You Can Make a Difference!
Influence the Outcome of this Election!

Ontario Election Day
• You Can Make a Difference! Influence the Outcome of this Election!
• Difficulty in Floating a Champion for Austerity
• The Stakes in Key Ridings
• Facts About the 41st Ontario General Election

Ontario Election Day

You Can Make a Difference!
Influence the Outcome of this Election!

Today is election day in Ontario. Polling stations officially open at 9:00 am and close at 9:00 pm.

In the closing days of the campaign a sort of hysteria has gripped the Liberals and their social base. This is manifested in non-stop robocalls calling on electors to "Vote Anything but Hudak" and "Vote Liberal Not NDP." The absence of a champion capable of rallying the people around the austerity agenda of the ruling class has given rise to all kinds of attempts to manipulate the electorate into voting against their interests on the basis of fear-mongering or confusion-making. Will it give rise to the desired result of a Liberal majority government or a Conservative minority as per the expressed wishes of the various sections of the ruling circles? Tomorrow we will know.

Ontario working people who are the targets of this campaign should not lose their bearings. These robocalls are designed to instill feelings of uncertainty and create a climate of doubt about how to vote to make sure the austerity agenda is defeated. But there is no doubt about one thing: any PC government or a Liberal majority will be used to step up the austerity agenda.

Hesitation and reluctance to take a firm stand to defeat the Liberals and PCs by voting in a manner that does not permit either to claim a mandate to implement the austerity agenda is what the ruling circles are banking on. This is what disinformation is. It sows doubt about one's ability to influence the outcome of events in a manner which is favourable to one's interests.

The working people can make a difference by getting an outcome that is most favourable to them within the situation in which none of the establishment political parties represent their interests. They can deny the Liberals a majority government and the PCs any government and make their votes a statement against the austerity agenda. The more votes against the Liberals and PCs the more the arrogance of the ruling circles will be punctured as far as laying claim to a mandate for the austerity agenda. It will encourage the working people to pursue their agenda of affirming the rights which belong to them by virtue of being human -- including the right to govern the society they depend on for their well-being. Should Stephen Harper decide to call a snap federal election, Ontario will become a crucial battleground which decides the outcome. The time for the working people to take up their own independent politics is now!

Make Your Vote a Statement!
No to the Fraudulent Austerity Agenda! No to Attacks on Workers' Rights!
Hold All the Parties to Account!

Difficulty in Floating a Champion for Austerity

The Ontario election shows that the ruling circles were not able to make the election a "two-way race" between Liberals and PCs. Some pollsters have now declared the election to be "neck-and-neck" or even a "three-way race." It shows that the ruling circles have been unable to create a credible champion for the austerity agenda. No amount of PR could sell this agenda because the people are very clear -- they do not want austerity measures which have one aim and that is to pay the rich and deprive the people of social services and programs and privatize public sector jobs. The result lowers the standard of living on all fronts and destroys the social fabric.

The working people are against the austerity agenda and they have not drunk the Kool-Aid.

The Stakes in Key Ridings

Going into the election, the Liberals only require six more seats to form a majority government, the PCs would require 17 and the NDP 33. The Liberal majority could be achieved if people succumb to the sense of impending doom if a Hudak government is elected and submit to the pressure to vote Liberal to stop the PCs.

In this regard, the Liberals are actually in a position to take PC seats in a number of ridings where the working people are being rallied to vote Liberal for fear of a Hudak majority. Some of these include Halton, Perth-Wellington, Burlington, Barrie, Etobicoke-Lakeshore and Northumberland-Quinte West.

Meanwhile one PC scheme to win is to encourage people to decline their ballot rather than vote Liberal or NDP in several ridings where the PC candidate is weak, namely Brant, Etobicoke Centre, Kitchener-Waterloo, London-West, Mississauga-Erindale, Oakridges-Markham, Ottawa South, St. Catharines, Windsor-West and Thunder Bay-Atikokan.

In ridings recently won in by-elections by the NDP, such as Kitchener-Waterloo, London West and Niagara Falls, the Liberals are stalking NDP voters. This is also the case in ridings won by the NDP in 2011 such as Bramalea-Gore-Malton, Trinity-Spadina and Davenport. Voters can make sure these ridings do not fall to the Liberals. In certain ridings, both the Liberals and PCs can be defeated, including Oshawa (PC), Sudbury (Liberal) and Thunder Bay (Liberal).

Facts About the 41st Ontario General Election

The writ for the 41st Ontario general election was dropped on May 7, 2014 with the election to take place June 12. The election was ordered by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario on May 2 as recommended by Premier Kathleen Wynne. Nominations for candidates were open from May 15 to 2:00 pm on May 22. At the close of nominations, there were 616 registered candidates in 107 electoral districts. Fourteen candidates are standing as independents while 602 are seeking office with one of 20 registered parties. As of June 10, there are 36 registered third party intervening groups.

The parties fielding candidates are the Ontario Liberal Party (107), Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario (107), Ontario New Democratic Party (107), Green Party of Ontario (107), Ontario Libertarian Party (74), Freedom Party of Ontario (42), Communist Party of Canada (Ontario) (11), None of the Above Party of Ontario (8), Family Coalition Party (6), The People's Political Party (5), Vegan Environmental Party (5), Canadians' Choice Party (4), Northern Ontario Heritage Party (3), Pauper Party of Ontario (3), Party for People with Special Needs (3), Ontario Provincial Confederation of Regions Party (2), Equal Parenting Party (2), Ontario Moderate Party (2), Socialist Party of Ontario (2) and the Trillium Party of Ontario (2).

For information about voting and polling stations, visit www.wemakevotingeasy.ca.

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