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LETTER: Candidate explains polling station appearance

I am writing this letter to set the record straight regarding my attendance at Bight this past Monday during the advance poll held by the SHIFT group (Thunder Bay’s Young Professionals Network) adjacent to the restaurant and bar.

I am writing this letter to set the record straight regarding my attendance at   Bight this past Monday during the advance poll held by the SHIFT group (Thunder Bay’s Young Professionals Network) adjacent to the restaurant and bar.  Candidates are asked to attend the polls as scrutineer to ensure the voting tabulators are set to zero, and I had gone there with this intention.  However voting had already begun by the time I arrived. I entered the building through the restaurant entrance on the other side of the polling area which was cordoned off by a curtain and not visible to the restaurant and bar patrons.

While waiting for my wife to join me for dinner, in the waiting area of the restaurant and bar, I was chatting with some of the members of SHIFT.  When the discussion turned to the Event Centre, I was immediately accused of campaigning and was told that I was not allowed in the building as it was a polling station.  I continued to wait for my wife in the waiting area when Mr. Hannam arrived a few minutes later, and ordered me to leave the building, accusing me of campaigning in a poll.  I explained that I hadn’t spoken with any voters in the polling area, yet he insisted that I leave.  To avoid a scene, I left the building.

Who gives Mr. Hannam, the city clerk, the right to remove a patron from a private restaurant and bar, in a public park?    This episode was an embarrassment to me as it received media coverage almost immediately.  I spoke with Mr. Hannam the next day and once again explained to him what had happened.  Mr. Hannam admitted that he received his information from a SHIFT member, and had not witnessed it himself.

In closing, I question the expense and rationale of providing an advanced polling station for a projected voter turnout of 40 voters as was anticipated. I also feel that this waterfront venue where a restaurant bar is separated from the polling station by a curtain, was completely inappropriate

Frank Armiento
Northwood Ward candidate





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