A loss for Peter McSherry, but it wasn't all frowns inside his campaign office Thursday night.
"I want to start by congratulating Mr. Schreiner on his re-election," he told GuelphToday, shortly after the Green Party leader was declared the winner of the Guelph riding in the 2022 provincial election.
"(Schreiner) and his team have worked very hard, and they've been very well organized."
"But I'm also extremely happy that Doug Ford and the PC team have won what appears to be a very large majority, even larger than they had before."
McSherry, a Guelph-based lawyer and first-time political candidate, finished in second place with just over 11,000 votes. Schreiner took 29,769 votes, or 54.5 per cent.
He thanked his team for the support along the way, and noted he's learned "a lot of respect for politicians in general" after spending the last few months hitting the ground, and talking to residents.
"I think I realized the breadth of knowledge that it requires to do the job, and to understanding all the issues that can affect people," he said.
"This job requires you to have a lot of knowledge about a lot of different issues that most people would never think of in their own private lives, so I've been very grateful for that."
"And (I'm also) very grateful for the opportunity to talk to people, and to have people share with me their experiences and their unique perspectives on policies, and things like that, and some insights that, in many ways, have changed my mind on certain things."
With Ford winning a majority, it's guaranteed the next Ontario election will happen four years from now.
For McSherry, is a run in 2026 in the cards for him?
"Are you trying to get me in trouble with my wife?" he said with a laugh, before continuing by not committing to anything too soon.
"We'll have to see what 2026 does. It's a massive commitment, not just for the candidate, the team and also for the families."
"No door is closed, no door is open."
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