Former TV star not counting on by-election success

Three ridings up for grabs in today's vote
KAREN HOWLETT
The Globe and Mail

TORONTO -- As Ben Chin strolls by the fruit and vegetable stands along Toronto's Gerrard Street East for some last-minute campaigning before today's provincial by-election, a passerby shouts, "Hi Ben, I like you!"

Mr. Chin, 42, is instantly recognizable from his days as a popular television journalist. But his celebrity likely won't be enough for the Liberal candidate to win over voters in the Toronto-Danforth riding, a New Democratic Party bastion for more than four decades.

"I know we're not going to significantly dent them," Mr. Chin conceded in an interview yesterday. "They're a force."

Toronto-Danforth, in the east end of the city, is one of three sites for provincial by-elections being held today to fill seats vacated by members who made the jump to federal politics. Marilyn Churley, an enormously popular MPP who represented Toronto-Danforth for 15 years, pursued an ultimately unsuccessful bid for a federal seat in January.

In the other two ridings -- Whitby-Ajax in the so-called 905 region and Nepean-Carlton in suburban Ottawa -- their former members are now part of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet. Both ridings are Tory strongholds.

Jim Flaherty, now federal Finance Minister, held the riding of Whitby-Ajax since 1995 and won 48 per cent of the votes in the last provincial election in 2003.

John Baird, now Treasury Board President, won the riding of Nepean-Carlton in the past three provincial elections. He won 54 per cent of the votes in 2003.

Premier Dalton McGuinty acknowledged yesterday that the Liberals have little chance of nabbing any of the seats. He said the last time a sitting government won a by-election was 20 years ago.

"It's always a challenge in government to win by-elections," he told reporters. But, he added, "We'll give it our very best shot."

As things now stand, the Liberals have a solid majority, with 71 of the 103 seats in the legislature. The Tories hold 22, the New Democrats seven, and three are vacant.

The Tories and New Democrats have done their utmost to turn the by-elections into a referendum on the McGuinty government.

In Toronto-Danforth, an economically mixed and heavily ethnic riding, Peter Tabuns, a former Toronto councillor and environmental activist, is running for the New Democrats. He said in an interview yesterday that the big issues for voters are a proposed power plant, which both the Tories and NDP oppose, and property taxes.

A huge increase in property taxes has been especially hard on the riding's working-class residents, Mr. Tabuns said. "That's made people extremely angry."

In Whitby-Ajax, Tory candidate Christine Elliott, a lawyer and the wife of Mr. Flaherty, criticized the McGuinty government for ignoring her region in the recent provincial budget, which earmarked $1.2-billion for public transit, roads and bridges.

"The 2006 budget continues Dalton McGuinty's trend of not giving this riding its fair share," Ms. Elliott said.

As for Mr. Chin, he will not talk about his plans after today except to say, "I'm not going away." He spent 16 years as a television journalist before being recruited by the Liberals to run as a rookie candidate.

As the son of a prominent South Korean diplomat, Mr. Chin said, he has first-hand experience with how everything can end "in the blink of an eye."

He said his father's career "went off the rails" when he raised the ire of former military dictator Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea during the 1960s and 1970s, by suggesting he release some prisoners.

His father was accused of being a Communist and placed under house arrest in South Korea.