St. Paul's by-election

Stuart Parker used to be leader of the Green Party in BC, then saw the light and joined the NDP and is a leading figure in the electoral refrm movement - I think he would be a good candidate.

Rumour has it the party brass for the Liberals are lining up behind Moses.

madmax wrote:

Hoskins ran in a former Liberal Stronghold against Diane Finley and he was CRUSHED.  Clearly its a good thing, as he was not committed to the riding, and his words were lies.  Just another "I am good on Paper" candidate. Of course.... isn't this how Ignatieff got started.   

Hoskins wasn't "crushed"; he only lost two points off the previous Bob Speller tally, and Diane Finley's margin actually shrunk (thanks in part to an independent candidate spurred by the Caledonia situation et al).

And besides, Haldimand-Norfolk federally wasn't so much a Liberal stronghold as a fortuitous beneficiary of (a) the 1988 free trade + dawn-of-the-CHP election, and (b) the Chretien/Speller power dynamic versus the disunited right.  Provincially, it's been a different story in the past (think Bob Nixon agrarianism); but currently under Toby Barrett it's about as solid as PC seats get...

While Judith Moses is the only candidate currently within the St Paul's boundary, Charles Finlay grew up in St Paul's and his parent's still live in the riding, and Eric Hoskins lives right in downtown Toronto - they were hardly 'parachuted' in.  Let's stick with the facts shall we?

I've actually gone out and met all of the Liberal candidates this week - as I live in St Paul's - and they are a surprisingly strong trio of individuals.  The riding would do well with representation from any of them. 

How 'madmax' can say that Dr Hoskins is simply 'good on paper' is beyond me given what he's actually achieved - against the odds! - for children in war torn areas around the world.  He's not just a talker - he's a doer who has achieved much, and we could use a few more people of action in Queen's Park.   He has a lot of real world experience - it's amazing what he's achieved given his age.

Judith Moses has a lot of experience in government and clearly is a policy person - which is great.  We need clear ideas for change.  And having another qualifieid and intelligent woman in Queen's Park can only help.

Charles Finlay is a strong generalist - which I like - but also has gone out there in the local Toronto community and made a positive difference for people with mental health issues.   Again, not just a talker.

You'd be hard pressed to find another party nomination with three such strong candidates.

According to Wikipedia, Toby Barrett actually had the widest margin of victory for a PC incumbant in the whole province. From what I have heard, a lot of people are just upset at government as a whole over the Caledonia situtaion, which helps explains Gary McHale's strong showing as an independent and Findlay hemoraging votes, as well as the Liberal candidate getting crushed provincially.

Not me you can  be sure. 

Josh Matlow has declined to run, but seems to be supporting Finlay.

And it sounds like Parker wants the NDP to move leftward as well:

Well there's one strike against Finlay.

Uh, I think you're letting a partisan (or something) chip on the shoulder blind you to the psephological truth.  Look: we're talking 2008, the Dion election, in rural Ontario.  Under the circumstances, and even with McHale factored in, even a REAL Liberal candidate couldn't have taken out Diane Finley; indeed, judging from the results in other Tory-held rural Ontario ridings that year, such a candidate (even Bob Speller?!?) might have done even worse.  (Compared to the 32.35% here, look at non-parachute/opportunist Liberal neighbours: 23.53% in Elgin-M-L; 23.97% in Niagara West-Glanbrook; 19.39% in Oxford; even the losing Liberal incumbent in Brant got less than a percent more than Hoskins.)

So, stop venting your bile, and look at the 2008 results across Ontario.  Except by miracle or with some hyper-populist phenomenon (whether Grit, or indirectly through McHale himself doubling his vote count and allowing Hoskins up the middle), No. Liberal. Could. Have. Won. In. Haldimand-Norfolk. In. 2008.  And it's because of Dion, not because of Hoskins.

I don't see Matlow as being any worse than your average Liberal.  Do Libs feel differently?

I'm not a Liberal supporter, but I see Josh Matlow as exemplifying everything that is slimy and wrong with the Liberal Party. I feel more kindly toward the average Liberal voter.

To me, Finlay, a Bay St. lawyer, seems like the best Liberal candidate from an NDP point of view.

Anyway I'm curious if they're going to be scheduling the federal and provincial nomination meetings around the same time.

A disappointing piece in the local neighbourhood rag:

http://www.mytowncrier.ca/three-grits-vie-for-st-pauls-seat.html

I have so far e-mailed everyone at NDP provincial office and the local paper's reporters about my candidacy. But apparently, there are no declared NDP candidates in the race, according to the provincial secretary as quoted by the local paper. However's it's nice to know that once they've lined up a favoured candidate and the fix is in, then and only then will they call a nomination race. I understand that this is how things work but usually there's at least an effort at a facade of inclusion and democracy.

Oh -- did I mention my sending e-mails to the riding executive members via their web site, the party web site and their Facebook group?

Thanks for the edit. That's what I get for having my girlfriend pick my photo. I'll get a different one put up.

But I'm still calling it as I see it. The article is about who is seeking the nomination for each party; hair-splitting over how the NDP phrases its comments indicating that no one is publicly campaigning doesn't really get us anywhere. By the logic you are employing, the Liberal Party has no "nominees" either and the article should be about no one. I'm not waiting to see the lay of the land; I'm not keeping a low profile; I'm publicly campaigning, having announced my candidacy in an hour-long radio interview on CFRB and followed it up with a raft of news releases so it is very hard to see the Provincial Secretary's comments as anything other than a denial of that situation.

Also, the idea that the timing of the nomination meeting will be based on who provincial office officials want to win it does strike me as less than fully democratic. Of course, "democracy" is a malleable term.

You know it seems kind of strange that the centrepiece of you campaign seems to be an attack on the NDP itself. 

Do you think that maybe riding NDP members might wonder if you have a whole other agenda going on and that is making them nervous?

Ah, but that is not what you are doing in this thread.  You have not questioned the direction of the NDP - something in my experience is neither novel or new- instead you have attacked the NDP itself, its staff and it would seem the members of the St Paul's riding association. 

All of which would tend to reinforce the idea that maybe you have another agenda.

As well you don't have to act like you have the nomination - you do need to act like you have something to offer.  This is not the Green party where they are just happy to have someone to put on the ballot.  Contested nominations are not all that unusual in the NDP.

Stuart  please ,tell me a bit more about why you are seeking the NDP nomiantionb in St. Paul's? I asusme you bnow are a card carryign member of the ONDP and live in St.Pauls's or at least in Toronto. and have some involvment with the riding?

When it comes to a nomiantion meeting for a general election each NDP riding assoiation is supposed to sets up a serch commitee and approaches prospective cnadiates. There is some discussion about the rules and some "screening" of candiates- you have to provide a picture, a bio ,a statment about any ctriminal or civil proceedigns you are involved in that might emabaras the party.etc. there are guidebooks avialble for those interested in seeking the nomiantion.  .When the riding has completed a fair search  they send the material and a reprot to provincial office and request permission ot hold a nomiantion meeting. Permission should not be granted if the riding ahs not conducted a fair search or if there is no affirmative action candisate.

Once permission has been granted to hold a nomination pemeeting notice must be maield out to all members in the riding at leat 14 days before the meeting. Only those NDP members in good standinf who live in the riding can vote at the nomiantion meeting. I strongly recommend you start snnging up members now and get the memberdhip and other paperwork into provincial office.pronto. given this is a by-elecion provincial ofice will be playing ane ven stonger role than usual.

solidarity

Peter

So you haven't handed in your nomination papers yet and you went on this ranting tear.  Not a very good sign. 

Again you might want to actually listen to the concerns of NDP members in the riding before informing them of everything that is wrong with the NDP and how you will fix it by being a by-election candidate in a single riding.

Oh - I misunderstood.  I thought you had the papers but had not submitted them.  Waiting for them is something different.

The party 'structure' is people - and your relationship with them.  In an election campaign it is the party structure - regardless of party- that supports the candidate.  If you can't respect the people who will be doing the vast majority of the work on 'your' campaign you frankly have no business being a candidate.  If you are successful there will be all kinds of people working on your campaign because they believe in and support the principles of the NDP - you will be secondary in some ways.  If you want to be successful you might want to check your ego a bit and start to realize that the candidate's role is to articulate the hopes and dreams of the people working in her name in a campaign.  In short it is not all about you - although you get to have your names on signs, to participate in debates and do all the fun stuff- even though it is physically and emotionally exhausting.  Of course you are important, but you are no more important than anyone else on the campaign team.  Less so than many.  You represent them just as much as they represent you to the general public.

If you also want to make it clear you are a sincere New Democrat you might want to articulate why you are no longer a Green instead of seemingly spending all of your time being critical of the NDP.

Agreed. While I don;t know Stuart  I am pretty impressed by what I have hearrd and read. The ONDP should be shouting from the rooftops that we have such an impressive potential candidate

Stuart Parker (born 1972) was leader of the Green Party in British Columbia, Canada, from 1993 to 2000.

Prior to winning the party's leadership at the age of 21, he had been the founder and spokesperson of the party's youth wing, the Young Greens from 1988 to 1992 and was best known for coordinating the group's successful national campaign against McDonald's Restaurants' use of ozone-destroying foam packaging. Parker and the Young Greens received substantial credit from Canada's national media in 1990 when the restaurant giant abandoned the use of chlorofluorocarbon-based foam. The group's continued campaign against the use of CFCs in foam packaging led to CKF Incorporated, Canada's largest manufacturer of CFC-based foam, abandoning the use of CFCs in manufacturing in 1993.

Parker managed to take the party from a tiny group of 59 in 1992 to a party that was only four candidates short of a full slate in the 1996 provincial election. He built links to poverty activists and labour groups. During his leadership, the party's standing in public opinion polls rose from 1% to 11%. During his time as party leader, Parker was arrested in anti-clearcutting blockades in Clayoquot Sound in 1993 and the Slocan Valley in 1997.

Reversing his earlier position, he negotiated agreements with the municipal affiliates of the then-incumbent New Democratic Party of British Columbia (NDP) provincial government and the labour councils of Vancouver and Victoria in 1998 and 1999, resulting in the first and the only Red-Green coalitions in Canadian history in BC's 1999 municipal elections. As part of these coalitions, the Greens won their first-ever municipal seats in Canadian cities.

Ultimately, his focus on building a broadly left-wing green party in BC brought criticism from some members of the environmental movement in the province. Those people played a significant role in the efforts that eventually led to Parker's defeat at the party's March 2000 convention - after previous unsuccessful attempts in 1998 and 1999.

At the time of Parker's defeat, his supporters in the party were in negotiations with the NDP over a potential provincial electoral alliance. His successor, Adriane Carr, cancelled these negotiations.

Parker's departure from the party came as the Greens were perceived to be moving to the political right. He subsequently worked with the NDP in the 2001 provincial election and with the federal New Democratic Party in the 2004 federal election.

Upon leaving the Green Party, Parker initially worked as a lobbyist for Mike Geoghegan. He later became a strong advocate for electoral reform, specifically proportional representation. A co-founder of the BC Electoral Change Coalition in 1997, he has served on the board of Fair Voting BC (2000-2002, 2006-present) and on the board of Fair Vote Canada (2005-2007).

The nephew of Harry Jerome, Parker was the first BC political leader of African descent and gave the keynote speech to the opening ceremony of the province's Black History Month in 1994.

He is currently living in Ontario, where he is pursuing a doctorate at the University of Toronto.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Parker

Wow, somebody has been beefing wiki enteries.

Thanks so much for the positive responses to my potential candidacy.

Last night, I was campaigning at an Ethiopian community event (I appear to have been invited to balance the Liberal nomination seeker the Ethiopian community is backing). It seems very clear, based on Liberal Party gossip received not just there but from a variety of individuals well-placed within the OLP, that we're facing a byelection call in mid-August for a voting date before the end of September.

So I'm anticipating that our crew will really need to alter its somewhat leisurely nomination plans what with the Greens, Tories and Liberals all nominating next week in anticipation of an imminent election call.

One more thing: I'm curious to know what issues you guys think I should be focusing on both in the nomination process and in the election. I have to confess that I think the party's current HST focus may be a mistake.

On the HST activity.

Small busines out here in BC are freaking, so in order to combat that anger brewing, Canwest had a representative from the forstry industry on telling people, it was going to save them hundreds of millions and thus many people their jobs. A similar false trope used over and over agin by forestry industry execs, for every different situation.

Sure enough they are going to save 100's of millions, but it is not going to save jobs, just as the other profit enhancing measures have not. They are too busy shipping their tenured non-processed timber off shore, and they are not interested in maintaining jobs, jobs cost them money too. Moreover,  what it is going to do is remove those 100 of millions out of the government coffers and into their pockets. So their timber is going to be even freer than it was before.

Re: general election issues: Part of Michael Bryant's initial success in 1999 was having worked on tenant issues in the community prior to getting into politics. It was one of the reasons I felt comfortable "strategically" voting for him against incumbent Tory Isabel Bassett. 

A potential hot button item could be the streetcar right of way construction delays but most of the work is now complete in St. Pauls.

There may also be issues about recreation facilities for youth although it's a problem for more people more north-west of the riding. A small part of the riding was in the pre-amalgamation Borough of York which had invested in before & after-school programs and used the schools quite a bit for recreation programs. York couldn't afford to build many community centres & swimming pools. Harris effectively gutted some of those programs with the education funding formula. With downloading and the megacity's "race to the bottom", lower income residents got shafted. 

Forest Hill is also part of the riding and they have their own unique issues.

Electoral reform may not be easy to focus on during the campaign, but there are angles.

Many downtown Toronto ridings did vote for MMP in the referendum: Trinity-Spadina, Davenport, Parkdale-High Park, Toronto-Danforth and Beaches - East York. Adding in Toronto Centre and St. Paul's, the voters in the seven downtown Toronto ridings voted for MMP by 52.7% (144,913 MMP, 130,193 FPTP.)   

Unfortunately, St. Paul's voted 55% for FPTP.

However, its federal MP, Carolyn Bennett, is still a good electoral reformer, and Michael Bryant had endorsed MMP in the referendum. So it would be fair to ask the Liberal candidate, when she or he is chosen, "do you agree with your former Minister Marie Bountrogianni that electoral reform in Ontario is unfinished business? Do you support electoral reform, as Carolyn Bennett does, Michael Bryant did, and the majority of downtown Toronto voters did? What will you do about it?"

In addition to fixing the funding formula for cities, another issue, one which Stuart Parker is heavily involved in, is granting more autonomy to the City of Toronto.  Not sure where the ONDP stands on this, but it is a good issue to take on in the byelection.

On thing that babblers should know, just so that they are not caught unawares, is that Stuart Parker's break with the Green Party in BC was said to be very acrimonious. I did not follow it at the time, but I have heard people within the Green Party call the removal/defeat of the Stuart Parker faction of the Greens, a coup.

I think the HST, unfortunately, is the big bread and butter issue of the campaign- at least for the higher income neighbourhoods. The question that needs to be asked is, why is the provincial government raising taxes on average consumers in the middle of a recession? There is no comfortable answer to that question. It will also be easy to educate people in the riding about the issue as they will probably be affected by the tax increase in everything from increased restaurants, to higher costs at the local businesses that give character to their community. Small business in BC is going ballistic exactly because this is the toughest time for them. Unlike big business that may have enough assets to draw good credit lines and survive the recession, many small business go under. Small businesses are also generally employ more people/revenue than big business, so when small businesses fail the effect of the loss on employment can be very direct.

With the downloading of costs, I hope the NDP has the economic angle clear as well. If the provincial government doesn't upload those costs, then given the massive deficits at City Hall and elsewhere, the pressure is going to be on for some substantial property tax (and maybe other) increases after the election. Most people in St. Paul's are renters, which could put pressure on their rents to go up. The best bet for St. Paul might be to have those costs uploaded and the burden spread across the province, where it can be addressed through a wider gamut of policy options (cutting government spending, raising sales taxes, raising income taxes, economic growth in all regions of the province, etc). There may also be some cost efficiencies that could be achieved if certain social programs were administered at the provincial level.

Thirty-five percent of St. Paul's is immigrant (41% first generation Canadian) and while we are in a recession there is the bitter irony that the Canadian economy is facing a skills shortage in many areas. With most of the jurisdiction for recognition or certification of foreign credentials at the provincial level, the McGuinty government continues to screw over a lot of skilled newcomers at perhaps the worst time for the economy and the newcomers themselves. I'd like to see the McGuinty government actually do something about improving recognition of foreign credentials especially now that they have a "labour mobility" agreement with all the provinces which allows for the Canada-wide recognition of Ontario obtained credentials. As they say, if its good enough for the goose, it's good enough for the gander. And if the McGuinty government gives some toe-dragging response then I say screw them, because as one of, if not, the biggest employers in Ontario is the Ontario provincial government- and they could easily bridge in newcomers to their workforce with valuable foreign credentials just through a simple change to their HR policy. Even if they did that and didn't change any laws or regulations, hundreds of Ontarian newcomers would be able to gain the necessary Canadian job experience and security that they would need to continue in their chosen profession. Instead, the Ontario government prefers to let families suffer for a generation and then employ their Canadian born children. In another time and place, that might've been considered discrimination

30.5% of St Paul's also speaks a non-official language. Are these languages going to be encouraged for the cultural and economic value they represent or is the Ontario government going to continue its short-sighted policies on second (and third) language education in our schools? Why aren't we making sure that value is enhanced and secured through community (and thus government) support? Does Ontario want to continue to be a have not province or does it value having a workforce that can participate in the global economy in the near future?

One of the lousiest things about the Ontario provincial governments HST (and possible municipal property) tax increases is that they will hurt those on fixed incomes the most- a.k.a. the retired. With pensions in the gutter and the highest national levels ever of people on EI and social assistance, the HST increase is a giant screw you to these individuals. We also shouldn't forget, that the last round of "tax cuts" that McGuinty brought in actually shifted taxes off of big business and on to the general tax payer (increases in income taxes, most of which were put on the middle class which will get an insulting one year partial "rebate" on part of the raise...I mean they really think that insulting the voter's intelligence is just fine).

Finally, in 2001, 14% of St Paul's was Jewish. While they may not be hard core Israel enthusiasts, the nominee should be ready if they need to answer a question or two about Sid Ryan. For example, do you believe that there should be a province-wide educational boycott on Israeli scholars and researchers? Unless you believe in burning books, please say no. Depending on how things go there may be other questions along these lines. Be sure to get your answers well set up in your mind in terms of what is provincial vs. federal jurisdiction- both de jure and in terms of your own personal philosophy (e.g. what level of government should take the leadership on different initiatives).

ETA: If the NDP can get all 11,189 people that voted for Paul Summerville to come out and vote NDP again, then they will be just 1-2 percentage points behind the Liberals on election night.

V Jara, thanks for all the St. Paul's stats. I'm digesting them now.

Looking at poll-by-poll results, there is quite a lot of NDP support west of Bathurst.  One area where I think the NDP could improve however is the Oakwood-Vaughan area, which the Libs win, the NDP is a distant second, and turnout is quite low.

NDP support seems rather "soft" in St. Pauls which isn't surprising given that they have not really been a contender in the riding.  For instance, looking at the last two federal elections, in the poll I grew up in, the NDP received about a third of the vote in '06 (and about the same in '07 provincial), and then dropped by half, to the benefit of the Liberals and Greens.

Farmpunk, you're right. The McGuinty government needs to increase revenue somehow because a) they were in deficit before this recession b) they have a lot of pork and big business tax cuts to pay for.

The questions of why now (during a recession)? and why at the expense of the average Ontarian (middle class income tax increases and the HST)? are perfectly valid ones and show how McGuinty has given up on the traditional Liberal line of being the party of the middle class in order to kiss the hem of subsidy-doling and tax-cutting-for-the-richest-first ideology of Harper and Flaherty in Ottawa.
 McGuinty has largely gotten away with it, because there is no left-of-centre party competent enough in Ontario to call him out on it.

I suspect that Oakwood-Vaughan's weakness might also be a little grandfathered in from its previously being part of Eglinton-Lawrence--an even more abject NDP wasteland than St Paul's.  (Yet municipally, it's represented by Howard Moscoe.  Go figure.)

A few months ago a local prominent Liberal lawyer wrote an open letter to our Liberal MPP against the HST. It's still in the Google cache:

St. Paul's has a lot of lawyers. The HST may be more unpopular than some expect. 

Prior to the last redistribution, the stuff going SE from Dufferin and Eglinton down to around Oakwood & Vaughan or so belonged to Eglinton-Lawrence.  It's south of that that belonged (and in large part still belongs to) Davenport...)

Interesting.  Wonder who it is?

Ont. Liberals lay ground for Toronto byelection with upcoming nomination meeting

(CP) - 26 minutes ago

TORONTO - Ontario Liberals will be gathering to choose their candidate in the race to fill the Toronto seat vacated by Michael Bryant, the former economic development minister who stepped down in May.

Premier Dalton McGuinty has yet to call a byelection for the riding, but party members will get the process rolling with a nomination meeting Wednesday.

They will pick one of three candidates: Eric Hoskins, a family doctor and the founder of War Child Canada, lawyer Charles Finlay and Judith Moses, a former senior assistant deputy minister of agriculture who has also served in several other ministries.

The New Democrats will nominate their own candidate Sept. 9, and two contenders have already presented themselves.

They are Julian Heller, a trial lawyer who ran as the NDP candidate in St. Paul's in both the 2003 and 2007 provincial elections, as well as the former leader of B.C.'s Green party, Stuart Parker.

No candidates have yet been named for the Progressive Conservatives.

The Green party is putting forth three contenders - realtor Chris Chopik, businessman Trifon Haitas and Raj Rama, a social and business entrepreneur - and will also be choosing their candidate Wednesday.

Congrats Stuart!!! Go Stuart GO!!!

This may be an issue in the by=election:

McGuinty had hand in hiring former eHealth CEO

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty addresses the media at Queen's Park in Toronto as Alan Hudson resigned as chairman of eHealth Ontario amid controversy. Kevin Van Paassen/The Globe and Mail

Ontario Premier directly intervened in hiring of former exec Sarah Kramer, as requested by chairman Alan Hud

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mcguinty-had-hand-in-hiring-former-ehealth-ceo/article1248569/

But your emphasis now has to be the nomination contest and it should be a good one, as ACTING secretary  Young says. I assume the deadlinr has passed for new member to be eligible to vote, you have a  list of potentially eligible members ( status 1"s, 2's and 3's?) , and will work those members  hard and smar and cool.t. Assume nothing personal in running agaisnt Julian Heller, i'tz just the time and place for you. The Red Green card is heavily in play and you need to make ti an advantage rather than a disadvantage. -"time to reciaim the envrionemnt vote from the Greens that is rightfully ours?. Hows' your endorsement list-  ties with steel, community, environmental,  And you sure as hell better be running to win. 

GO STUART GO!!!"

Ha!  I don't live in St. Paul's.  But if I did, I'd probably join the party to vote for Stuart.  He's a pretty stand-up guy.  I worked with him during the MMP referendum, and he's an excellent worker, and really, really dedicated and progressive.

Note to Stuart - Change the damn picture!

  I am sure that is a fine rear end you have- although the pants are a bit baggy to tell- but you need a picture that shows you as a nice, caring person.  Not your backend.  With things heating up members and the public will be starting to google you.

Stuart Parker, son of Valerie Jerome, nephew of the late Harry Jerome.

Thanks, bekayne and Polunatic2.  Looks like I made a bit of a blooper.  My apologies, Stuart. :)

Looks good and very professional.

You know it wouldn't be all bad if Sue-Anne Levy were elected in the byelection as a Tory. First of all it would get rid of the the most vicious union-bashing, Miller-hating columnists in Toronto. Second of all, having someone openly lesbian in the largely rural and rightwing Tory caucus can't hurt. What's not to like?

My answer: Sid Ryan is a man of great principle and courage and ought to be commended for his human rights advocacy for Palestinians.  There aren't too many NDP votes to be lost (or gained) in Forest Hill and Cedarvale anyways...

The NDP ought to focus on the more working-class parts of the riding like the Vaughan Rd. area whose voters have been neglected for too long.

Levy may be a riding resident; but somehow, her "Sun-ness" seems a little off-kilter in St Pauls.  She'd practically be better off in a seat like Beaches-East York, were it not effectively a Tory write-off these days...

reconsidered

Levy will be an interesting candidate. the numbers federally and provincially are huge for the libs. but what i have not been able to figure out is if the riding is a liberal riding. or is the riding won by the candidate. ie is it liberal or is it a bryant and bennett riding.

levy will test that premis. if a majority of libs in the riding are or were bryant people then the riding is open for the taking. but if they are party people then it will be a red landslide

on the plane earlier this week i was sitting with the former press secretary to a pm and he told me that b4 levy was in the race it was a lib landslide. now he thinks that it could be similar to 1994 when hodgeson won that byelection that started the harris revolt and revulsion.

Remind the real question is are Ontarians ready to be lied to again by dalton and reward him with another seat. by elections can be used as a revolt against the majority party. are the people of st. pauls 1.motivated to vote, 2 if they vote where does it go. ie party brand or was it personal. 3 are the libs motivated to vote or do they stay home?

Not so sure--and if so, who's to say that Levy will be the prime beneficiary.  Something about her just seems too coarse for the seat in question--if any queer female Tory standardbearer stood a chance in St. Paul's, it'd have to be along the lines of Nancy Ruth, not SAL...

Interesting; and he's the only one with legislative experience (MPP, Scarborough East, 1990-1995)

The NDP appears to have an impressive set of prospective candidates.

Long thread - I'll close this and people can feel free to start a continuation thread.