Independent candidates, 2006 Canadian federal election
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There were several independent candidates in the 2006 Canadian federal election. One independent candidate, André Arthur, was elected for the Quebec riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier.
Some independent candidates have their own biography pages. Information about others may be found here.
[edit] Manitoba
[edit] Brad Bodnar (Churchill)
Bodnar was born in September 1964. He holds a high school diploma from Margaret Barbour Collegiate Institute, has taken a residential electrical course at Keewatin Community College, and is a graduate from Vancouver Film School in computer animation. Although he has management experience, taught martial arts, and worked in various trades, he describes himself as an artist.[1]
During the 2006 election, a writer identifying himself as Brad Bodnar posted several comments to a CBC discussion board on the Churchill riding. He described his campaign as being focused on equality and accountability issues. Bodnar presently represents his community of The Pas, as a town councillor. [2] Bodnar received 146 votes (0.58%), finishing sixth against Liberal candidate Tina Keeper.
[edit] Ontario
[edit] Karl Eric Walker (Kingston and the Islands)
Walker (born February 22, 1954 in Verona, Ontario)[3] is a Civil Engineering graduate of St. Lawrence College in Kingston, and works as an inspector. He has campaigned for public office three times, and was 54 years old during the 2006 federal election (Kingston Whig-Standard, 11 January 2004).
He had previously campaigned as an independent candidate in the 1999 provincial election, in the neighbouring riding of Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington. He ran as a "non-politician" candidate, emphasized the importance of his family (KWS, 27 May 1999), and pledged to provide money for health and education following the cuts of the Mike Harris government (KWS, 6 May 1999). In 2004, he accused the Liberal government of misusing public funds (KWS, 26 June 2004) and called for the government to create more jobs in the environment sector (KWS, 22 June 2004).
After the 2004 election, an Elections Canada official revealed that Walker's nomination papers had been approved even though they were improperly filled out. He filed his forms thirty minutes before the nominations closed, and was later declared a candidate at Kingston's traditional public town meeting. Election officials did not notice the error until later (KWS, 4 January 2006).
During the 2006 campaign, he called for the federal and provincial governments to provide more relief for people on social assistance (KWS, 13 January 2006). He also criticized incumbent Liberal MP Peter Milliken, arguing that he was a good Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons but a poor representative for Kingston and area interests (KWS, 11 January 2006).
| Election | Division | Party | Votes | % | Place | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 provincial | Hastings—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington | Independent | 200 | 7/7 | Leona Dombrowsky, Liberal | |
| 2004 federal | Kingston and the Islands | Independent | 100 | 0.18 | 8/8 | Peter Milliken, Liberal |
| 2006 federal | Kingston and the Islands | Independent | 296 | 0.48 | 5/6 | Peter Milliken, Liberal |
[edit] Andrew C. Thomas (Scarborough-Guildwood)
Andrew C. Thomas was born in 4 February 1981 In the election, he received 82 votes, 0.2% of the total in his riding.
He is the first Canadian to run an open source campaign entirely at the candidate level and used a wiki for his campaign.
[edit] Yaqoob Khan (Scarborough—Rouge River)
Dr. Yaqoob Khan was born in India, and practiced medicine in Somalia, Peru and Guyana before moving to Canada. He taught in elementary schools for twenty-two years, retiring around 1990. A community activist, he is an advocate for youth and seniors' issues and a supporter of community policing.[1] He has been president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Institute of Islamic Studies for many years, and has advised the federal and provincial governments on race relations.
He helped organize a 1984 meeting of Muslim and Sikh groups in Toronto to protest the policies of Indira Gandhi's government in India.[2] Khan was quick to condemn the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, describing them as "a tragedy that has no parallel" and saying "I can't imagine anyone this merciless".[3]
Khan has campaigned several times for municipal office in Toronto.[4] The 2006 election was his first federal campaign. His slogan was, "It's not about being different, it's about making a difference".[5]
Khan is currently seeking election for Toronto's 28th council ward in the 2006 municipal election.
| Election | Division | Party | Votes | % | Place | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 municipal | Metro Toronto Council, Scarborough-Malvern | n/a | 1,473 | 3/5 | Robert Sanders | |
| 1990 municipal by-election | Toronto Board of Education, Ward Four | n/a | not listed | not listed | Fiona Chapman | |
| 1991 municipal | Metro Toronto Council, High Park | n/a | 1,544 | 6.62 | 3/3 | Derwyn Shea |
| 1994 municipal | Metro Toronto Council, Scarborough-Malvern | n/a | 1,807 | 3/3 | Raymond Cho | |
| 2000 municipal | Toronto Board of Education, Ward Seven | n/a | 1,415 | 3/4 | Irene Atkinson | |
| 2003 municipal | Toronto Board of Education, Ward Twenty-One | n/a | 4,938 | 2/3 | Noah Ng | |
| 2006 federal | Scarborough—Rouge River | Independent | 467 | 5/6 | Derek Lee, Liberal |
The 1991 results are taken from a Toronto Star newspaper report on November 13, 1991, with 192 of 196 polls reporting.
[edit] Trevor Sutton (Scarborough Southwest)
Sutton was born on February 11, 1972 in Toronto. He has a high school diploma, and listed himself as a hotel worker.[4] It is not clear what ideology he represented in the campaign. He received 147 votes (0.35%), finishing fifth against Liberal incumbent Tom Wappel.
[edit] J. David Popescu (Sudbury)
Popescu received 54 votes (0.11%), finishing eighth against Liberal incumbent Diane Marleau.
[edit] Michael Wisniewski (Wellington—Halton Hills)
Wisniewski (born September 10, 1984), nicknamed "The Wizard", was twenty-one years old at the time of the election. He had graduated from high school the year before and worked part-time at a local Zehrs supermarket.
Although his personal views are close to that of Libertarianism, Wisniewski claimed to have no platform, but rather felt that a Member of Parliament should represent the citizens directly. He proposed the idea that, should he be elected, he would hold regular town meetings to discuss issues concerning the community. He believes the party system should be secondary to representative democracy, and rigorously promoted a higher voter turnout.
Wisniewski received 355 votes (0.64%), finishing sixth against incumbent Conservative candidate Michael Chong.
Later in 2006, Mike ran for the position of town councillor in the Township of Centre Wellington's Ward 1. He finished third behind former councillor Shawn Watters and Liberal party insider Ed Smith.
Links:
- The Wizard's wheel appeal - Guelph Mercury article
- Courting voters in Wellington-Halton Hills - Mike Wisniewski - Guelph Mercury article
[edit] Habib Zaidi (Windsor West)
Zaidi (born November 1956 in Lahore, Pakistan) is a businessman in the trucking industry.[5] According to an interview with Alex Vernon of the Campaign Life Coalition, he is a longtime Liberal who campaigned as an independent to protest the party's support for same-sex marriage. He is also pro-life.[6] He received 224 votes (0.47%), finishing sixth against New Democratic Party incumbent Brian Masse.
[edit] Axcel Cocon (York West)
Cocon was born on January 17, 1951 in Guatemala. According to his campaign biography, he worked as a journalist, practiced law after receiving a degree from the Universidad de San Carlos, and was a diplomatic ambassador to the United Nations.[6] He says he was forced to leave Guatemala after writing a story critical of the army. Cocon is a founding member of the Latin American Fraternity in Windsor, and a Board Member of the Centre for Spanish Speaking People in Toronto.[7]
Cocon ran for Mayor of Toronto in 2003, calling for an ombudsman to settle disputes involving voters and the municipal bureaucracy.[8] He was a last-minute entry to the 2006 federal election,[9] and stormed out of a debate at York University after a disagreement with the moderator.[10]
He applied for a temporary appointment to Toronto's 30th and 35th Council Wards on separate occasions in 2006, following the resignation of the previous office-holders. The vacancies were filled via a vote of city councillors. Cocon did not receive any votes on either occasion.[11] He ran for the same seat in the 2006 municipal elections, and finished last in a field of thirteen candidates. He repeated his call for a municipal ombudsman, and urged the city to provide free transportation and lunches for students.[12]
| Election | Division | Party | Votes | % | Place | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 municipal | Mayor of Toronto | n/a | 498 | 0.07 | 27/44 | David Miller |
| 2006 federal | York West | Independent | 192 | 5/5 | Judy Sgro, Ontario | |
| 2006 municipal | Toronto City Council, Ward 35 | n/a | 30 | 13/13 | Adrian Heaps |
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ Susan Reid, "10 candidates seeking 2 vacant trustee seats", Toronto Star, 27 November 1990, A4; Jane Armstrong, "[The winding, tree-lined avenues of Swansea may seem worlds away ...]", Toronto Star, 21 October 1991, A7.
- ^ Drew Fagan, "Sikhs, Moslems join in Toronto protest over Indian strife", Globe and Mail, 18 June 1984, M2.
- ^ Hamida Ghafour, "Muslims in North America put on alert --- Beware of hate-mongers, groups advise", Toronto Star, 12 September 2001, B6.
- ^ Khan became involved in an unusual controversy in 2000, when one of his campaign leaflets was shown to have been copied from the campaign of Pauline Ling, a candidate in another riding. Khan explained that one of his assistants had made the copied text, and acknowledged that its distribution was an error in judgement. see Kristin Rushowy, "Candidate's campaign literature copied", Toronto Star, 17 October 1990, p. 1.
- ^ Yaqoob Khan: Election 2006 website, accessed 25 October 2006.
- ^ Election 2006: Local candidate profiles, The Excalibur, 18 January 2006, accessed 18 November 2006.
- ^ York West: Riding Profile, Canada Votes 2006, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation], accessed 18 November 2006.
- ^ Brian Borzykowski and James Cowan, "They would be king", National Post, 4 October 2003, TO11.
- ^ Jim Wilkes and John Goddard, "Voters like novelty of casting ballot on holiday", Toronto Star, 3 January 2006, B4.
- ^ Gail Swainson, "Few students or candidates at debate", Toronto Star, 18 January 2006, B3.
- ^ Minutes of a Special Meeting of the Council of the City of Toronto, 26 March 2003, accessed 22 November 2003; Minutes of a Special Meeting of the Council of the City of Toronto, City of Toronto, 25 July 2006, accessed 18 November 2006.
- ^ "Toronto council", Toronto Star, 9 November 2006, G4.
