2007 Ontario Election: Will Tory lose Don Valley West?

[ShonTron]

I'd say the only GTA ridings the Tories are likely to win are in the outer GTA. They'll win most of Durham up to (and possibly including) Ajax-Pickering. They have a small chance in Brampton West and Mississauga South, though in both cases I'd definitely bet on the Liberal. I'd say it's about 50/50 in Oak Ridges, and I'd give the edge to the Liberals in Richmond Hill at this point. Frank Klees lost that area last time, and the current Tory is no Frank Klees. As for him, I think he could be in trouble in Newmarket-Aurora. He's a pretty strong candidate, but I don't know...

You're missing Thornhill, which is one of the most likely ones to flip.

Yeah, the NDP has dropped quite a bit from the start of the election, a shame, because I like their platform the most of the big three / four. I won't be unhappy with another Liberal majority, but it would have been nice to see other issues, like cities, transit, post-secondary education, environment, gain more prominance than the religious schools nonsense.

 

[lordmandeep]

Thornhill
Oakville
Richmond Hill
Mississauga South
Brampton West
Oak Ridges—Markham


Those are the only Seats that are in question now...

York South Weston, Willowdale, Don Valley West, Bramalea Gore Malton will go liberal but will be close.

 

[Observer Walt]

I'd be sorry to see Hampton resign, and I am not an NDP supporter.

I saw Hampton on the news last night, quite upset (apparently genuinely) about the media coverage of this election. Far too much focus has been on John Tory's school funding policy, which will affect, what?, 5% of the population or less?

I blame Tory, for making such a strange sidebar issue into his major campaign plank. I also blame, even more, the lazy media, who don't seem to be emphasizing other issues, and Hampton was absolutely right to call them out.

 

[ShonTron]

I still think Don Valley West and York South-Weston will be very close and still up in the air, I'm expecting Tory to get a last minute bump in his own riding (but will it be enough?).

 

[lordmandeep]

really losing his riding or winning by a hair is till a major embarrassment for Tory.

York south Weston....
I was thinking because the race was close with only 10% voting that it would be a different story with 50% of the people voting. Also the minimum wage thing that drove this riding NDP is not really much of an issue anymore.

 

[RedRocket191]

really losing his riding or winning by a hair is till a major embarrassment for Tory.

John Tory is currently the member for Dufferin-Caledon, my home riding. Apparently, we're not good enough for him, so I hope he gets destroyed.

 

[King of Kensington]

You didn't think he was some sort of carpetbagger when he ran in the byelection after he became leader?

 

[adma]

The higher that Liberal vote goes the worse things look for the NDP. Also, because many Tories will now just stay home on voting day, the NDP will win fewer ridings "up the middle." Basically, they will be lucky to hold onto what they have.

Though I suspect all of their sitting members save Paul Ferreira are pretty well safe--and even Ferreira isn't as un-safe as he looks...

 

[Lone Primate]

John Tory is currently the member for Dufferin-Caledon, my home riding. Apparently, we're not good enough for him, so I hope he gets destroyed.

Well, I gather John Tory is actually from Don Valley West. I think you were his sacrificial lamb riding to get into the legislature.

"It's nothing personally, Sonny... it's strictly business."

 

[MajorComplainer]

That poor soul...LOL I almost felt sorry for those right-wingnut-religious-Conservative freaks. Oh well, pray more next time, you have 4 yrs to go

 

[Jdot]

I wonder how this defeat will effect his future political life. Tory has claimed that he will continue to serve the public in some manner, but will anyone want him? He worked on the failed Kim Campbell campaigne, he lost the Toronto mayoral race, and how he lost the Ontario Provincial election. Will anyone want him working on their political/public service team?

Me thinks he needs to shrink back into the private, corporate world where he has had more success.

 

[rpgr]

That poor soul...LOL I almost felt sorry for those right-wingnut-religious-Conservative freaks. Oh well, pray more next time, you have 4 yrs to go

I think it's a combination of "anti-right-wing religious freaks" as well as the knowledge that when a politician says $400 million it really means $40 Billion.

What the politicians fail to grasp is that people are not against being fair but they also are not stupid enough to think a system that is strapped as is couldn't use the money to more productive means than private religious schools.

Every dollar spent on any private education means a dollar you could have spent on public education.

Heck I went to a Catholic school growing up and while I did enjoy some of it, I acknowledge the fact that public schools are better for both inclusiveness and best dollar value.

Tory only saw the unfairness of it, not the more economical factor of it. I laugh at some of the Toronto Star articles from religious leaders saying that having segregated schools and having them visit each other fosters inclusiveness. That is bull. I remember the mosque that was built next to my school was regularly vandalized.

From a purely economical standpoint, having a single public school system (get rid of Catholic funding) provides the greatest bang for the buck and covers everyone.

 

[Admiral Beez]

That poor soul...LOL I almost felt sorry for those right-wingnut-religious-Conservative freaks. Oh well, pray more next time, you have 4 yrs to go

IMO, the Ontario PCs have never been moral/religious conservatives. Even during the height of the Harris PC regime, there were never any religious/moral conservative agendas or policies. Now, this faith based school thing of Tory's could maybe be seen as a religious policy, but I think it was more out of sense of fairness than out of any sense of religious conservatism.

IIRC, religious conservatives in Ontario have complained for years that they have no one to represent them. In fact, they have McGuinty, who is probably the most religious of today's group.

 

[lordmandeep]

true the Tories were never never religious really...

however they were very fiscally conservative...

 

[AndreaPalladio]

Well, only under Harris, thus proving the difference between Tory and Conservative.