First was Paris and now it’s Singapore.
Toronto resident Summer McIntosh has won her second goal in swimming, working her way to a goal of five gold medals.
The eighteen-year-old student was a joy to watch during the Olympics and the pressure to achieve greatness at this meet must be a heavy burden. But, with focus, a sunny disposition, and aquatics fans across the country in her corner, Summer has a great shot.
Along with 27 Canadian swimmers (14 men and 13 women) Canada can be proud of its young people, excelling in sport.
Best wishes and high hopes for Team Canada.
Ballot battle
Turmoil is on the horizon for voters in Battle River – Crowfoot Alberta.
On Aug. 18, voters in this riding will decide between more than 200 candidates, one of which who will fill the vacancy left when former Conservative MP Damien Kurek resigned. The strategy of that resignation was to permit Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre a chance to regain a seat, after his unexpected loss in the Ottawa-Carleton, a riding he previously held for decades.
That loss was another occasion where a long ballot tactic was deployed. With that technique, ridings are flooded with dozens of candidates. In addition to confusion, it makes it more onerous for voters to select a candidate. Having some knowledge of the printing business, we can only imagine the cost of producing a long form. Such is the times, where ‘rights’ trample common sense — and let’s face it, cost the taxpayer an unnecessary price.
The Alberta riding returned MP Damien Kurek with an incredible plurality. At 82.8% of the vote, he handily won the election on April 28. In a sense, it is one of the safest seats in the country for a Conservative.
His hasty departure making room for Poilievre has a vocal group in the riding quite annoyed. People feel used, and that is understandable considering the last federal election was a mere 12 weeks ago. Estimates peg the cost of the by-election at over $1.6 million. But, as seems to be a theme in this column recently, money is no object, seemingly without value.
The Longest Ballot Committee, whose chief aim seems to be election reform, provides a dose of irony as this latest election unfolds. New rules are being used to get away from the ridiculous ballot voters would ordinarily be expected to fill out.
Instead, voters will write in the name of the candidate they choose. One could argue that a voter would need to be very educated with their vote prior to rolling up to the voting tables. That could be a good thing, but it is within the rules that spelling does not need to be correct.
Along with the candidate’s name, electors can also write the name of the candidate’s political party.
But if the elector writes only the party’s name, their ballot cannot be counted—it must have the name of the elector’s preferred candidate.
The notion that an elector’s intention is good enough for poll clerks to add to a candidate’s tally, does not exactly instill confidence.
It strikes us that the process should be more precise.
In fact, as we write this, the question arises, after the fiasco in Ottawa-Carleton, should Elections Canada been more on top of this strategy to shake up an election?
Time will tell come August, and what follows in the weeks thereafter. Electoral reform, a much promised item when Trudeau first ran for office, has been relatively muted since. The Long Form Committee has brought it the fore again and most certainly they are committed to change.
There’s something in life about shying away from activities that are just too complicated. Hopefully these theatrics don’t encourage the opposite of their aims and people still get out to vote.
As poll clerks and scrutineers sort through hand-written ballots, their comments after the fact should prove interesting. Results could take longer, particularly if scrutineers decide to question the intention of a voter.
Quite an exercise lies ahead.
