Were we right? We certainly weren't wrong

By Pepper Parr

September 27th, 2021

BURLINGTON, ON

There was a headline on a story that we published that gave the Conservatives in the city some indigestion

We wrote:

Karina Gould rallying her troops in the days leading up to the election

Karina Gould keeps the Burlington seat; Emily Brown was never able to attract the Conservative vote

Newspaper headlines can be misunderstood, especially if you don’t like what you think they said.

Emily Brown

When we said Brown was not able to attract the Conservative vote we were referring to the number of people who had voted Conservative in the past who did not appear to show up in 2021.

Conservatives votes in the past were substantially more than the number that showed up in this election.

The Liberal vote – held at basically the same number in other elections.

We thought there was something about Emily Brown the Conservative vote just wasn’t buying.

In 2006 Wallace got 28,030; Liberal Paddy Torsney got 21,656

In 2008 Wallace got 28614; Liberal Paddy Torsney got 19,57721,656

In 2011 Wallace got 32,958; Liberal Brierley got 14,154

In 2015 Mike Wallace got 29,870 votes; Gould got 32,229Head

In 2019 Jane Michael got 23,467; Gould got 34,217

In 2021 Emily Brown got 25,842; Gould got 31,602

There was that 25 to 30 thousand range that the Tories held year after year.

Karina Gould came along and moved beyond the 30,000 level but the Tories didn’t move with her.

There was a solid Wallace vote. Jane Michael should never have been a candidate; the Burlington Conservatives saw through her and didn’t show up.

The point we were making is that the strong Wallace vote just wasn’t there for Emily Brown this time around.

The Liberal vote held for Gould – even though Justin Trudeau had called a vote the country didn’t need – her vote count improved.  Gould clearly has captured the hearts of Burlingtonians.

Does that once vibrant Conservative vote still exist?  Of that no one can be certain.

The piece we published.