Katy Austin : New Democrats

Dear friends and supporters:

 

            On behalf of our campaign team (Cheryl Nicholls-Jones, Wyndmill Hoskin, Ernie Hilts, Terry and George Glover, and Susan Hanna), I want to thank you for all the support you gave us in the recent election.

            We had a record number of people (over 40!) helping out in a variety of ways: cleaning old signs, putting up signs, delivering fliers, providing rides to the polls, etc.  We personally distributed over 9,000 fliers and placed over 400 signs throughout the riding. We had two great websites.

 As well as canvassing door-to-door, I marched in the parades at the Beeton and Elmvale fall fairs and spoke with voters there as well as at the Collingwood Great Northern Exhibition; made two short videos with Rogers Cable T.V.; plant-gated three times at the Honda plant in Alliston; spoke with a Grade 8 class in Tottenham; debated the issues in 10 all candidates meetings; greeted people at the Creemore farmers market and the Wasaga Beach Rec Centre; and responded to countless e-mails from voters and newspapers. 

            Our final tally in the riding was over 6,000 votes , which represents 11.2% of the total.  That means that 1 out of 9 people in Simcoe/Grey supports the New Democrats, something we should all be proud of and hope to improve.

            Nationally, we made real breakthroughs in this campaign:

• We elected our first Quebec MP in a general election ever;
• We elected our first MP in Alberta in 20 years – right in Stephen Harper’s backyard;
• We increased our share of the vote including in Quebec – where we have grown over half a million more votes since Jack became leader.
• We elected the largest Ontario caucus in our history – virtually sweeping Northern Ontario;
• And once more Jack Layton’s team has the largest percentage of women of any party.

We have a larger and stronger team in going into this parliament to fight for what matters to working people. Jack Layton has said that the very first thing the Prime Minister should do is reach out to the other party leaders to build a plan that Canadians would support. Our new caucus is going to roll up its sleeves and get down to work on the economy so ordinary Canadians are protected.

We can now take a rest for awhile, but our riding association executive hopes to organize meetings in the coming months to discuss how we can keep our presence alive and active in the riding. 

If you see any of our signs still left up, please take them down and call us to come and get them from you (705-322-2265).  

Once again, thanks for all your help and support.

 

Sincerely,

Katy       

Categories: Statements
Tags: features