24 Responses for "PARKDALE-HIGH PARK"

1. Steve Parker September 14th, 2008 at 4:13 pm 1

   If it wasn’t for Mr. Kennedy the Liberals would have a competent leader and there would be absolutely no threat for a Conservative government. Peggy Nash has been an amazing advocate for people in this riding so I don’t see why one would want to jeapordize that for a political opportunist like Kennedy.

2. Bill Stewart September 16th, 2008 at 1:22 pm 2

   This was never going to be a cakewalk for either candidate. The sagging political fortunes of the Liberal Party, owing as they do, much to Gerard Kennedy (Dion and a squabbling caucus is the overwhelming reason for the drop in Liberal support), will actually make it extremely difficult for him to win this riding.

   Head to head, Kennedy is outmatched by Peggy Nash. She is the incumbent. She has federal experience. CPAC crowned her the hardest working new MP in all of parliament. Nash is extremely well liked and admired in the community. For her dedicated service to the riding Nash deserves to be rewarded, not punished.

   Kennedy hopes to exploit the fear mongering put to “progressives” that we should vote Liberal to prevent a Harper victory. Except that, this argument has no validity. Through their complicity with the Harper government, the Liberals enabled the Harper Conservatives to effectively govern as a majority government. They allowed Harper to dictate the agenda and when the inevitable election would take place, and now are paying the price.

   A strategically disastrous choice of leader, infighting, squabbling, a caucus in disarray not only have been the main reasons that Harper’s Conservatives seem largely unopposed on their way to forming the next government, but also, it is blatant hypocrisy to ask progressives to reward this behaviour with a vote for the Liberals. Progressives who oppose Harper, will find their best representative and toughest ally in Peggy Nash and the NDP.

   Nash by 3000 votes.

3. Thomas September 16th, 2008 at 5:16 pm 3

   I’m not a fan of the Conservatives, but I hope the Liberals are annilhilated on October 14. In their current divided state, they are in no condition to lead the country or even to have the role of Official Opposition. During Steven Harper’s leadership, the Liberals, under the ‘leadership’ of Stéphane Dion, have helped the Conservative Prime Minister to pass every bill he tried to. Every time Harper dared the opposition to defeat him, the Liberals either voted with the government or abstained by walking out. They would have continued playing these games for another year if Harper had not mercifully put them out of their misery by calling this election. Dion helped Harper to implement his agenda without firing a shot. The Liberals were completely useless as the Official Opposition.

   The Liberal Party is tired and needs some time off to recover from a few things such as the civil war between Chrétien and Martin, the Sponsorship Scandal, and of course, the leadership battle between Dion, Bob Rae, Michael Ignatieff, and Gerard Kennedy. Kennedy is perhaps too intelligent for his own good. The strategy he employed during that battle did help him achieve his goal of preventing either Rae or Ignatieff from becoming Liberal leader, and force the two parachuted-in saviours to endure the humiliation of spending time in opposition; but by using his power to crown Dion instead of one of the heavyweights, Kennedy may have inflicted lasting damage on his party – and prevented himself from ever becoming its leader.

   I’m afraid that Kennedy appears to many people to be the cause of the Liberal Party’s current malaise. If only the Liberals had a strong, effective leader… but Kennedy’s machinations during the leadership battle have left a hapless Dion struggling to get his message out while all people are interested in is who will be the first to stab him in the back when he loses the upcoming election, Rae or Ignatieff. Then, how will they go about killing each other and taking control of the Party? Where does Kennedy come in in this scenario which will be played out in the very near future? He’s probably hoping for an important cabinet post. But the Liberals would have to win for that to happen, and the post-Dion leader must not have a burning desire to get his revenge on Kennedy.

   The Liberals cannot hope to run the country when their leaders are pointing guns at each other in a Mexican Standoff.

   This Dion has no strategy, no goals, no skills, and no hope. I’m sure he’s a nice man, but politics is a blood sport. He’s going to find this out soon enough…

   Give them some time to kill each other off backstage, out of everyone’s view. Then their new leader, whoever it is; maybe even Kennedy himself; will need a few years to rebuild the Liberals into a strong party, which they used to be, but certainly are not, now.

   In the meantime, I would like to see an effective Official Opposition in Ottawa. The logical candidate to fill that role is Jack Layton. His party, while maybe a bit too socialist for most Canadians, offers a real alternative to the Conservatives. The NDP is significantly farther left on the spectrum than the Liberals, who are really not that far away from the Conservatives.. because the slippery bastards keep sliding along the scale to grab votes.

   Unfortunately, my realist senses tell me that even if the Liberals were led by a deaf-mute, or an incarcerated criminal, or perhaps a donkey, they would still win at least 60 seats. Enough Canadians seem to like them to keep voting for them, no matter what they do or what condition they are in.

   The same goes for the NDP. No matter what they do or say, they will never convince Canadians to even let them be the Official Opposition, much less form a goverment. Even if the alternatives are not so good, like they are now. It’s sad. Layton works so hard…

   The next time you look at the United States and wonder, why do those people keep supporting those crazy Republicans, over and over; why do they keep doing that to themselves? Look in the mirror. The Liberals are Canada’s Republicans.

4. Adam Sobolak September 17th, 2008 at 4:15 pm 4

   If you’re to make a results projection here, my feeling is that you ought to ramp down the projected Tory share a little, in light of the epic Liberal/NDP race going. Even though the candidate (who ran for PC here in 1997) is less of an obvious nominal throwaway than Loftus Cuddy was vs Jack’n'Dennis in Toronto-Danforth in 2004.

   Judging from signage, we might even see the Greens in third. Maybe.

5. King of Kensington September 18th, 2008 at 6:08 pm 5

   Peggy Nash should hold on here. She is one of the strongest members of the NDP caucus. Gerard Kennedy disappeared after being the kingmaker at the Liberal convention – his greatest claim to fame is sticking the Liberals with Dion. He did win the riding by wide margins – but that the last time he was on the ballot was in 2003 and this was largely due to a moribund NDP in Parkdale-High Park (which has been revitalized by Nash and Cheri DiNovo provincially). Furthermore, the Liberals under Dion are a sinking ship, which undercuts the credibility of promises of Kennedy being headed for Cabinet.

6. Parkman September 21st, 2008 at 1:47 pm 6

   Kennedy is shouldering the blame for Stephane Dion, though I believe it is a bit unfair. I don’t think that anyone predicted just how ineffectual and weak a leader that Dion would become prior to the Liberal leadership, least of all Kennedy. Remember what the alternatives were at the time: Bob Rae, still vilified by Ontarians and unlikely to have done well in Ontario in any election, and Ignatieff, a candidate who was putting his foot in his mouth every other day during the leadership campaign. Many saw Dion as a hope at the time, but the blame for Dion being soooo bad must rest solely with Dion.

   Kennedy has been a hard worker and is at least as dedicated to this community as Peggy Nash. There are really just two sad things about this battle in P-HP: Kennedy is a member of the wrong party (he is really better suited to be a member of the NDP) and one of the two, Nash and Kennedy has to lose when both would be very effective in Ottawa. Too bad that Kennedy couldn’t have run elsewhere.

7. Bill Stewart September 21st, 2008 at 7:48 pm 7

   Parkman,
   It’s obvious that Kennedy’s sole concern when throwing his support behind Dion was the future of Gerard Kennedy. Far from his mind was positioning the Liberal Party to defeat Harper down the road. Either there’s such a sense of entitlement with Liberals that they feel they can make strategically weak decisions and still win votes or Kennedy is not very competent.

   Everyone knew that Harper would be looking at Quebec and Ontario for increased support (which he now has btw). Choosing a leader who is despised in Quebec and can’t connect with Ontarians was disastrous. Period. If Rae were leader, the election would have already come and gone, and the Liberals would have challenged the Conservatives. Rae may not have any credibility as an NDPer, but he did exceptionally well in his by-election. Also, if Kennedy was at all concerned with defeating Harper, he would have used his star power to take out a Conservative incumbent.

8. The Carlton Kid September 22nd, 2008 at 7:21 pm 8

   Peggy Nash (NDP) is very well-respected in the communities in her riding, works tirelessly hard for her constituents, and is visible as an almost grass-roots activist around the neighborhood all year ’round – almost unheard of nowadays in the world of Federal politics.

   Gerrard Kennedy (LIB) is very articulate, knowledgeable about many issues, is a master of optimizing media exposure, and still has a fairly high profile in the riding. Gerrard Kenny was known as a high-profile advocate for poverty issues, during his tenure as the Executive Director of the Daily Break Food Bank.

   However, the people of Parkdale-High Park know the meaning of “talking a good game” versus doing – in this respect the old adage rings true for Peggy Nash: action speaks louder than words.

   Some would argue that Mr. Kennedy knows about poverty issues. Perhaps…but then … sitting in a cushy $80,000 a year job isn’t exactly “working with the poor” as he would like the media to portray it.

   Peggy Nash, along with her Provincial MPP, Cheri DiNovo, has been implementing bills & introducing policy to actually help poor people – gee, what a refreshing concept.

   And where has Gerrard been all this time? Asking around the neighborhood nobody really seemed to know.

   Several recent couple trips around the riding reveals a picket-fence landscape of orange NDP signs…and more and more Nash signs seem to spring up every day – looks like the voters in Parkdale-High Park know who’s there to help them too …

   … Nash wins with a good margin, 5,000 votes +.

   The Carlton Kid

9. Patrick September 23rd, 2008 at 7:09 am 9

   I was Gerard’s biggest supporter until he backed Dion at the convention. I said it then and I will say it again, Dion is a lightweight who has no business running the Liberals and he is in this position because of Kennedy.

   Nash gets my vote, and wins a squeaker by about 1000 votes.

10. Stephanie September 23rd, 2008 at 1:52 pm 10

    I think she’s going to win by a landslide. 2-1

11. Joanna Zuk September 24th, 2008 at 10:03 am 11

    I’m behind Nash all the way. I volunteered for the Kennedy provincial campaign back in 2003, but wouldn’t back him today.

    I agree with the person who said it’s a shame he’s not running somewhere else. Go try to unseat a conservative north of Toronto or something. But don’t run against Nash, she has been fabulous and will continue to represent our riding when she’s elected (rather than leaving the constituents to run for leadership, like Kennedy).

    I do see lots of red signs in pockets of the riding. My prediction: Nash, but closer than we’d like.

12. Scott D September 26th, 2008 at 10:27 am 12

    Saw Dion and Kennedy on CBC today in the riding and even the reporter remarked on what a low turnout there was in fortress Toronto for them. Not a good sign.

    I have heard from two different Kennedy workers that there is a feeling that he will not win and that the issue of Kennedy being the kingmaker for Dion is something they are hearing at doors when canvassing.

    Despite being a well liked and hard working MP I think that Kennedy’s political career may be over.

13. Parkman September 27th, 2008 at 6:21 pm 13

    I hope that Kennedy goes back into provincial politics (in a different riding of course). I am a teacher and his tenure as Minister of Education a few years back was excellent and just what education in this province needed after the Harris years. If this is the end of him federally, I hope to see him again where he did his best work – at Queen’s Park. I just hope that he has the sense not to run against Cheri DiNovo.

14. Beatriz Perez-Sanchez September 28th, 2008 at 6:24 pm 14

    Peggy Nash will win this time more easily than many people think. Like some other Liberals (e.g. Michael Ignatieff) , Gerrard Kennedy’s arrogant sense of entitlement to be elected has already alienated many of the riding’s voters. He and the rest of the Liberal Party of Canada are in for a rude awakening on election night.

15. Adrena Lynn September 29th, 2008 at 3:52 pm 15

    If Gerard loses here, I guess he could either wait for a York South-Weston by election down the road, or return to provincial politics to run for OLP Leader if Dalton retires to run for the FEDERAL leadership.

    I think I’m daydreaming again.

16. Ken Stevens October 1st, 2008 at 8:24 am 16

    Observations from the all candidates meeting last night:

    I went into the meeting planning to vote for Peggy Nash but prepared to change my vote to Gerrard Kennedy.

    What was up with the moderator? He was friendly and fair to all the candidates with a very notable exception–he was downright rude to Gerrard Kennedy. Perhaps he took offense to Gerrard making his opening statement in front of the table, but that is no reason to be disrespectful to him all evening. When the PC candidate went overtime, the moderator gently asked her to “wrap it up please” and gave her 15 seconds. The second Gerrard went over time, he barked “Sit down Gerrard!” or “Put down the mic Gerrard!” Also, there were a number of occasions where a question or answer contained an implied attack against the Liberals. Without exception, the moderator gave the mic to the PC candidate when Gerrard was clearly the one who needed to rebut. I’m all for giving all the candidates their fair turn at the mic, but this moderator displayed an unprofessional bias against Gerrard Kennedy.

    That being said, I have to say that I was appalled by Gerrard’s performance. Gerrard’s displayed outrage at the moderator’s rudeness towards him and it was not becoming of a candidate seeking election. He made faces, waved his arms and otherwise dramatically demonstrated his frustration that he wasn’t given the mic when he should have been. The moderator fed this frustration by treating him like a misbehaving child. While this made the moderator look bad, it made Gerrard look even worse. It was as though Gerrard was saying “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM???” “I WAS THE EDUCATION MINISTER FOR GOD’S SAKE!” He came across as a spoiled prince who did not need to earn his throne. If I didn’t know better, I’d say the moderator was an NDP plant who took a can-opener to Gerrard’s Achilles Heel.

    Peggy, on the other hand, was fully composed the whole evening and connected very well with the crowd. Where Gerrard came across as a stump grandstander, she was a voice of calm and sense. Where Gerrard came across as defensive, Peggy was rock solid.

    So I was not persuaded to change my vote, mostly due to the personal character on display.

    Lastly I have to mention the Christian Heritage candidate who stole the show. His self-deprecating wit had the crowd in stitches and was in stark contrast to Gerrard’s panic.

    The Green candidate impressed. The PC candidate was pathetic.

    Ken

17. King of Kensington October 1st, 2008 at 3:46 pm 17

    I was in Parkdale-High Park last weekend. In the eastern half of the riding which voted heavily for Peggy Nash last time, in terms of signage it was a sea of orange. In the western half, where the Liberals do better, Nash and Kennedy were running about even. This suggests that there really aren’t many of these alleged “Kennedy New Democrats” that the Liberals need to take this riding.

    Keep in mind that P-HP had the second-lowest Liberal vote in the 416 last time and in the current situation, we should expect to see a DiNovo vs. Watson type-result if there was a generic Liberal running. Kennedy will get some personal votes, but he will probably need to be about 4000 “Kennedy New Democrats” on election day.

18. RL October 10th, 2008 at 1:30 pm 18

    http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/International-Fund-For-Animal-Welfare-908811.html

    I don’t know what to make of the seal hunt thing, but it’s looking like this election’s result will closely mirror that of DiNovo vs. Watson: Redux in 2007. Nash’s lead exceeds the margin of error and the undecideds will likely go to her and Kennedy in equal numbers.

19. King of Kensington October 10th, 2008 at 5:41 pm 19

    An Environics poll has Nash leading Kennedy 46%-35% – where have all these “Kennedy New Democrats”? It appears Kennedy is able to stop the Liberals from dropping further, but he isn’t helping them move up either. Time to call this for the NDP.

20. Derek Lipman October 12th, 2008 at 9:12 pm 20

    In defense of Gerard Kennedy,

    So Bill, you assert that Dion is a “disastrous” leader. Where are you getting your talking points, CPC attack ads? Overall, Dion has done his best and Gerard made the right choice. Firstly, you forget that Ignatieff was offering a bellicose foreign policy and “empire lite” stances on a variety of issues that were anathema to a great many “progressives” in the Liberal Party. While it is easy to pick apart Gerard’s judgement in hindsight, his move to Dion was a wildly popular choice at the time.

    Secondly, he gets things done. Nash does not have a monopoly on this attribute. As Education Minister in Ontario, Kennedy ushered in 4 years of zero work stoppages and child days lost to labour disputes.

    Overall, this is probably one of the toughest ridings to vote in, and I am glad I don’t have to choose between two extraordinary candidates.

21. Bill Stewart October 13th, 2008 at 7:38 am 21

    Derek, I usually try to pick my words carefully and as a “progressive” still believe “disastrous” was the appropriate word from a strategic and progressive point of view. Doing nothing to impede Harper’s return to government is disastrous and the LPC should not be rewarded for its incompetence.

    Notwithstanding the real possibility that Kennedy was acting selfishly, Dion was a terrible strategic choice. In a political landscape that has sadly increasingly turned on branding, well funded war rooms, negative attacks Dion was the worst of the choices to seriously challenge Harper. Why? (aside from comments I’ve made above)
    Conservatives strengths centre around Harper and his leadership, so it would be reasonable to assume that leadership would play a central role in a future election. That combined with Conservatives’ penchant for going negative (something we’ve seen the Liberals also are never reluctant), made Dion easy prey. Dion is meek, awkward, detached and “professorial”.

    Next, by choosing Dion, not only would the old Chretien/Martin acrimony not be resolved, it would found new acrimony. The disarray that followed Dion’s becoming leader was entirely predictable. Squabbling, infighting, depleted war chest, abdicating responsibility as Official Opposition, weak policies. Every step of the way it seemed the last thing on the mind of the LPC was the greater good of the country (i.e. preparing best to defeat Harper). The LPC certainly has not had the “progressive” voter in mind. If it did, the LPC would run on fixing an drastically unfair electoral system through some kind of proportional representation. The other “progressive” parties (NDP, GPC) made electoral reform a major plank of their platform.

22. Mary Jo Leddy October 17th, 2008 at 4:35 am 22

    I usually turn to Democratic Space for an accurate read. How could you have been so wrong about Parkdale HIgh Park?
    A question that should make us reflect more deeply on election analysis. For example:
    Much was made of the signs but many liberals did not take signs because they were afraid of having their houses defaced.
    Do any polls register those with cell phones?
    Mary Jo Leddy

23. Mary Jo Leddy October 17th, 2008 at 4:37 am 23

    I was the co-chair of the Gerard Kennedy campaign and a great admirer of peggy Nash.

24. King of Kensington October 24th, 2008 at 5:25 pm 24

    Well the poll was wrong…but I don’t have any explanation as to why voters with cellphones would be more pro-Liberal. (It’s also interesting to see how off Nanos was this time – I guess he just got lucky last time!)

    Kennedy made his point and won…I think he will have to prove himself though before he will be taken seriously as a leadership candidate.