After making her way through a crowd of jovial, cheering supporters at the Days Inn on Monday night, Sudbury’s newly re-elected Liberal MP was greeted at the stage by her daughter.
Viviane Lapointe, daughter Erin Griffiths said, is “my role model, my guide, and most importantly my mother.”
“I’ve watched her work tirelessly, not for recognition but because she truly believes in making a difference,” Griffiths said, introducing her mother as “a compassionate leader.”
“We are Canada strong, and we are Sudbury strong,” Lapointe said to boisterous cheers.
“A huge thank you to the people of Sudbury for granting me the privilege of representing you once again in Ottawa,” she said. “I am ready to stand with Canada, stand with Prime Minister Mark Carney and stand up for Sudbury.
“Trump has been clear that he wants to annex us by economic force and to bring Canada to its knees. Mark Carney has one crystal clear word for him; never.”
Lapointe was neck-and-neck with Conservative Candidate Ian Symington throughout their campaigns.
At the publication of this story last night, with 210 of 247 polls reporting at the time of publication, Lapointe had earned 18,604 votes (49 per cent) and Symington had secured 15,612 (41.16 per cent).
By this morning, Lapointe had grown her lead to 51.68 per cent of the vote (30,957 votes) to Symington's 39.36 per cent (23,579 votes).
NDP candidate Nadia Verrelli trailed with 7.96 per cent of the vote, followed by People’s Party candidate Nicholas Bonderoff with 1.27 per cent.
Following her speech, Lapointe told Sudbury.com that the top thing that she believes nudged her past Symington at the polls were public concerns regarding U.S. President Donald Trump’s annexation threats and his attacks on the Canadian economy via tariffs.
Liberal Prime Minister Mark Carney, she said, is “the right leader at the right time.”
“The national landscape played a very big role in all of our regions, and that includes Sudbury as well.”
Carney has pledged to invest more and do nation building on a scale we haven’t seen since the Second World War, Lapointe said, adding that when it comes to such things as housing, she’d make sure that Sudbury “receives the support as well as the necessary funding for us to thrive and grow as well.”
Although Lapointe’s team was celebratory on Monday night, her Liberal colleague in Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt, Marc Serré, and team were experiencing very different motions due to his projected loss to Conservative newcomer Jim Bélanger.
Serré, she said, is “a very hard-working MP. He worked very hard for his riding, and I know that these results will be very disappointing for him and all of the Northern Ontario caucus.”
Although Lapointe said she doesn’t know Bélanger, she’d work to remedy this situation.
“I will certainly make a point and an effort of trying to work with him, because the priorities of Sudbury are often the priorities of Nickel Belt, especially when you look at the mining sector, it’s one where we should work together.”
This marks Lapointe’s second win, after securing 34.5 per cent of the vote in 2021 (15,871 of 46,286 votes cast) in the 2021 federal election.
The leading slate of candidates was the same between the 2025 and 2021 elections, with Conservative Ian Symington and NDP candidate Nadia Verrelli also trailing behind Lapointe in 2021.
Last time around, the final official results had Symington with 29.5 per cent of the vote (13,569) and Verrelli with 27.7 per cent (12,747).
As such, preliminary results saw both Lapointe and Symington make gains while support for Verrelli dropped significantly, which echoes a trend seen across the nation on Monday night.
In 2019, Liberals secured 40.9 per cent of the vote (19,643), the Conservatives got 20.6 per cent (9,864) and the NDP secured 28.9 per cent (13,885).
Prior to seeking nomination in 2021, Lapointe’s latest role was as executive director of Community Living Greater Sudbury. This followed stints in communications and marketing, including roles with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines and Health Sciences North.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.