Election night eve

The Iqaluit municipal election is tomorrow. And the great "come and use my blog to promote yourself" idea was pretty much a bomb, with only one candidate taking advantage of it. On the upside, I'm going to vote for him. At least he took some time to try and woo my vote, which is more than can be said of most of the candidates.

I guess I'm spoiled by the near bloodbath that happens with every municipal election, where between signs, fliers and people knocking on the door there's a near desperate mania to try and win your vote. Big surprise, up here things are a bit more laid back up here. Still, I can't help but feel there's a little something to be considered in how hard someone campaigns to be on council and how hard they're going to work once they get there. Hell, only 14 of them showed up a forum last week, although I understand it was so poorly organized some of the candidates heard about it for the first time when they heard the ad for it on the radio the day of the event.

So do I know who I'm going to vote for? Sure. I'm not going to say who they are, but three or four candidates come to mind. However, as I understand it, I can vote for seven. That's not going to happen. Simply put, of the 21 people running for councillor, there aren't seven I can find that I think campaigned hard enough or did enough to try and woo my vote. Just because I can vote for seven doesn't mean I have to vote for seven of them. At most four will be getting my vote.

As for the mayor's race, I thought that was pretty straight forward. Between Elisapee Sheutiapik and Jim Little I thought Sheutiapik was a lock. But Little has run a more aggressive campaign and has put out more information on what he would do as mayor. We'll see how it goes, but I think what was once going to be a blowout might be closer than some people think. Of course, as always with these things, it depends on voter turnout. Here's hoping it's not something pathetic like 30 per cent.

Polls are open on Monday from 10am to 7pm and people can vote at Cadet Hall and Abe Okpik Hall.

Last Five
1. You can't do that - The Beatles
2. Pine, pine, pine - Joel Plaskett
3. Good ship Venus - Loudon Wainwright III (the filthiest song ever, I might add)*
4. Why do they leave - Ryan Adams
5. Know your rights (live) - The Clash