Volpe's loss chalked up to national trend
[attach]4317[/attach]Joe Volpe, Eglinton–Lawrence’s 23-year Liberal incumbent, found himself swept away by Joe Oliver in the blue tide during May’s federal election.
The loss was Volpe’s first since he ran provincially in the riding of Downsview in 1981.
The news that he had lost his seat came to the dismay of his former provincial counterpart Liberal MPP Mike Colle.
“I was disappointed that longstanding member, Joe Volpe, was defeated,” Colle said. “He certainly served the community with a lot of integrity.”
The longtime MP had won seven consecutive elections finishing with an average of 57 percent of the vote over that span. His narrowest victory occurred in 2008 when he finished only 2,000 votes ahead of the Conservative’s Oliver.
In this past election, Oliver won the battle of the Joes by 4,000 votes.
Colle said he believes Volpe’s defeat was not due to the voters’ dislike of Volpe or of the Liberal Party but of it’s former leader, Michael Ignatieff.
[attach]4318[/attach]“I don’t think people liked the leader of the Liberal Party,” Colle said. “They certainly didn’t warm up to him.
“It was more of a leadership thing.”
According to Colle, Volpe fell victim to a nationwide trend — a trend that he hopes does not repeat itself on the provincial level. He also mentioned that Ontarians often select a provincial government that differs from the party in power on the federal level.
“That’s the history of Ontario,” he said. “When there’s a majority government of one stripe in Ottawa they like to have a counterbalance with a different party in Ontario as opposed to Ottawa.”
Following the devastating blow dealt to his party on election night, Volpe has remained elusive. He did not speak to media at his campaign party after the results came in and has refused to speak to the Town Crier following the election.