Hamilton Votes 2008

[Millstone]

Disappointed that this city bought into Layton's lies, but glad the Conservatives beat the Liberals in Hamilton Centre. Anthony Giles ended up with 493 thusfar, easily beating the two other fringe parties. I'd imagine that may have resulted from some old people confusing "liberal" with "libertarian".

[matt602]

I doubt people voting in Hamilton-East really cared that much about Jack Layton, but rather were standing behind Wayne Marston's efforts to keep manufacturing jobs in Hamilton. That was certainly my motivation.

[DC83]

Booooo @ Dion for not stepping down. Especially at him 'proudly' accepting Official Leadership of the Opposition.

I'm emailing Christohperson first thing tomorrow and bitching about the new ID rules. I, as well as a couple other ppl at my polling station, were almost denied the Right to vote b/c I didn't have a driver's license. That's total BS and May was awesome to point it out in her speach!

Why should those who choose not to drive be denied the basic right to vote?

Originally Posted by Millstone

Disappointed that this city bought into Layton's lies, but glad the Conservatives beat the Liberals in Hamilton Centre. Anthony Giles ended up with 493 thusfar, easily beating the two other fringe parties. I'd imagine that may have resulted from some old people confusing "liberal" with "libertarian".

I'm also glad the Liberal didn't win. She almost ran me over one day as she was pulling out the side driveway of her James North campaign office... then tried to coax me into voting for her!? WTF

However, I'm very very glad Hamilton chose to represent NDP values again this time around! I can imagine a bigger NDP turnout in the years to come. Gen X & Y'ers are really coming thru. I used to be 100% Liberal... I've since changed my views.

[vid]

I don't drive, I use my health card, which has a photo on it. If you don't have a new health card, you should get one. They've been out for years now and it's been over a year since they mailed out all the "final warnings".

The requirement for photo ID is a big issue up here though, it has effectively disenfranchised no less than 80% of Northern Ontario's aboriginal population. They don't vote because they don't feel it will be of any benefit to them, and with these new rules, they can't vote. They don't have photo IDs, and some don't even have addresses. It's a terrible situation, and Kenora and Nunavut would likely have had different results if aboriginal people were more encouraged to vote.

The Green Party did better in Alberta than Ontario.

[coalminecanary]

wow - what a fucking waste of time, money, effort. how much does an election cost?

[SteelTown]

More than a quarter of a billion, around $300 million (nearly the cost of LRT for B-Line).

[coalminecanary]

i called this when he called the election. shoulda given me 300 million and let me dole out the seats. heck, i would have given him 50% off!

i notice harper mentioned "adding canadians to the conservative roster" or something like that. 'cept the popular vote % was actually lower this time around. uhhhh.....

[drpgq]

Wow, despite the prognostications of some, Tyler Banham came a weak third on the mountain. I was a bit surprised myself. I've never seen so many campaign signs translate into so few votes. Looks like we're witnessing the destruction of the federal Liberal brand in Hamilton.


By Jackson Hayes
The Canadian Press, 2008

Click here to see election results in local ridings

Click here to see national results

New Democratic Party incumbent Chris Charlton described her win as a “really sweet victory” in a short
acceptance speech before elated supporters.
Charlton successfully defended her Hamilton Mountain riding last night, edging out strong Liberal and Conservative challengers to earn her second term as MP.
Charlton raced ahead with a comfortable 21,768 votes, or 43.6 per cent, with 234 out of 243 polls reporting.
Former city councillor Terry Anderson trailed with 15,360 votes, or 30.8 per cent. Liberal Tyler Banham took third with 10,043 votes, 20.1 per cent, while the Green Party’s Stephen Brotherston took fourth with 2,746.
In her victory speech at Ye Olde Squire Pub on Fennell Avenue, near Wentworth Avenue, Charlton congratulated Anderson for running a clean campaign, and took a shot at Banham, who posted a YouTube video about Charlton’s campaign office closing early.
“You fight your campaign how you think you have to fight your campaign,” Charlton said.
Charlton credited her victory to her hard-working campaign office.
“Our campaign office is an amazing place. I’ve got a terrific staff and I think people across the riding recognize that.”
Unlike the last federal election when support for Charlton south of the Linc was lower, voters both north and south of the Linc threw their support behind her last night.
“When you get the privilege to be in office you have to help people in all parts of the riding,” she said.
The federal Hamilton Mountain seat carries the largest population of any Hamilton riding and was seen by observers to be a three-way race. The seat’s importance was signalled by campaign visits from all three party leaders.
Though many polls had Charlton ahead, there was a feeling last night it could tilt in another direction.
The NDP incumbent had lost two previous federal elections to Liberal Beth Phinney, including a tight 2004 race where 996 votes separated first and second.
Charlton beat Bill Kelly, who replaced the retired Phinney, in 2006 and was hoping for success in her first defence of her seat.
She wasn’t confident of it, however.
“I wasn’t sure at all ... I’m surprised I won at all,” Charlton said in an interview.
In a recent debate, Liberal Banham and Conservative candidate and former Ward 7 councillor Anderson challenged Charlton on how constituents were not served by a party “with no voice” in Ottawa.
Charlton fired back saying under her, the “concerns of Hamiltonians are heard in the House of Commons.”

[email protected]
905-526-3283

[drpgq]

Classy Larry, classy.

By DANIEL NOLAN
Wayne Marston is going back to Parliament after what had been predicted to be a close race in Hamilton East-Stoney Creek turned into a romp.
Liberal candidate Larry Di Ianni, who was expected to give the New Democrat MP a run for his seat, called Marston just before 11 p.m. and conceded defeat after polls indicated Marston was a comfortable winner.
A short time later, Marston walked into a boisterous victory party at the Veterans Service League hall.
While Marston was pleased with his victory, he said Di Ianni’s concession ended on a sour note when he accused Marston of running a dirty campaign to win re-election. Marston said the former Hamilton mayor gave no examples of dirty tricks.
“I was quite surprised,” Marston told reporters. “Larry has always, in my opinion, treated me fair when he was the mayor. I was caught off guard. He’s allowed to say what he wants in a moment of frustration.”
“I’m disappointed, not only for us here but also for my city,” Di Ianni said at his campaign party at the Renaissance Hall on Barton Street. “I’m not sure having three members from the fourth party is going to do anyone any good.”
As for the comments he made to Marston about the NDP running a dirty campaign, he said: “It was a private communication between myself and someone else and should have remained private. It was a private message to him.”
Marston, 61, said he ran a good campaign, and his workers were told to be courteous all the time, even to the point of not walking on someone’s lawn.
In a short address to about 200 people, the former school board trustee and labour council president said he was honoured and humbled to be the riding’s MP.
He noted pundits had said the riding was a Liberal seat, and that Di Ianni would return it to their fold. He said his victory instead shows the riding is firmly in the hands of the “big orange machine.”
“I believe they use the word slam dunk for the Liberals,” Marston joked. “Well someone got slammed and someone got dunked.”
With 231 of 242 polls reporting, Marston had earned almost 18,705 votes, or 41.3 per cent of the total.
Di Ianni was running second with 12,671 votes, or 28 per cent of the total. Conservative candidate Frank Rukavina was third, with 10,792 votes, or 23.8 per cent of the total.
The Liberals pulled out all the stops to get the riding. Di Ianni welcomed Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff to the riding and also received help from former Hamilton East MP and deputy prime minister Sheila Copps. NDP leader Jack Layton visited the riding in the last week of the campaign.

[email protected]
905-526-3351

[DC83]

Actual (National) 2008 Popular Vote:

CON 37.63%
LIB 26.24%
NDP 18.20%
GRN 6.80%

SSP:Hamilton Popular Vote

CON 39.13%
LIB 26.09%
NDP 26.09%
GRN 8.70%

[raisethehammer]

I'm proud that once again cities have spoken and controlled the outcome.
Virtually every tax dollar that flows to Ottawa comes from a city....high time the government start re-investing in our cities.

[DC83]

^^ I'm proud that DiIanni didn't get in. I'm disgusted by his sore loser attitude in claiming Marston played a dirty campaign.

Larry's just frustrated that his political career is over. Hamilton's had enough with crooks like him... well at least the new emerging generations. Did you see the numbers in Ham East-SC? Awesome!
(19 924 for Marston, 13 445 for the Don)

[raisethehammer]

I don't think there's a whole lot of the 'emerging generation' in HamEast-Stoney Creek. Lol.

[markbarbera]

Well the minority dynamic continues with very little change. Talk about flushing $300 million down the drain for one man's vanity and political ambition.

Looking at the results, it is obvious the outcome was decided not by who voted, but by who did not vote. With the support of 41% of eligible voters, the clear winner last night was 'none of the above'. These results should give cause to navel gazing by all the party leaders.

Saying Dion's leadership is now in jeopardy is a no-brainer. It is no longer a matter of if he will resign, but when he will tender his resignation. This is a real shame because he is a man of extreme integrity and ability, which for some reason is interpreted as weak qualities among the electorate. I hope he remains in the caucus when the change in leadership takes place. All the contenders in the last leadership campaign won their seats last night so there is a real wealth of potential successors already in caucus.

Despite the appearance of a breakthrough, the Conservatives have a lot of soul-gazing to do themselves over the next while. Despite the 'perfect storm' of a huge war chest, a sympathetic media and the voter's perception of their chief rival as a weak leader, they could not muster the majority they were gunning for. In fact, they have not improved their popularity at all. Their support actually slipped a touch last night. At first blush, the 37.6% vote would look like an increase in popular support. In fact, their popular support dropped last night. In the 2006 general election, the Conservatives received 5,374,071 votes nationwide. Last night they received 5,205,334 votes, nearly 175,000 fewer votes, a 3% decline in voter support over the previous running of the reptiles. Similarly, the NDP saw a drop in the ballots cast for their party. Last night, 2,517,075 votes were cast for the NDP. That is 72,000 fewer votes, or a drop of nearly 3% on their popular vote from 2006.

By far, it was the Liberals who suffered most from the voter apathy, with 3,629,990 votes last night, nearly 850,000 fewer votes than the 4,479,415 last go around. Liberal supporters in Ontario who feared the effect of Green Shift on the manufacturing sector stayed home en masse last night. The Conservative gains in Ontario were all by default.

The only party to gain support last night was the Green Party. In 2006 they received 664,068 votes across the nation. Last night, they received 940,747 votes, an increase of nearly 42% over their performance the last time around. Sadly this did not translate in to a seat, but eventual representation in the house is now inevitable. Next go around, the Greens need to focus on no more than 100 ridings. While you have to admire her spunk (and her relatively solid showing in Central Nova last night), Elizabeth May must place herself in a winnable riding next time around.

If anything was clear from last night's results, Canadians are disillusioned with the political system as it now stands. Electoral reform can no longer be ignored. I am certainly not going to espouse proportional representation because it is a poor fit for our Parliament, which is designed for geographic representation. Rather, I would like to see a sequential sytem like that in France. I would however like to see PR used to determine the makeup of our Senate.

But electoral reform is only half of the equation. Canadians need to be inspired. They are tired of voting against something and want a reason to vote for something for a change. All the political parties need to realize that pragmatics will not carry the day any more. Canadians are starved for a visionary, which we have not had for thirty years now. Any party that can mould a positive vision for Canada and present it with a a universally appealing leader will sweep to power. Until then consecutive bi-annual minorities of diferrent flavours will be the norm.

[raisethehammer]

excellent post Mark. Bang on. I would love to have "none of the above" as PM like the majority of Canadians.

[Millstone]

Originally Posted by vid

I don't drive, I use my health card, which has a photo on it. If you don't have a new health card, you should get one. They've been out for years now and it's been over a year since they mailed out all the "final warnings".

Don't you have to renew those?

[coalminecanary]

well said

[coalminecanary]

Originally Posted by Millstone

Don't you have to renew those?

the red and white cards have no official expiry date but they really desperately want people to switch.

[fastcarsfreedom]

Well the minority dynamic continues with very little change. Talk about flushing $300 million down the drain for one man's vanity and political ambition.

The Liberal party in particular would be well-served to let go of it's own personality-obsessions...the Conservatives have taken considerable heat for being a "one-man" show--yet the moment the Liberal party realized that GreenShift was an albatross--it went right back to running against Harper the man--something that has resonated with decreasing efficacy in the last 3 elections.

If the effect is continued stable governance for the next two or three years--I'm not certain I share the view that this was a "nothing" election. Moreover, the increase in seat count by the governing party means all 3 opposition parties need to act in concert to defeat the government. Clearly there is voter fatigue in this country--and that's not surprising considering the pace with which elections have come over the past 4 years--this parliament must survive--it's in every party's interest.

While those with negative feelings toward the Conservative party may be quick to point out the "loss of support" (which comes from an 'alternative' way of looking at the results) -- the truth is that the party made considerable gains--and not all came from splits--they came very close to ridings which were previously hinterlands--further encroached on the Liberal's Fortress Toronto -- and furthered their march toward 'national representation'. The Liberal party's electoral map is becoming increasingly fragmented, they fought for ridings that should have been 'easy' wins. As an example, they finished THIRD behind the NDP and Conservative candidates in Windsor West and Windsor Tecumseh (for decades these seats were held by Herb Gray and Paul Martin Sr.) - same result in Hamilton Mountain. It's a troubling downward trend that has been mirrored in the rotting away of their grassroots. Having been present at the implosion of a party I belonged to--I can assure you that the Liberals troubles require serious thought and a genuine effort at rebuilding and reenergizing the party at ground level. Branding the Conservative gains in Ontario as "default" is ignoring some crucial facts as well as historical data--the Liberals have always had a strong base in Ontario--but the '93 and '97 results were not the norm. The Liberals took Ontario for granted--and voters left. Some stayed home for certain--but many went left, and others went right. While I can appreciate your support/affection for the party--there is a historically undeniable arrogance about the party--they believe they deserve power--that it's a natural state for them--as it was for the Conservatives in Ontario from 1943-1985...all this talk of there being a Liberal majority in the next election smacks of Frank Miller's infamous "We'll be back" at Queens Park in 1985.

The NDP did make some notable gains last night--but aside from holding on to Outremont their gains were somewhat less than they were striving for. Nonetheless--their campaign showed a glimmer of hope for the future--if Layton can burnish his image a little more, ease off on the constant rhetoric and widen the party tent (untangling himself from the union movement is the big challenge) -- they have a chance to eat more of the Liberals' lunch while that party is weakened.

I think for May and the Green Party the election was a massive disappointment--despite their increased raw vote. Their leader allowed herself to be manipulated by the Liberal party--choosing to run against Peter MacKay to attempt to score political points was arrogant and foolish. In doing so she sacrificed what could have been a fuller national campaign in order to fight a losing battle in Central Nova. She also very clearly endorsed Dion on two occasions before back-pedalling. For the Greens this election represents a badly squandered opportunity--and I believe it has damaged their brand.

I give credit to Duceppe--not because I agree with a thing he says--but because he's a master of his domain. He essentially stopped a majority in Quebec--by outlandishly spinning relatively insignificant culture funding cuts and screaming and yelling about 14 year olds going to jail (even though Quebec would be exempt)--no one is better at manipulating the message than Duceppe. The voters in Quebec have shown a past tendancy to make emotional decisions--I do think the BQ's relevance is quickly waning--and there will be increased desire in the province to return to a pattern of voting for national parties--if and when a party...whatever party...achieves another majority in the House--the BQ will take a huge hit in relevance.

[adam]

Fastcars, you quoted Mark Barbera's one line, but I can't figure out why. Do you believe it was worthwhile to spend $300 million and get the same minority government, same opposition?