Well, I'm voting for Hedy Fry

[HEyHEY]

I think she has the best chance in my riding as she's held it for a long time. Michael Byers (NDP)is decent, but with the threat of Lorne Mayencourt (The DUMBEST man in politics) I have to play it extra safe and vote for Hedy. Lorne was an MLA here and is a compelte bufoon. He once got punched by a homeless guy for "trying to enforce the law" and has come up with the stupidest ideas I've ever heard of from any government official such as the "Safe streets act" which targets "Aggresive panhandlers." Never mind the fact the best way to target homeless people asking for money is to find ways to get them off the street, we'll just make it illegal for them to beg.

Scary thing is that Mayencourt is gay and hence gets alot of votes because of that. This riding is probably the gayest in the country.

And you?

[IntravenousDemilo]

1. Gay Conservatives are rather like Jews for Hitler. n/m

[Clintonista2]

2. I live in Ed Broadbents old riding

Currently held by Paul Dewar. It's usually neck and neck with the libs and NDP, with the cons coming in a distant third, so I voted for Penny Collenette (Liberal). She's great, very progressive. As far as our con candidate goes, I know literally nothing about him. He's had virtually no presence during this campaign.

[iverglas]

3. "a distant third" ...

"Distant" means different things to different folks, I guess.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottawa_Centre

2006

New Democrat Paul Dewar 24,611 36.93 -4.2
Liberal Richard Mahoney 19,458 29.2 -1.9
Conservative Keith Fountain 15,126 22.7 +3.7
Green David Chernushenko 6,766 10.15 +2.7

Huh. The Conservative vote went UP by nearly 4% last election. The decline in the NDP vote was to be expected, with the loss of the personally-popopular Ed Broadbent and the introduction of a complete unknown, Paul Dewar. I wonder what explained the Liberal decline? Obviously the Liberals picked up the lion's share of the decline in the NDP vote, so it looks to me like they lost 5 to 6% to the Conservatives ... Green, who can say ... some from everywhere, I'd think; and who knows what they'll do this time.


But ah, for the glory days, eh?

2000

Liberal Mac Harb 22,710
New Democrat Heather-Jane Robertson 13,515
Canadian Alliance David Brown 10,163
Progressive Conservative Beverly Mitchell 7,501
Green Chris Bradshaw 1,529

When a piece of shit like Mac Harb could not just win, but win with numbers like those.

[Clintonista2]

5. Speaking of pieces of shit...

Let's hope christmas comes early and Dewar is K.O'd.

[iverglas]

10. You appear to be calling Paul Dewar a piece of shit

Perhaps you have something you'd like to back that allegation up with.

I could start with the things that demonstrate the shitness of Mac Harb, if you like. How about the fact that Richard Mahoney couldn't bring himself to vote for him? You remember; before being a candidate himself, Rick was campaign manager for Maudie Barlow in her effort to get the nomination that Harb got.

Many moons ago, Harb was an ambitious young man with his eye on a city council seat. I lived in Ottawa then. He decided that getting himself onto the board of directors of a fledgling neighbourhood tenant association would be a good start ... even though he was himself the owner/landlord of a number of unattractive rental properties in the area ...

This is one of those reverse-onus situations, really. Anyone who wants to tout Harb as anything other than a corrupt piece of shit needs to demonstrate it.

We could be charitable and say he is as stupid as dirt and a simple asshole.

http://www.flora.org/flora/archive/mai-not/mp-mtg.htm

CONCLUSION:

Mac Harb makes a good mini-case study in underscoring an elected representative's accountability for explaining the MAI. In this case, a loyal government party member who associates himself with business interests rather than community-building, and is unsympathetic to any position that smacks of "trade protectionism." Yet he argues the cause for literacy and education rights in Canada. He was, on the whole, uncooperative and somewhat patronizing in answering our questions, in the sense that he knew what we were getting at but didn't respond.

A mandatory voting bill is one of his claims to utter lack of fame in his long but singularly undistinguished parliamentary career (he's a senator now).

Seeing any shit here? --

Afghanistan: http://www.pauldewar.ca/en/node/266
Radarsat: http://www.pauldewar.ca/en/node/264
Budget/municipal infrastructure: http://www.pauldewar.ca/en/node/202
Elections Act (homeless, etc.): http://www.pauldewar.ca/en/node/187
http://www.pauldewar.ca/taxonomy/term/3

http://www.pauldewar.ca/en/environment
Legislation introduced by Paul:
C-497 to ban use of bisphenol A;
C-510 to improve food labeling practices;
C-514 to regulate the bottled water industry.


Noteworthy how I haven't had a bad word to say about Penny Collenette, doncha think? But don't let that stop you from smearing your shit around.

[iverglas]

19. oh dear, oh dear, oh dear

html fixed


It seems I was all wet, and you got a lump of coal.

http://centretownnewsonline.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=408&Itemid=124
(emphases mine)

With all the polls tabulated, Elections Canada reported that Dewar won the riding in Tuesday’s general election with 25,347 votes.

... Liberal candidate Penny Collenette ended up a distant second with 16,634 votes. And although Conservative candidate Brian McGarry fared better than many had originally expected, he was only able to garner 15,063 votes. The Green’s Jen Hunter was fourth with 6,348 votes.

Ottawa Centre’s voter turnout again bucked the national trend with 71.5 per cent of voters casting ballots. Nationally, turnout was a dismally historic low of about 57 per cent.

Just not a three-way at all, was it? That Conservative really didn't have a chance.

Of course, it wasn't actually a two-way, either. Congratulations, though. Your candidate beat the no-hope loser!

[Metric System]

8. This post is proof of my point that some NDPers get more excited over bashing the Liberals than

going after the Conservatives. I'm sure you'll be thrilled tonight when a Conservative minority (or, hey, maybe even a majority!) is called, especially if the Liberals lose a number of seats.

[iverglas]

11. tell it to a judge

typo fixed


My post is actually proof of:

(a) the fact that Mac Harb, the former Liberal MP for Ottawa Centre, makes me puke; and

(b) the fact that it is my opinion that voting Liberal in Ottawa Centre, where a sitting NDP MP holds a healthy lead but the chance of the Conservative candidate winning in a three-way split simply cannot be disregarded, is evidence of the pure partisan motivation of anyone who does it and of his/her utter lack of concern for keeping the Conservatives out of power.

How, exactly, does voting Liberal in a riding won by the NDP in the last two elections, on a split that went like this in 2006:

New Democrat 24,611
Liberal 19,458
Conservative 15,126

constitute evidence of deep and abiding concern for Canada and Canadians and a sincere effort to keep the Conservatives out of power?

What exactly is your "proof" that **I** -- me being the author of that post -- "get more excited over bashing the Liberals than going after the Conservatives"?

WHAT IS YOUR PROOF? Stand up, put your money where your flapping gums are, and PRESENT YOUR PROOF. Present the basis on which you claim to be "sure {I will} be thrilled tonight when a Conservative minority (or, hey, maybe even a majority!) is called".

Act like a democrat. Act like someone who values sincerity and honesty in public discourse.

Act like something other than a Liberal Party shill.

[Dutch]

12. So how does Lirwin calling Paul Dewar a "piece of shit" fit in with your, ahem, "theory"?

Sounded like he was getting pretty excited about going after the NDP there. And that's not to mention the fact that he's voting against the candidate most likely to beat the Conservatives...

I mean, I know the Liberal Party generally has trouble with the idea that rules apply equally to them as to everyone else, but this is just sily...

[Lucy Goosey]

7. I voted for Broadbent and Dewar when I was in Ottawa Centre, but I really like Collenette.

I moved a few blocks east, but it was enough to put me in Ottawa-Vanier, and I'm voting Liberal here.

[iverglas]

13. how interesting

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=190&topic_id=24907&mesg_id=24907

I generally vote NDP, but I have voted Green and (apologies) Liberal on occasion.

I`ve volunteered on a couple of NDP campaigns - Ed Broadbent`s 2004 comeback in Ottawa Centre, and for Paul Dewar, his successor.

I now live in the Liberal stronghold riding of Ottawa-Vanier.

Damned if I can figure out why someone who generally votes NDP and has worked on NDP campaigns would suddenly decide to vote Liberal now that s/he lives in a riding that the Liberals haven't been in danger of losing in seven decades.

Ottawa-Vanier is actually a fine example of how Liberal bogeyman-mongering does work, though. The NDP vote collapsed once in the past when the Liberals devoted their entire national campaign to the need to vote Liberal in order to defeat the Conservatives. The Liberals didn't actually defeat the Conservatives nationally, but they sure trounced the NDP in Ottawa-Vanier.

Huh. If one were to try to guess what the goal of the strategy was by the actual outcome, one might be forgiven for being a little confused.


edit: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=190&topic_id=25468&mesg_id=25469

Never mind, then. Just one o' those things. Someone being a committed supporter of NDP candidates and policy, deciding to vote Liberal because the Liberals have such a fine platform. Makes perfect sense.

[Lucy Goosey]

14. I'm not sure if you think I'm lying or just wrong...

But whatever. A big part of my decision is probably the fact that I like Dion and I've never really warmed to Layton at all. I'm also very much voting against Harper. And it has been nice to hear someone in a position to become PM (Dion) talking about social justice issues. It might be just lip service, but it's more than we get from the current PM.

I'd really love it if we moved to some form of proportional representation. I don't think that Canadians are particularly well represented by the current system.

[iverglas]

15. nope; just thought it strange

That was all. As you see, it came clear.

Ottawa-Vanier (like my mother's riding, currently represented by Peter Van Loan, for different reasons) offers an excellent opportunity to vote for a hopeless cause, if nothing else because one wants that cause to have access to the public funding it needs in order to carry on effectively.

There is not the slightest chance that the Conservatives will win Ottawa-Vanier in this election or any election in our lifetimes. So no one who does support the NDP has any need to consider "strategic voting" in that riding. That hasn't stopped a lot of people from doing that in the past, based on Liberal bogeyman-mongering.

You have actually decided to be a Liberal Party adherent rather than an NDP adherent, so your vote has nothing to do with strategic voting. You're voting Liberal because you want to. There we are.

[Lucy Goosey]

16. Sorry. I read too much into your post. eom

[iverglas]

4. "You choose" ;)

I was all set to agree with you ... but
http://www.voteforenvironment.ca/node/111
sez:

You Choose

Liberal incumbent Hedy Fry won with 44% of the vote in 2006, with NDP Svend Robinson almost 9,000 votes behind. The NDP has a new, well-known candidate, Michael Byers. The Greens and Conservatives are also running high-profile candidates this time around. This riding has become a two-way race between the Liberals and the NDP with little chance of a Conservative win, so vote with your heart.

A true two-way race, so I wouldn't have to hold my nose if I were there, and you obviously aren't holding yours, since there really is no issue of anyone having "the best chance to win" vis-à-vis the Conservative.

You chose!

[Clintonista2]

6. I'll choose!

http://www.voteforenvironment.ca/node/439

This looks like a safe NDP seat with the Conservatives trailing in third place; however the Conservative candidate is well known and well liked local businessman Brian McGarry. Early fears of McGarry gaining significant support did not turn out to be founded. This is now a safe NDP seat and we are not making a recommendation.

With David Chernushenko choosing to sit this one out for the Greens we are shifting 5% of the Green vote to the Liberals and 5% is shifted to the NDP.


A true two-way race, so I don't have to hold my nose and vote for Dewar, since there really is no issue of anyone having "the best chance to win" vis-à-vis the Conservative.


I choose... Liberal!

[iverglas]

9. fascinating

I'm sure.

[HEyHEY]

17. Whoever summed that up doesn't know what they're talking about

This is VERY much a three way race. Dumb voters are likely to vote Lorne just cause they've voted for him so often in Provincial elections, right? There's also the Adrian Carr threat. She could very well take away left voters because she's very popular (Rightfully so).

[iverglas]

20. you were right about that!

A warning to rely on local knowledge when deciding how to vote!

[ncabot22]

18. I went with Byers (NDP)

but I think Fry will win.

[LiberadorHugo]

21. Not a fan of Ms. Fry...

But it's something I may have needed to consider in that riding: Mayencourt was one of those right-wing morans elected during the Campbell landslide of 2001. There are some oddballs in the Tories though: One of their Winnipeg MPs is a quadrapalegic atheist who has made statements about believers that make Hitchens and Dawkins sound charitable; aside from that, Fletcher's profoundly right-wing...Tommy Douglas was an evangelical, G. Gordon Liddy is an atheist like myself, and yet I would never in my right mind be able to identify with atheists like Liddy, Stalin, and Rand.

[LiberadorHugo]

22. Not a fan of Ms. Fry...

But it's something I may have needed to consider in that riding: Mayencourt was one of those right-wing morans elected during the Campbell landslide of 2001. There are some oddballs in the Tories though: One of their Winnipeg MPs is a quadrapalegic atheist who has made statements about believers that make Hitchens and Dawkins sound charitable; aside from that, Fletcher's profoundly right-wing.

Gay NDPer = Straight NDPer >Any Green > Any BQ > Any Liberal > Any Tory