I first had an inkling there must be an election coming when I drove by the White property on Francis Peninsula Road and noticed some colourful NDP orange and green "Dana Larsen" signs displayed prominently on the lawn. Frank’s on the ball, I thought — they were the first signs I’d seen anywhere.
Later (it might have even been that evening), I turned on the news to see Mr. Larsen with 25 joints in his mouth followed by video of him driving through an LSD trip smoking a joint he’d wisely rolled before dropping. Frank’s signs were gone the next day.
Soon after, I noticed our current MP, the embattled ex-Liberal and current Green Party hero, Blair Wilson’s signs. They looked like they were made by a kindergarten class with lime coloured mistints and hand-cut stencils.
Apparently others agreed with me because Saturday morning revealed ditches full of the mangled sign carcasses. (Note to future candidates: don’t post your signs at ground level outside the Grasshopper Pub.)
Conservative candidate, John Weston’s signs fared a little better. His took their share of casualties too but, a week into the signage battle, I started noticing them high in trees, obviously nailed with the help of a big ladder.Score one for the Conservatives.
As all these shenanigans played out, I was left wondering who our Liberal candidate was. I suppose I could consult a newspaper but signs are, like, easier to read so I waited. After a week went by and no Liberal or NDP signage appeared I became suspicious and, like any good journalist, I turned to the internet for answers. The top three Google search results for "Liberal riding Sunshine Coast" turned up three web sites claiming Blair Wilson was my Liberal candidate. I was pretty sure that was wrong so I looked way down until I found a different name.
It turns out that the man chosen to lead Pender Harbour and Egmont’s Liberal interest into Ottawa is none other than the Mayor of Squamish, Ian Sutherland. But could I vote for someone who doesn’t even have signs out? Even the guy on acid had more savvy than that.
Speaking of which, some more Google sleuthing turned up a new NDP candidate, Bill Forst.This guy actually lives on the Sunshine Coast so I called our NDP riding association phone number (886) listed on an NDP web page.A recorded message told me I could press "1" to leave a message for Forst’s wife, Pat, or call another number if it’s an emergency. No mention of either his name or the NDP. I hung up.
I’ll vote Obama.
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