Wow, really? The NDP haven't won SSW since 2011 during the "Orange Wave." Richard, you have a closer eye and ear to the riding than me, but I would be stunned if the Dippers finished second, let alone first.
Oh I remember. I knew Dan and his family well, I even went to High School with his cousin Lauren. His father Dave was a school teacher (now retired) at Donwood Park PS.
Dan won because of the Orange Wave and truthfully, alot of it had to do with name recognition (he ran several times previously for various things). He was surprised when he won as it was completely unexpected.
I saw the candidates online and honestly, I can see this being a very low turnout. The Candidates are the same as the last election and honestly, they don't represent me.
I sincerely hope I don't offend anyone when I say this but the Candidates are quite ethnic and don't represent me or my way of life. They are designed to appeal to the immigrant population and not to the people who have lived in Canada or Scarborough for generations.
Dan won because he could relate to the constituents of the riding. The problem the CPC had for years was that they kept putting in south and southeast asian candidates who had no connection to the riding. They were from India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan with an intention to appeal to the immigrant population.
Unfortunately, those CPC candidates came in third every single time.
The NDP ran into a similar situation in 2007 when they ran Jay Sarkar provincially and in 2008 when they ran Alamgir Hussein federally.,
I get that the area is changing but even still, I don't really connect with any of the named candidates. I would much rather not vote than vote for someone who I am not feeling good about.
For me, it is less about the party and more about who is representing me. I need to know they represent my interests not those of people who have little to no connection here.
Honestly, I would rather vote Communist than vote for the current slate of candidates. Fun fact: I was once a member of the CPC... not that CPC, the other one.