Olivia really should win this time around. She’s got the big name recognition, the team, the money, the experience and most importantly she’s been a political icon in Toronto for ages from her work at city hall.
But then again, I practically bet the farm she’d win last time, and look what happened. If she really did lose because of NDPers jumping ship to the Libs for fear of Harper I have a feeling people will have learned their lesson this time and realized that the conservatives are no threat in Trinity-Spadina.

I can’t see this riding going Liberal again. The NDP have been concentrating their efforts on a select few ridings like this one and with the elevated profile for Jack Layton and the NDP in the Toronto area, Olivia Chow should be able to win by a few votes this time around.

With the increase in support in the G.T.A. for the New Democrats,this will only help Oliva Chow this time around.She is a proven fighter with her years of experience on city council and personally popular with her constituents.these factors will surely help to secure a win for her this time out.This is a win she richly deserves.

Olivia will win this riding, but will she be able to serve a full term in the House? Word has it that she is still suffering from the effects of thyroid disease and is looking ill at public events. Will Trinity-Spadina be facing an early by-election if she has to resign?

Asif Hossain of the Progressive Canadian Party is not included in your 2006 candidates list for the Trinity-Spadina riding. He ran in 2004 as is shown on your Trinity-Spadina page, however his names is not on the 2006 list of candidates.

Hmmm. So people who would normally vote Liberal are considering Olivia Chow. Now I understand why most of the New democrats in the riding are voting Green. To the person who questioned if Olivia will ride out her term…. who cares, she doesn’t. She’ll get a federal pension even if she only lasts a week.

as much as i am not a fan of the minister, i am terrified of olivia being my representative….she like many of the ndp( sorry for the generaliztion) are very arrogant who love to complain but never offer a solution…as much as i feel the liberal party needs some new faces, the thought of olivia being my mp is quite a scary thought…..dont believe the hype folks she is not up to the job.

I have been to the two debates thus far with all candidates in Trinity-Spadina. The more I listen to Olivia Chow the more I am convinced I don’t want her to represent me in this riding. There is a new aggressive arrogance in the NDP in this election. Jack Layton has ceased to impress me as a leader. I’m voting Green because I support their policies and Thom Chapman struck me as being genuine and honest.

Olivia was terrible in the debate last night at the Miles Nadal JCC. No new ideas, just attacks on Minister Ianno. Asif Hossain of the PC Party and Thom Chapman from Green were probably the best speakers.

Sample of one: I too sat in on one of the all-candidates meetings, and was not impressed. Ianno sounded angry and defensive; Chow sounded angry and offensive. Given the trend to a Conservative minority, I’ve lost some of my strategic impetus to give the NDP more seats. (I suspect a Conservative minority will not last long — who will vote with them on the budget?)

So, I’m thinking of voting Green — at least I can help them over the 5% hurdle. I suspect the Greens will be as big an influence on Canadian policy in the next 40 years as the CCF/NDP has been in the past 40 years…

What Conservative minority? They are headed for a majority and when Stephen Harper destroys everything that is great about Canada, I hope Jack Layton has the courage to take the blame for paving his path by bringing down the government. The NDP has accomplished nothing federally in its entire existence and its time to put that old dog to sleep.

Though my Conservative vote will not make a difference in this riding made up of liberal/socialist blow-hearts, I will cast it proudly.

The slanderous portrayals of Harper “ruining” the country and its values are absurd, especially when cast from a group that has cast aside any “values” in favour of theft and corruption.

I bet Tony and Olivia can’t balance their own cheque books, let alone a budget. The ability for Liberals and NDPers to alter voting based on fear of the Conservatives winning in indicative of a true lack of any conviction in their views.

There’s no way Tony Ianno loses this riding. His support is probably better than in 2004. New developments filled with professionals as well as the presence of the UofT voters this time around, Liberals can be found everywhere in this riding. Olivia Chow will not be present in parliament after January 23rd.

ndp win, this’l be a very boaring race

First of all, to TS: the NDPs have accomplished alot for a relatively young party. Without Tommy Douglas Canada would be a weaker form of the US, but with more snow.

Secondly, to Stephen: Jack Layton never ceases to impress me. He’s always charismatic and enthusiastic, and he’s really popular among youth. He’s exactly what we need to make politics interesting again.

Thirdly, to T. Randalph: you can’t really blame them for going negative. Hossain and Chapman would do the same in Olivia’s position; they just have the luxury of not having a chance.

Fourthly, to Deepak: on behalf of the people that cares for our future, I’d like to say thanks for wasting your vote. Did you know they want a tax on junk food? Apparently, we’re all too fat. Now really, I knew they had alot of time on their hands but this is too much…

Fifthly, to T. Randalph (again): your very annoying now. All Jack Layton did was stand up for what he believed in, and he did the right thing. He tried to work with Paul Martin, and when Martin declined, Layton couldn’t have really done anything else. It would have been hypocritical. And the NDPs have done a lot for Canadians, including the elimination of Martin’s corporate tax cuts and investing in lowering the tuition fee for our kids and affordable housing. I know for sure that the NDPs have done more than you’ll ever do with your outrageous attacks.

Sixthly, to A Chipman: what are you basing your comment about the NDP’s financial abilities on? Saskatchewan? BC? Those are provincial governments, and in BC, the Liberals aren’t any better. The NDPs haven’t really had a chance in Ottawa. How bad can Jack do? Certainly not as bad as “misplacing” $300 million?

Seventhly (wow that sounds wierd), to Corey: that sounds like wishful thinking on your part. Maybe you don’t like responsibility, but most do.

And finally, to Matt Casselman: I appreciate your support for the NDPs, but this is one riding I’m definitely going to watch.

And as for the rest of you, I ask this: is corruption and imcompetence really better? That’s what you should ask yourself when you’re at the ballot box.

Hey Chris,

Corruption, if it really did happen, happened 11 years ago. But you know who is REALLY corrupt, the Toronto City-Council, in which Ms Chow served for several years. The kinds of things the City-Council in Toronto has gotten up to is absolutely disgraceful and Olivia Chow has been there for all of it. On top of that, she is getting $85,000 in severance pay for leaving the city-council and ending her mandate early. What Canadian gets paid for quitting her job?

In the last election Ms Chow did not quit the city council AND ran for Parliament while collecting pay from the city. She first claimed she wasn’t receiving pay, when she got caught lying, she then said she was donating the money to charity, and then when she got caught lying about that, she did NOTHING!

The NDP has accomplished ZERO as a federal party and Tommy Douglas would want no part of what this current regime of Layton/Chow stands for. They are as self-serving and corrupt as any set of politicians anywhere in Canada. Also FYI, in the last Liberal/NDP budget, the NDP did NOTHING for students, so eat it.

I figure this riding is still very close. With both Tony and Olivia slinging mud at each other, I’m guessing many non-core supporters will stay home in disgust. NDP supporters seem to feel this riding will be a lock, which is the same arrogance that cost them the riding last time. Word has it that Liberal canvassers are ‘collecting’ voter cards and may Get Out the Vote on Election Day to make Tony a winner again.

Hey Randolph,

First of all, corruption wasn’t 11 years ago. Have you forgotten about the income trust leak? Surprise, surprise, its the finance minister again. You must be really low to support a party that gets things done for their friends. I wonder, are you a close friend of Paul Martin?

Secondly, the NDP has accomplished things as a federal party. Taking $4.3 billion in corporate tax cuts and investing that in Canadians seems like something, at least to me. And the NDPs did invest for students, $1.5 billion. You’re sounding more like Paul’s lapdog by the minute; you’re confused on the issues and you can’t count. Did you accidentally lose $300 million too?

Let us face reality, the only way to keep the Conservatives from getting a majority is to ensure that the Liberals get more seats than the Tories.
If you truly fear a Conservative majority, voting Liberal in Trinity-Spadina is the way to go.

Newton,

Your argumemnt makes no sense in this riding. This is a horse race between the liberals and the NDP, and would have no effect on whether the conservatives form a majority government.

>–T.Randolph

I have to agree with T. Randolph on the self promoting and self serving Jack Layton.

To whit, in the past:
Jack fought against extended care in The Toronto Doctor’s Hospital. Remember that Hospital? He fought to the bitter end against it.

Secondly, Jack had zoning by laws changed in his neighbourhood, thereby jacking up [sorry] increasing his property value.

Thirdly, Jak and Olivia lived in a rent scaled to earnings [QueensQuay&Bathurst]—meaning, those who need help putting a roof over their heads without having to forgo food, need the space. They say they paid the going rate. It’s about the space Jack and Olivia chose, instead of someone who is at a less advantageous position, which that community was about.

Just wanted to refresh your collective amnesia and the real Jack Layton. But don’t take my word for it, look it up.

A Zebra is suddenly going to change stripes?
Nah.

No, Tony, Newton is right.

While the race in Trinity-Spadina is between the Liberals and the NDP, in Canada the race is twixt the Liberals and Conservatives.
Whichever one of them gets the most seats will form the next government. Every seat that a Liberal loses to the NDP increases the chance that the Tories will have the most seats.
Any prospective NDP voter should consider the fact that they may win this riding but lose the country.

I am sticking with my vote for Asif Hossain of the Progressive Canadian party. As a Red-Tory, I wish the Liberals all the success in defeating the Conservatives. Specially after the news leaked today that the Conservative economic platform hid $23 billion in social spending cuts. That is disgusting behaviour and they haven’t even been elected yet. I hope other progressive-conservatives will wake up to this nonsense and abandon the social-Conservatives.

As for Jack, Olivia and the rest, it was their ego that called this election and anything they accomplished with the Liberals in the 2005 budget has been null and void by the fact that Jack Layton brought down the government. Once again the NDP fails to realize that our country is at stake and puts their collective ego ahead of the Canadian people.

There are some unattractive choices in this riding. But a Stop Olivia vote may have to be the one to make. However laudable the NDP’s social justice vision, it’s policy proposals for achieving it—statist, redistributive, prone to special interests and inimical to prosperity—are unsustainable in the long-run and are generally ones that socialist parties in Europe (and provincially in Canada) with responsibility for actually managing things, have long since abandoned.

Finally, Ms Chow, though a passionate campaigner, displays some qualities which are worrisome if not down right dangerous in any politician. That passion includes rock solid certainties; rigidity, rather than inquiry. There is little evidence of the policy experimentation and intellecutal evolution needed in a liberal democracy. At local level, the grass-roots councillor image also takes a beating: To name but one issue, how “public consultation” over the St Georges school expansion issue in the riding was handled–unqualified support to self-appointed “local leaders” of questionable legitimacy, misrepresenting or intimidating dissenting speakers–does not generate confidence about capacity for political fair play.

Much of these blog entries here seem to be about stopping the other side. Who forms the next government will not be decided in this riding (the Liberals will be out, and should be grateful of the opportunity). But if the choice is about who represents me, I will have to go elsewhere. And with the Conservatives and other parties no-hopers in this riding that may have to be, with a (very) heavy heart, Liberal.

Randolph *sigh*,

1: The NDP wasn’t the only one who brought down the government. There was two other parties, unless you forgot. The NDPs were the only ones kind enough to try to make the minority government work. At least they weren’t determind to make Paul Martin crash and burn like Stephen Harper was.

2: Have fun wasting your vote! I’m sure the Progressive Canadians will appreciate your $1.75

Olivia I think will win shes a very good candidate and represents the NDP very well. Congradulations Olvia I as a voter am proud of you and your husband. Keep up the good work!
Best wishs to all candidates in this riding.

hey chris…corporate tax cuts are good…they help create these things call jobs, which are also good..when you jack corporate tax cuts like your friend mr. layton would love to do it makes canada less competitive, and as a result companies are not too keen on setting up shop here…which means less jobs…yes chris i will conceid that historically the ndp have indeed helped champion some great social policy but they’re platform is simply dated and is not a realistic approach…taxing the rich back to the stone age will grind this economy to a halt….the ndp are great to have as a check in parliament against the conservatives and liberals….but god help us if they were to ever form a government( fortunately that will never happen)

If Olivia Chow can’t even beat a guy who uses semi-illegal slush funds to subvert election spending limits and who uses dirty tricks to prevent students from voting, then I will have no hope for this country whatsoever.

As an aside, by how much did the emigration of the Ianno and Gagliano families reduce the amount of organised crime in Italy? :-)

I think a lot of people overlook which party can effect change in Quebec. I like that the conservatives aren’t picking a fight with Quebec, they’re putting their hand out there with a sweetheart deal to earn their trust, respect and votes. Paint the bloc for the irrelevant party that it is and give seperatism a kick in the butt.

Olivia Chow seemed like a nice enough person and her party or Olivia herself have been by my apartment 3 or 4 times now, but I can get over that sense of entitlement that she reeks of. She takes credit for every good thing that has happened in Toronto over her time in City Council. Plus she was granted severance for quitting to run for the NDP, that leaves a bad taste in my mouth that her and Jack got over $140,000 severance from Toronto city council and then take up Co-op housing spaces that could go to people who deserve them.

“Wasting my vote” Chris? What’s a bigger wasted vote nationally than the NDP? Were you at the Hart House debate tonight? Did you hear Olivia speak? Did you hear Asif follow her up? Olivia is a terrible speaker and the reason her people axed the debate format in favour of the forum is because people like Asif have the guts to question her record. This was evident at the JCC debate. When Asif brought up City-Council corruption, the entire NDP crowd went hush. There is a reason for that. It’s because there is a story.

I almost agreed with Olivia/Jack that Paul Martin needs a time out… until I discovered that Martin is not in fact running against Stephen Harper. He is really running against a guy named Steven Harper, leader of the Witeringnuts Party of Canada. If you go to his campaign literature, there you will find a complete list of the 196 campaign promises that Paul Martin is very, very opposed to, including canceling all child care in Canada, promising a massive deficit of $20 billion, tearing up Martin’s deal with our First Nations, provisions to increase poverty, the Robin Hood provision (a promise to raise taxes on the poor to enable the rich to get a big tax break), and of course, the abandonment of the outdated Kyoto treaty….. It’s all there. Once I discovered this (hidden) platform, I realized that Paul Martin is not really mad. He has just been side-tracked into running against the wrong party.
In the meantime, good luck to Ms Chow.

I live in this riding and was going to vote Green but the combination of visits from canvassers and Ianno’s tricks to prevent U of T students from voting was the last straw. I’m going to proudly cast a vote for Olivia. I have had my home visited by Liberal and NDP canvassers a few times. Ianno’s canvassers were aggressive and constant Olivia bashers. They tried to tell me that voting Green was a waste and tried to guilt me in to voting for Ianno because a terrible person like Olivia Chow could get in if I threw my vote away. Worse off, the Ianno canvassers tried to have me believe that if I didn’t vote Liberal I would be responsible for a Conservative Government. Did they think I didn’t know that the Conservative candidate is not even a factor in this riding! Basically team Ianno told me a lot of stuff about how bad Olivia was and how I needed to prevent a Conservative government. Meanwhile the NDP canvassers didn’t even mention Ianno’s or any other candidate’s name. When I told them I was leaning towards Green but undecided the NDP’s and Olivia’s environmental platform was outlined and I was asked to consider that. I was also told what Olivia stood for, what she has done for the area and what she plans to do. I appreciated the positive message given by Olivia’s canvassers and realized that she is just the kind of person I want representing me. Sorry Thom Chapman, a Green party member should have visited my home if you want my vote.

Why would anyone waste their vote on the Green Party? This isn’t the progressive version of the Green Party you see in Europe, it’s a bunch of disaffective Tories. Look at their leader and a bunch of their candidates. They’re former Tories who want to be big fish in small ponds rather than small fish in a big pond. I’m no party hack, but the NDP has better environmental policies than the Green (Tory) Party.

The NDP is the best way to go trust me on that as a 65 year old voter lived in Canada all my life. From Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax. With my experience the NDP are the best choice if they ever win majority (which will not happen till people have a taste of the conservatives (which I have had) than NDP will have a chance of majority) the NDP would make Canada into a Country which all would want to live in, work, and educate their children. With my experience as a voter I believed the unbelievable (liberals) and turning our country into a US state (conservatives) and than the NDP some mistakes but nothing compared to other parties. The party to trust, the party that fights for Canada and its citizens and knows what Canadians need and want! Vote NDP trust them and you will not regret it = ). Best wishes to all candidates in all ridings and parties! GOOD LUCK!

Don not forget to vote January 23 2006
NDP!

Reply to Mark Hoffberg. You sound absolutely ill-informed about he Co-Op housing issue with regards the Layton/Chow household. You should not believe what oppinions you have been told. Instead Do some research and draw your own conclusions.
It was not subsidised housing. They wanted to live communally to stay in contact with their community, working with others on the concerns of their neighbours. It was an ideology you are clearly unfamiliar with.
They eventually bought a house in Chinatown.

X

The closing of the polls at UofT was a scandal made up by the NDP and left leaning student groups. These polling stations were never confirmed by Elections Canada and only it seems the NDP camp knew about them. When the other camps found out that they were cancelled, some were shocked that they existed in the first place. Olivia’s people are the most aggressive lot in Trinity-Spadina and they are afraid to debate on her record. That’s why the UofT Debate was turned into an information session and Olivia took off right after she spoke.

And yes, a vote for anyone but the Liberals in this riding may bolster the Conservative lead nationally. Regardless I am voting for the Progressive Canadian Party. Their education policy should be looked at more closely by every student in this country.

T. Randolph, it is nice to see that Asif Hossain will be getting 2 votes at least. Unless, of course you are really Mr. Hossain.
Voters should be aware that Mr. Hossain isn’t putting the name of his party (Progressive Canadian) on the ballot. Instead, he is using the initials “PC” hoping perhaps to make voters think that he is running for the same party that gave us Brian Mulroney & Mike Harris. Gutsy move, indeed.

a trinity-spadina without olivia chow! i can’t even imagine, but i do think she’ll win this time, all you have to do is walk into chinatown and your convinced. shes also very good in the debates.

Don’t any of you guys care that Mr. Ianno, your Liberal MP, is the politician who has provided the cover for the Toronto Port Authority’s war on the people of Toronto? The TPA is still trying to expand the Island Airport, still refusing to pay its municipal taxes, and still obstructing waterfront redevelopment. Olivia Chow could bring accountability to this rogue federal agency. With Ianno in TS yet again, who knows what further damage the TPA would do to Toronto?

Not to rush to Ianno’s defence here, but has anyone consider that the 10,000 people along the waterfront are trying to dictate to the rest of Toronto whether or not we should have an island airport. an airport that was there when they bought their pricy condos.
Suppose the good people of Malton decide they don’t want Pearson airport any more?
Let us face it, we’re not looking at 747s or even 737s using the island airport. Prop planes and commuter jets just aren’t that noisy.

The island airport loses money and there is no support for it in the business community period. Buttonville is where the head offices and the action is. Buttonville leads in some ctaagories and places in the top 10 of many general aviation and traffic movement catagories; this is a healthy combination of varied uses.

Toronto island is not viable as a multi-use air facility. Even with a bridge there are just not the facilties nearby to handle cargo or increased civilian aviation.

THink about it, it’s totally subsidised already, and has a annual revenue intake equal to a Pizza Pizza, if it cant attract investment under these conditions how could it possibly survive on its own. Two words for the TPA: Fast Ferry.

As I do not live in this riding I will confine my comments to a few general issues. The Liberals should be defeated, democracy only works if you can throw the rascals out from time to time. We are probably in for eight-to-ten years of Conservative government. Hopefully this will be two terms of minority governments, otherwise we will need to rely on the Charter to defend our rights from what seems to be a US centric right wing party. It is not clear that the Liberals will ever be able to recover. If Jack Layton can continue to build a credible party with credible policies (he is only part way there) then he or his successor has a real chance to be PM. At the same time, it looks like the Greens are the party that will be driving policy innovation in Canada. Go to there website and participate. We need policies that will support productivity (the NDP fails on this today), sustainability (the NDP are getting close, following the Greens lead) and a social fabric that celebrates diversity. In my own riding I am voting Green (Vancouver Quadra), but there are many ridings where I would consider the NDP. This is one of them.

Scott, it is sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, isn’t Scott? No one is willing to establish new routes that would make the airport viable because of the threat that airport might close.
However, if the airport is closed and converted to a park, the entire island should be converted to a park. We should take advantage of the Liberal funds and raze those houses that are left to create a greenspace in the heart of the city that would rival Central Park.

NDP Math Increase Social Programs + Decreased Tax Reveune = stable economy (2+2=1)
Conservative Math Decreased Social Programs + Decreased Tax Revenue = rich get richer (2+2=4[3 for them 1 for us])
Liberal Math Fair Taxes + Improved Social Programs = Strongest Economy in the G8 (may not be perfect but the job gets done and things get fixed)

And for all the U of T students out there in Trinity-Spadina the Liberals are the only party to put a concrete plan out there regarding tuition fees. Jack really doenst care about tuition fees he can afford it for his kids.

Olivia has won this seat hands down. The Liberals have offened the Chinese Canadian Community. Olivia has signs up all over little Portugal. Plus, Ianno has done nothing for this ridding. That is, if we consider his role in destroying our water front as a negative. It’s about time we get rid of him

just a question, did Olivia and Jack get caught living in subsidized housing ileagaly many years ago. i am not claiming this as fact , i just heard the rumor ????????

Mr. Henderson, surely you know that Elections Canada allows the PC Party acronym to be used because ‘PC’ stands for Progressive Canadian as that is the name of that party. The candidate in question, Mr. Asif Hossain, does not get to choose what party name goes next to his name. He is running for the PC Party and that is what Elections Canada has put on the ballot.

If the average “conservative” voter can’t distinguish between a progressive, young candidate like Mr. Hossain and a dink like Sam Goldstein running for Stephen Harper’s Conservatives, then that is the voter’s fault for not paying attention.

Jack and Olivia lived in a co-op and paid full market rent, which meant that they contributed to the lower rents of others. Rightwing columnists tried to make it look hypocritical for them to live there. It wasn’t, but that that was made into an issue is a measure of how clean Jack and Olivia are, and how dirty the rightwing pots and kettles are. Jack and O.C. subsequently bought a house near College and Spadina where they live with Olivia’s mother and a variety of young people. They are ardent cyclists and environmentally and politically clean and green.
(”green” does not = “Green”, by the way, just as “liberal” does not = “Liberal”)

Olivia has over 20 years of public service and Jack about 30 years and they are loved and respected by everyone who knows them, and that is a great many people. Their enemies have nothing on them personally and so invent urban myths like the ones you see above. But they do attack sleaze and corruption. They do attack heartlessness. They do defend and work compassionately for the poorest and the most vulnerable among us. They are the ardent defenders of the aged poor, the homeless, and those who cannot afford high tuition. They are passionate and loyal defenders of minority rights and of Toronto and of our neighbourhoods against those who would destroy them, like some of the people above who are itching to destroy other people’s homes.

As for the Island Airport, it has always been zoned parkland. It wasn’t those who invested in housing on the waterfront that should have known better… it is those who invested in an airport in a park who should have known better.

As far as the Toronto Pork Authority is concerned, it was created by the Liebrals and has been a scandal of proportions rivalling the Quebec patronage scandal. One example: the bridge that was supposed to cost $22 M. to build, was contracted out two days before the municipal election that elected Mayor Miller and his Stop the Bridge platform. Ianno even now defends paying compensation of $35M to the non-builders of what was to be a $22M bridge. $35M to NOT build a $22M bridge. Hello? This was on the front page of a downtown newspaper.

And it is the Pork Authority oops! Port Authority that plans for a 6000% increase in Island Airport traffic volumes. Not a typo. Six THOUSAND percent increase inj air traffic at the Island airport.

What has having 23 Liberals representing Toronto done for Toronto (or to Toronto)? Certainly it has allowed our city to become impoverished. But it took only one Toronto New Democrat (Jack Layton) to get the urban agenda any attention in Ottawa.

As far as who caused the election? Canadians caused it, by being divided on who which party spoke best for them. Many prefer a minority government because it better reflects the country’s opinions than having a majority elected by a third of the country. The NDP are not elected as Liberal Lite, or Liberal Jr. The NDP has an agenda for change. It’s a good one. A compassionate one. A fiscally responsible one. And it advocates proportional representation which most Canadians agree is long overdue. Let’s hope Trinity-Spadina will Vote For It.

The Conservatives cannot win this riding and it will make no difference to their numbers who does.
What will make a difference to everyone is to see if our riding really can stomach the scandals or not. Greens in the riding are naive if they think that allowing the Liberals to keep Trinity-Spadina will help the environment. If they are wise, they will help get a strong advocate for both the environment, and proportional representation elected, one who has helped every neighbourhood in the riding and on the waterfront, one who is known as a hard worker, and one who will never embarras us.

It is time for a change in the riding, even more than it is anywhere else outside of Quebec, and the only way political change possible in Trinity-Spadina (thank our lucky stars for the choice!) is to have Olivia Chow as our riding’s representative in the next Parliament. And that, friends and neighbours, is the bottom line.

Sincerely,
Peter Holt

I’m voting Olivia Chow. The NDP is the only real choice left for those concerned with making the Liberals accountable for their actions and still getting a progressive elected.
I am so glad more NDP candidates are going to win seats and act as Canada’s social conscience!
j.

The residents of this riding should be like that in very other in the Western World except the USA, and have a social democrat. Predict NDP win (as it is provinciallly!!)

Olivia Chow is not a social democrat in the slightest. She is self-serving, perhaps even more so than her husband and that is difficult to accomplish.

The Layton/Chow combo in The House will be more embarrassing than the Grewals.

For over 20 years downtown residents have been proud to have Jack and Olivia on City Council. They are tried and true.

Anyway, what could be more embrarrassing than re-electing someone who has scandalously created the Toronto Pork Authority against the City’s and our neighbourhoods’ wishes, someone who STILL supports the paying of $35M (of taxpayers money to private unnamed interests)for NOT building a $22M bridge to the airport. Now THAT would be embarrassing.

How could anyone who is not on the gravy train themself, hold their nose and vote for Ianno without embarrassment..?

Contrary to the nasty, baseless and personal remarks of the greasy-with-gravy crowd, Olivia in Ottawa will do what she and Jack have both done for our downtown neighbourhoods at City Hall and that is, she will do us, who vote for her as our federal representative in Trinity-Spadina, totally… proud!

The NDP has never accomplished anything nationally and they are the reason why Stephen Harper is about to come to power. As a former Progressive Conservative, watching this Reform/Canadian Alliance leader coming in to destroy our country makes me sick and Jack Layton is to blame for empowering him to do so.

People who care about social issues in this country should be furious with the NDP for 1. bringing down the government; 2. spreading nasty rumours about scandals that are going to be proven false (i.e. Ralph Goodale and that bogus insider trading bit); and 3. The NDP has NO, read that, ZERO new ideas this election compared to 18 months ago. Of all the major political parties they exemplify the least amount of growth. They are a useless federal party who are the main catalysts for a pending Stephen Harper government. Canadians should never forgive them.

I think people are making two mistakes when they call this riding right now:
1) Olivia lost last time on the support of the condo owners down at lakeshore going Ianno. This time she beat him to a lot of them. So either Ianno has to find a new edge (And don’t count on the Chinese community lining up to cast pre-marked ballots for Olivia. A lot of them barely know who she is. ‘She’s been a great city councillor for 20 years’ is kind of meaningless to somebody who immigrated in 2005.), or he’d better have another career lined up.
2) Never underestimate the ethnic curmudgeon vote. This only seems to work for the Liberals, but my, how it works. (You may have heard of two fellows called Tony Ruprecht and Mario Silva)

What T. Randolph suggests is that to keep the Conservatives out of majority status, every concerned voter in this riding should for Tony Ianno and not any of the minor parties. Only by ensuring that the Liberals have more seats than the Tories can we prevent the massive disruption to the social fabric of this country that a Harper victory would guarantee.

Help give the NDP the balance of power in the house this time around. On election day vote Olivia Chow for change and measured accountability in the house of commons.

Time to vote smart, time to vote strategic. Chow cannot tilt the balance, Ianno can. I’ll vote liberal.

The NDP will make a differance…..the liberals are finished and will be the 4th party. NDP will hold balance of power

Unfortunately voting NDP won’t make a difference. Tomorrow voting NDP is helping Conservatives get elected. NDP voters need to vote liberal.

And have a Liberal who will side with the Conservatives when push comes to shove in a Conservative minority? I don’t think so.

Tony Ianno will never side with the Conservatives. He is a team player and I know some of you are going to think I am ridiculous, but I think he even has party leadership ambitions in mind. Everyone knows he can raise the funds and will find massive support from other Toronto Liberals because he has always lent them a hand. Tony is Trinity-Spadina through and through. Born and raised in Trin-Spa, went to school in Trin-Spa, had a business in Trin-Spa and has been the Liberal candidate here since 1988 and Member of Parliament since 1993. I don’t care what great things people want to pretend Olivia Chow did for this constituency, she can’t touch Tony’s credentials in Trinity-Spadina.

I am still going to be voting for Asif Hossain because as a Tory I will support the Progressive Canadian canadidate (note: NOT the Conservative candidate). But I have heard from many that they would like to vote for him, but for strategic reasons will vote for Tony. Asif got only 531 votes last time (mainly from Liberals) and I don’t think he will be too upset if he loses a few hundred of those and Tony squeaks by Olivia. Every vote WILL count.

Geez people, when it comes down to it, don’t stratigize, don’t vote against someone, vote for what you believe, be it Green , Liberal, NDP Conservative or any of the other parties. Put your vote in what you believe in. You candidate might not win, but you’ll have stood up for your vision of Canada and every vote helps your party secure funding for the next election.
Remember minority governments typically don’t make it into their second year and with all these elections so close together, the parties truly need your support.
You’ll contribute to a popular vote which will send a message to your party and support their cause.

You can’t vote against the Conservatives by voting Liberal in a Liberal-NDP marginal and anyone who would tell you you should doesn’t know what they’re talking about. It might reduce or prevent a Liberal minority but it won’t affect a conservative mandate by any means.

Like Ianno, i am also T-S through & through (born, raised, will probably die here, too) & i am also an ‘ethnic’ voter, the kind the libs here take for granted. As such, given the mood of the nation right now, this is what i think about my home riding:
If the tories win nationally, what will a backbench liberal be able to do for TS? Better go with an NDP rep that has ‘front bench’ potential. That’s the kind of attention TS needs & deserves.
Let’s face it: Toronto gets nothing from the liberals because they know the Tories have little chance here, so they don’t have to buy as many votes as they do elsewhere. The rest of Canada ‘hates’ toronto. If the libs are seen to favour this city, they feel the backlash at the polls everywhere else. So the safe & heretofore smart strategy was: do nothing, or as little as possible & count on the strategic vote of those scared of Harper or the Conservatives in general.
But what do we get with strategic voting? A bunch of liberal backbenchers representing some of the most vibrant urban ridings in the country. I’d rather an opposition critic, even a third party one, to a government MP that, frankly, has not impressed this voter.
To the greens i say: read both the NDP & the Green platforms thoroughly before you decide. If the Liberals win because you & others voted Green, we may get stuck with an MP representing the party that has allowed our yearly emissions to increase beyond those of the U.S. & has yet to present a credible, costed plan to meet Kyoto. Let’s make sure the NDP is a real third option first, Then let’s work to get the Greens there as well, one at a time. Otherwise, we’ll have always have only two options on the ballot: Conservatives & conservative-lite.

Look, Jack Layton is the catalyst for a Stephen Harper government and as such he should have to pay a price for that. His office did more damage to the Liberals in this campaign with baseless insider trading rumours than the Conservatives did well enough to win people over.

If NDP supporters care about their party, they need to do away with the Jack and Olivia circus and move toward people like Bill Blaikey. I am not a NDP supporter by any means, but seriously folks, if you think Olivia has potential to do well in Ottawa, you are dreaming. She will never be in a position of power or influence because she is in the NDP and furthermore, she is a terrible, terrible public speaker and will not be taken seriously by anyone when she is a small fish in a big pond - just like Jack Layton gets sidelined when the big kids are talking.

Furthermore, Tony Ianno is not a “backbencher.” He in a Cabinet Minister and if he pulls off a fifth victory, he is in very respectable Liberal territory that will be of benefit to Trinity-Spadina almost right away if the Liberals can manage to form government.

If I was making $140K I would live in a mansion, not a project. Shame on Olivia for not living in a mansion!!

It’s rather unfair to point out the thyroid illness of Mrs Layton Chow, as that should be private information. However actually thyroid disease is about the easiest to treat and her physicians must be particularly incompetent if they cannot do so, with extremely rare exceptions.
But the problem must lie elsewhere, being married to a Lenin look alike perhaps.
(Not John Lennon but Vladimir Ilich Lenin. Just add goatee and stir.)
But seriously there is something peculiarly offensive about these husband and wife acts or worse lovebird couples in Canada. They used to darken the skies of Lotusland previously, some even forming their own party.
Now Toronto is beginning to look like a
suburb of Vancouver.
There ought to be a law against this 21st century version of the Family Compact. (Early 19th Cy lock on political power in Hogtown)
It’s unsavoury to allow husband and wife teams in the same kindergarten.)
Ha ha ha ha. The homosexual married couples would also be forbidden to run for the same political entity as their spouse or spice if practising tribadism.
They asked for it they wannabe married.

Along the same lines as what M said just above: Don’t vote Liberal just to stop the Conservatives in Trinity-Spadina! C’mon, it’s really simple. If your heart’s further to the left, or if you want to punish the Liberals but fear the Conservatives, you can still vote NDP here because either way, the Conservatives aren’t winning this riding - and that’s what matters if you’re voting strategically, right, stopping a Conservative majority?

Because if you look at the recent polls, from Jan 14 to 21 there’s been an equal drop in Tory and gain in Liberal support. People are getting scared, it seems, and while some of them maybe would never vote NDP, one can assume that some are just doing the old knee-jerk strategic move to the Liberals.

So on the bus, over coffee, by the water cooler, reassure a friend that it’s okay to vote NDP in Trinity-Spadina!

Mr.T,
1- You are letting your personal hatred of Jack & Olivia taint your judgement, rather than party policy. That does not for a clear voting head make.
2- Ianno was promoted to his junior minister (”of handing out big card-board cheques just before election time”) status precisely to ward off a Chow win. Petty.
3- Let’s stick to facts. In order to ensure NDP support, Martin agreed to the amendments to the budget put forth by the NDP. At budget time, none of what had been promised materialized. That is, Layton supported Martin on more than occasion, he was being productive & not partisan, while the Conservatives & the Bloq kept trying to tip the liberal ship throughout this past parliament. Are you saying that a pre-requisite to being a leader is spinelessness? The NDP had nothing to gain with this election, so why provoke it? On the other hand, how could Layton continue to support a party that promised to make some changes & then turned around & didn’t? The NDP has principles. Agree with them or not, Layton did not cause the election. The liberals caused it by not living up to their commitments to Canadians. What was most interesting was how both Duceppe & Harper kept appearing on television in the early part of the campaign & before, prainsing Mister Layton for everything & anyting, obvioulsyt helping to ensure that Canadians thought the whole election was Layton’s idea. In that regard, the NDP leader let himself be painted into a corner. But then again, what was he to do? Let Martin get away once again with promising the moon & delivering a pebble? Do we want a leader that fights for what he thinks are prioirites, or a spineless wimp that says & does only what the pollsters tell him to?
With a conservative government on the horizon, Trinity-Spadina deserves better. This time, i hope it goes NDP. government omn the horoi

Besides. who knows what Gomery will say in his final report in february…if the liberals do end up winning, since we’ve had an election already, nothing will come of it & the report will just gather dust. Accounatbility will have been disciussed at length, but nothing will be accomplished.

Funny how the self serving Jack Layton has so many people fooled. He is quite the actor and doing a magnificent job of portraying a concerned, charismatic citizen. He as well as is partner Olivia sat on Toronto City Council during scandals such as MFP. Where were they? What did they do to stop it? Why didn’t they catch it? Or should we be asking what was their role and how much did they make $? It’s all about the money and power for Jack and Olivia! Should ask Jack why his Executive Assistant (while on council) quite on him? If the NDP were all they want us to beleive they would have continue making strides and the only way they could have achieved that was being the balance of power under the Liberal minority! Now that Jack and the NDP played politics with calling the vote he will quickly see how little power he has under the Conservatives!

I’m going Liberal on this one (I live in the US but this was my last riding when I lived in Canada and so — this is where I’ve voted for the past 7 years). Compared to what I see around me down here on a regular basis, AdScam is small potatoes — not that that should excuse it, but it barely worth a Bush-Lite regime in the form of Harper. We have a lot to be thankful for in Canada due to the NDP, but i find them too sanctimonius for my liking, Olivia Chow especially.

All of you fools who say that Olivia is a bad candidate are completely wrong. If you acctually think that Olivia is going to be worse than the lying liberals, well for you I’m starting to question your intelligence and skills of observation. If you would listen and acctually talk to Olivia you would find that she is a very nice person and will make a great MP for the riding of Trinity Spadina.

The other people who are saying the only way to stop the cons (conservatives) is to vote Liberal are completely wrong. There is no way the working class families of Trinity Spadina are going to elect a conservative.

Use your vote intelligently and vote NDP!

Well, I totally admire both Olivia and Jack and am proud to have volunteered on every one of their election campaigns, and I completely trust them. I am confident that will not abuse our trust OR take it for granted.

But I think that it is worth tipping our hats
=/;-)
=/;-)
=/;-) to democraticspace.com too,
for their amazing website and amazingly accurate predictions… all over Canada in general, but particularly here in Trinity-Spadina which (though everyone knew it was “too close to call”) democraticspace.com called extremely accurately.

Also, three cheers (or a tip of the hat =/;-)to all the winners, and a reminder to everyone that (much as Canadians love minority governments) there will almost certainly be another national election in the near future. Let’s agree to focus on political issues then, and until then.

Peter