Regent and his campaign team hosted a viewing party at the Moose Jaw Union Centre on Monday night, drawing a few dozen supporters through the evening as the election unfolded.
It became apparent that things weren’t going to turn out perfectly early in the night, as Conservative incumbent Tom Lukiwski would claim over 70 per cent of the vote in initial returns. Still, Regent showed little disappointment over what he felt was a job well done.
“I ran as good a campaign as I possibly could have hoped to run, I had a great team behind me and the result are what the results are, but I will certainly continue to advocate for my community in the future,” Regent said during a short break from mingling with supporters. “Regardless of the numbers, that doesn’t change anything for me.”
Regent looked to finish with around 17 per cent of the vote when all was said and done. He was quick to expound on his happiness with his campaign and especially the work of those around him as election day drew closer.
“I had a fantastic experience campaigning, it was a ton of fun and having a good team behind me that I could enjoy the process with means a lot,” he said. “There are four people in particular who were at the campaign office nearly every day, 12 to 14 hours sometimes, and every day I got into the office they would already be there and there with a smile on their face, coffee in hand and ready to go. Knowing that there are other people who share just as much enthusiasm for this process as I do means that I can wake up day each day knowing that I have a good team at my back.”
Seeing the Liberals land a minority government was heartening for the young Moose Jaw lawyer, especially given that the NDP’s 25-plus seats will give leader Jagmeet Singh a major role to play in the coming Parliament.
“I’m pleased to see the New Democrats are going to be able to hold the Liberals to account over the next four years and certainly if the Liberals chose to go in a direction that isn’t going to help Canadians we will be there to hold them accountable,” Regent said.
“I very much dislike electoral dictatorships,” he continued. “I don’t like it when we have a majority government because that means that whoever is in power isn’t being held accountable for another four years. By having a minority government, and that there needs to be some co-operation and some compromise, that ensures a more diverse set of opinions are heard and that a more diverse set of people have their lives improved.”
Now that the 2019 federal election is officially over, it’s back to the real world for those who didn’t win their respective elections. For Regent, that means no rest even after a busy and gruelling campaign run
“I’m going to fall into a coma for about a week,” he joked when asked what was up next.
“Really, though, I’m going to be jumping right back into the practice of law. I have to be back in court next week and I have about 50 pages of written arguments that need to be submitted for Friday, so I don’t have a break.
“But this is exactly what I’ve been doing campaigning, just as much as in the law practice, advocating for my community and so, for me, it’s not really a transition back to work. I’m just doing what I’m always doing.”
