How do you get a Liberal and a Conservative to see eye-to-eye? Make them wait for a recount

Liberal Anthony Germain and Conservative Jonathan Rowe have something in common — a strong desire to get this election recount over and done with. 

It’s been almost four weeks since Canadians headed to the polls in a federal election, and there’s still no clear winner in the riding of Terra Nova-The Peninsulas in Newfoundland and Labrador.

A long and complicated recount, delayed by municipal affairs, has left the rival politicians in limbo as they wait to see who will head to Ottawa, and who will go back to their day job.

“I wouldn’t say either one of us is getting much sleep,” Rowe said as he joined Germain for an interview with As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal on Thursday. 

“This thing just seems to keep going and going and going,” piped in Germain. “So I have nothing but empathy for my honourable opponent.”

Too close to call

Election night was tense for Germain and Rowe. It was was neck-and-neck all evening, and it took more than 20 hours after the polls closed before Elections Canada released the final tally. 

Germain, a CBC broadcaster-turned-teacher, defeated Rowe, an engineer, by just 12 votes — 19,704 to 19,692.

The razor-thin margin triggered an automatic judicial recount, which was made more complicated by the fact that more than 1,000 ballots were in dispute.

The process was further delayed on Wednesday when a scheduled water shutdown in Marystown, N.L., where the recount is taking place, forced all public buildings to close. 

An Elections Canada spokesperson told CBC they expect to finish counting on Friday. But the candidates aren’t holding their breath. 

“I don’t know, Jonathan, do you think we’ll actually find out tomorrow or not?” Germain asked his opponent on Thursday.

“We’ve been hearing tomorrow for a long time, haven’t we?” Rowe replied.

‘One of us has got to get to Ottawa really quick’

Part of the struggle, both candidates say, is figuring out what to do with their lives when their futures are uncertain.

Germain quit a job teaching English in Labrador to run for the Liberals, and says he misses his students. 

“Saying goodbye to them was really, really hard. And if things don’t go my way tomorrow, I’ll probably be on a plane to go back to teaching them,” he said.

Rowe, meanwhile, has been on an unpaid leave of absence from his engineering job since August, and has been picking up the occasional shifts at a local nursery, “planting a few flowers [and] trying to sell a few apple trees.”

“The first thing I’m going to be doing if I lose is strapping up my work boots and rolling up my sleeves and getting back to work,” he said.

While both men have professional lives they’ve left behind, they’re also eager to potentially start down a new career path, though it will be a bit like starting at a new school part-way through the semester.

“One of us has got to get to Ottawa really quick,” Germain said. 

“Here in Clarenville, there’s always a running joke. Our family’s always late for church,” Rowe said of his Newfoundland hometown with a chuckle. “I think the Lord may be punishing me. We’re gonna be late to get to Ottawa as well.”

Despite everything, Germain and Rowe say they have no regrets.

Both men say they’ve run a civilized campaign they’re proud of, and have learned a lot about the election process along the way.

“We don’t agree on many things,” Germain said. “But on this, we do.”