{"id":1470,"date":"2007-08-08T19:31:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-08T23:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/?p=1470"},"modified":"2007-08-08T19:31:00","modified_gmt":"2007-08-08T23:31:00","slug":"in-search-of-the-gang-of-eight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.calgarygrit.ca\/?p=1470","title":{"rendered":"In Search of the Gang of Eight"},"content":{"rendered":"

UPDATE:<\/span><\/span> With the poll closed, the high Maritime seeds have fallen. Levesque squeaked out a narrow 51-49% win, while Wacky Bennett topped<\/span> Alex Campbell. The next battle will be posted tomorrow afternoon.<\/p>\n

Voting is now open for the Best Premier quarter-finals. Since not all of these men are household names outside of their own provinces, I’m going to break the first round into four votes, so that I can post a bit of info on all the matchups<\/span>. (The full field can be seen here)<\/p>\n

The first two matchups<\/span> are listed below. Voting closes Thursday at 7 pm Mountain time.<\/p>\n

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\"\"Rene Levesque <\/a>(16) vs. Angus MacDonald <\/a>(1) <\/div>\n

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\"\"<\/a> Levesque<\/strong> <\/div>\n
Quebec (1976-1985)<\/em><\/div>\n
Career Highlights: <\/strong>Drew headlines around the world with the PQ’s<\/span> victory in 1976 and is best remember for going uno<\/span>-a-uno<\/span> with Trudeau during the 1980 referendum. Despite this, he does have a strong domestic accomplishment record with campaign finance reform, Hydro-Quebec expansion, and increased social service delivery. Oh, and he killed a homeless man while driving drunk.<\/div>\n

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Angus MacDonald <\/strong><\/div>\n
Nova Scotia<\/span> (1933-40, 45-54)<\/em><\/div>\n
Career Highlights: <\/strong>Took office during the great depression and, if the good people at wikipedia<\/span> are to be believed, brought in unemployment relief, old age pensions, collective bargaining, and massive infrastructure projects. After a brief stint in MacKenzie<\/span> King’s Cabinet, MacDonald returned to Nova Scotia<\/span> where he created the first Department of Education and build several key bridges. <\/div>\n

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Betting Line:<\/strong> Levesque was the great villain for many in English Canada during his career, so expect top seeded, but little known, MacDonald to cruise to a win in this one. <\/div>\n
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