Cheri DiNovo vs. Sylvia Watson
I dislike the current federal and Ontario NDP and would rather Cheri DiNovo was running as an independent, sure. But she's got my support and my volunteer time in her campaign against Sylvia Watson to represent High Park-Parkdale.
I don't feel that DiNovo's comments to a) youth about her past exploits as a drug smuggler or b) her belief that Christianity asks her to accept and love all, even repentant pedophiles and axe murderers, make her unfit to be our MPP (I believe in separation of Church and State and wish for all politicians to leave their personal faith at the door of the legislature).
Parkdale is a troubled neighbourhood. I'm guessing here, but I imagine that DiNovo critics Jason Cherniak, James Bowie and Nathan Hewitson don't know what it is like to have prostitutes sitting on your front steps and Johns parking right out your window, or what it is like to lay awake at 4 am because the notorious and infamous Kevin Clarke is yelling campaign slogans outside your bedroom. Parkdale is a neighbourhood filled with sex workers and drug addicts and mentally ill persons and poverty, and with occasional police who turn a *general* (not total) blind eye to all sorts of ill-doings. Parkdale needs someone who is willing to work with the lower classes - that person is DiNovo, not Watson.
It's a very tight race - no ane can predict who will win. There's a lot of pro-Liberal support, there's lots of pro-DiNovo support. There's a lot of anti-Watson sentiment. I have no predictions as to what that means.
Watson has failed to represent our interests in City Hall in my opinion, and I feel very strongly that DiNovo has done more for the neighbourhood, the ward, and the riding than Watson could do in 100 years. DiNovo understands the residents of Parkdale, troubled and untroubled, better than Watson, and gets Parkdale more than Watson.
Watson has sold us out on the waterfront and been exceedingly arrogant in her outright refusal to discuss the matter with constituents. There has to be better candidates for the Liberals to run - I can't grasp why they went with her.
I believe that as an unelected citizen, DiNovo has done more for Parkdale than Watson has in elected office.
I'm explaining why I'm voting (and volunteering) the way I am -- I'm not suggesting anyone vote the way I do.
DiNovo gets Parkdale, and she gets my vote.
***UPDATE: Anyone interested should check out this terrific run-down by Mr. James Bow, who is more eloquent in DiNovo's defence than I am able to be.
I don't feel that DiNovo's comments to a) youth about her past exploits as a drug smuggler or b) her belief that Christianity asks her to accept and love all, even repentant pedophiles and axe murderers, make her unfit to be our MPP (I believe in separation of Church and State and wish for all politicians to leave their personal faith at the door of the legislature).
Parkdale is a troubled neighbourhood. I'm guessing here, but I imagine that DiNovo critics Jason Cherniak, James Bowie and Nathan Hewitson don't know what it is like to have prostitutes sitting on your front steps and Johns parking right out your window, or what it is like to lay awake at 4 am because the notorious and infamous Kevin Clarke is yelling campaign slogans outside your bedroom. Parkdale is a neighbourhood filled with sex workers and drug addicts and mentally ill persons and poverty, and with occasional police who turn a *general* (not total) blind eye to all sorts of ill-doings. Parkdale needs someone who is willing to work with the lower classes - that person is DiNovo, not Watson.
It's a very tight race - no ane can predict who will win. There's a lot of pro-Liberal support, there's lots of pro-DiNovo support. There's a lot of anti-Watson sentiment. I have no predictions as to what that means.
Watson has failed to represent our interests in City Hall in my opinion, and I feel very strongly that DiNovo has done more for the neighbourhood, the ward, and the riding than Watson could do in 100 years. DiNovo understands the residents of Parkdale, troubled and untroubled, better than Watson, and gets Parkdale more than Watson.
Watson has sold us out on the waterfront and been exceedingly arrogant in her outright refusal to discuss the matter with constituents. There has to be better candidates for the Liberals to run - I can't grasp why they went with her.
I believe that as an unelected citizen, DiNovo has done more for Parkdale than Watson has in elected office.
I'm explaining why I'm voting (and volunteering) the way I am -- I'm not suggesting anyone vote the way I do.
DiNovo gets Parkdale, and she gets my vote.
***UPDATE: Anyone interested should check out this terrific run-down by Mr. James Bow, who is more eloquent in DiNovo's defence than I am able to be.
posted by Jacques Beau Vert at 7:08 PM
17 Comments:
Jason, my knowledge of Parkdale is very limited. There isn't a lot about it in the news as there is about Jane and Finch.
Now if I was going to vote in this by-election, I would vote for the person who actually understands the troubles this riding is facing. I don't know which of the candidates is that person but I guess people will vote for the one they think has a more understanding of the issues affecting the area.
"It's a very tight race - no ane can predict who will win. There's a lot of pro-Liberal support, there's lots of pro-DiNovo support. There's a lot of anti-Watson sentiment. I have no predictions as to what that means."
What a wuss. Like all the people showing up at All Candidate meetings slagging Watson with municipal questions, when they should be asking more provincial questions. This is after all a provincial election.
If Dinovo gets elected there's nothing really much she can do for Parkdale residents, they are all empty promises she's making, because the NDP is the Third party in the Ontario Legislature and not the party in power. Do you seriously think McGuinty is going to give a rats ass about Parkdale, with an NDP sitting member. They only thing DiNovo will be doing is running around the community attending BBQ's and photo ops.
Because Watson, if elected will be sitting in the party in power, Her party will be improving health care and ensuring our children have better schools in order to make Parkdale-High Park a strong, safe community.
Watson has done dick for Parkdale residents so far, and DiNovo has done lots. End of story.
Given all the problems that Jason has outlined involving Parkdale, this statement:
Do you seriously think McGuinty is going to give a rats ass about Parkdale, with an NDP sitting member.
is more of an indictment of McGuinty as a failed premier to look out for the interests of all Ontarioans and put partisan politics on the shelf to deal with issues of broader importance to society.
If the NDP win Parkdale, it doesn't matter what promises the Provincial Member of Parliament makes, She can't be held accountable for her broken promises, other than the next general election. What a waste of taxpayers money to pay $78,007 to someone, sit around for the next 2 years and do absolutely for Parkdale High Park
The Liberal Party has done far more for Parkdale, than any NDP member provincial or federal. Parkdale-High Park is a big riding and not just a little tiny waterfront parking lot at Sunnyside and an empty building eyesore at 1495 Queen St. W. Parkdale High Park, residents will find out, they made a mistake voting for a provincial NDP candidate, because the riding will deteriorate even more than it is now.
So, Don, vote for the Liberals or get screwed over? The Liberals will only look out for Parkdale if the voters there are sufficiently loyal? I think you've done nothing so much as give even greater cause to DiNovo.
I'm not big on Peggy Nash's MP-ship, and I don't think I can be clearer in my dislike of the federal and Ontario NDP. My choice is based on the candidates personally, and while Watson has done a great job refurbishing the antique clock at 1313 Queen Street W., DiNovo seems to my eye what Parkdale needs more.
I disagree with her (and the NDP) on many things (nuclear energy for starters, but Watson is unresponsive and indifferent to the concerns of constituents.
I think I might have gone for Hutcheon if the Tories stood a close chance - I like that guy, his integrity has impressed me. But in a race between Watson and my kitty cat, I'd absolutely take good old Atanarjuat.
I can't see why I or anyone would want to vote for Watson in order to make McGuinty "like" Parkdale.
Many thanks for the link!
Being in the riding all day today, I think that I would throw my support behind the PC candidate, David Hutcheon.
I don't think Watson or DiNovo are very good candidates. DeJong is there also for the Greens.
Jason, it is your choice and I respect that. You know better than I your riding and what it needs.
I just keep thinking how I support Brian Masse back in his first by-election for the same reason. Since then I've regretted it.
Best of luck in making your choice.
Zac, if David Hutcheon was running for a contender party like the Liberals, I'd probably go for him, and write DiNovo a cheque to continue her outreach work.
If DeJong were running for a contender party like the NDP, I'd probably go for him (DOUBLE so if he was taking on Watson for the Liberals).
SO, I hate to use the term "wasted vote", which I never have used before.
Watson's done nothing in years to make Parkdale safer and less intimidating - it's important to me to get someone else in at the next level up (provincial).
I feel like going PC or Green (hm, it's weird to use "PC"...) is going to "waste" my vote. It's a two way race. And hey, the provincial election is close by anyway - if DiNovo doesn't work out, and the Liberals choose someone else, I'll gladly go Green or PC next time around.
It's a tough issue, voting. In a *slight* way, I like the two-party system in the US for the simplicity.
Jason, you do have a very good point. Voting PC could help Watson shoot up the middle.
When I was canvassing I met a man who had voted Liberal all his life, but hated Watson. He said he would vote against her this time so that she loses and won't seek the nomination when the next election is called. So I see there is strategy here.
People, especially closer to the waterfront feel let down by Watson. I can see where they are coming from. People simply don't like this women, she sounds like a lousy representative of the area.
Perhaps that's why she's running provincially, she knows she doesn't stand a chance to win her seat back in November and perhaps hopes to ride the Liberal coattails back into elected office. Just a theory.
LF, that was really kind of you - thanks. Crossfire really made me unhappy when it was still on.
Zac, I'm actually surprised you met so much opposition to her - I see a pretty fair amount of signs for her. I have voted Liberal several times before so far, though not exclusively.
Friend and I walked through High Park today, and were interested to see how few of ANY signs were up (at least where we were walking), it seems that Parkdale is a lot more into the bi-election.
I've seen a few Watson signs of late that have been torn down and crumpled into garbage cans or just tossed in the trees by the fence over the Gardiner, and a (small) bit of graffiti on her signs as well. (That doesn't mean anything in terms of outcome, just an observation)
Parkdale is not a nightmare out of RoboCop or anything, if I've made it sound demilitarized or such. It has some great leafy streets with beautiful old homes with professionals in them, and there are more and more art-y types moving in all the time. It just has a (far) above-average number of prostitutes, drug users, (extremely) low income earners, halfway homes, homeless drunks, mentally ill, etc.
Thanks for the Kevin Clarke link, Jason. I've only ever known him as Osanta Bin Laden.
The desparation of Sylvia Watson's campaign team is apparent to all. In my view DiNovo is to be commended for the work she has done with youth in the riding. Still, I would not be comfortable voting for the NDP despite her strong character.
Parkdale needs someone who is willing to work with the lower classes - that person is DiNovo, not Watson.
That may be. But the riding is Parkdale-High Park. Parkdale certainly has some issues, many of them related to revolving-door justice with crack dealers in the neighbourhood. But let's not forget the High Park part of the riding. What is DiNovo's relevance there?
The PC's have an excellent candidate in David Hutcheon. He has gallantly defended DiNovo against Liberal attacks and is known as a strong community worker. Moroever, the PC's have come second to the Liberals in the last couple of elections. Hutcheon is my choice.
I couldn't be happier with David Hutcheon, he's an excellent candidate and a terrific guy, and his defence of DiNovo is a reminder of what politics can and should be like.
"What a wuss. Like all the people showing up at All Candidate meetings slagging Watson with municipal questions, when they should be asking more provincial questions. This is after all a provincial election."
Yeah, like where she stands on the unscrupulous defamation of her fellow candidate by the Ontatio Fiberals using tax payer dollars. Or why her staff illegally litters Lakeshore Blvd, High Park and any abandoned buildings with her signs? Like why she is being investigated for possibly breaches of the city of Toronto Ethics Code- oh wait apologies, that municipal. Or why she voted against a pesticide ban if she's so enviromentally conscious. Or why she engages in union busting tactics. Or what she was on when she declared herself a "progressive socialist". This apparently is what constitutes a Liberal rather than a Dipper. I guess "progressive" must mean scurrilous, unethical, and specious.
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