How many elections will we see?

How many elections will we see in the area this year?
The province of Ontario through legislation has formally chose Thursday, October 6 for the provincial election date.
Currently the Liberal party holds 71 of the 107 seats in Ontario. Howard Hampton will again carry the New Democrat colours for the Rainy River Kenora riding, which he has held since 1987. His 24 years of service make Howard one of the senior legislators in the province and his commitment to the citizens of the district and Ontario remains unflinching.
However, on the national scene, the Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty, is now saying that there is a 50-50 chance of an election this spring. At Christmas John Rafferty our sitting MP was telling everyone that that there was no chance of an election this year.
I learned from a reputable third party that the Conservatives in the House of Commons have been told to have everything ready to go to the polls after the budget is brought down in the House of Commons.
If that is the case, Rafferty who continues to hold town hall meetings is in good shape campaigning across his riding. Ken Boshcoff who lost the seat to Rafferty in the last election remains the Liberal candidate and will have to make up his mind about staying in municipal politics or again going after the brass ring.
The conservatives have nominated Maureen Comuzzi-Stehmann. She brings a well known political name back into politics. She is the niece of Joe Comuzzi who since 1988 held a seat in Thunder Bay both as a Liberal and more recently as a Conservative.
Last week the Conservatives unleashed a torrent of political advertising on the major networks across Canada. The savvy New Democrats and Liberals opted to unleash their attack ads on Facebook and twitter. From the rhetoric of the political party leaders, one might already say the election process has started.
And political pundits are already announcing the date of the next election as March 29.
It will be interesting to see what the excuse will that will send Canadians from coast to coast to the polls. Will it be a corporate tax decrease? Will it be the continuing higher rates of unemployment? Will it be the increasing costs of health care and education?
Will unfunded corporate pensions be the issue to ignite voters. Will green energy again be an issue? Will the F-35 jet purchase become an issue?
All of these have been tested against focus groups and trial balloons have been lofted to see if they can catch an updraft.
There remains lots of potential for reasons to go to the polls, but in the end will the House of Commons look any different than it looks today. I suspect not. Maybe in the next few days we should all tell our MP’s to dial back the rhetoric and get to work.

–Jim Cumming,
Publisher