Brawo Cheri!

A jednak wygrala socjalistka z NDP, pani Cheri DiNovo (www.cheridinovo.ca). Liberalowie stracili swoj bastion. Socjalisci reprezentuja moj okreg wyborczy na szczeblu federalnym w Ottawie i na szczeblu prowincjonalnym w Toronto.

LIBERALS LOSE PARKDALE SEAT TO NDP

'RADICAL REVEREND'

BY APRIL LINDGREN

Ontario's governing Liberals were humbled last night after an outspoken United Church minister recruited by the NDP defeated the Grit candidate in the Toronto riding held until recently by federal Liberal leadership hopeful Gerard Kennedy.
One of the nastiest byelections in recent Ontario memory concluded with Cheri DiNovo, dubbed the "radical reverend" for her outspoken defence of the poor and downtrodden, taking the riding of Parkdale-High Park with 11,765 votes or 41% of the total.
Toronto city councillor Sylvia Watson came a distant second with 9,387 votes - 33% of the total - despite major efforts on her behalf by Cabinet ministers and Premier Dalton McGuinty. The Tory candidate and former city concillor David Hutcheon won 4,921 votes (17.3%).
"We have all suffered a disapointment," Ms. Watson told Liberal supporters last night. "[But] there is nothing I would have changed about this campaign." Mr. Kennedy, who was education minister before quitting to seek the top job in the federal Liberal party, won in 2003 with nearly 58% support - 16,500 votes more than his nearest competitor. The Conservatives and the NDP each won about 16% of the popular vote in that contest.
Yesterday's results come at the end of a campaign that saw the Liberals go all out against Ms. DiNovo. With less than 13 months until the next election, the Grit loss in Parkdale-High Park throws into question the McGuinty government's contention that spending on health and education have produced results that overshadow public outrage over the Premier's decision to hike taxes contrary to promises.
Senior Liberals downplayed the loss last night as the results rolled in. "It's not indicative of anything im my opinion," Economic Development Minister Joe Cordiano said. "It's always a protest vote against the government in a byelection. Voters feel safe enough to send whatever message they want to send to the government."
In the runup to the vote, Mr. McGuinty conceded the Grits were in a tough fight. He campaigned for Ms. Watson in the riding a half dozen times, and numerous government press conferences were orchestrated so that Cabinet ministers could highlight the government's record.
This week, a dozen of those Cabinet ministers took the afternoon off to campaign in the riding. "Tonight all the forces of the Liberal Cabinet aligned themselves against you and me, and they did not prevail," Ms. DiNovo told a cheering crowd of supporters after victory was declared.
The Watson team also launched a spate of character attacks on Ms. DiNovo. In addition to highlighing the NDP candidate's admitted past as a street kid who smuggled LSD, the Liberals used selective quotes from her sermons to suggest, among other things, that she sympathized with Karla Homolka over media coverage of the killer.
What New Democrats denounced as smear tactics, the Grits described as valid information that revealed Ms. DiNovo's character.
"I feel that justice is sweet. I think the mudslinging campaign clearly backfired, but you know we were ahead because of the issues," Ms. DiNovo told City TV.
Recent polls suggest the Liberals and the Conservatives are virtually tied. A survey done at the end of August by the Innovative Research Group found that each of the leading parties had 36% support. The poll of 1,600 has a margin of error of 2.44, 19 times out of 20.
CanWest News Service (NATIONAL POST, Friday, September 15, 2006).