Democracy at Work
Tonight is a momentous night. City politics worked as they should, and the incumbent City of Ottawa Mayor, Bob Chiarelli, was voted out of the position he was getting far too comfortable in.

In an amazing twist, Larry O'Brien, the guy who was trailing behind Alex Munter in the polls, ended up winning with an astounding 47% of the vote. Munter got 36%, and Chiarelli got a wonderfully low 15%.

The other amazing factor is that these numbers are really representative of the population. Whereas the 2003 election only got 32% voter turnout, tonight's voter turnout was about 55%. Wow! That has to be the highest voter turnout I have ever seen!

Well, I'm quite excited that my guy got in. In a sub-million city which employs over 25,000 employees, with an average salary of over $70,000 per year, I'm excited when he says he will run the city as a business. I want half of that staff gone. I also hope he manages to do something about the one billion dollar monstrosity that the light rail project has turned into. Efficiency is key.

Also, Larry O'Brien looks like Darth Vader without his helmet.