Tuesday, June 05, 2012

The Battle Has Begun



And, if we thought we had heard the last of robocalls, we were sadly mistaken. Allison Cross reported in yesterday's National Post that the electors of  Etobicoke Centre are receiving what appear to be voter identification calls from the Conservative Party:

The calls, which began on Friday and continued through the weekend, started with the person saying they were calling on behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

They appeared to have been voter-identification calls, designed to create a list of supporters for a byelection. The calls also apparently claimed voters would have their votes “taken away” by a court decision.

So we know what the Conservative line is going to be. The Ontario Court decision to rerun the election is an attack on democracy. It's the classic case of the kid who kills his parents and calls for mercy because he is now an orphan.

To the Conservative claim that the Liberals are orchestrating a coup, Borys Wrzesnewsky offers a straight forward response:

"The court is actually there to protect the rights and interests of the electorate,'' he said. ``We don't know who the winner was. And that's why the court called for a byelection.''

The Conservative reaction should come as no surprise. This is, after all, Stephen Harper's Party. And the electors of Etobicoke Centre are in for more of the same. But, having been there once before, it will be interesting to see if they buy a return trip.

6 comments:

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

It will be an interesting by-election, if the Supreme Court does not reverse the decision.

I am tempted to suggest the New Democrats should not run a candidate to make sure this Liberal Riding elections a Liberal MP. Oh! Slap my face!!!! for having such a thought. I am a life long NDPer (even though I am just barely hanging on the the left side of the party.) Let the Liberals sit this one out so a New Democrat can be elected.

Owen Gray said...

At the moment, Phillip, the polls seem to indicate that the Liberal candidate has a good lead. But Etobicokians will have to see what happens and -- one hopes -- vote strategically.

ck said...

I'm still a believer in strategic voting. In this particular riding, the Liberal has the better chance of winning.

As for those games the Conservatives are playing, calling up the voters of Etobicoke-Center, that tells me they are not confident they will win their appeal.

Beijing York said...

Seriously, let the incumbent win for the good of the nation.

If, IF, the Council of Canadians win their court cases on 7 iffy ridings including my own (Winnipeg South Centre), I would definitely support the LPC candidate who held this seat for some decades. Now would not be the time to split the vote and let a Conservative last minute patsy win the vote.

Owen Gray said...

I agree. ck. It suggests they feel their appeal is in trouble.

And, if they do lose the appeal, we should expect a firestorm akin to the "separatist coalition" stuff we heard during the last election.

Owen Gray said...

This is definitely NOT the time to split the vote, Bejiing. Stephen Harper has succeeded by doing just that.

And the opposition parties have allowed him to divide and conquer.