Harper is back. But so is Charlie Angus.
p2pnet news view | P2P | Politics:- The bad news, as most Canadians know by now, is George W. Harper is back.
The good news?
Net neutrality supporter and NDP digital culture spokesman Charlie Angus kept his seat in Timmins, northern Ontario, winning an overwhelming majority of the votes.
“Do we not rock in Timmins-James Bay?” - The Daily Press has Angus, a musician, saying.
His re-election, “became his third in the past three federal elections,” and he’s come along way from the 600 votes he secured in his first campaign, says the story, adding:
“As the voting numbers started to wind down, Angus lead more than 8,000 votes ahead of Liberal candidate Paul Taillefer, who was followed by Conservative candidate Bill Greenberg and Green Party candidate Larry Verner.”
Sadly, however, Green Party leader Elizabeth May lost her Nova Scotia riding in a fight she wasn’t likely to win.
Meanwhile, Harper may be back, following the lowest voter turnout in history, but he’s still running a minority government.
Below are clips from various media as the last day of the elections unfolded. Times, Pacific, are when p2pnet grabbed the items, not when they were published.
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[7:00 pm] Leaders face tough fight beyond finish – Globe and Mail
Canada’s political landscape will undergo fundamental change after today’s federal election, with the next government forced to focus on an economy in turmoil and at least some party leaders wondering about their future. Regardless of who wins the vote, deep economic anxiety will shape the parliamentary calendar for the foreseeable future, compelling whoever becomes prime minister to push aside other priorities. That winner will also be dealing with a distracted United States and a new president who will spend much time coping with the country’s own financial crisis. If Stephen Harper retains the prime minister’s chair, Canadians can expect to see a significantly shuffled cabinet. The Prime Minister lost one of his most steady hands when Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson decided not to seek re-election, and he will be searching for Quebec representation at the cabinet table, which may be difficult, according to polls taken near the end of this campaign. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty may also be moved after senior business leaders criticized his handling of the financial crisis and because of his rocky relationship with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.
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[5:06 pm]
Dozens of voters have been turned away from as many as four polling stations in the GTA — three in Ken Dryden’s Toronto York Centre riding — because Elections Canada staff allegedly failed to show up. Lynette Fortune said she arrived at R.J. Lang elementary school near Yonge and Finch Sts. at about 9:45 a.m. She said a supervisor told her husband that staff hadn’t yet reported to work and that they should return after noon. “I called Elections Canada and the woman I spoke to apologized for the inconvenience,” Fortune said. “I said it wasn’t an inconvenience, it was my basic right to vote.” Fortune said roughly 20 elderly voters were also turned away.
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[3:40 pm] Barber shop poll predicts win for Angus – Northern News
When Roger Picard was 18 or 19, he began polling his customers about who they would vote for in municipal, provincial and federal elections. He did it after asking his dad, Bill, which party he thought would win. “The first year I was a barber, there was an election,” Picard said. “My dad thought the Liberals would win.” Picard began taking bets with his customers, for $1, on who would win. “My dad was so far off, I only lost $10 or $15,” he explained. “But from that point on I decided to ask a few customers who they thought would win before placing a bet.” This will be the 30th election in which he has polled his customers. Picard said he has been right 27 of the 29 previous polls. His poll of 200 customers at the Palace Barber Shop is showing NDP incumbent Charlie Angus will take 49 per cent of the vote. His informal poll has Liberal Paul Taillefer second with 31.5 per cent of the votes, Bill Greenberg of the Conservative Party will receive 18 per cent and Green Party candidate Larry Verner will get 1.5 per cent of the vote.
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[3:28 pm] Harper kept grumpy streak in check – mostly – Canadian Press
Why did Harper break another of his previous election promises?
Last time around, “As part of his pledge to clean up federal politics, the Conservative leader had said he would create a new appointments commission to help combat political patronage,”says CP. “The opposition rejected his first choice to lead the commission, Calgary oilman and Conservative backer Gwyn Morgan. So Harper strolled downstairs from his office and, in the time it took him to enter the House of Commons, casually announced that there would be no commission. “We won’t be able to clean up the (appointments) process in this minority Parliament,” Harper said. “We’ll obviously need a majority government to do that in the future.”
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[1:39 pm] Layton says NDP message got through – Globe and Mail
[NDP leader Jack] Layton has said he will work with other party leaders after the election to make Parliament work if he becomes prime minister – a possibility that seemed remote on Tuesday morning. But he was not prepared to make predictions about the outcome of a vote that was still so uncertain. “I don’t think we can know that until the dust settles, until we see the results coming in, and there could be very different possibilities depending on how Canadians vote today,” he told reporters. “We could have a parliament that doesn’t serve the fundamental needs of our families, or we could have one that does.”
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[11:53 am] Be ready for surprises when the votes are counted tonight – Montreal Gazette
The dread Second Law of Practical Politics kicked in big-time in the final days of the federal election, knocking everything for a loop. Tonight’s results will hold plenty of surprises. The Second Law is a politician’s nightmare. It notes ominously that many unforeseen things can happen in a political campaign, most of them disagreeable. And if they can happen, they probably will. (The First Law says simply: Don’t wear funny hats.)
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[11:25 am] Secret coalition? – Trail MixThe gruelling schedule must finally be wearing him down. At his final campaign stop in Vancouver tonight, Stephen Harper made an interesting slip of the tongue. “So friends, it’s really simple. I’m going to say it one more time. It’s economic protection or economic experimentation!” he said. “That is why we and Mr. Dion must get a mandate for the good of this country’s economy.”
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[11:05 am] Apathetic voters the real threat now – Canwest News Service
[...] it’s apathy, not the smears or jeers of rival leaders, that becomes their greatest threat now, particularly for those aiming to knock off the incumbent prime minister. In a close election where the prevailing judgment by the public is one of disgust at 36 days of sucker punches and cheap shots, the most important voters may well be the ones who opt for none-of-the-above and stay home.
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October 15th, 2008 at 10:38 am
“Sadly, however, Green Party leader Elizabeth May lost her Nova Scotia riding in a fight she wasn’t likely to win.”
I can’t believe that the NS people actually chose a man Peter MacKay, who called his former girlfriend a dog, over that lovely and positive lady, Elizabeth May.
That would have been a no-brainer for me. Guess I am out of touch with what Canadians think… or know.
October 15th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
“I can’t believe that the NS people actually chose a man Peter MacKay, who called his former girlfriend a dog”
That’s probably because the NS people are into bestiality, and sadly misunderstood the dog reference…