ballot box

Friday September 10, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday September 10, 2021

It’s time to vote: Advanced polling opening to Canadians during pandemic election

The time to vote has arrived – in person, that is.

October 29, 2014

Millions of Canadians will be able to cast their ballots at voting stations on Friday as advanced polls open across the country. Any eligible voter will have until Sept. 13 to mark their ballots at a polling station in their riding as part of the advanced window.

Advanced voting is proving to be a popular method in Canada’s elections, said Dugald Maudsley, an Elections Canada spokesperson.

He told Global News that in the 2019 election, 4,840,300 voters went out to advanced polls while 3,657,415 did so in 2015.

With the country is in a COVID-19 fourth wave, Maudsley said it’s possible the turnout for advanced polling will increase again this time around – but anything can happen.

“Often (advanced polling stations are) not as crowded, they’re not as busy and it’s a way to get in efficiently and get your vote done,” he said.

“We’re really telling people that voting in person at advanced polls and on election day is still the simplest and most efficient way to vote.”

June 19, 2020

Canada has been in election mode since Aug. 15 and party leaders have been busy touring the country in an effort to get voters on their sides. The leaders took part in the first of two official debates Wednesday night, trading blows in French. The English-language debate took place Thursday night.

The debates are happening at a time when some Canadians still don’t know who they’re voting for. A new Ipsos poll conducted exclusively for Global News found 13 per cent of those surveyed are undecided.

With advanced polling here, Maudsley wants Canadians to know in-person voting will be safe during the fourth wave. He compared in-person voting to visiting the grocery store, and voters can expect Elections Canada staff to follow all health protocols.

Federal Election 2021

For example, he said Canadians can expect poll workers to be wearing face masks and shields, and that they’ll be behind plexiglass. There will also be sanitation stations and social distancing will be enforced.

“You really won’t be there for very long once you’ve checked yourself in,” Maudsley said. “It’s really about a five-minute process to vote.” (Global News) 

 

Saturday August 14, 2021

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday August 14, 2021

Canada is headed for a federal election on Sept. 20

Canadians will head to the polls on Sept. 20.

July 23, 2021 – NonStop speculation

Following a meeting with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau this morning, Gov. Gen. Mary Simon approved his request to dissolve Parliament, triggering the issuing of the election writs and formally beginning Canada’s 44th federal election.

The campaign will last 36 days — the minimum campaign length permitted by law.

Opposition parties have argued against an early election call. Canada’s next fixed-date election was set for October 2023.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh went so far as to urge Simon to refuse Trudeau’s request. Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said Monday he was concerned about holding a campaign during a fourth wave of the pandemic and accused Trudeau of pursuing an election in his own political “self-interest.”

From the podium outside of Rideau Hall this morning, Trudeau pushed back against his critics, saying Canadians deserve a chance to decide who should guide the country out of the pandemic.

“In this pivotal, consequential moment, who wouldn’t want a say? Who wouldn’t want their chance to help decide where our country goes from here?” he said.

July 9, 2021

“So to the other parties, please explain why you don’t think Canadians should get a choice, why you don’t think that this is a pivotal moment. I’m focused on our real plan. I’m focused on the path forward.”

At dissolution, the Liberals hold 155 seats in the House of Commons, while the Conservatives have 119, the Bloc Québécois 32, the New Democrats 24 and the Green Party two. Five seats are held by independents.

The federal Liberals continue to hold a lead in public polling, capturing 35.6 per cent of public support against 28.8 per cent for the Conservatives and 19.3 per cent for the NDP, according to CBC’s Poll Tracker. That level of support puts them just in range of the 170 seats needed to form a majority government. 

The Conservatives say they plan to argue that Canadians can’t afford to trust the Liberals with the country’s post-pandemic economic recovery.

June 10, 2021

Reporters asked O’Toole multiple questions about something that is shaping up to be a campaign sticking point: the party’s views on mandatory vaccinations. On Friday, the Liberals announced they would require vaccinations for all federal public servants, air and train passengers.

“Conservatives would like Canadians to be able to make their own decision. We have to educate people, not force them,” O’Toole said.

The NDP, meanwhile, is hoping the work New Democrat MPs did in pushing for more generous COVID-19 aid programs will resonate with Canadians at the ballot box and carry them out of fourth place.

The party also has released a platform which promises universal pharmacare, a guaranteed livable income, free tuition and a wealth tax.

September 25, 2020

“Justin Trudeau wants to grab power and wants a majority. But why does he want a majority? It’s certainly not because he wants to help more people or help people more,” said Singh from Montreal, where he kicked off his campaign today.

On day one, Trudeau was asked about the evolving situation in Afghanistan as the Taliban enter the capital.

Hours before the official election call, the government announced Canada is shutting down its embassy in Kabul and suspending diplomatic operations in the country.

It also intends to take in as many as 20,000 additional refugees from the war-torn country.

July 15, 2021

“We are extremely concerned about the situation in Afghanistan and I can assure you that officials and indeed ministers continue and will continue to weigh in on protecting Canadians, getting Canadians safely out of Afghanistan and continuing to step up as Canada has so many times around the world to bring people to safety,” he said.

When an election is called, the federal government enters a “caretaker” mode that limits most major decisions. (CBC)

2019 Federal Election

Thursday September 21, 2017

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 21, 2017

What happens when the big tent is a mirage

At this rate, Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown will be fighting the looming election on crutches, the result of his own party repeatedly shooting him in both feet.

August 23, 2017

Already facing numerous controversies and even a police investigation around candidate nominations, the PCs wounded themselves yet again, this time with the local riding association in Cambridge accusing party headquarters of rigging the nomination process in favour of its preferred candidates. The party apparently shortened the nomination deadline, arbitrarily and without consultation, so that local candidates planning to run were left with insufficient time to sell enough memberships to be competitive. The preferred candidates, critics charge, are already signed up and selling so locals won’t have a legitimate shot.

Party brass deny the allegations, but the damage is done, especially considering that this scandal is just one of many all around the same thing: PC party management overriding local members in making nomination decisions. Three local riding associations and numerous executives have resigned in protest. A former minister under Mike Harris has said electing Brown would be the worst possible choice. Allegations include ballot-stuffing, falsified membership forms, party-funded memberships and other irregularities.

Criticizing Brown and his team for this is like shooting fish in a barrel. Suffice it to say they’ve had months to make an impression. They’ve made one, all right, but it features corruption allegations, disdain for the grassroots and undemocratic behaviour. Hardly the sort of momentum they had hoped to create heading into the election next June.

September 12, 2017

In fairness, the PCs may be the poster children for this sort of nonsense, but the NDP and Liberals have had their own troubles, though not to the same degree. And the worst part? It’s completely unnecessary.

Parties have the right to choose their candidate in any riding, and party HQ is the final authority. They just need to be honest and transparent. It’s a tough sell, admittedly, but surely just saying out of the gate that a candidate has been chosen is preferable to making promises of grassroots inclusivity, accepting party membership fees and then kicking sand in the face of local riding associations.

The optics of having party central choose candidates are not good, granted. It’s tough to sell a big-tent, inclusive party vision while suits in boardrooms quietly make critical candidate decisions. But in the case of the Ontario PCs, that’s what is happening, and they’re compounding the problem by claiming to be one thing but demonstrating through their actions they are the polar opposite. Hand-pick candidates if that’s what you want to do. But at least have the integrity to be honest about it. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

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