TORONTO - Interest in next month's vote on whether to change how Ontario elects its politicians -- the first referendum in Ontario since a ban on booze was the burning issue more than 80 years ago -- is picking up steam daily, the province's chief electoral officer said Wednesday.
Calls to Elections Ontario have risen from a few hundred a day last month to a few thousand, and the volume is increasing daily, John Hollins said.
"It's starting to resonate,'' Hollins said. "People are starting to understand the question.''
When they go to the polls Oct. 10, voters will also decide whether to move to a system more closely linked to the popular vote. It's the province's first referendum since 1924, when voters were asked whether to lift a provincewide ban on alcohol.
In fact, voters then were asked to weigh in on one of two questions: the first on continuing the Ontario Temperance Act, the second on whether beer and alcohol should be sold in sealed containers under government control.
A narrow majority favoured continuing the alcohol ban and rejected government-controlled sale of beer and spirits.
Prohibition finally died in Ontario in 1927.
While the 83 years between referendums means Ontario is the province that has gone the longest without one, its citizens have voted twice since 1924 in federal referendums -- one on conscription in 1942, the other on the Charlottetown Accord in 1992.
Hollins said a website devoted to the referendum question -- www.yourbigdecision.com -- has been getting 10,000 hits a day over the past four days.
Elections Ontario also plans a second mass mailout on the issue for Oct. 1 along with newspaper pullout sections and posters on voting day.
To help spread the word, 107 resource officers -- one for each riding -- will have delivered about 3,000 information sessions before voting day, Elections Ontario said.
Educating the public on the electoral reform vote, which runs in conjunction with the provincial election, is costing taxpayers about $6.8 million, with another $1.2 million being spent on administrative costs, Hollins said.
By comparison, the actual vote for legislature seats is costing about $85 million.
In all, just under 8.4 million people are eligible to cast ballots for 599 candidates running for 12 registered parties.
In 2003, when the Liberals ousted the Conservatives from office, nine parties were in the running.
The newcomers this time are the Reform Party of Ontario, the Republican Party, and the Party for People with Special Needs, Elections Ontario said.
Changes to the rules mean a group now only has to field two candidates to register, down from the previous requirement of running in more than half the ridings, said Mike Stockfish, director of election finances at Elections Ontario.
Also for the first time, party names will appear on the ballots alongside candidates' names.
