The Sputnik // Thursday October 13

Election Wrap-Up: Liberals win Brant, minority

Matt Mente News Editor The polls are in and Ontario has once again elected the Liberal party to lead Provincial Parliament. Voting took place on Oct. 6 and at the end of the day the Liberals won the provincial election for the third consecutive time. Change was evident in the results though. The Liberals secured 53 seats, coming up one short of a majority government. The Progressive Conservatives secured 37 seats, a much closer second than in pervious years and with 17 seats the NDP nearly doubled their presence in provincial parliament. Running on a platform which included creating jobs, cutting tuition, and reducing bills, leader Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals saw their support flagging. His administration has had issues with public trust ever since he broke a promise not to raise taxes after the 2003 election. Despite these hiccups McGuinty is once again Ontarios premier, only the second Liberal to receive the position three times consecutively. In an election which had a record low voter turnout of 48.3 per cent, the Liberals finished with 17 fewer seats than they had previously won. A large number of those seats went to the NDP who hold a record high 17 seats for the party. This is reflective of the large increase in popularity the NDP saw during the recent federal election, most of which occured in Quebec but some of which was also felt in Ontario. The rest of the seats that the Liberals lost went to Tim Hudak and the Conservatives. Running on a platform of reduced expenses and senior support, the PC Party manLevac took the riding with just over one thousand more votes than that of St. Amant. NDP candidate Brian Van Tilborg brought up a respectable third with 10,948 votes and the Green Partys Ken Burns trailed in fourth place with 957 votes. Candidates Martin Sitko, Daniel Hockley, Rob Ferguson, and Dustin Jenner all came within 110 votes of one another straddling 200. Placing last was John Turmel with a meagre 87 votes. Incumbent Levac has held the position of Brant MPP since 1999. Since that time he has placed a strong focus on education, due in no small part to his background as a teacher and principal in the Brantford area. Levac has generally followed party policy and is a strong supporter of tuition cuts. Levac did spark some controversy during the campaign when he twice misspoke during a televised debate and indicated that the Liberals had plans to implement a carbon tax, something they have long denied. Conservatives were quick to jump on this slip Dalton McGuinty will return for a third term as Ontario Premier. (Photo provided by Ontario Liberal Party) but Liberals maintained aged to deprive the Liberals of a majority the Ontario NDPs in 2009. that it was a simple accident. Voters will government but failed to take the election. Brantfords election mirrored that of the now have to wait and see whether or not This was Hudaks first election as the party province. Liberals will enforce a carbon tax and how leader. Hudak has been a member of the PC After a remarkably clean and amicable they will follow through on their campaign Party for a number of years and his wife campaign from all candidates, Liberal in- promises, particularly those related to job served as a senior advisor to Mike Harris. cumbent Dave Levac has held onto his seat creation and tuition His views on abortion and prison inmate by a narrow margin against Conservative labour were quite controversial throughout Michael St. Amant. the election campaign. The NDP were also led through this election by a first time party leader. Andrea Horwath has been a member of the provincial NDP party since 2004, when her victory in a by-election resulted in the NDP holding enough seats to regain official party status. Horwath became leader of

Whacky News
Matt Mente News Editor Keeping up with current events is important, but life can get pretty stressful and sometimes its best to just ignore the world and relax. Here are three off-beat stories to help you do just that. First, an interesting tale of a German woman who has spent the past 15 years living without money. It began when she opened a pawn shop where people, particularly the homeless, could swap possessions or services. Over time, she began to realize she was dissatisfied with her life and began to rely more on trading her skills and possessions for what she needed. Now she lives entirely without money, carrying her possessions in a rucksack and trading her skills for room and board. Bordering on the alarming, the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort has announced that it will be giving away $25,000 worth of plastic surgery as a prize. The promotion is being given out as a loyalty bonus to the winner of a players card contest. The casino will allow the winner to choose whatever procedures they want; from liposuction to breast implants, so long as the total cost doesnt exceed the prize pool. Just plain ridiculous. A Swedish man heard a strange noise coming from his vacationing neighbours garden. When he went to investigate, he found a moose stuck in his neighbours apple tree. The moose had been eating the apples, which had fermented. This caused the moose to become intoxicated and eventually lodge itself in the tree. After authorities freed the drunken moose it wandered back into the garden where it proceeded to fall asleep.

ATTENTION
prospective graduates:

Go to www.wlusp.com/gradphotos to book your photo sitting today. Time slot available between November 1-17th.