PDP #12: Never Give Up, Never Surrender

I can't help but wonder why the Conservative Party of Canada even bothers to run candidates in Toronto ridings anymore. Back in the heyday of the Progressive Conservative Party things were, of course, different, but that was before Brian Mulroney charged through the political landscape like a one-man Mongol horde. Sure, Stephen Harper's new Conservatives have got the keys to the House of Commons again after a thirteen-year wilderness walk, but south of Steeles they're every bit as relevant as the Bloc Quebecois.

In my riding, Trinity—Spadina, I saw a grand total of two Conservative campaign signs; one of them affixed to a rusting railway bridge spanning Avenue Road, and the other actually representing a candidate in the adjacent riding of Parkdale—High Park. It wasn't until four days after the election, when I was beating feet on Markham Road in Scarborough, that I found a political display that just didn't want to give up.

There are never any prizes for second place in politics. In Scarborough—Rouge River, where this photo was taken, Conservative candidate Jerry Bance won second place by a margin of 14,556 votes. It looks like someone was really hoping things would be the other way around.


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