Electing a new government -Mon. Jan.23, 2006

Parkdale- Tomorrow, Canadians will
vote in a new government. They will
head to their local polling stations,
and cast their ballot for what in their
minds is the candidate that will best
govern this great country.

I wouldn't go so far as saying that they
will vote in someone who best serves
their interests, but you get the point.

In Parkdale-Highpark, the tide is
swinging towards the NDPs Peggy Nash.
This afternoon, I saw and greeted
Peggy's campaigners at Joe's No Frills
on King near Jameson.











I had to salute them on this mild
and sunny day because I honestly
didn't expect to see them here.
"Nice to see you down here in
South Parkdale," I said.

And there was even one more fellow
at the corner of Jameson and King
who I also saluted. He smiled when
I said "go peggy go." Support is always
good for street campaigners who often
have a tough time.



But nonetheless they were here
and that's an important first step.
Hats off to the Peggy Nash campaign
for that.

In the rest of the riding, Nash won the
sign war, hands down. I'm guessing
Liberal supporters are a little embarassed
to show their neighbours that despite
Liberal corruption and arrogance, they
intend to continue voting for them.

The big question for the NDP
tomorrow is: will our supporters
actually go out and vote?

Election Day is a whole different
ball game. It's a day of dodging
for lots of potential voters who
made promises of support that
they didn't intend on keeping.
Particularly NDP supporters.

Pulling the vote is possibly most
important for the NDP, but given
what is most likely to the closest
race ever for the Liberal incumbent
Sarmite Bulte, the Libs also
have their work cut out for them.



As for Jurij Klufas, the Conservative
candidate, I think he's pulled in a
little more than 10,000 supporters
in this riding. He's laughing 'cause
although conservative, he's got a
sense of humour. It didn't cost him
much to get his name out there for what
will be the winning party. But for Bulte,
his campaign may cost her her job,
but not to old Klufas.



Bulte will see her support diminsh
from over 19,000 votes to about
16,000, around the same amount
for Nash. My prediction is that Nash
will win by a slim margin, but that's
ony if the Nash campaign can
successfully pull the vote tomorrow
on E-Day.

Who knows though, the upset would be
if Klufas actually goes beyond 10,000
and thrashes Bulte, making him the front
running opposition for the next election
which will most likely be called sooner
than later.

RN