You've got until 7 tonight to cast your ballot for Saturday's municipal election from home. So far only about 50,000 voters have taken advantage of the ability to vote online or by phone, only about 17% of eligible voters. That's somewhat worriesome. I would have expected a much higher number. The question to be answered with the results Saturday is whether the 17% are folks who'd vote anyway or whether the ability to vote early has attracted new voters. I suspect the former and fear there could be another low turnout this weekend. I hope I'm wrong and I encourage everyone to vote online today or get out and vote Saturday.
You can listen to the results Saturday evening when I host an election show starting at 7. Mayor Peter Kelly and Councillor Jerry Blumenthal will join us in the studio. It should make for some interesting conversation along with the election's outcome.
It was good to see the big turnout last evening for the annual March Against Violence in north end Dartmouth. The march has been held to honour murder victim Jason MacCullough each year since his death 13 years ago. Hundreds turned out again last evening and walked to Jason MacCullough Memorial Park where the 19 year old was gunned down. His case remains unsolved. Police know there were others in the park that late night and Jason may have stumbled across a drug deal as he made his way home. Investigators even have a good idea of who was there, but a lack of evidence has prevented any arrests. Any help would certainly be appreciated and bring justice to the MacCullough family.
South end Halifax resident Bradley Langille spoke to CTV's supper hour news last night about his experience with crime. Earlier this week a masked gunman walked into his Northwest Arm mansion in an attempted kidnapping. Langille managed to scare off the intruder and he says his family's okay, but the incident was upsetting especially since he and his wife have two young kids. His $4 million property does have security cameras and police are going over the video. They don't think it was a random crime. Langille made his fortune in mining and heads up Gammon Gold.
The Ecology Action Centre says retailers in the city are getting worse, not better when it comes to selling pesticides. The environmental group has done a random survey of stores and says many still aren't following provincial and city laws banning their sale. I'm not sure what the problem here is. The provincial and municipal governments, after much debate, decided laws were necessary to protect the environment. If the retailers can't obey the laws, then a crackdown is called for.
Have a great day. Get involved. And if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention.
Rick Howe
