This thread is for reports on how voting is going in your own riding/province, etc. – voter turnout, any interesting developments.
(Voting, not results).
This thread is for reports on how voting is going in your own riding/province, etc. – voter turnout, any interesting developments.
(Voting, not results).
It would be nice to know what the turnout is throughout the day, high turnout bodes well for CPC.
Voting mostly peaceful in Quebec City. UN is concerned about intimidation though…
I’m especially anxious to hear from my friends in lovely Kingston, Ont. about the Liberal party sending a bus over to the psychiatric hospital to bring those unfortunate people out to vote, with help, in the ballot booth. Like they did last time.
Bringing the deeply disturbed & highly medicated, who can’t function minimally in society, out to vote, with help, by a partisan group.
A vision which has always warmed my heart.
http://www.theinfozone.net is reporting on CTV Newsnet and the discussion between Charles Adler and Andrew Krystal.
Krystal said Adler and all Conservatives would vote for Adolf Hitler if he wore Tory blue.
Disgusting.
TIZ
Elections Canada needs to do a bit more homework.
Last election, they informed us our poll was in a community hall 36 miles away. We drove in a blizzard to get there. Afterwards, both our family and our (Cons.) MP wrote letters and met with the Elections Canada people, and were assured this would not happen again.
This time, there is a polling station within sight of our place. They still notified us that our poll was in another town hall – this time 34 miles away.
We voted at the local poll.
I wonder how many people in this riding were dissuaded from voting because they thought they had a 70 MILE round trip to do so? It is a Conservative riding…
I will vote tonight
Reports from my friend in Oakville. Line up at 9:30 am to vote when the doors opened.
All was silent in Winnipeg South-Center this morning… I don’t think the hippies like to wake up before noon though…
Just voted for Conservative Candidate, Mr. Robin Baird, for the riding of Victoria. Early in the morning the polling station, in the local school gym, was buzzing with a steady stream of voters. Everyone appears in good spirits and the weather is fresh with a very light sprinkle of rain.
From the Ottawa Valley (don’t laugh, the rural parts, and southern suburbs are as Conservative as they come).
Weather clear and cool. Morning turnout is moderate, but steady at the polling places I drove by (looked more closely at two).
The Conservatives have an excellent ground game in most of the southern and western Valley ridings; then again, these have been mostly Tory since Confederation (except for the Reform years and vote splitting). Their game in the urban core is weaker, and, apart from the Pontiac in Quebec, it’s quite weak north of the Ottawa River.
No question that the Conservatives will hold their base in the Valley, even if temperatures raise to +20 centigrade, flowers bloom today, and dead bodies come walking out of the graveyards even more than usual to vote Liberal. Possible pickups?
Two ridings with star Tory candidates running (both ex-provincial cabinet ministers) to watch will be Ottawa West-Nepean where Tory John Baird is running hard; the Pontiac, across the Ottawa River in Quebec, where ex-Quebec MNA Lawrence Cannon seeks to oust Liberal David Smith. Worse weather would probably have been better for these two candidates, but they’ve got a good chance of picking up their seats.
Ottawa Orleans is a possible Tory pickup, though this seems to be a case of a relatively unknown Conservative candidate running against a fairly weak Grit incumbent. Ottawa South, where star Candidate and whistleblower Allan Cutler’s running against the McGuinty machine (yes, that McGuinty, same family as Ontario Grit Premier) has almost zero chance of a Conservative pickup.
In fairness, Cutler’s not a very good communicator, and David McGuinty has worked very hard for his constituency, much like Pierre Pollievre (CPC) in Nepean Carleton.
Glengarry-Prescott Russell’s another conceivable Conservative pickup, though only just. The city core will be the usual mix of NDP and (mostly) Liberal.
At best, 3-4 Liberal seats down, all going to the Conservatives. At worst, a pickup of 1-2 in the Ottawa Valley.
-Holmwood
I can’t wait to get to the polls tonight! I live in on Hamilton Mountain, but my ridig is part of Hamilton central. The players are David Christopherson for the NDP, Elliot Hill for the CPC, and some other dude for the libs. Christopherson should walk with it in my riding, but I’m worried about voting for Hill and taking the chance of splitting enough votes that the lib gets in.
I may vote NDP to prevent that from happening, but I wish I had a handle on how well Hill is doing in the polls. If I vote NDP and Hill loses by 1 vote….well, I’ll be pretty upset with myself.
Unfortunately, I’ve spoken to a couple of NDP supporters who are spooked and considering voting Liberal to block the “scary” Stephen Harper.
When I ask them why they think he’s scary, all I get back is a vague, “He can’t be trusted.”
When I point out that they are considering voting for a party that has stolen from the people consistently, and whose leader has broken every campaign promise he made in the last election, they still just have the deer in the headlights look of a zombie.
Then I tell them that if they vote NDP, there’s a possibility they’ll get an NDP for their MP. And if NDP supporters vote Liberal – there is no chance the NDP will win seats.
This mass hypnosis that the left wing has perpetrated over the “hidden agenda” is harder to reverse than I originally thought. I guess I had given Canadians too much credit for having critical thinking skills.
Those that vote for a party that has lied to us repeatedly, yet trust them more than a guy who hasn’t lied to us at all mystifies me.
Calgary East
Just voted. I wore blue, of course, under the usual white robe and hood. Some others were wearing their “colours”, as well.
Green supporters – aka Calgary Liberals too ashamed to vote Liberal – were drinking Starbucks and looking depressed.
NDP supporters in full-beards and Che t-shirts, telling me Conservatives are gay-baby-seal-killing-fascists. Although, they might have said “scary”, but I wasn’t really listening.
The Liberals weren’t wearing red or anything, but I could still spot them out, filing out of that bus, all numbered and in handcuffs.
The sun is shining, almost 10 degrees above. It’s a nice day here in Calgary. Wonder what it’s like in Toronto.
Kyla,
I experienced exactly the same thing over the week-end. I spoke to a couple fellows I know who were intent on voting liberal to stop that “scary Harper”. When I mentioned the money the libs had stolen from them, they just responded with the notion that it was a small price to pay to avoid Harper as PM. When I asked for specific reasons to think that Harper was so scary, they both just went into rants about George Bush. I was too disgusted to carry on the conversations any further.
I am in Oshawa and at my polling station,some disgruntled ndp supporters were shouting at people to stop the Harper fascists..what Morons!
maybe the folks in Ontario should read this article . . . might help them come to grips with teh changing times. As they watch their unionized, subsidized auto industry hollow-out, the West continues to grow richer, mor populous and powerful.
And tis is just about OIL in Alberta. Says nothing about oil in Sask or staggering resrves of Natural Gas in all three provinces.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/20/60minutes/main1225184.shtml.
Voted at 10:30am this morning. Huge turnout at the school where the voting took place. Cars all over the street and lawns… never seen anything like it.
And it wasn’t just the “before work” crowd as it is still happening.
Very very heavy turnout in Etobicoke anyway – so far.
I dunno… they all LOOK like conservatives to me!
🙂
Cheers,
Lost Budgie
Ignore the weak that will compare Harper to Bush and vote accordingly. The Liberals have always relied on being able to scare uninformed voters into supporting them. All indicators are that the electorate is engaged this time around.
People were pouring into my poll at 9:30 this morning. I took that as a good sign, the ones I recognised are conservatives. 3 blue signs and 1 orange on my street, usually about 7-8 red and my blue…I feel optimistic.
I voted before Christmas, as if there were any doubt. I live in the riding of Barrie, with incumbent cabinet Minister of International Cooperation Aileen Carroll against Tory Patrick Brown. A hell of a lot more Tory signs this year, and insiders in the Tory camp tell me Patrick was ahead by 12 points. Mind you, they were ahead last election too. This lady needs to be taught a lesson, that’s for sure, after watching the local debates. How arrogant can one get?
The Ax Has Swung: Basil ” Buzz ” Hargrove (CAW, CAW, CAW), keeps his job. Martin loses his job. &&&&&
Posted by : Neal.
FORD TO CUT AT LEAST 25,000 JOBS, IDLE 14 FACILITIES IN NORTH AMERICA
**Watch FOX News Channel or go to http://foxnews.com for more —————-
It’s election day, and the news has broken.
Will this convince people that voting Liberal/NDP doesn’t help them protect their jobs, and that it is time to vote Tory, or will it do the opposite and scare people back into the Libera;s arms?
any guesses? >>
http://www.voy.com/178771/123288.html
Recent polls have shown no erosion of dipper support. If anything the dippers have been moving slightly up. (See pollingreport.ca) The “voting Liberal to stop Harper” types have likely been reflected in the polls for a week or two at least.
We in the west appreciate the updates from Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes.
My lovely homeschooling wife and I just voted in Airdrie, AB(10 min. North of Calgary) and all was quiet on the western front. The sun is shining with a very warm chinook wind blowing from the west.(Is this an indication of things to come?!!!) Feels like the movie The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe scenario happening.
We stopped at the local Tim Hortons for an extra large D/D, and thought how great a Canadian commercial this would be-Got my Tim’s and off to exercise my Canadian priviledge of voting. I should be in advertising!!!
I digress…the polling station was quiet with only 4 of us voting.
My kids are home from school today.
In Wpg S Centre they let all the voters go into schools to vote. All the criminals vote liberal so if you live in a liberal riding it stands to reason there are a lot of criminals in your childrens school. Bet your ass that if a pedophile goes to vote they will let them in the same school where my 4 year old daughter wanders the halls.
In canada.
In my city….
Advance poll had an hour wait and nobody was smoking dope, advocating abortion on demand or celebrating other folks sexuality… that I could see.
No federal prison inmates to tip the vote to the Fiberals either.
****************************
Huge local turnout for advance polls
By W. Brice McVicar
Belleville Intelligencer – Thursday, January 19, 2006 @ 10:00
Thirteen per cent of eligible voters won’t be casting their vote on Monday in Prince Edward-Hastings.
They’ve already done it.
The local federal riding placed third across Canada for voters using the advanced polls which operated nationwide Friday, Saturday and Monday.
Two other Ontario ridings Nepean-Carleton and Carleton-Mississippi Mills were ahead of Prince Edward-Hastings in number of votes cast.
Locally, 10,347 people have already voted in Canada’s 39th general election.
We were gearing up for a good turnout but I didn’t think we’d be No. 3 in Canada, Randy Kerr, returning officer for the riding, told The
Intelligencer.
He attributed the high number to co-operative weather, advertising and media coverage of the advance polls.
Carleton-Mississippi Mills had 11,970 people attend the advance polls while Nepean-Carleton had 11,231. The number of voters who voted in
Prince Edward-Hastings was only 896 less than the total number of advance voters in the province of Prince Edward Island.
Such a positive turnout could bode well for turnout on election day, Kerr said.
My goal is to be extremely busy. I want Prince Edward-Hastings to be No. 1 in Canada for turn out. I’m a returning officer so, obviously, I
want people to get out and vote.
Conservative candidate Daryl Kramp said he is hoping for the same thing. The incumbent said despite much complaining from all political parties about the timing of the election, the advance poll numbers indicate to him a great interest in the election.
It’s exciting,? he said. I predicted that this election would have a higher turnout.
While knocking on doors during the campaign, Kramp said he has found people are aware of the issues and are interested in this election.
Liberal candidate Dr. Bob Vaughan said the numbers are encouraging and he hopes they are indicative of a high voter turn-out for election day.
Vaughan said people should be exercising their right whether they participated in advance polls or will cast a vote on Monday.
I think one can?t be critical of the government they get if they don’t go out and vote, he said.
High advance poll numbers have not changed independent candidate Tim Hickey’s belief that too few Canadians will actually vote in the election. From the beginning of his campaign he has said the No. 1 issue is low voter turn-out and he echoed this Wednesday.
It?s a good sign but we don?t know what the final figure will be. I think the number of people who vote will actually drop. That’s my gut feeling.
According to preliminary figures, 1,561,945 electors voted at the advance polls across Canada. This is an increase from the 1,248,469 electors who voted in advance in the 38th general election in 2004.
Calgary – Nose Hill
Warm chinook wind blowing over the mountains – all is expected to be the same here in Calgary – hopefully the wind will blow up north and take the last remaining Liberal seat with it –
Had a few people this weekend say they may not vote cuz she’s (Diane Ablonzy) is going to win anyways – apathy could be dangerous but 20,000 people would have to stay home from last time to change the color of this riding
Talked to one of our admin staff this morn and she said she was going to vote for the NDP cuz they brought in medicare!? When I told her I had left Ontario due to Bob Rae and Manitoba prior to that due to Ed Schreyer and their anti-business policies she said she would vote CPC. Printed off info for her from elections Canada on where she votes and will drive her to the poll at noon. One more vote for Lee Richardson.
I’m voting at 2:30 and will report back if anything exciting happens.
Just returned from voting for John Duncan on Vancouver Island. He just managed a win over the NDP last time and Smiling Jack visited the area 3 or 4 times during the campaign, heres hoping we get the vote out. Regards Jake
For the voter from Hamilton Centre, don’t worry, the last election wasn’t even close, so feel free to vote CPC. I’m in the same riding and the results are here.
I was the 11 voter this morning at poll #83 is Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar. No lineups at Westmount Schools, but a steady trickle of people. Realy nice day in Saskatoon, which is probably better news for the Liberals than anyone else.
Kyla and Rob R The dumb fear Harper thing is sooo frustrating.
These people have been drip fed the idea via the CBC and because the CBC is mainstream they never think to check facts.
Damn, I said the Fear trick was the Libranos best ace in the hole and for busy non-thinking Canadian voters it is working just as the Libranos had intended.
I got an Email from AM Radio CKNW about a mad cow thing. The link was live stream and I didn’t hear the actual news item.
That and the Fear thing…both bad news. TG
Sorry, try that Hamilton Centre result here.
Suggestion: bring a camera to the polling booth with you. Take names if possible. The Liberals have cheated, cheat, and will cheat.
Tim Horton wore Maple Leaf Blue!!!
Pretty quiet at 10:30 AM at a high school here is Saskatoon. Very sunny and above 0 degrees. Wish I had something more exciting to say!
Oakville,ON
Constant stream of people entering the church up the road. They may be going to pray to St.Ildephonse ( who’s “Saint’s Day” it is ) or possibly to vote CPC, which is more likely. My prediction – Liberal Bonnie Brown looking for work around 9.31 this evening.
Just finished voting here in Dauphin Manitoba at 10:30. My poll was in the high school. A Very steady stream of people coming in to vote. I had to park a couple blocks away. Damm poor parking facilities. Now we just have to sit back and wait for the good news tonight.
CBC ticker tape warning voters to beware of bogus e-mail making the rounds advising folks they can vote today OR TOMORROW. Wonder where that came from?
I’ll be voting for Gordon O’Connor in Carleton-Mississippi Mills (west end of Ottawa). He should win easily. He is likely to be the next Minister of National Defence.
smitty out
Deeply disturbing to me was the lack of requirement to produce any identification whatsoever.
Can any of you enlighten me on this, and assure me that this doesn’t pave the way for massive vote fraud (or even not-so-massive)?
From newmarket/Aurora
Votter Turnout is High…
The advance Polls were at 10%
We have Lois reps at all poles…
Looking Good…
SWMBO and I voted in Calgary SouthEast at 9:20AM. Traffic in and out was very brisk. Windy, but warm, everything is melting (except leftie’s hearts). I persuaded three acquaintances to make the effort to vote. They are in their early twenties. This made me feel good.
Kyla-never underestimate the stupidity of people in large groups. JHuck-nice outfit! I wore my black jacket with a large crest of a local speedway on the back. Once a gearhead…
Polls opened here in Cache Creek BC at 7 am… slow so far, but steady.Coming in 1 and 2’s. Just the pre-work I think.
(Aileen Carrol) needs to be taught a lesson, that’s for sure, after watching the local debates. How arrogant can one get?
Very, and she has some unpleasant skeletons in her closet too. CIDA employees have all sorts of stories they could tell…
Well I have to say, I’m feeling a little left out. For the second straight election no one came knocking on my door. I was really hoping the Liberal guy would come because I was looking forward to a good debate.
The good news is that with the exception of the park across the street from the polling station, almost all the lawn signs I have seen were blue. As for those Liberal signs, I don’t remember them being there on Saturday but suddenly there they are, 4 signs all in a row. So if that’s any indication of local support, it looks like we’ll re-elect our Conservative candidate, unless of course the trees and shrubs come out in force (or has that Liberal addendum to the voting rules not passed yet?). That’s 1 Ontario riding down, 105 left to go.
On a more annoying note, it looks like Mikey Moore is back at it. His main page has a ‘Statement on the Canadian Election’ on the right bar. You can go over there and read it for yourself if you want (while I’ll hyperlink to Moore’s site on my own blog, I won’t soil anyone elses with the link) or just wait for the email version that’s been making the rounds. There’s not really much in there that you haven’t already seen or heard from every other Liberal ad or spokesperson.
Steady trickle at my poll in Toronto-Danforth, Layton’s riding. Early reports of Liberal hijinks in Trinity Spadina – details unclear.
Please send me the email addresses of all your friends who are voting Liberal to “Stop George Harper.
I have some money tied up in Nigeria and need some help to liberate it!
Thanks!
CTV’s blog is having a spite vote. Give the names of those you’d most like to see booted from the House. Lots of fun. All Liberals, all the time.
North Toronto at noon…slow but steady at my polling station. Skies are clear and blue, but the streets run blood red. Ignorant Torontonians are scurrying back to their Liberal mammas in droves. Talk radio this morning was a disgraceful mess of fear-and-smear. Globe & Mail knows how to manipulate this town’s pseudo-sophisticates to a T. We’ve worked hard, and we’ll do much better than 2004, but I’m just not feeling the blue wave here at Yonge & Lawrence.
DO NOT bring a camera to a polling booth, doing so contravenes the Canada Elections Act. I scrutineered for the advanced polls and they kicked up blue murder over someone trying to photograph their son’s first vote. It’s just not a good idea, and it’s more trouble than it’s worth.
But voting was really busy that day – just like a regular election day.
I’m in Ottawa South. I agree that Allan Cutler needs more time to learn communications skills and retail politics, but we are optimistic that voters will vote on the basis of party. If so, Cutler has a better chance than the pundits give him credit for.
The advance polls were encouraging for Cutler. But the CPC also won the advance polls in 2004 and lost the election. Indeed, this may simply reflect the fact that CPC supporters are more committed and can’t wait to vote. It is entirely possible that the voters in the general population are less committed and more likely to swing Liberal.
McGuinty’s record as a constituency politician is not as strong as he pretends. He was virtually invisible for the first year and only started the heavy lifting when it became clear an election was coming.
Yes, I’m reading some reports here on CIDA. They’re very interesting, indeed. Wish people would remember everything the Liberals did in the last 13 years. Take a look at the Toronto Sun’s 218 reasons NOT to vote Liberal, and you have all the proof you need. Aileen Carroll, as well as few other cabinet ministers, need to go. And they need to go right quick.
Talked to my wife, there are Tory signs ALL OVER THE PLACE. Looks like a bit of overkill, actually, but hey, every little bit helps. Patrick Brown is sure to win.
The riding of Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry near Cornwall Ontario is a lock for Incumbant Conservative MP Guy Lauzon. The Liberal is a former Green Candidate.