Bernie's Booster

Andrew Cohen, a professor of journalism at Ottawa's Carelton University and a lefty of the first order, thinks Bernie Farber's election chances are looking good:

Farber was the chief executive officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress, one of the country's venerable institutions. The son of a Holocaust survivor, Farber is a passionate voice on Jewish issues, as well as an expert on hate crime and an advocate of human rights, race relations and building bridges between communities.

Thornhill has the highest percentage of Jewish voters in Canada, where people have to be reminded that foreign policy - read Israel - is not a provincial matter. It is also home to a mix of Chinese, Indians, Koreans and Iranians.

It has been held since 2007 by Conservative Peter Shurman, a co-religionist.

The race is getting nasty; Farber's signs have been stolen and a defamatory leaflet distorting his views has been distributed. But polls show the contest is now a dead heat, and the energetic Farber has won key endorsements. He may well join Denley and Ross as the underdogs who made it to Queen's Park in 2011.

I haven't seen the defamatory leaflet, so I have no way of knowing if it did indeed "distort" his views. I can't really see the point of doing so when presenting his views sans distortion should be enough to dissuade the good people of Thornhill from voting for him.