NDP contest gives away vacation for two!

So, the NDP is giving away a free trip for two to any country whose flags graced Paul Martin’s ships. To win, you just have to find a quote which shows he’s held his current views on going into Iraq, upholding the Charter of Rights, or following the Kyoto accord from before this campaign. We considered phoning the Beach Boys and asking for permission to have the song “Kokomo” playing in the background of that page, but figured they wouldn’t go for it. We had lots of fun comparing MIDI versions of the song in the office, though.

In other news, Martin was kicked out of an Edmonton union hall he’d scheduled for a rally, and there are scary allegations that the Liberals has blocked advance polls and special ballots on a University of Toronto campus in the Trinity-Spadina riding. Olivia Chow lost that seat by a very narrow margin last time, so if these ploys are successful in making fewer students vote, it could hypothetically cost her the seat again. I sense echos of the 2000 Florida election here — this isn’t nearly on that level, but it’s still pretty bad.

Meanwhile, in my own riding, CTV reports that an Elections Canada worker handed out lists of candidates to people requesting special ballots which misspelt the Bloc candidate’s name. This matters because special ballots require that you write in the name of the candidate yourself, and if you get the spelling wrong, the vote is thrown out. This riding is currently held by a Foreign Affairs minister Pettigrew, and it’s thought to be a tight race, so the Bloc got really pissed, but those voters are now being given a chance to vote again. (The Liberals are so screwed in Montreal. Yesterday, Martin held a rally in Heritage Minister Liza Frulla’s riding, to a packed crowed of … 40 people. Frulla’s probably feeling a little worried, what with having held her seat in 2004 by all of 72 votes.)