Skip to main content

Liberal Member of Parliament Todd Russell gestures while voting against the federal budget in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa March 4, 2008.CHRIS WATTIE/Reuters

Politics Insider delivers premium analysis and access to Canada's policymakers and politicians. Visit the Politics Insider homepage for insight available only to subscribers.

While Peter Penashue was questioning the wisdom of the voters of Labrador who decided he could not return to his seat in Parliament, Todd Russell was feeling pretty good about life.

Mr. Russell is the former Liberal MP who lost the Labrador riding by 79 votes to Mr. Penashue in 2011. The slim margin of the loss made it especially tough for him to take. And then, when it emerged that Mr. Penashue had spent more on the campaign than federal election laws permit, Mr. Russell's dejection was mixed with anger.

"It was absolutely stolen," he said of the Labrador riding in a telephone interview this week from his offices at Nunatukavut, the largest aboriginal group in Labrador of which he is now president.

"I am past it. But, you know there is nothing wrong with justice, is there? Even if it comes late. Late justice is better than no justice at all," said Mr. Russell. "It remains to be seen, but it seems that this was a fair and above-board election and so I feel somewhat personally vindicated by the result."

Mr. Penashue, the former minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and a former grand chief of the Innu Nation, was soundly defeated in a by-election Monday by Liberal candidate Yvonne Jones. Ms. Jones, a former leader of the provincial Liberals in Newfoundland and Labrador, took more than 48 per cent of the vote compared to the 32.5 per cent that went to Mr. Penashue.

After spending the campaign telling voters that, if they did not elect him, they would be abandoning their seat at the cabinet table of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Mr. Penashue did not appear to take his loss in stride.

"People have to live with the decisions that they've made. The offer was a cabinet table and people chose to be in the opposition," he said after the votes were counted.

"We have to move forward with the new reality that Labrador has decided on," he said. "My children always take it hard, take it personally when I lose an election. But I tell them someone has to win and someone had to lose. In my view, Labrador lost. There is not much more to say."

Mr. Penashue resigned from Parliament in March after an Elections Canada investigation found that his 2011 campaign accepted illegal donations. He exceeded his campaign spending limit of $84,468.09 by $5,529.76 while also accepting tens of thousands of dollars in off-limits donations. They included cash from 16 listed corporations and non-monetary contributions from two airlines that flew him around the riding.

He repaid almost $48,000 with the help of the Conservative party.

Mr. Penashue said after the ballots were counted that he did not know what issues had swayed voters. But he blamed the CBC for having "defined me very negatively," apparently because the public broadcaster had done many stories about his election spending.

"I tried to change that but the damage had already been done," he told reporters. "I could say, you know there was that issue, that issue. People make up their minds and people make up their choices."

Mr. Russell countered that, for Mr. Penashue to say Labrador lost because he did, "dishonours the people who voted, the people who cast their ballots, the people who made a free choice. The people of Labrador made a free choice. Democracy was the winner here in Labrador and by virtue of that, Labradorians have won."

And by blaming the CBC, "obviously one is not taking accountability even that this stage, for one's own actions," he said.

Mr. Russell opted not to run in this campaign because he said believes in what he is doing at Nunatukavut. But he is not saying he will never return to federal politics.

"I might be the next Member of Parliament, who knows. You can't shut doors," said Mr. Russell. "I can just tell you that the room I am sitting in now, the place I find myself now, I am happy, I am content, I believe I can effect change."

With a report from the Canadian Press.

Gloria Galloway is a parliamentary reporter in the Ottawa bureau.

Interact with The Globe