Voted yet?

[Jason]

I'm wondering how many of you have already voted and, if not, when?

My wife is a total shut-in so each election, I get a special ballot which is pretty much the same as a mail-in ballot. Normally, I'd have to go to the Elections Canada Office here with her ID, etc and they'd mail one to her. Since I was there already, I'd go ahead and vote.

This election, I registered for a mail-in ballot for each of us online. We both received our voting kits, made our choice and I mailed them in. With special ballots (i.e. mail-in ballots), the ballots haven't been printed with the candidate names yet so you have to write them in. And if you're not sure who they are, you go to the Elections Canada website to find out.

I think you all know how I voted but you might not know my wife voted. I only know because she said she looked up the name and it was "Joy something...". I don't have any misconceptions about her winning, but I have to keep the faith! I believe the Liberals will take this riding again but it will be close with Peterborough-Kawartha being a mixed urban-rural riding and the annoyance with the Liberals having called an election now. But the federal government will likely be a Liberal one and Peterborough is a bellwether riding.. The poll data shows it as a close race but in reality, the Conservative support is concentrated more in the West and they're already going to take most of those seats so more support isn't helpful. Without more support spread across the country, they won't get enough seats. In fact, like the last federal election, it wouldn't surprise me if the Conservatives win the popular vote but lose the election (less seats than the Liberals).

However, I'm not as partisan as you might think. I voted for the Liberals twice, the federal election in 1993 and the Ontario provincial election in 2014. I thought Peter Adams was a great MP but I had to hold my nose and voted for Jeff Leal. What was amusing is that at the same time, I believe Fox voted for the NDP. Mariam Monsef has been a disappointment for me. I liked her initially but when she trashed the work the electoral reform committee did, I lost all respect for her.

So, have you or are you planning on voting? And was it an advanced poll or are you voting on Election Day?

And finally, who are you going to vote or have voted for (if you want to say) and who do you think will win.

[fox]

This topic is more than "voted yet" and maybe you should merge it with the other election topic. At any rate, my wife and i voted in the advance poll on Friday. Funny that. We went early and the line was halfway around the block. The voting place is only two blocks from our house so we didn't wait. When we went back at 1:00, the line was gone. This is a "senior effect". Seniors get up early and are always the first to do almost anything. Same thing with haircuts. Go early and a few seniors are always ahead of you. (I can talk this way because I'm a senior  .)

Jason is right about my voting NDP when he voted Liberal for Jeff Leal. I was so angry at Leal and the provincial Liberals that year because they did nothing to stop the closure of PCVS, our local high school, that was nationally renowned and even featured on one of Rick Mercer's shows. I rarely vote "for" a candidate, but usually "against" a candidate or party I don't want to win. Which means I'm one of those strategic voters.

In the case of the federal election, I'm not really for any of the leaders. Locally, I think Maryam Monsef was given "bad bush" by Trudeau. In his drive to have a diverse cabinet, he stuck a rookie in a post that she wasn't ready to handle. This is nothing against her; it really required a more experienced politician. But locally, she has done some good things. One of these was helping to get federal accessibility grants for local institutions to better accommodate people with disabilities. But the biggest for me was her friendship with Dominic LeBlanc, former Minister of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO). He came to Peterborough with her, and had a meeting with a large group of locals to talk about the role of DFO in protecting aquatic systems. At the time, a big local issue was the development of a casino and the rerouting of a local road on Harper Creek, a brook trout stream that runs through Harper Park in south Peterborough. The City was pushing this road, and contractors for the City cut down all the vegetation in a swath of land where the road was supposed to cross the creek. This violates the law, as a buffer strip is required to be left around the stream. Small violations like that often are not enforced, but in this case, LeBlanc got an earful about the importance of that creek, and DFO shut down the road project that year. I give Maryam Monsef credit for this.

[Jason]

I like it where it's located. And the other topic is a prediction-related topic, not one about whether people have voted or who they intend to vote for. I only move topics myself when they're in the wrong category or board. This one fits in it so it's everyone's choice whether they want to create a new topic except that sometimes I will clip off a topic when it strays to a new one. I don't have the ability to merge topics in any case. I'd have to re-enter the comments as would you and it's not worth the time.

In any case, Monsef ticked me off or the reason I mentioned. I do think Trudeau made a mistake in making her a cabinet minister from the get-go. But she was from an under-represented part of the world in the Liberal caucus, young and a woman so she ticked three boxes for diversity in cabinet.

It sounds like you vote for candidates or against them based on smaller, local issues. Not that they're not important, too. But I mostly vote for nation-building platforms. I don't think the candidate really has much influence over anything, sadly, but I like that you found an exception. I didn't know there was a regulation about having a buffer around a creek. Jackson Park has many areas where one doesn't exist but it probably pre-dates those rules. I know there is a required buffer for rivers. ORCA enforces that, I believe. My brother who lives in Lakefield, cut down a tree that blocked his view of the river. Not only is that a violation but there's a good reason for that rule. I'd be interested to see how much of his property has eroded into the river since then.

[fox]

I don't necessarily vote for a candidate based on local issues, but in Maryam Monsef's case, I identified the good things she has done locally to counteract the case that she isn't very good based on her stint as Minister. She may have "checked all the boxes" for her ministerial appointment, but that doesn't mean she would be effective when she had virtually no government experience. She might end up being quite good at "nation-building" later in her career once she has more experience. I will reserve judgement on that, and I will certainly not count against her what she did as Minister as a rookie.

[Jason]

My brother, Rob, actually voted in this election. I don't recall him ever voting. Since he's in a LTC facility, though, it's easier to vote since it's right there.

He voted Liberal because our mom did. He doesn't really follow politics. I was a Liberal when I was young likely because of her influence, too. That, and I liked Trudeau the Elder even though I was only 13 when he resigned. Mom was, along with Dad, surprisingly, involved in the NDP many years earlier. My brother Jeff told me this and they were actually organizers. It's not surprising for my Dad; he was a member of the steelworker's union.

Well, enough of that.

I'm pleasantly surprised that the NDP vote appears to be holding up but there's a few more days to go. The NDP has been steadily inching up in the polls the last 6 months or so. It doesn't seem like much but for the NDP to be over 20% since Layton died is remarkable, especially with a racialized and religious but non-Christian leader. The NDP should take it's rightful place as Canada's third party again and probably the balance of power. Canadians haven't been scared enough by the Conservatives and the Conservatives appear stalled because of bleeding support to the "Pee-Pee" party of Canada.