Last night’s all-candidate’s event in Thornbury hosted by the Blue Mountains Chamber of Commerce was a gas – 10 times much more fun than Collingwood’s, when we have to sit through the self-serving, elitist questions of the local media…
Nope, instead, we get questions from the audience! About the Bilderburg Group! Nothing livens up a meeting than bringing out good old-fashioned conspiracy theories… It should be noted Liberal candidate Alex Smardenka completely skirted the Bilderburg question, which only ties him to the conspiracy (little known fact: Collingwood’s Boston Pizza provides pre-conference snacks to the Bilderburg Group #notintendedtobeafactualstatement)
Actually, it was a really good event, and the absence of Conservative candidate Kellie Leitch added enough spice to keep everyone glued to their seats for most of the two hours; for the more amusing blow-by-blow, you can check out my twitter feed…
Hurray for Us!: QMI’s Parliamentary Bureau chief and host of The Daily Brief on Sun News, David Akin, delves into the advance polling numbers — and pulls out the little nugget that Simcoe-Grey saw the third-highest turnout, by the numbers, in the country.
As David notes:
I find it notable that Simcoe-Grey, where independent Helena Guergis is trying to hold on has a very high turnout. Her Conservative opponent Kellie Leitch is a long-time Ontario and federal party activist and worker and, presumably, she has inherited a strong GOTV (get out the vote) organization. Or, interestingly enough, did Guergis hold on to some of that GOTV swagger she used to enjoy?
I would suggest the latter more than the former; inside polling numbers I’m hearing about put Leitch and Guergis neck-and-neck, with Smardenka tracking closely behind. All I care about is a winner gets declared by midnight on election day — I have presstimes to follow!
Anyhoo, Akin drew his numbers from Ottawa Citizen journo Glen McGregor, who was comparing the percentage increase (or decrease) from 2008 to 2011. Even there Simcoe-Grey fared well, with a 74% increase.
As unnecessary as this election is, it’s good to know people are turning out to vote. Whether that translates into higher turnout on Monday remains to be seen…
