Ontario 2018 election

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I think the NDP is going to win the election actually. Something like 41% NDP, 38% PC, 19% Liberal.

If that happened, the PCPO will implode even after gaining seats. The OLP will be too busy soul-searching. Of course there's zero chance of the two opposition parties merging like in Alberta. The media will devote more attention to Doug Ford's antics than on the actual government. Who says Canadian politics is a snoozefest?

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Enough about each specific riding. Today it was alleged that the now replaced PC candidate in Brampton East stole the data of 60,000 highway 407 customers and sold it to 29 PC Party candidates in their nomination battles, for $20K per riding. It was then arranged for international students to cast votes using the stolen identities in the nomination battles.

If at all true, this makes the PC Party an organized criminal group. There's no damn way that a campaign could make a $20K expenditure without the candidate's approval. If the PC Party wins, much of their caucus would be facing serious criminal charges.

Suddenly, PC Party dirty tricks have personally affected everyone who has ever used highway 407. And guess which constituencies are they and their families most concentrated?

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If the ringleader charged $20,000 per candidate, and paid each international student $200 per vote, then there were a total of 100 students who were bused around to 29 nomination votes. These students wouldn't have any reason to go public, since they're being paid $5800 each, which is good money for a student. And, if there were 100 fake memberships in each constituency affected by the scam, there were a total of 2,900 fake memberships in total.

You'll recall that after Brown was deposed as leader, the party discovered 67,000 fake memberships, so the 407 scam was less than the tip of the iceberg.

Don't forget that Brown's backroom boys are the exact same people who gave us Harper's dirty tricks and law-breaking, so the 407 scam could very well be them being carried away.

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But if every penny the candidates paid ($20,000) went directly to the students ($200 x 100), where is the profit?  It would seem like a very dicey, quasi-illegal thing to do without expecting some reward.

Who would organize such a campaign just to gain access to 29 potential Ontario MPPs? (*cough* Putin *cough*)  And how were these 29 people recruited?  Kijiji?

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-battle-for-the-ballot-inside-the-bitter-nominations-that-divided-the/

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Do newspaper editorials or Bay Street have any effect on voters? Remember how in the 2015 federal election, virtually the entire print media endorsed the Harper Conservatives? And remember how, in the last days before the 2015 Alberta election, a collection of big oil execs held a press conference warning about the NDP?

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I think the NDP is banking on the Andrea the "real" populist prevailing over Doug the "fake" populist in every single rust belt-ish seat in the province.

One thing I would consider if I were in the NDP war room would be to point out the Liberals and PCs seem to be regurgitating each others' attacks on us - and hint that maybe it isn't even a coincidence.

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I'm in Kathleen Wynne's seat, and I've decided to wait until E Day to vote in case the NDP surges so much that it becomes worthwhile.