In case you were wondering, I do live in the riding of my current favourite blog punching bag, Sarmite “Sam” Bulte: Parkdale-High Park. Although I moved into the neighbourhood only recently, the riding has been my place of work for the past couple of years (Tucows is at its easternmost edge).
It’s also my old stomping grounds. When we first moved to Canada back in 1975, we lived at the corner of Glenlake and Pacific Avenues, practically falling distance from the apartment that Wendy and I now share. The first school I ever went to in Canada, Keele Street Public School, is still there, as are many of the little parks and tuck shops scattered throughout the neighbourhood surrounding High Park station.
As a technologist, card-carrying member of the EFF, amateur musician and music lover, Bulte’s cozying up to the copyright mafia really gets up my nose. She’s in the pocket of a handful of companies who’d like nothing better than to hamstring technology because it harms their pre-digital-age business models. Can you imagine what it would be like if the ice harvesters of the early 20th century were able to lobby the government to restrain the icebox and refrigerator manufacturers?
Here are the last election’s numbers, courtesy of the Parkdale-High Park entry in Wikipedia:
| Canadian federal election, 2004 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | |||
| Liberal | Sarmite “Sam” Bulte | 19,727 | |||
| New Democrat | Peggy Nash | 16,201 | |||
| Conservative | Jurij Klufas | 7,221 | |||
| Green | Neil Spiegel | 3,249 | |||
| Marijuana | Terry Parker | 384 | |||
| Marxist-Leninist | Lorne Gershuny | 130 | |||
Less than 8% of the vote separated the NDP from the Liberals in the last election, while the Conservatives trailed them by 27%. It would also seem that 384 of the people in our riding are seriously baked, maaaaaaan.
Between the Bulte brouhaha and AdScam, crazed promises and idiots in their ranks, I have decided to vote for the candidate who has the best chance of ousting the Liberals in my riding. I’m holding my nose and voting NDP. Peggy Nash, I’m voting for you on the 23rd.
For those of you in the Parkdale-High Park riding, the Bloor West Residents’ Association has organized an all-candidates meeting at Runnymede United Church (432 Runnymede Road) tonight at 7:30 p.m.. I’ll probably drop by, take notes, pictures and video. Say “hi” if you see me.