Results tagged “electionday”

Torontoist Environment Editor Chris Tindal is currently engaged in a federal by-election campaign. This weekly column is an attempt to offer a behind the scenes glimpse into what it's like to be that mysterious Other: a politician.

It's election day today! So go vote. If you don't vote, nobody will ever truly love you and you will die alone and unmourned. This is a statistical fact.

Provincial and federal elections in Canada are largely determined by quirks of geography. That is, the number of seats each party receives in the legislature is rather independent of the popular vote and has more to do with the way people of particular political leanings are concentrated (or not) within arbitrarily-drawn districts. This makes pre-election polling an interesting exercise in extrapolation; a particular percentage of popular support could translate into quite a range of possible seat totals. Most polls, therefore, gauge public opinion well enough, but are unreflective of the reality of our electoral system.

Election day is tomorrow, which provides a good opportunity to look back at how election ads were handled in the past. Today's selections come from the 1955 campaign, which Premier Leslie Frost's Progressive Conservatives won in a landslide on June 9th (83 PC, 11 Liberal, 3 CCF, 1 "PC Independent"). The "Big Blue Machine" was firmly entrenched, remaining in power for the next 30 years.

You've probably heard by now that Ontarians will be asked to cast a second ballot on election day. That is, unless you're among the 47% of Ontarians who, according to a recent poll, are completely unaware of the upcoming referendum question on whether to replace the existing first-past-the-post (FPTP) electoral system with a proposed mixed-member proportional (MMP) system. Whether this is the first you've heard about it—which seems unlikely since Torontoist has mentioned it numerous times—or you've been doggedly campaigning on the issue for months, here's an event that'll pique your interest.

This week, we wandered about the city and did a design analysis of election signs. This post doesn't exactly constitute voting advice -- unless you're often swayed by snazzy typography. At the same time, it's our belief that a terrible sign can tank an otherwise promising candidate and vice-versa.

Toronto officials are currently engaged in a last-ditch effort to save the 2015 World's Fair. Is it just me or would the Expo be a colossal mistake?

Election signs are a bit like Christmas lights, after the big day they quickly lose what little charm they had to begin with. Campaign signs are even worse because with Christmas lights arguably no body loses, but having a Tony Ianno, Marilyn Churley or Peter Kent sign on your lawn can serve as a constant reminder of electoral defeat and that you might've had too many drinks watching the results come in on CBC.

. Plus, the first time we ever voted we got stickers (it was that train wreck of a municipal election back in 2000), and though we've never received stickers since, the possibility still propels us to the polling station.