OTTAWA The latest developments on federal election night, Oct. 21, 2019. All times are Eastern Time:
8:32 p.m.
The Speaker of the House of Commons is going to get another shot at the job of being referee of all MPs.
The Canadian Press projects that Geoff Regan will hold his seat in Halifax West, while fellow Nova Scotia Liberal Sean Fraser will hold on to Central Nova.
Liberal Serge Cormier has won the New Brunswick riding of Acadie-Bathurst and Liberal cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc has won Beausejour, again.
Long-time Liberal Lawrence MacAulay is also going back to the House of Commons, keeping his hold on the riding of Cardigan in Prince Edward Island, while Bobby Morrissey is getting a second term as the Liberal MP for nearby Egmont.
Meanwhile, the Conservatives have captured their first seats of the night as The Canadian Press projects Richard Bragdon to win in Tobique-Mactaquac in New Brunswick.
Fellow Tory John Williamson is also going back to the House of Commons as the former MP is going to win in New Brunswick Southwest.
8:13 p.m.
The electoral map in Atlantic Canada is seeing a swath of Liberal red over most of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Liberal cabinet minister Seamus O’Regan has recaptured his seat in St. John’s South-Mount Pearl.
Long-time Liberal Lawrence MacAulay appears set to hold his riding of Cardigan, as Liberals lead in all four seats on Prince Edward Island.
The Canadian Press projects that New Democrat Jack Harris has recaptured the seat he lost to Nick Whalen in 2015 in St. John’s East.
Liberal candidates are leading in most of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Overall, with many votes still to be counted in the region, Liberals are elected or leading in 24 ridings, Conservatives have five, and the NDP have the one seat.
7:55 p.m.
The Liberals have captured their first seats of the night in Atlantic Canada.
The Canadian Press projects Scott Simms has won re-election in the Newfoundland riding of Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame and Gudie Hutchings has held Long Range Mountains.
Churence Rogers is also being declared the victor in the Newfoundland riding of Bonavista-Burin-Trinity, giving the Liberals three seats to start the night.
The Liberals are leading in eight more ridings, while the Conservatives are leading in two New Brunswick ridings.
New Democrat Jack Harris, a former MP, is leading incumbent Nick Whalen in St. John’s East.
Polls remain open in central and western Canada, meaning that parties will savour early victories, but know there is still more nail-biting ahead.
7:30 p.m.
Polls have closed in Atlantic Canada and could provide an early glimpse of how the vote will play out.
The Liberals swept the region in the 2015 election but are expected to lose some of those seats tonight.
Polls closed about 30 minutes ago in Newfoundland and Labrador, marking the start of what promises to be a long night to determine whether Justin Trudeau’s Liberals will get a second mandate to govern Canada.
So far, results show that the Liberals are leading in six of the country’s 338 ridings with early counting underway.
Trudeau and Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer voted in their respective ridings on Monday.
With polls suggesting a close race between the two, each party will be watching whether they can hit the number 170 _ the number of seats required to earn a majority government.