Post by kelvin on Oct 14, 2008 18:06:06 GMT -5
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Updated Sun. Sep. 28 2008 8:13 PM ET
Carla Lucchetta, CTV.ca News
Much of the Canadian election campaign takes place in front of television cameras where the leaders are the stars of the show. So, it's easy to forget about the hundreds of candidates campaigning on the ground, going door-to-door and engaging in local town halls.
Some of those candidates are running in their first election and in closely contested ridings. We take a look at five of those ridings and the ways in which recent events are shaping the race.
Parkdale-High Park, Ontario
Peggy Nash, the NDP industry and city of Toronto critic, is the one-term incumbent in this riding. Her main opponent this time around is Gerard Kennedy, a former Ontario MPP who ran for the Liberal leadership in 2006.
This area of Toronto is home to Polish, Ukrainian, Italian and South Asian speaking residents. According to the 2006 census, renters outweigh homeowners 58 to 42 per cent. Historically the riding has passed from Liberal to Conservative representation and in the last two elections has flip-flopped between the Liberals and the NDP, with the Liberals taking it in 2004 and NDP in 2006.
Kennedy, Ontario's former education minister, is best known federally as Stephane Dion's "kingmaker" when he crossed the floor with his supporters after the second ballot of the 2006 leadership convention. This allowed Dion to defeat Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae to become leader of the party.
Nash, a union representative by profession, is considered hard working and is very well respected in this riding, while Kennedy's profile has somewhat diminished since his bid for leadership.
He is well respected as a former head of Toronto's food bank and as a provincial cabinet minister, but doesn't have a seat in the House of Commons and has never run for federal election. He is a visiting professor at Ryerson University in Toronto and also serves as special adviser to Dion.
Part of his responsibility in that realm has been election-readiness and renewal. With the Liberal party lagging in the election polls and generally considered divided among the rank and file, some critics wonder what this contest might have been if Kennedy had thrown his support behind one of the others. It remains to be seen if this will affect his chances at defeating the popular Nash.
The Conservative candidate, Jilian Saweczko, is a former Tupperware consultant who ran unsuccessfully in this riding in 1997. The Green candidate, Rob Rishchynski, is an IT manager who ran unsuccessfully in 2006.
Saanich-Gulf Islands, British Columbia
MP Gary Lunn has held this riding since 1997, first under the Reform banner, then Canadian Alliance and finally Conservative. With NDP candidate Julian West's recent withdrawal, there's speculation that Lunn might lose his seat to the Liberal's Briony Penn.
This riding is a mix of suburban and rural, with 22 per cent of voters over 65, another 22 per cent immigrants and 3 per cent aboriginals. Prior to Lunn's tenure, it was an NDP riding.
In the third week of the election, West resigned his candidacy after a high-ranking Liberal sent CTV in British Columbia an email telling of an incident 12 years ago where he appeared naked at a camp in the presence of children. He maintains nothing more happened and no charges were laid. In his resignation he said he had made a "serious error in judgment" and he didn't want his "candidacy to detract from the issues that should be front and centre in the campaign." Jack Layton accepted his apology and since this revelation came to light after the cut-off date for new candidates, the NDP slot will remain empty.
Meanwhile, Liberal candidate Briony Penn, also a former Green supporter, has recently attracted some controversy for riding as Lady Godiva on a horse during a Vancouver logging protest. Commenting on West's misfortune she told CTV News, "In my instance I certainly would say I consulted the Vancouver police and was very respectful of the law and never broke any laws."
In the 2006 election, Gary Lunn received 24,416 votes, to 17,445 for the NDP and 17,144 for Liberals. A number of variables could drastically affect this riding given the close NDP and Liberal numbers. If Penn runs an effective enough campaign, NDP votes could go to the Liberals rather than Greens, potentially giving Lunn quite a run for his money.
This is the intense climate that surrounds Penn's entrance into federal politics. She is a professor, writer and broadcaster, who has an environmental consulting business and is the founding director of The Land Conservancy, a charitable Land Trust that protects natural habitats in B.C.
The Green Party candidate is Andrew Lewis, owner and operator of a landscape business. He has been previously unsuccessful in a 2001 provincial election and in the 2004 and 2006 federal elections.
Ottawa West - Nepean, Ontario
Veteran Liberal David Pratt, a former defence minister in the Paul Martin government, takes on Minister of the Environment John Baird in this riding that employs mainly federal civil servants.
This area also comprises 28 per cent immigrant communities, including German, Italian and Chinese . It has historically rotated back and forth from Liberal to Conservative.
Pratt held the Nepean-Carleton riding from 1997 until 2004, then took a position as Special Advisor for the Canadian Red Cross. He'll need to capture the NDP vote if he hopes to defeat Baird, a message that star candidate Bob Rae helped him deliver last week at his riding headquarters.
The message is necessary because in the last three elections the NDP have tripled their share of the vote in Ottawa West-Nepean, from 5.2 per cent in 2000 to 16.1 per cent in 2006. Baird was elected to this riding in 2006, winning 5,000 more votes than the Liberal candidate. His original post in the Harper government was as president of the Treasury Board, but replaced the beleaguered Rona Ambrose as environment minister in 2007.
Also running are: health professional Marlene Rivier, who ran unsuccessfully in the last two elections for the NDP; and business owner Frances Coates for the Green Party.
Central Nova, Nova Scotia
In perhaps one of the most perplexing contests of the entire election, Green Party leader Elizabeth May is competing against heavy weight Peter MacKay in a riding with a deep Conservative history. MacKay's father, Elmer held the riding through four elections, briefly handing it over to Brian Mulroney for a 1983 byelection, and then taking it back for two more. Peter MacKay has held the seat (which was Pictou-Antigonish-Guysborough before redistribution in 2003) since 1997.
May, who is running her first election campaign as leader, has garnered a good deal more media coverage in this election campaign than anyone expected, and the upsurge of her party's polls numbers means the Greens are finally a force to be reckoned with. This is despite the fact that no Green Party member has ever been elected to the House of Commons. Her presence in the televised election debates further garners much needed attention to compete with MacKay.
She claims her decision to run in such a well established Conservative riding is two fold: she wants to run at home in Nova Scotia, and also to compete against a Harper government cabinet member so she can speak directly to Harper's policies, especially those that have resulted in job losses in the Pictou-Antigonish counties.
Adding to the excitement is the absence of a Liberal candidate because Stephane Dion agreed not to run one in order to give May a fighting chance at defeating MacKay. The NDP candidate is Louise Lorefice, a teacher and fundraiser.
Papineau, Quebec
Part of this riding incorporates former prime minister Pierre Trudeau's old stomping grounds, which could signify mixed results for son Justin's first kick at federal politics. For those many immigrants who remember Trudeau Sr.'s dedication to multiculturalism, the signals are quite good. For those who carry bitterness regarding Quebec's absence from the patriated Constitution, the chances are poor.
Trudeau is running against the Haitian-born incumbent Vivian Barbot, the Bloc's intergovernmental affairs critic, who defeated former Liberal cabinet minister Pierre Pettigrew in 2006. She won 40.75 per cent of the vote share to Pettigrew's 38.48 per cent.
The Young Patriots of Quebec, a sovereignist group, is waging a "No Trudeau in Papineau" campaign, holding demonstrations outside Trudeau's office. In an interview on Mike Duffy Live, Justin Trudeau was unfazed by the group's efforts, saying that his work on the ground for the last 19 months has shored up support. He is reported to have held 10 events a week during that time.
Although this is by all accounts a two-party race, the other main contenders are: Conservative candidate Mustaque Sarker, a businessman who ran unsuccessfully in the last three elections; and the Greens' Ingrid Hein, a writer and web project manager.
Updated Sun. Sep. 28 2008 8:13 PM ET
Carla Lucchetta, CTV.ca News
Much of the Canadian election campaign takes place in front of television cameras where the leaders are the stars of the show. So, it's easy to forget about the hundreds of candidates campaigning on the ground, going door-to-door and engaging in local town halls.
Some of those candidates are running in their first election and in closely contested ridings. We take a look at five of those ridings and the ways in which recent events are shaping the race.
Parkdale-High Park, Ontario
Peggy Nash, the NDP industry and city of Toronto critic, is the one-term incumbent in this riding. Her main opponent this time around is Gerard Kennedy, a former Ontario MPP who ran for the Liberal leadership in 2006.
This area of Toronto is home to Polish, Ukrainian, Italian and South Asian speaking residents. According to the 2006 census, renters outweigh homeowners 58 to 42 per cent. Historically the riding has passed from Liberal to Conservative representation and in the last two elections has flip-flopped between the Liberals and the NDP, with the Liberals taking it in 2004 and NDP in 2006.
Kennedy, Ontario's former education minister, is best known federally as Stephane Dion's "kingmaker" when he crossed the floor with his supporters after the second ballot of the 2006 leadership convention. This allowed Dion to defeat Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae to become leader of the party.
Nash, a union representative by profession, is considered hard working and is very well respected in this riding, while Kennedy's profile has somewhat diminished since his bid for leadership.
He is well respected as a former head of Toronto's food bank and as a provincial cabinet minister, but doesn't have a seat in the House of Commons and has never run for federal election. He is a visiting professor at Ryerson University in Toronto and also serves as special adviser to Dion.
Part of his responsibility in that realm has been election-readiness and renewal. With the Liberal party lagging in the election polls and generally considered divided among the rank and file, some critics wonder what this contest might have been if Kennedy had thrown his support behind one of the others. It remains to be seen if this will affect his chances at defeating the popular Nash.
The Conservative candidate, Jilian Saweczko, is a former Tupperware consultant who ran unsuccessfully in this riding in 1997. The Green candidate, Rob Rishchynski, is an IT manager who ran unsuccessfully in 2006.
Saanich-Gulf Islands, British Columbia
MP Gary Lunn has held this riding since 1997, first under the Reform banner, then Canadian Alliance and finally Conservative. With NDP candidate Julian West's recent withdrawal, there's speculation that Lunn might lose his seat to the Liberal's Briony Penn.
This riding is a mix of suburban and rural, with 22 per cent of voters over 65, another 22 per cent immigrants and 3 per cent aboriginals. Prior to Lunn's tenure, it was an NDP riding.
In the third week of the election, West resigned his candidacy after a high-ranking Liberal sent CTV in British Columbia an email telling of an incident 12 years ago where he appeared naked at a camp in the presence of children. He maintains nothing more happened and no charges were laid. In his resignation he said he had made a "serious error in judgment" and he didn't want his "candidacy to detract from the issues that should be front and centre in the campaign." Jack Layton accepted his apology and since this revelation came to light after the cut-off date for new candidates, the NDP slot will remain empty.
Meanwhile, Liberal candidate Briony Penn, also a former Green supporter, has recently attracted some controversy for riding as Lady Godiva on a horse during a Vancouver logging protest. Commenting on West's misfortune she told CTV News, "In my instance I certainly would say I consulted the Vancouver police and was very respectful of the law and never broke any laws."
In the 2006 election, Gary Lunn received 24,416 votes, to 17,445 for the NDP and 17,144 for Liberals. A number of variables could drastically affect this riding given the close NDP and Liberal numbers. If Penn runs an effective enough campaign, NDP votes could go to the Liberals rather than Greens, potentially giving Lunn quite a run for his money.
This is the intense climate that surrounds Penn's entrance into federal politics. She is a professor, writer and broadcaster, who has an environmental consulting business and is the founding director of The Land Conservancy, a charitable Land Trust that protects natural habitats in B.C.
The Green Party candidate is Andrew Lewis, owner and operator of a landscape business. He has been previously unsuccessful in a 2001 provincial election and in the 2004 and 2006 federal elections.
Ottawa West - Nepean, Ontario
Veteran Liberal David Pratt, a former defence minister in the Paul Martin government, takes on Minister of the Environment John Baird in this riding that employs mainly federal civil servants.
This area also comprises 28 per cent immigrant communities, including German, Italian and Chinese . It has historically rotated back and forth from Liberal to Conservative.
Pratt held the Nepean-Carleton riding from 1997 until 2004, then took a position as Special Advisor for the Canadian Red Cross. He'll need to capture the NDP vote if he hopes to defeat Baird, a message that star candidate Bob Rae helped him deliver last week at his riding headquarters.
The message is necessary because in the last three elections the NDP have tripled their share of the vote in Ottawa West-Nepean, from 5.2 per cent in 2000 to 16.1 per cent in 2006. Baird was elected to this riding in 2006, winning 5,000 more votes than the Liberal candidate. His original post in the Harper government was as president of the Treasury Board, but replaced the beleaguered Rona Ambrose as environment minister in 2007.
Also running are: health professional Marlene Rivier, who ran unsuccessfully in the last two elections for the NDP; and business owner Frances Coates for the Green Party.
Central Nova, Nova Scotia
In perhaps one of the most perplexing contests of the entire election, Green Party leader Elizabeth May is competing against heavy weight Peter MacKay in a riding with a deep Conservative history. MacKay's father, Elmer held the riding through four elections, briefly handing it over to Brian Mulroney for a 1983 byelection, and then taking it back for two more. Peter MacKay has held the seat (which was Pictou-Antigonish-Guysborough before redistribution in 2003) since 1997.
May, who is running her first election campaign as leader, has garnered a good deal more media coverage in this election campaign than anyone expected, and the upsurge of her party's polls numbers means the Greens are finally a force to be reckoned with. This is despite the fact that no Green Party member has ever been elected to the House of Commons. Her presence in the televised election debates further garners much needed attention to compete with MacKay.
She claims her decision to run in such a well established Conservative riding is two fold: she wants to run at home in Nova Scotia, and also to compete against a Harper government cabinet member so she can speak directly to Harper's policies, especially those that have resulted in job losses in the Pictou-Antigonish counties.
Adding to the excitement is the absence of a Liberal candidate because Stephane Dion agreed not to run one in order to give May a fighting chance at defeating MacKay. The NDP candidate is Louise Lorefice, a teacher and fundraiser.
Papineau, Quebec
Part of this riding incorporates former prime minister Pierre Trudeau's old stomping grounds, which could signify mixed results for son Justin's first kick at federal politics. For those many immigrants who remember Trudeau Sr.'s dedication to multiculturalism, the signals are quite good. For those who carry bitterness regarding Quebec's absence from the patriated Constitution, the chances are poor.
Trudeau is running against the Haitian-born incumbent Vivian Barbot, the Bloc's intergovernmental affairs critic, who defeated former Liberal cabinet minister Pierre Pettigrew in 2006. She won 40.75 per cent of the vote share to Pettigrew's 38.48 per cent.
The Young Patriots of Quebec, a sovereignist group, is waging a "No Trudeau in Papineau" campaign, holding demonstrations outside Trudeau's office. In an interview on Mike Duffy Live, Justin Trudeau was unfazed by the group's efforts, saying that his work on the ground for the last 19 months has shored up support. He is reported to have held 10 events a week during that time.
Although this is by all accounts a two-party race, the other main contenders are: Conservative candidate Mustaque Sarker, a businessman who ran unsuccessfully in the last three elections; and the Greens' Ingrid Hein, a writer and web project manager.