{"id":3624,"date":"2008-09-22T13:19:29","date_gmt":"2008-09-22T17:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingtoronto.ca\/2008\/09\/22\/2008-election-bored-in-toronto-centre\/"},"modified":"2013-01-21T13:34:12","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T18:34:12","slug":"2008-election-bored-in-toronto-centre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/toronto\/2008\/09\/22\/2008-election-bored-in-toronto-centre\/","title":{"rendered":"2008 Election: Bored in Toronto Centre"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/object>
Oh Canada! – a new anthem for a new day<\/a> from missjdub<\/a> on Vimeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Things here in the Toronto Centre riding are rather boring this election season. Nobody has come to the door nor have any political fliers\u00a0 passed through the mail slot. It is lonely and we feel left out of the fun. There are a few Bob Rae signs here and there, but the joint Bob Rae – George Smitherman community office over on Parliament isn’t exactly an election war room (either a remarkable example of Federal-Provincial cooperation or simply the Liberals keeping the family together). Most excitement in this election (as well as last year’s byelection) has been provided by the Conservatives, who have near-zero chance of winning in these parts, but have had some high profile fumbles in a riding that doesn’t matter to them. Today we learn that Conservative Candidate Chris Reid has withdawn<\/a> for remarks he has made on his now-offline blog. BlogTO links to the cached copy of it here<\/a>, and part of it refers to the Greyhound murder back in July:<\/p>\n

Passengers and the bus driver stood by and watched another person being butchered, and couldn’t muster up any courage or self sacrifice to intervene. This is where socialism as gotten us folks, a castrated effeminate population.
\n<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is remarkable at how low in the Reform Partyish barrel goo Conservatives scrape to get some of their local candidates. The low score of this current Conservative casualty was easily avoidable as the party had an extremely talented and hardworking candidate in Mark Warner who was fired, as I wrote last year<\/a>, for discussing urban issues that weren’t part of Stephen Harper’s official agenda. With the attack on Warner, I have been amazed at the ability of the Red Tories who can suck such offenses up and continue to support a party that has moved away from their traditional values.<\/p>\n

So, indeed, things are quiet here in Toronto Centre this year and there is lots of time to poke around the net looking at various initiatives attempting to prevent a Harper majority such as the Anyone But Harper<\/a> site that launched today, a<\/p>\n

non-partisan group of Canadians appalled at the thought that Stephen Harper might form the next government of Canada. We want anyonebutHarper.ca to tell Canadians about the consequences of a Harper win, to help Canadians maximize the value of their vote on October 14, and to mobilize the creativity of anti-Harper Canadians.<\/em><\/p>\n

We started as a group of digital media folks noodling on Facebook about an anti-harper campaign, largely video and technology based. Specifically, we were and are interested in making sure people vote strategically. Today, we number in the hundreds — from video artists, new media designers, musicians, programmers; from Liberals, NDPrs, Greens and Bloc. We come from all across Canada. And we invite you to join us!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The video above was produced by Anyone But Harper (see more on the site) and their hope is to get people to vote strategically and to spread this idea virally (which means Toronto readers sending the links to their relatives and friends in the rest of Canada where most of the election-that-matters<\/em> is taking place). In a post last week here on Spacing<\/a> there was a discussion of the pros and cons of strategic voting and vote swapping, but the interesting anecdotal observation I’ve made during this election is that apart from partisan supporters and true believers there are a great many Canadians somewhat panicked in the face of no clear popular non-Harper leader and are asking for “anything but.” Even Toronto area artists and folks working in the creative culture sector have banded together at the Department of Culture<\/a> and produced videos and material around the massive cuts to funding recently announced.<\/p>\n

As an undecided voter in a riding that does not matter, I masochistically envy folks in those exciting swing ridings who are being courted and fawned over. Bob Rae, where are you? Come by and chat at least. I won’t ask about your past, and we’ll appreciate your visit more than you know, because we, the people of Toronto Centre, feel left out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oh Canada! – a new anthem for a new day from missjdub on Vimeo. Things here in the Toronto Centre riding are rather boring this election season. Nobody has come to the door nor have any political fliers\u00a0 passed through the mail slot. It is lonely and we feel left out of the fun. 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