Canadian by-elections, 2012

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SCC will be hearing about Etobicoke Centre in July. If Opitz and Harper are convinced of their mandate to the public, they shouldn't fear and delay the by-election. After all, they'll get re-elected by a wider margin, right?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/supreme-court-to-interrupt-summer-break-to-hear-tossed-election-case/article4265075

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Speaking of Kitchener Waterloo, it's impossible to listen to more than ten minutes of radio without an ad from either the Liberals (OMG TEH TORIES OUT TO KILL OUR TEACHERS!1!!), NDP (OMG BOTH TEH PARTIES IDENTICAL!!1!), or PCs (OMG TEH LIBS DROWNING UR KIDS IN DEBT!!1!1).

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Speaking of Kitchener Waterloo, it's impossible to listen to more than ten minutes of radio without an ad from either the Liberals (OMG TEH TORIES OUT TO KILL OUR TEACHERS!1!!), NDP (OMG BOTH TEH PARTIES IDENTICAL!!1!), or PCs (OMG TEH LIBS DROWNING UR KIDS IN DEBT!!1!1).

Are the Liberals actually running ads saying that the Tories are out to kill "our teachers" Right now the teachers are all up in arms that its the Liberals who are hitting them with a two by four! There are literally bus loads of teachers going to Waterloo to help the NDP because they all hate Mcguinty so much now.

The Liberals have been making subtle reminders of Mike Harris and reminding voters they can somehow defend public services and...do something...about the deficit.

But I've also heard a radio ad by a teachers union, asking you if you like kids, and therefore do you want Ontario to continue having the best school system in the English-speaking world, and therefore don't you think hurting teachers is against that.

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Thanks to Teddy:

KW live results: http://electionnightresults.elections.on.ca/rr/ro?code=039

Vaughan live results: http://electionnightresults.elections.on.ca/rr/ro?code=097 #vaughan

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It's too bad I moved out of the KW riding two weeks ago.

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Most pathetic was Tim Hudak insisting KW was a "Witmer seat" and not a "PC seat". If anything, a halfway decent PC leader would naturally hold this seat.

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FWIW, CTV calls KW for Fife.

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In the last few days, there were "No McGuinty, Not This Time" signs springing like mushrooms. No party officially backed this campaign. It sounds rather fishy.

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Back of the envelope calculations put total votes in KW at 40000, putting voter turnout at 40% or so. Not bad for a byelection.

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At least Dalton spoke publicly tonight about the need to work with other parties. Hudak hasn't been seen in public all night, but he did issue a written statement blaming the unions for concentrating their resources into one riding. What a sore loser. If I were a PC caucus member I'll be preparing to stage a coup based on that statement alone.

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I personally know people who will be very happy tomorrow morning.

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I don't see how the Liberals can spin these results to their advantage. Even in Calgary Centre it can be argued the vast majority of Liberal voters are voting against Crockatt than for anything. The Conservatives can claim to have held onto their seat, but it's humiliating to have to fight for something they take for granted. The NDP are underperforming in all three ridings. So somehow, the Greens can claim victory even though they may not win any seats.