by Jonathan van Bilsen
By now, you will be aware, we are heading into a provincial election. I will, once again, be hosting the live coverage on election night, along with my co-anchor, Chris Creamer.
Finding television election coverage, on the 27th of February, will be easy but finding information specific to Durham, Brock, Uxbridge and Kawartha Lakes will be a bit more challenging. This is why Rogers TV and Rogerstv.com will be airing live, up-to-the-minute results, along with interviews and statistics. Coverage will begin at 9 p.m., which is when the polls close, and Chris and I will keep you posted with up to the second events as they unfold. There is no need to dwell on who the better candidate is or do we need an election. Just be thankful we live in a country where we have choices in who runs our government.
This marks the 44th general provincial election, the first one being in 1867. We have had as many as 130 seats (1987-1995) and as few as 82 (1867), with 124 seats currently up for grabs. Interestingly enough, we have been voting in Ontario since 1792, when we elected members of the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada. Our first Premier was John Sandfield Macdonald, who also served as Attorney General.
Since then, we have had ten Conservative, eight Liberal and one NDP premiers. The longest Liberal run was 15 years and four elections from 2003-2018. The Conservatives have not had a long run since 1943-1987 when they won 13 elections. The NDP only formed one government, under the leadership of Bob Rae, back in 1990. Surprisingly, the UFO party took the reins in 1919. UFO stands for United Farmers of Ontario, in case you thought we were ruled by extra-terrestrials.
Election Day is February 27th, with polls open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Advance polls will be available, from February 20th to 22nd, for those who prefer voting early. To find your polling station and learn about the candidates in your riding, visit the Voter Information Service, at voterinformationservice.elections.on.ca. Special arrangements have also been made for hospital patients, with election officials providing voting kits, from February 17th to 19th. Assistive Voting Technology will be accessible at all local election offices, starting February 20th, and appointments can be scheduled for those requiring this service.
February 13th is the last day for candidates to register, but when I wrote this earlier this week, the following had tossed their hats in the ring (not in any specific order):
In Kawartha Lakes and Brock, candidates include Gene Balfour (Independent), Barbara Doyle (NDP), Brian Kerr (Ontario Party), Tom Regina (Green Party), Laurie Scott (PC), and Zachary Tisdale (Libertarian Party).
In Uxbridge and Pickering, Peter Bethlenfalvy (PC) and Ibrahim Daniyal (Liberal) have announced their campaigns.
Durham features Chris Borgia (NDP), Brad Jakobson (Liberal), and Todd McCarthy (PC). Additional candidate details, for other ridings, can be found at elections.on.ca.
I look forward to providing live updates, on February 27th, through Rogers. Remember, who you vote for and why is your decision. Rely on trusted news sources and avoid the distractions of rumours or misinformation on social media. Above all, get out and vote.
Jonathan van Bilsen is a television host, award-winning photographer, published author, columnist and keynote speaker. Watch his show, ‘The Jonathan van Bilsen Show’, on RogersTV, the Standard Website and YouTube and follow his adventures at photosNtravel.com
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