How will Toronto Vote?

I wonder what Toronto will do today?

Toronto has voted Liberal solidly three elections in a row, with the fourth red sweep being marred by one orange riding: Layton's. It's like that sheep poster I used to have -- the sheep en masse walk to the cliff edge, and in multiples fall over, except for one lone sheep going against the massive white tide, saying, "excuse me, pardon me." That's me. Every election, I think surely this time, Torontonians will look around them and realise that the Liberals have made some fine promises and had some smashing photo ops, but that's IT. But election after election, the pattern has repeated; every time, Torontonians en masse have gone over the cliff instead of joining me in saying, "Excuse me but where is the waterfront money; pardon me but where are the promised transit dollars?"

Ontario east to the Atlantic is not much different, a pocket here and there of voters going against their local tide, whether it's an NDP riding in Ontario or the Maritimes or a Conservative riding in BQ-dominated Quebec. The Maritimes are probably the least bloc like in Eastern and Central Canada. But only in the west, where the parents of the NDP were born, where Reform came from, where medicare was nurtured, do voters seem to want to have politicians that do more than coddle and fill the air with effervescent words. I may not agree with all their politics or ideas, but I love that they don't vote in traditional groupthink.

So what will we Torontonians do today? Follow our Mayor and fall off the edge in Liberal red? Or vote for the candidate and party that best represents our views and will best act for Toronto's good?

Tags: , ,

Comments

Anonymous said…
With any luck at least one more riding (Mine - Trinity/Spadina) will be "maring" that map with some orange :)

I agree, I like some of the things the Liberals propose, but it's the NDP that gets the Liberals acting like liberals.
It would be cool if we had an NDP triumverate: Layton, Chow, and Churley. And anyway husband and wife ought to be working together in Ottawa!