In the Toronto Danforth by-election last
night, the NDP’s Craig Scott won handily with nearly 60 percent of the vote.
This now brings the queer contingent of the caucus to five MPs, and six out MPs
to the House in total. Oh, and Toronto Danforth. 43 percent voter turnout?
*slow clap*
The Conservatives have started a new round
of advertising, one praising Harper’s record, and the other taking shots at Bob
Rae. Yes, the interim leader of the third party. The more things change… Rae is having none of it, while the Liberals prepare to counter them, and
Wells at Maclean’s offers us some insights into the reasoning – and poll numbers – behind the “positive” ad. The
NDP, meanwhile, say they’re going to launch their own ads to define their new
leader shortly after the convention.
In Robocon news today, the employee at
RackNine who apparently dealt with “Pierre Poutine” seems to be fictitious. And
the plot thickens. Over in Guelph, the Conservative candidate’s wife – who also
worked in the campaign office – says that neither of them have any idea who was
responsible for the misleading robo-calls, and that now her family is being
harassed by the press for comment.
The premier of New Brunswick seems set to
try and “elect” his province’s senators, in defiance of logic, reason, or
constitutionality. The other Atlantic premiers, meanwhile, are not so keen.
There are suggestions that Canada needs a
neutral, arm’s length body to decide on the equalisation formula – kind of like
Australia has. But what would Canada be without toxic political dramas, unity
crises, or federal-provincial squabbling? It would be un-Canadian.
Further abroad, this video of president
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia defending her country’s laws criminalising
homosexuality while Tony Blair grits his teeth and refuses to be drawn into the
conversation is just cringe inducing.
And here’s a particular oops from Alberta,
where the Wildrose campaign bus’ paintjob raised a few eyebrows.
