Well the by-elections are over and we can prepare for each of the parties to make their pitch claiming success or in the Liberal's case, nobody died. Most significant is the Con's win Quebec. By stripping the Bloc of the Montmagny, L'Islet, Kamouraska and Riviere du Loup seat they can make an argument that their fortunes in Quebec have begun to shift. The NDP took New Westminster and made gains in their percentage of the turnout in Quebec, so they will also claim success. The riding of Hochelaga was a strong Bloc victory and nowhere did the Liberals fare better than third in popular voting. The neorhino.ca party brought in 0.7% of the votes in Hochelga, besting the totals of the independent candidate and the Marxist-Leninist Party. They are a force to keep an eye on in coming months.
The Conservative win in Quebec comes on the heels of the governing Cons popping by the riding to drop one quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money into the local economy to widen a highway. $242 million, that is going to be one wide assed highway. Having taken the riding with 12,162 votes as of the last tally, that comes to about $19,900 per Conservative vote. That my friends, is some sweet graft, er pork... um, stimulus!
I look forward to the Liberal Party spin on these results. By-elections? There were by-elections... yawn, oh we hardly noticed. This really doesn't bode well for the official opposition considering the Harper minority government is presiding over a huge and growing deficit on the heels of a string of gaffes and scandals. I suppose we can expect Michael Ignatieff to start lining his team up for those confidence votes. Or perhaps not. Should be a fun squirm to watch.
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The Conservative win in Quebec comes on the heels of the governing Cons popping by the riding to drop one quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayer money into the local economy to widen a highway.
So it was a buy-election.
Hochelaga.
22% voter turnout. Democracy is on the march!
I was there a few weeks ago - the highways are already fucking amazing compared to Montreal (except for that little bit of pre-existing construction near the shopping mall). I really wonder why some piss-ant little community needs so much infrastructure...
I'm not surprised by the win - this is also the region that consistently elected ADQ separatist Mario D. Not too hard to understand why they would go Con.
Via RossK at The Gazetteer :
Bloc files police complaint over alleged impersonation of MP during byelection
(CP) – 23 hours ago
OTTAWA — The Bloc Quebecois filed a police complaint over what it described as sabotage in one of four federal byelections Monday.
The Bloc says it contacted police after someone impersonated one of its members in a phone call Monday to voters in eastern Quebec. It says someone pretending to be Bloc MP Christiane Gagnon left bizarre, recorded messages urging people to vote for her colleague Nancy Gagnon.
22% voter turnout makes it a "Bye, elections"
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