In the riding of Skeena-Bulkley Valley, voters brought deep concerns about the economy, the environment, and government accountability to the polls and chose Conservative Ellis Ross as their next member of parliament.

The Conservatives will not form a government, with Mark Carney leading the Liberals to a quick win. Instead, Ross, who is a former Haisla chief councillor and a former BC Liberal MLA for the Skeena riding, will represent the riding as a member of an opposition party with a leader who did not win a seat in parliament, throwing a wrench in his plans to follow through on campaign promises such as fast-tracking resource extraction projects and bringing economic prosperity to the region.

Ross told supporters at his campaign celebration in Terrace that he was grateful for them and their hard work.

"I do want to say I really admire your faith in Canada," he said. "I really admire that given what we've gone through, the drugs, the unaffordability, the crime and not to mention what a weak country we have become," he said.

He also said he was proud of the race being a respectful one.

"This is one of the most passionate elections I've ever been a part of," he said. "Almost to the point of being polarizing, but we kept it clean. We kept it above board. Yeah, I really respect that."

Black Press Media asked Ross what opposition critic role he might seek. Ross said he will leave that up to his party leader but said he has a solid resume.

"I got my start in environmental assessments," he said. "Then I actually branched out into Aboriginal rights and title, because I really want a better future for Aboriginals. And it's been the economy. I don't think you can have a strong country without a strong economy."

The race in Skeena-Bulkley Valley was a showdown between Ross, who had 17,316 votes at time of publishing with 195 out of 254 polls reporting, and incumbent NDP candidate Taylor Bachrach who had 14,234 votes.

The riding was an NDP stronghold, having been orange since its inception in 2004. Bachrach was preceded by longtime NDP MP Nathan Cullen. Between them they had seven straight victories.

Mike Scott, who was a Reform Party and Candian Alliance Party politician and the last non-NDP MP for the riding's predecessor, was present at the Ross campaign's celebration. First elected in 1993, Scott quit before the 2000 election. He tried a comeback in 2006, but Cullen beat him.

Liberal candidate Inderpal Dhillion, Green candidate Adeana Young, and Christian Heritage candidate Rod Taylor also ran.

All-candidates forums throughout the riding during the campaign saw significant public turnout and passionate exchanges between audiences and politicians.

One notable exchange came when attendees of the Terrace all-candidates forum lambasted Ross for showing up late to the event.

Another came when audience members at the Houston all-candidates forum confronted incumbent NDP candidate Taylor Bachrach on his views and voting record regarding firearm regulations.

The election marks the end of a campaign that began March 23 and which was quickly hit with the major issue of American president Donald Trump's tariff war declaration against Canada and the rest of the world.

The new Liberal federal government under Carney will have to deal with Trump and a host of domestic issues, including those facing Ross and the Skeena-Bulkley Valley.

-With files from Rod Link