Real estate agent Lourence Singh is the 3rd candidate to be dropped by Tories on Tuesday. The Conservatives have dropped Lourence Singh, the party's candidate for the New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville riding in the upcoming federal election. Singh is the third candidate the Tories dropped on Tuesday, following the ouster of Mark McKenzie in southwestern Ontario and Stefan Marquis in Montreal...
Alberta premier supports some ideas proposed in recent Quebec panel report on autonomy. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith would like to have a tête-à-tête with Quebec Premier François Legault about asserting their provincial sovereignty, according to a letter Smith wrote last month. "I see an opportunity before us, as the democratically elected leaders of Alberta and Quebec, to chart a path...
So far, the Canadian campaign has had little encroachment from United States President Donald Trump—who has taken an uncharacteristically restrained approach to his northern neighbour since the election kicked off—but the unpredictable commander-in-chief has ample time before the April 28 vote to upset the proceedings.
Liberal Leader Mark Carney is pausing his federal election campaign and returning to Ottawa for meetings ahead of Wednesday's announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump on tariffs.Trump is expected to hit multiple countries with "reciprocal" tariffs.Carney's campaign says no details about the meetings are available.
Jean Chretien used to call them "nervous nellies", those who constantly worry their party's strategy is wrong. With their lead in the polls having collapsed, the Conservatives are divided about what to do. The LIberals meanwhile stumble over one of their candidates. Backroom strategists Bruce Anderson and Fred DeLorey give us their spin on how serious both issues are. Plus...
With less than a month to go until Election Day, the Liberal Party enjoys a very clear and stable lead. At 48 per cent, the party holds a 15-point lead over the second-place Conservatives, who are sitting at 33 points. At seven points, the NDP has been stuck below 10 points for nearly a month. The Bloc Québécois has seen...
Economic turmoil between Canada and the United States has taken the headlines this year, perhaps obscuring several positive domestic trends. Falling rents, a grocery cost reprieve, and stable inflation have some Canadians feeling better about their economic stress, and it appears to the benefit of the federal Liberals. New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds a two-point decrease...
A new poll by Liaison Strategies for the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC), the industry association representing Canada’s non-official language newspapers, TV, radio, and online news media, finds the Liberals leading with 44% (+1) with the Conservatives once again at 38% (No Change). The rolling survey, conducted from March 29 to March 31, 2025, used interactive...
To add to our interesting content about the federal election campaign, Spark and Northstar Public Affairs recruited a unique panel of people who have worked in political campaigns in Canada. Each week, we’ll survey them online to see what they think is happening. This is our first synopsis, based on a survey completed March 26-27. Read More
So far, the Canadian campaign has had little encroachment from United States President Donald Trump—who has taken an uncharacteristically restrained approach to his northern neighbour since the election kicked off—but the unpredictable commander-in-chief has ample time before the April 28 vote to upset the proceedings.
Real estate agent Lourence Singh is the 3rd candidate to be dropped by Tories on Tuesday. The Conservatives have dropped Lourence Singh, the party's candidate for the New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville riding in the upcoming federal election. Singh is the third candidate the Tories dropped on Tuesday, following the ouster of Mark McKenzie in southwestern Ontario and Stefan Marquis in Montreal...
The Green Party will participate in two federal leaders' debates this month after meeting the minimum requirements to attend, organizers said Tuesday. The Leaders' Debates Commission said the party met two of the three required criteria to have its leader invited to both the French debate on April 16 and the English debate April on 17. Both debates will take...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney is pausing his federal election campaign and returning to Ottawa for meetings ahead of Wednesday's announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump on tariffs.Trump is expected to hit multiple countries with "reciprocal" tariffs.Carney's campaign says no details about the meetings are available.
Audio recording shows CTV cancelled an ‘election misinformation’ segment with journalist Rachel Gilmore after online backlash from conservatives.CTV has cancelled a segment on its national morning show fact-checking “election misinformation” after an online backlash from Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives and right-wing alternative media outlets targeting a prominent journalist.
Quebec professors are concerned by federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s promise to target “woke ideology” in university research, describing it as a direct threat to academic freedom that echoes recent actions taken in the United States. Poilievre unveiled his Quebec platform while campaigning in the province last week. Included in the document was a pledge to “end the imposition of...
The civil war drums are now beating loudly in the Conservative Party. It kicked off last week, and was inflated by a number of stories speaking to the apparent disconnect between the Conservative campaign and where Canadians actually are—worried about United States President Donald Trump. For now, I’ll resist piling on as there are nearly four weeks to go in...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre needs to be clear with Canadians about what Charter rights he is prepared to defend, or whether he believes — as he recently suggested — that the protection of Canadians’ constitutional rights should be left to the provinces. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Poilievre was asked whether he would intervene in a Supreme Court challenge against...
None say anything like “stay the course, big fella!”“You’ve got to get on the f-cking ballot question or you are going to lose,” Kory Teneycke, the Ontario conservative strategist bluntly said at an Empire Club event last week. (Teneycke is a veteran of the old Reform Party politics, like Poilievre’s campaign manager Jenni Byrne.)
It takes some gall for an assailant to want gratitude after he stops punching you in the face but anything goes in a general election
“This is a uniquely important election … As the Prime Minister and Team Canada work to stand up to President Trump and protect our economy, I do not want there to be distractions … That’s why I’m standing aside as our 2025 candidate in our community of Markham—Unionville.”
Today, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said that as Prime Minister, he will support the plan to double Newfoundland and Labrador’s oil and gas production and approve the LNG Newfoundland and Labrador project. Conservatives will work with the province to end the uncertainty and delays that a decade of Liberal government has created. “I support Newfoundland and Labrador’s plan to double...
Today, Jagmeet Singh stood alongside frontline workers to deliver a clear message: Canada’s public health-care system is not for sale—not to Trump, not to profiteers, not now, not ever. “Donald Trump has made it clear he’s willing to use trade pressure to advance the interests of U.S. corporations—including in areas like health care,” said Singh. “Canadians believe in care over...
Mark Carney is taking action to put money back in the pockets of Canadians and build a stronger economy. “We can’t control President Trump, but we can make it easier for Canadians to weather the storm by putting more money back in their pocket,” said Mark Carney, Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. “Our Liberal plan to make life...
Today, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre committed to meeting all of the policy recommendations from Canada’s energy sector to end dependence on the U.S. market and unleash Canada’s economy. Poilievre challenged Mark Carney to do the same and to repudiate his radical commitment to “keep it in the ground”—the same policy that gave us the Lost Liberal Decade. “We need to...
With Trump’s trade threats fuelling fear and economic uncertainty, Canadians are already bracing against a rising cost of living and a worsening climate crisis. Today, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh announced a plan to lower energy bills, create good jobs, and stop giving oil and gas CEOs a free ride.
From climate disasters to cyber threats and geopolitical instability, Canada must ensure its citizens have the tools and support needed to meet the security challenges of the 21st century. Today, the Green Party is announcing our transformative National Civil Defence Corps plan to defend a strong and independent Canada while promoting peace and emergency readiness by:
The civil war drums are now beating loudly in the Conservative Party. It kicked off last week, and was inflated by a number of stories speaking to the apparent disconnect between the Conservative campaign and where Canadians actually are—worried about United States President Donald Trump. For now, I’ll resist piling on as there are nearly four weeks to go in...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre needs to be clear with Canadians about what Charter rights he is prepared to defend, or whether he believes — as he recently suggested — that the protection of Canadians’ constitutional rights should be left to the provinces. Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Poilievre was asked whether he would intervene in a Supreme Court challenge against...
None say anything like “stay the course, big fella!”“You’ve got to get on the f-cking ballot question or you are going to lose,” Kory Teneycke, the Ontario conservative strategist bluntly said at an Empire Club event last week. (Teneycke is a veteran of the old Reform Party politics, like Poilievre’s campaign manager Jenni Byrne.)
It takes some gall for an assailant to want gratitude after he stops punching you in the face but anything goes in a general election
“This is a uniquely important election … As the Prime Minister and Team Canada work to stand up to President Trump and protect our economy, I do not want there to be distractions … That’s why I’m standing aside as our 2025 candidate in our community of Markham—Unionville.”
One of the grand traditions in federal political campaigns is that someone will always chirp: “If only they’d put me in charge, we wouldn’t be losing!” Yet winning is never easy, particularly for Conservatives. A year ago, when the CPC was riding high, many in Canada’s entrepreneurial community were relieved. The Liberal government had just increased the capital gains tax...
Liberal leader Mark Carney has undone the sizable lead that Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives held in the polls while Justin Trudeau was the still the prime minister. Carney has done this by responding to voters’ primary concerns and offering a suite of policies that have broad appeal. If voters give him what he asks for — a “strong, positive...
Mark Carney and his revitalized Liberal Party have come roaring out of the gate, opening a comfortable lead over Pierre Poilievre and a Conservative campaign that still seems to be waiting for the starter’s pistol. If the six-point edge we’re seeing in our Ipsos polling for Global News holds through to election day, Carney could be standing on the doorstep...
By now, it’s clear that the Conservative Party, once riding high on Trudeau fatigue, has bungled its commanding pre-election lead. That such a fate was avoidable only compounds the disappointment. Yet, in politics as in war, setbacks are not always fatal, provided one has the imagination – and the ruthlessness – to correct course.
For years before Donald Trump wormed his way back into the U.S. presidency, forcing the entire world, including, and perhaps especially, Canada, to refocus on his mush-brained threats, a single issue dominated Canadian politics: Housing. By the beginning of last year, just about everyone of any political stripe in this country agreed the housing market was out of control. There...
Thanks to tactful diplomacy, Canada and Greenland share a border. Thanks to increasingly an increasingly aggressive foreign policy coming out of Washington, the two countries now share an existential threat, as well. While all of Canada’s political leaders now, finally, recognize the need to take Arctic sovereignty seriously, Canada needs to immediately stand up for Greenland as it faces intimidation...
One of the biggest knocks against Justin Trudeau’s government is that it failed to get big things done. It was great at announcing ambitious plans with multibillion-dollar price tags. But when it came to actually building stuff, not so much. The list is familiar: military jets that were studied for years but never arrived; housing plans that promised a lot...
Mark Carney had a chance to define himself as a Liberal leader who is guided by values and unafraid of decisive action, and on Monday he failed spectacularly. Was it overconfidence? A lack of political skills? A refusal to bend to opposition calls? Whatever held Carney back from dumping Paul Chiang as the Liberal candidate in Markham—Unionville, it raises questions...
Speaking to reporters after a recent cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Mark Carney told the assembled media that Canada’s old relationship with the United States, “based on deepening integration of our economies and tight security and military co-operation, is over.”
Paul Chiang's comments, and Carney's defence of the candidate, are a sign that the Liberal party’s inexplicable attachment to Beijing remains intact
After 91-year-old former prime minister Jean Chrétien’s rousing speech to Liberals earlier this month, it can be easy to forget the still-formidable politician was once doubted, even dubbed “yesterday’s man.” That label prompted Chrétien to run his first campaign as Liberal leader in 1993 showcasing a team of star candidates, invoking the slogan “I have the people, I have the...
The premiers of Saskatchewan and Alberta support Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, but they're helping the campaign of Mark Carney's Liberals.
The astonishing news Friday of a polite and insult-free phone call between Trump and Mark Carney — one surprisingly, the U.S. president had asked for — has pushed the Trump roller-coaster up for the first time. It may only last hours or days, probably not weeks, but it signals that Canada’s tough retaliatory posture to Trump’s trade war is giving...
Pierre Poilievre went into this election campaign with plenty of political skills, but lacking one he needs right now — the ability to turn enemies into friends.That could be a tall order for this take-no-prisoners Conservative leader.
A few months ago, only people who were smoking the drapes would have thought a Liberal majority possible. Now, who knows? Driving into my hometown, there is a sign at the Four Corners in a farmer’s field. It reads “Mr. Trump. Don’t poke the Goose.” It’s the Canada Goose, of course. The words are directed at U.S. President Donald Trump...
Prime Minister Mark Carney will probably never be a spellbinding public speaker, at least judging by his first tentative forays. When he takes to the podium, he delivers his message with all the flair, passion, and levity of a central banker addressing a meeting of the International Metallurgy and Materials Congress. Unsurprising, given his resumé. But press conferences? He is...
In the heat of a federal election campaign, with Donald Trump once again occupying the White House and making noise and consistent threats about tariffs and even annexation of Canadian territory, patriotic fervour in Canada is on the rise. Parties are campaigning with slogans of “Canada Strong” and “Canada First”. You’d think that in such a moment of national self-reflection...
Welcome to Election 2025 and the weekly campaign edition of On The Contrary, in which Susan Delacourt and Matt Gurney will be tracking the race by focusing on the five people who have made things interesting or game-changing.
The Green Party will participate in two federal leaders' debates this month after meeting the minimum requirements to attend, organizers said Tuesday. The Leaders' Debates Commission said the party met two of the three required criteria to have its leader invited to both the French debate on April 16 and the English debate April on 17. Both debates will take...
Audio recording shows CTV cancelled an ‘election misinformation’ segment with journalist Rachel Gilmore after online backlash from conservatives.CTV has cancelled a segment on its national morning show fact-checking “election misinformation” after an online backlash from Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives and right-wing alternative media outlets targeting a prominent journalist.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has invited Quebec counterpart François Legault to form a common front for greater provincial autonomy within Canada, in a letter obtained by the National Post. “I see an opportunity before us, as the democratically elected leaders of Alberta and Quebec, to chart a path toward a new era in Canadian federalism,” writes Smith in the letter...
Quebec professors are concerned by federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s promise to target “woke ideology” in university research, describing it as a direct threat to academic freedom that echoes recent actions taken in the United States. Poilievre unveiled his Quebec platform while campaigning in the province last week. Included in the document was a pledge to “end the imposition of...
The Conservatives have dropped a second candidate in the election race, in a single day. Stefan Marquis — who was running for the Conservatives in the Montreal riding of Laurier—Sainte-Marie, held by Liberal cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault since 2019 — wrote in a post on social media that he is no longer a candidate for the party. “In a call...
Conservative leader says couples running out of time to start families due to unaffordable housing. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is facing criticism for saying too many young people can't buy affordable homes before their "biological clocks" have run out — a comment he's made in the past, but one that's igniting online pushback now as he faces more scrutiny in...
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its annual list of global trade barriers Tuesday, and it includes Quebec's controversial language law Bill 96 as a trade irritant between the two countries. The nearly 400-page National Trade Estimate Report lists in almost encyclopedic detail all of the tariff and non-tariff barriers present in countries that import U.S. goods and...
Democrats in the U.S. Senate are moving forward on a resolution to block sweeping tariffs targeting Canada as President Donald Trump presses Republican lawmakers to continue backing his trade agenda. Sen. Tim Kaine plans to force a vote on Trump's use of the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, also called IEEPA, to declare an emergency over fentanyl trafficking to hit...
"We will not forget that 36-year-old couple whose biological clock is running out faster than they can afford to buy a home and have kids," said Poilievre. Pierre Poilievre's campaign stop in New Brunswick included a talking point about millennial women that has ruffled feathers online. On Monday, the Conservative Party leader appeared in Saint John, N.B. where he discussed...
Amid annexation threats from United States President Donald Trump, Canada’s major national parties have put a spotlight on defence pledges in the early days of the election campaign, but questions loom as to whether the commitments are sufficient to match the burgeoning peril. Prime Minister Mark Carney, running for a seat in Nepean, Ont., has remarked that Canada’s sovereignty faces...
Like the grey skies above her Newmarket campaign office, Sandra Cobena’s forecast of flipping the must-win Liberal-held riding have become cloudedIt is Monday morning on the second week of the federal election campaign and for Sandra Cobena, that means it’s sign day.
When three leading New York Times columnists sound the same urgent warning at the same time, we should pay attention. Ezra Klein, Thomas Friedman, and Kevin Roose have just delivered a stark and urgent message: They believe Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—highly advanced, human-like AI—is only two or three years away.
A Conservative candidate who once voiced his support for “public hangings” – even joking that former prime minister Justin Trudeau should receive the death penalty – will no longer be running to represent the party after CTV News first obtained audio of his comments. “The comments are clearly unacceptable. Mr. McKenzie will not be the Conservative candidate,” a Conservative campaign...
The ruthless tactician behind Pierre Poilievre’s campaign has spent decades shaping Canadian conservatism from behind the scenes. This year’s election will be her greatest achievement—or her undoing.
Ripper has one message: The Pierre Poilievre we see today is the same person as the teenager he was in Calgary’s Reform Party backrooms. Mark Bourrie describes that 1990s teenager as “the political equivalent of a hockey goon,” and argues that he hasn’t adjusted his behaviour or outlook since then. However, to understand Canada’s “Trump-lite,” Bourrie argues, we need to...
It's official — the consumer carbon tax is over, starting today. Mark Carney cancelled the fee on his first day as prime minister last month, signing a directive for the fuel charge to be removed on April 1. The levy had been added to the sale price of carbon-emitting products by fuel type. For gasoline, it was 17.6 cents a...
Move comes after RCMP announced probe into comments made about Conservative candidate Joe Tay. Embattled Toronto-area Liberal candidate Paul Chiang is dropping out of the race just hours after the RCMP told CBC News it's looking into whether he broke the law by suggesting people turn a Conservative candidate running in a nearby riding into the Chinese consulate to collect...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, appearing alongside conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, told a Florida gala last week the federal Liberals’ upswing in public support can be attributed to a change in leadership. “When I was down before, we were talking about the potential for a total wipe-out of the Liberal party. That’s how unpopular they had become,” Smith said, when asked...
CBC News has obtained video of Alberta premier's onstage discussion with podcaster Ben Shapiro. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith's response to a U.S. podcaster's quips about Canada as the 51st state last week was to tell him and a conservative group's Florida donor gala that they'd regret having tens of millions of progressive Canadians voting for the U.S. president, according to...
Most Canadians support Liberal Leader Mark Carney disclosing the financial assets he’s placed in a blind trust while in office, as well as Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre obtaining security clearance to receive briefings about foreign interference, according to new data from Nanos Research.
Some shutout Conservative nomination candidates in the Greater Toronto Area, Calgary, and some British Columbia ridings say they have been unfairly denied the right to contested nominations by backroom party operatives. Some say they were led to believe that meeting fundraising targets would significantly boost their chances, but even after raising tens of thousands of dollars they were ultimately denied...
Unions on both sides of the border are calling on American senators to vote in favour of legislation to overturn U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.
Conservative leader says he won't stop criticizing the incumbent government for its 'lost Liberal decade.' Pierre Poilievre says he disagrees with calls from some supporters for him to change his election strategy amid a Liberal surge in the polls, arguing that he should not stop talking about the “lost Liberal decade.” Monday morning, he poopooed any suggestion that he should...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney promised Monday to get the federal government back into the business of home building, while Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives pitched a national energy corridor to fast-track approval of key infrastructure. The two rival party leaders touted the plans as national projects to stand up to the United States as it menaces Canada's economy with a steady stream...
Liberal Leader Mark Carney said he will not be dropping Paul Chiang from the race in Markham–Unionville, despite the candidate’s comments about handing over a Conservative candidate to Chinese authorities to collect a lucrative bounty. Carney said he was “deeply offended” by those comments and said they demonstrated a “terrible lapse of judgment,” but believes this episode amounts to a...
Our government created the Citizens’ Services portfolio in 2023 to champion service delivery excellence and to improve government efficiency. This State of Service report was drafted to communicate how we are accomplishing this mandate and to update Canadians on some of our biggest programs, including the Passport Program, the Canadian Dental Care Plan, Employment Insurance, Benefits Delivery Modernization and the...
A trio of elections Tuesday provided early warning signs to Republicans and President Donald Trump at the beginning of an ambitious term, as Democrats rallied against his efforts to slash the federal government and the outsized role being played by billionaire Elon Musk.
Judge Susan Crawford preserved liberals' narrow majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court Tuesday by defeating conservative Brad Schimel, but in a way the real loser of the election was billionaire Elon Musk.
ORMOND BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Republican state Sen. Randy Fine won a special election Tuesday to represent Florida's 6th Congressional District, defeating Democratic challenger Josh Weil and squashing efforts by national Democrats who spent millions of dollars on the race.
President Donald Trump' s administration has acknowledged mistakenly deporting a Maryland man with protected legal status to a notorious El Salvador prison last month, but is arguing against returning him to the United States because of his alleged gang ties and the U.S. government's lack of power over the Central American nation.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen strode out of a French court as the chief judge on Monday barred her from seeking public office after she was found guilty of embezzling EU funds. The judge hasn’t yet said how long Le Pen will be ineligible for running for public office -- a decision that could derail the far-right leader’s career...
A state of emergency has been declared in six regions and states in Myanmar after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake whose epicenter was near the country’s second largest city. State-run MRTV television said the military-run government’s proclamation includes the capital Naypyitaw and Mandalay, after the earthquake and a strong aftershock hit midday. Myanmar is in the midst of a civil war...
NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of major automakers slumped following President Donald Trump's announcement that he will place 25% tariffs on auto imports.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- European sales of Tesla electric vehicles tumbled 49% in the first two months of the year compared with a year earlier even as overall sales of EVs grew, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association.
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Lennon Tyler and her German fiance often took road trips to Mexico when he vacationed in the United States since it was only a day's drive from her home in Las Vegas, one of the perks of their long-distance relationship.
The United States, under President Donald Trump, has become an unreliable partner. Its longstanding allies can no longer be confident that America will respect its commitments to come to their defence or respect its economic agreements. That is particularly true for Canada. This report identifies concrete measures to mitigate Canada’s risk of depending on an ally, trading partner, and neighbour...
Stéphane Sérafin and Geoffrey Sigalet explain why Alberta's laws on gender pronouns, early age transitioning, and access to girls' and women's sports are necessary to protect children and ensure the integrity of girls’ and women’s sports.
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
The 10 men who have governed the Bank of Canada since its inception in 1934 have been taciturn types, studiously avoiding the mud-holes of public controversy. Central banks trade in trust, and must project immutability and stability.That’s why it was so unusual in 2012 to hear Mark Carney, then governor of the Bank, apologize to Canadians for screwing up.
Peter Larkin launched King’s fund with $25,000 of his own cash, deposited Sept. 22, 1925 at the Old Colony Trust Co.’s main branch in Boston, the same firm used by Salada Tea for its U.S. operations. Likely he reasoned that a foreign account would reduce the risk of discovery.
Now that the election is called, time to riff from that part of my bio that says “campaign manager” and offer up regular assessments and analysis on what I think is going on. Check this space regularly for my campaign updates. You can judge my content for its value and biases on its own. But for the record, let me...
As the Liberals ride strong, support for the NDP is collapsing. Most polls now show their support at less than 10 per cent — half of what it was just three months ago. Some data suggest they could lose three quarters of their seats in the house, and that they’re at risk of losing official party status. How did the...
Corey Hogan and Stephen Carter discuss whether the ballot question is set, if public criticisms of the Conservative campaign are sincerely well intentioned, and how Jagmeet Singh can get back into the game. Is affordability doomed to be just one bullet under a bigger issue called "Trump"? Can early public discussion about campaign challenges strengthen a campaign? And why is...
Federal Conservative Party Leader, Pierre Poilievre, was positioned for a landslide win over the federal liberals, but incomes a new rival leader, and voters seem to have no problem moving the pendulum - and fast! Recent leaks from inside the campaign paint a chaotic picture for the federal tories just one month out from when Canadians head to the polls...
