More of that Liberal Party democracy in action

The best way to not worry about the results of a vote is not to have one.

Showdown in Ottawa West-Nepean

Mr. Pratt had said he was ready for a nomination fight, but there won't be one. Following an unusual interview session with the Liberal riding association executive, its members recommended Mr. Pratt, 53, as the candidate with the best chance of winning back a seat the party held for 16 years until losing it to Mr. Baird.

Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Pratt got the nod from the national party -- casting aside would-be candidates Adriano Guzzo and Nour El Kadri, who had been campaigning for the nomination for months.

Mr. El Kadri, in particular, said he wanted an open nomination meeting, where the candidates' efforts to sell party memberships and build names for themselves could be put to the test.

Laidlaw's Election Prediction?

Maggie Laidlaw carries on at the Election Prediction Project:

08 08 26 Maggie Laidlaw

I can't believe that people actually think the Conservatives will win this riding! We have the Brent Barr issue. The Conservatives will be lucky to come in third. This race will be between the Liberals and the Greens. Many Guelphites I speak to can see that a Green vote will be a vote for everything that regular Canadians believe in, and will allow Green party leader Elizabeth May into the televised debate to wipe the floor with Harper.

I don't know about you, but for some strange reason I don't picture Maggie Laidlaw speaking to too many Conservative supporters. The "many Guelphites" she's speaking to may make for great hype, but not an election result do they make. Not voting Green? Then you're not a "regular" Canadian in Laidlaw's world.

On a related note, lest everyone continues to labour under the fallacy that the Green Party is the last defender of democracy in Canada, let's not forget Elizabeth May's decision not to allow a candidate to run against Stephane Dion in exchange for no Liberal running against her.

Update: the wife just pointed out to me that there is no way to know if it was actually Guelph Councillor Maggie Laidlaw who posted that comment at the Election Prediction project. I guess I got a little carried away without thinking that one all the way through. I apologize to Councillor Laidlaw if the post is not actually hers. If it is, then everything stands.

Tell us what you really think

I see Maggie Laidlaw's not afraid to get her fingernails dirty in this by-election. From her Editorial piece in today's Mercury:

A Green party win would be a real green shift for Guelph
Progressive Conservatives in Guelph tend to be environmentally minded. They will not support a Harper Conservative/Alliance candidate, and they are looking for a suitable alternative.

That was really classy Maggie. Is this an example of all that love and cooperation around the Council horseshoe that everyone refers to lately?

I think there's definitely a horse involved somehow, but I don't think shoes come into play, unless you're wiping them off.

Gloria and Health Minister Tony Clement

Rogers First Local report on Health Minister Tony Clement's visit to Guelph in support of Gloria Kovach

Guelph Chamber of Commerce By-Election Survey: Update

Frank Valeriote has now submitted his answers for the Guelph Chamber of Commerce By-Election Survey. NDP candidate Tom King and Green candidate Mike Nagy are still missing in action.

One interesting thing to note about Frank Valeriote's answers is that it seems he continues to drink from that same big cup of Liberal Kool-aid that the remainder of the party does. His answers contain no less than 6 different references to the Economic Update/Mini-Budget of 2005 that was voted down, triggering the January 2006 election.

The Liberal arrogance of "we're right and everyone else is wrong" continues to live on in Frank's answers, despite the fact that the Liberals lost both the vote and the subsequent general election.

Next up I'm sure we'll be hearing that old standard that it's all the NDP's fault for helping bring down Paul Martin's government.

Guelph Mercury "Jumped the Shark" yesterday

The Mercury certainly jumped the shark yesterday with their publication of the KLR VU poll. The front page banner and story left out a few details.

Fortunately CanWest National reporter David Akin (a Guelph native) has done the research that should have been completed in the first place. The methodology used in this poll is certainly unorthodox and not generally accepted.

The KLR VU poll in Guelph: Dirty tricks or business development?

A poll came out yesterday purporting to show the voting intentions of people in Guelph, Ont., a medium-sized city where a by-election is underway.

The pollster said that, based on his survey, it appeared that the incumbent Liberals held a commanding lead. Liberal Brenda Chamberlain retired in the spring and now, Frank Valeriote wants to take her place. With the vote set for Sept. 8, this poll would suggest he has nothing to worry about.
The poll also showed that the Green Party is doing surprisingly well and is in third place in the riding, just ahead of the NDP. (The Greens, you won't be surprised to learn, are thrilled.) The Conservatives, who are running city councillor Gloria Kovach, are a distant second, the poll says.

So if you're a Liberal here, what's not to like, right?

Apparently plenty.

See the complete post at David Akin's Blog

The Mercury was in such a hurry to print the poll that they failed to do even the most basic research. A simple Google search should have at least set off a few warning bells.

After being contacted by former Green Party Leader Jim Harris, the Mercury changed their online headline and posted some further clarification on the Guelph Votes blog. After Akin's thorough fisking, the Mercury should be not only backtracking they should be doing the 100M dash backwards.

Guelph Chamber of Commerce By-Election Survey

From the Chamber of Commerce website:

Candidates from the four major parties in the 2008 Federal Bi-Election that received more than 5% of the votes cast in Guelph-Wellington in the previous election were asked a series of questions by members of the Guelph Chamber of Commerce. The questions and their responses are listed below.

Gloria Kovach

Frank Valeriote, Tom King and Mike Nagy seem to be missing in action so far. Clicking their links leads to "No response has been received to date".