PICKERING -- SCARBOROUGH EAST RIDING

Pickering meeting changed due to election

Well, I now have two long evenings to look forward to on the week of election night, but at least I won't have to be in two places at once.

The Pickering Executive Committee meeting scheduled for election night, Tuesday, Oct. 14, will be changed to Wednesday, Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m. A call into the clerk's division after Ajax Council changed its meeting first told me Pickering's meeting wouldn't be rescheduled. This raised some eyebrows since Rogers will probably be covering the election that night, not airing the committee meeting, and I'll have to go campaign-office hopping. Attending the meeting would have been impossible. Also, although the City of Pickering has some faithful residents that like to attend these meetings, something tells me their eyes may be glued to the TV for the Pickering-Scarborough East and the Ajax-Pickering races on election night.

But once the Mayor and council got wind of the possible problems, they were quick to find an alternate date. So, way to go Pickering. Good decision.

Anyone see the debate?

Some of you must have watched the debate on Rogers Wednesday night. What did you think? Since I don't live in the area, I had someone tape it and will watch it either tonight or this weekend in order to see what I'll be getting myself into for the debate I'll cover next Wednesday.

I've heard rumblings about clear winners and well, clear losers, and am quite interested in what voters think.

Come on, don't be shy...send me your comments! I don't mind a few spoilers.

A whistle stop in the west end of the riding

I think Green Party leader, Elizabeth May's, cross-Canada whistle-blow stop train trip is pretty cool. It's different, fun, and coincides with the Green Party's green ideas. She's advocating the use of Canada's rail system as  she's riding a Via Rail train, which produces much lower emissions than the planes other leaders are using to get their messages out.

And she'll be stopping at Guildwood Station (4105 Kingston Rd.) in Scarborough Friday morning at 7:17 a.m. It's unfortunate it won't be in Pickering, but if May stopped in every municipality, it would no doubt take her the duration of the campaign.

May's trip began on Sunday, Sept. 21 in Vancouver and will end in Halifax on Saturday, Sept. 27. For more information on the tour, visit www.greentrain.ca.

McTeague online meeting changed - and it won't affect Survivor

Turns out those interested in the online Dan McTeague Town Hall meeting won't have to choose between Survivor and the Liberal candidate after all. It's been changed to Friday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m.

His campaign office actually informed me of this, so it's nice to know somebody's reading my blog closely. Thanks Team McTeague!

The debates are set

There are three upcoming debates that will hopefully help undecided voters choose who's name they'll mark the much-desired "X" next to.

First is the debate on Rogers Television, which will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 24 from 7:30 to 10 p.m. While Rogers is in no way, shape, or form affiliated with Metroland, I chose to include it in the list because I think people should hear as much as possible from their candidates before marking down that "X."

Next is the debate at the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade on Oct. 1. Registration begins at 11:30 a.m. and the debate starts at noon. Unlike simply tuning into Channel 10, it does come with a price tag: $30 for members and $40 for non-members. But hey, that includes lunch and a chance to actually ask questions. It'll take place at the Annandale Golf and Curling Club in Ajax (221 Church St. S). People planning to attend must pre-register by Friday at 5 p.m. so the proper amount of food can be ordered. Call 905-686-0883. If you can't make it, make sure to read my coverage on www.newsdurhamregion.com.

The best kind of debate, where it's free and students get the chance to ask their candidates about hot issues, is being held at Dunbarton High School in Pickering (655 Sheppard Ave. in Pickering) on Thursday, Oct. 2 from 10:15 to 11:30 a.m. Displays are set up starting at 9:30 a.m. and it's open to the public.

Survivor or Town Hall meeting?

Liberal candidate Dan McTeague will be holding an online town hall meeting on Thursday, Oct. 2 at 8 p.m.   

"Dan will be answering ALL submitted questions!" the website proclaims.

So, how about we see him do it? Residents with questions for the candidate can either ask the questions live or send them in advance through a few different methods, including McTeague's YouTube channel. Go to www.votemcteague.ca for details.

You have to become a member of the site in order to participate, but at least it's free. And while not all people have the luxury of affording the Internet at home, and some may have trouble pulling away from Survivor, which is on at the same time, it should surely draw more people than his previous town hall meetings at City Hall where people can't be bothered to come out. I think there were about 10, definitely no more than 15, at the latest one he held, and he was pleased with the turnout.

At least it will only take the click of a mouse to get out of the meeting if it's boring, as opposed to waiting for the perfect time to awkwardly duck out of an in-person meeting.

Slurs getting to be a tad too much

When I put "Conservatives Drunk First Nations " into my google search engine, an article about the Conservatives' second slur in two days popped up right away. That should not be the case.

It's pretty sad that people representing the current governing party of Canada think this way. The Listeria comments by Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz were bad enough when he used a pun (which some could call funny), but to actually wish the the latest listeria death was that of his Liberal critic, Wayne Easter, was ridiculous and mean.

As bad as that was, at least it was only personal. But the comments from one of Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon's aides were unbelievable, and insulted an entire community. When First Nations protesters from the Barriere Lake community came to let their concerns known when Cannon opened his campaign office in Maniwaki, Que., Darlene Lannigan had the nerve to say: "If you behave, and you're sober, and there's no problems, and if you don't do a sit-down and whatever, I don't care. One of them showed up the other day and was drinking."

I've interviewed some people with the smell of alcohol on their breaths. I don't go around telling people about it...just perhaps call them back when they're less inebriated.

And the "sit-down or whatever" part: what a great way to respect the country's First Nations.

Are there job listings for "apologizers"? Pretty soon Mr. Harper might have to look into that.

Really? Great guy = a vote?

Although I cover Pickering-Scarborough East, I'll actually be casting my vote in the Toronto-Danforth riding. So as I happened to pass my current MP and NDP candidate Jack Layton's campaign office the other day, I strode on in. And as I walked in, a young and chipper woman at the front said "Hello, are you a volunteer?"

I replied with, "No, I'm an undecided voter."

"Oh," she said with a grin. "Is there anything we can do to help you decide?"

This excited me a little as I'm honestly unsure of who I'll vote for. So I said, "OK then, please tell me why I should vote for Jack Layton."

You know what she said? "Because he's great."

"Really? Because he's great I should vote for him?" I said. "Yes," was her reply.

"OK, well I'm just going to help myself to some literature and decide for myself then," I said, grabbed some pamphlets and headed out the door.

And she cheerfully said goodbye as I left. At least she's happy about her decision. But unfortunately, that didn't help my decision by one iota.

I've volunteered on a campaign before I started my reporting job (those days for me are of course over) and one fundamental rule I was told right away is that every single vote counts. When people walked into that office we were told to try our hardest to turn every person over to our side. But never were we told to tell voters to choose our candidate because he was great!

While my neighbourhood is safe, relatively clean, small-business-driven and hosts one of Toronto's biggest festivals each year, Taste of the Danforth, and I honestly think Jack Layton has done a relatively good job, I honestly was counting on some strong arguments why I should want to vote orange. Just as I'd expect the same from the others and I will no doubt do the same little experiment at their offices.

Instead, I feel like my little venture in was fruitless and I'm glad I didn't go out of my way to ask that question. But the kicker is, for all that woman knew, I did go solely for that reason!

While I find this experience more funny than anything, others could take the same situation with a little less humour and more annoyance. They could also see it as a poor representation of who actually is voting for the NDP leader, especially if they can't justify why. So a tip to campaign managers: let your volunteers know why citizens should vote for your candidates; if not, they could be throwing away a vote.

Familiar face running for NDP

Being defeated in the 2007 provincial election by Liberal MPP Wayne Arthurs hasn't stopped Andrea Moffat from running for the NDP party federally this time around. The Pickering resident just announced she'll be running against Dan McTeague for the Liberals, George Khouri for the Conservatives and Jason Becevello for the Greens. She has lived in both Pickering and Scarborough; she moved east of the Toronto-Pickering border when she was 17.

Moffat's no stranger to campaining: She was the student council vice president at the University of Toronto Scarborough and has campaigned for the NDP party from the time she was little. She was also the co-ordinator for the university's women's centre, the cultural commissioner and a member of an accessibility services task force.

Conservative headquarters officially open tonight

Conservative candidate George Khouri has set up house, and it's on the 905 side of the Pickering-Scarborough East riding.

Mr. Khouri is officially opening his campaign office tonight, Friday Sept. 12, at 6 p.m. at 1101 Kingston Rd. in Pickering, which is just east of Dixie Road and right next to the new Home Depot.