Toronto Star 'misrepresents' election comments by O'Toole's campaign chair

The Toronto Star reports that Erin O’Toole's campaign would consider holding the Trudeau Liberals to another minority government as a win. But it remains to be seen if the party and fellow campaigners feel the same way.

The publication alleged that O'Toole's campaign chair Walied Soliman and two other senior campaign sources told them they would consider it a win if Trudeau was held to a minority.

While the two sources were not cleared to speak publicly, Soliman said that "even without a plurality (of seats) today, we will have achieved our objective."

"The victory comes in advancing the dialogue with Canadians. At the start of this race, nobody would’ve expected that we’d be in a knife fight in strongly-held Liberal ridings. And today, we are. And we are very proud of Erin O’Toole and the incredible campaign that has been run here."

He continued: "And as far as we’re concerned, we’ve won by simply advancing that dialogue, and I think caucus members and candidates recognize that."

However, Soliman took to Twitter to clarify that the Star "misrepresented" his comments.

"Let me be very clear: this election is too close to call," he tweeted. "We may not know the result for days. Every vote will count."

Conservative sources said the race remains tight in the final hours of the federal election, particularly in suburban and exurban Ontario ridings.

O’Toole will watch the election results at a hockey rink in Oshawa, Ontario, after a final push through the GTA in the campaign's dying days.

"Erin is very excited about this evening. He knows he has run a highly professional and respectful campaign," said Soliman. "Regardless of the outcome, whether he wins a minority or he increases his seat count, he knows that this is the first step in continuing dialogue and earning the trust of Canadians."

"I know that he and his family are committed to that journey."