Fewer ballots cast at advance polls

Elections Ontario reports fewer voters cast ballots at advance polls for Thursday’s 41st Provincial General Election.

There were 566,845 ballots cast over seven days from May 31 to June 6 – a decrease from the 603,785 electors
who voted at advance polls for the 2011 election (open for a 10 day period). In 2007, there were 13 days of advance polls where 451,949 electors cast ballots.

See below for links to party sites and leaders and local candidates’ site profiles and links:

Kathleen Wynne	Tim Hudak	Andrea Horwath	Mike Schreiner

Georgina Thompson Liberal	Todd Smith PC	Merrill Stewart NDP	Anita Payne Green Party

Also, Lindsay Forbes, Libertarian. No further information available.

Incumbent Todd Smith – Todd was elected to represent Prince Edward – Hastings riding at the Ontario Legislative Assembly in the General Election on October 6th, 2011.  He has served as the Critic for Small Business and Red Tape with the Official Opposition and was pleased to be named a member of the PC Caucus Job Creation Task Force and a very active member of the PC Outreach Team.  Todd has also served as a member of the Standing Committee on General Government.  As of September 30th, 2013, Todd is the Critic for Citizenship and Immigration, as well as the Chair of Outreach. Todd is committed to continue providing effective representation for the residents of Prince Edward – Hastings, helping local citizens get the assistance that they need from their provincial government and returning fiscal accountability to Queen’s Park.

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Georgina Thompson – Georgina is a leader in healthcare and business who will deliver real solutions for our community’s needs. As a councillor in Belleville and Thurlow she has always put local families first and looked for ways to protect public services, create jobs, and grow our economy. As chair of the South East Local Health Integration Network and President of All-Care Health Services, she ensured our rural families have first-class healthcare. She has received the Premier’s Award for Outstanding Achievement in Health Science for the College System, the National Harry Jerome Black Business Achievement Award, and the Rotary International Paul Harris Fellowship. In addition to her many accomplishments within the SE LHIN, Georgina is noted province-wide for her unique approach to collaborative governance and foundation-building. Rather than accept the status quo that saw them work in isolation, she has succeeded in drawing together Board Chairs from hospitals, community support service agencies and the Community Care Access Centre, to work together to find solutions to common challenges in the delivery of health care services across the southeast.

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Merrill Stewart – Merrill is committed to creating and protecting local jobs. As a long time resident of the region, Merrill understands the reality of working class families in Prince Edward—Hastings. As a retired middle class worker, he has dedicated his retired life to help support new and protect current jobs in Ontario. Connected to the families in his neighbourhood, Merrill volunteers his time with the Quaker community and through his local Neighbourhood Association, recently succeeding in having a public playground installed at a community resource centre. Merrill has sat on the board of Bridging the Gap, a charity that works with children, and chaired the board of Canadian Friends Service Committee, a national charity working on international peace and development, justice, and Indigenous issues.  He has been a board member of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group. A trusted local leader, Merrill Stewart can be counted on to deliver for you.

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Anita Payne – Anita Payne is a retired high school science teacher living in eastern Ontario. She was compelled to join the Green Party of Ontario in 2003, to bring an environmental focus to political decisions. Anita is pleased to represent the Green Party in Prince Edward-Hastings. She said “the Green Party’s policies are needed to move Ontario toward a prosperous post carbon society”. Born and raised in Toronto, Anita delighted in interacting with nature from an early age. This inspired Anita to study ecology and become a teacher. Anita has been active in numerous community and environmental groups as well as the Green Party at the local and provincial levels. Anita was a candidate in the 2007 and 2011 provincial elections in Perth-Wellington and Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, respectively. With clear evidence that climate change is already occurring, Anita is campaigning for action, not just for future generations but for all life now on planet Earth, our only home.