory contender Julian Fantino. The former Ontario Provincial Police commissioner and Toronto top cop triumphed in the end, though not by as wide a margin as expected.
But the early morning email from the senior Ignatieff aide didn't end there: "And Winnipeg North - the NDP is now marginalized." The riding was a long-time New Democrat seat but Liberal candidate Kevin Lamoureux, a former MLA, proved victorious.
"More than ever, it is clear. The coming election will be a contest between two choices: the Harper Conservatives and the Liberals. Two choices: you want to keep Harper or you want to replace him."
The third by-election - in the Manitoba riding of Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette - was won handily by the Tories as expected.
At the same time as the email arrived so did a statement from Michael Ignatieff congratulating his candidates and again, emphasizing the choice between Stephen Harper's Conservatives and his Liberals.
Mr. Ignatieff was keeping up on the results in his car as he was travelling back from a fundraising reception in Montreal. His senior strategists were at the Liberal Party headquarters in downtown Ottawa watching the results flashing in via BlackBerry from their people in Vaughan and Winnipeg.
And at a theatre in the west end of the city, there was a packed audience of cabinet ministers, MPs from all parties and journalists attending the Hope Live fundraising gala. (The annual event raises money for Fertile Future, a charity for young women suffering from cancer who hope to have children.)
There were many twitchy fingers in the crowd - including those of Industry Minister Tony Clement, Heritage Minister James Moore, Treasury Board President Stockwell Day, Defence Minister Peter MacKay, Labour Minister Lisa Raitt and Conservative MP Rick Dykstra; Liberal MPs Justin Trudeau, Bob Rae, Scott Brison, Scott Simms and Keith Martin; and NDP MP Olivia Chow.
The event's host, comedian Rick Mercer, warned about sneaking peeks at email while Alberta singer Jann Arden performed. But the BlackBerrys came out seconds after she finished with everyone checking the by-election results.
Mr. Clement, an indefatigable Twitter user, tried to anticipate the Liberal spin. "Let's see: CPC takes 2 out of 3 in by-elections. I'm guessing know-it-alls will be saying it's a huge Lib victory…"
And this from Mr. Moore: "Looking forward to welcoming 2 new Conservative MPs into the House of Commons. Robert Sopuck and Julian Fantino. Great night!"
On Tuesday morning, a Tory MP chimed in to The Globe via email.
"After last night, we are the only party in the House since 2006 that has not lost a seat that we held going into the by-election and the only party in the House whose seat count keeps going up the longer that Parliament lasts," the senior Conservative said.
"The election of Fantino is simply huge for our party nationally and in particular in the GTA. A lot was at stake last night for both parties but we came through."
Indeed, party spokesman Fred DeLorey said Tuesday morning proclaimed himself "very pleased" with the results given the Tories "won one of the safest Liberal seats in the country."
"Vaughan was a top-25 Liberal seat in the last election, and governments aren't supposed to win by-elections. … It was a very steep hill to climb, being such a safe, traditional Liberal seat … and we hope to see further growth in the Toronto region based on this breakthrough."