ELECTION WATCH: Battleground T.O.

ELECTION WATCH: Battleground T.O.
By Alice Klein and Enzo Di Matteo

Now that the debates are behind us, it’s more obvious than ever that there is a universe between Harper and the rest of our party leaders. Don’t get me started.

But if you came from a different planet to watch on Tuesday night and were asked to place Michael Ignatieff, Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe along a political spectrum, you’d be hard-pressed to figure out who is the most mainstream and who the edgiest. And that’s true even if you add in Elizabeth May, who should have been there. Interestingly, even Stephen Harper decided to put his left foot forward; turns out he’s passionate about gun control, criminal rehabilitation and clean energy. Who knew?

How is it that we’ve never had a more right-wing government, yet our politicians play to the left when trying to win our hearts? Says something about us all, don’t you think?

So now the horse race begins in earnest. The most committed voters are the Conservatives’ supporters. An estimated 800,000-plus Liberal voters stayed home last time, and so did droves of young potential voters. It’s the perfect time to start watching how the key Toronto races are shaping up. Here are the ones to keep an eye on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parkdale-High Park

Incumbent
Gerard Kennedy
Main challenger NDPer
Peggy Nash

The Skinny They like their politics progressive in Parkdale-High Park, that’s for sure. Popular and respected former NDP incumbent Peggy Nash losing her seat to Gerard Kennedy by a fat 3,000 votes in 2008 was one of the NDP’s real heartbreaks. A battle between two grassroots campaigners with
progressive cred seemed like a waste. Even though the Liberals held the riding for a long time before Nash grabbed it, Kennedy’s victory was extra-surprising because the Dion factor was otherwise sinking Lib campaigns across the country. Logic would say Kennedy is sitting pretty. But logic isn’t everything. Since he left for Ottawa, it’s said that Kennedy hasn’t been seen much. Nash is a long shot, but don’t underestimate the deep community roots she’s been tending since her first run in 2004.