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March 24, 2012
‘All of you are the Layton legacy,’ Chow says Even after the votes are counted, questions at the heart of the race will remain Colin Horgan
Olivia Chow waves to NDP members during the evening tribute to her late husband, former NDP leader Jack Layton.
KYLE HAMILTON/iPOLITICS
Invisible majority will rule the day Away from the placards and hoopla, 72,129 members have yet to vote Elizabeth Thompson
T
he final speeches have been delivered. Delegates have been wined, dined and wooed. Today, they decide who will be the next leader of the NDP and potentially the next prime minister of Canada. However, much of that will play out far from the constant glare of the television cameras. Signs, placards and the traditional convention hoopla is only the tip of a very large iceberg. The real action will be taking place below the surface as each candidate moves its get-out-thevote operation into overdrive.
Phone banks will be dialing nonstop. Campaign workers will be surfing cyberspace and social media. Prominent supporters of each candidate will take to the airwaves, talking up their candidates and spinning developments to their camps’ advantage. In the end, nobody knows for sure what will happen. Unlike traditional delegated conventions, the New Democratic Party is using a straight one-member, one-vote system to choose its next leader. While roughly 132,00 NDP members are eligible to vote and 55,659 or 41 per cent have voted through advance preferential ballots,
Phone banks will be dialing non-stop. Campaign workers will be surfing cyberspace and social media. Prominent supporters will take to the airwaves, talking up their candidates and spinning developments.
76,341 had not yet voted before the convention began. In all, 4,212 have travelled to the Toronto Convention Centre, which still leaves up to 72,129 eligible voters who could be voting in the privacy of their homes or smart phones, far from the dynamic of the convention floor. While many of them may not vote at all, that invisible majority leaves a fair amount of potential for political intrigue. Campaigns have phone banks set up in different cities across the country and have identified their core supporters as well as those who might be willing to come to NOBODY KNOWS FOR SURE: 3
“I look at our great country and I see his legacy,” Olivia Chow told the thousands gathered Friday evening in Toronto for the NDP leadership convention. She was referring, of course, to Jack Layton, the man whose shoes one of seven candidates will inevitably be asked to fill – or at least, to occupy, come some time on Saturday. The tribute brought back memories of the funeral nobody expected last summer. Layton’s friends and family appeared on the stage to remember what Layton stood for – love, equality, hope – and to remind party members of the importance of continuing that journey. Even Layton’s political opponents were there, albeit via video. Former prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Brian Mulroney praised Layton’s commitment to Canada and the political process. People like to dump on politicians, Chrétien said, but Layton was a good one — a professional who connected to people and hoped to make their lives better. Mulroney called Layton a great man. “It was always an honour to be in his company.” Unlike at Layton’s funeral, the focus was very much on the future. The message: New Democrats must heed Layton’s vision and carry through on realizing his dreams – among them, defeatLEGACY: 6