'It's an honour,' Staff at polling stations in Simcoe County riding are ready for voters
The federal campaign is at the halfway point, and all the pieces appear to be falling into place for voters and election workers in the riding of Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte.
"We are busy because there's so much behind the scenes," returning officer Maura Bolger said.
Bolger secured accessible spaces for voters and hired staff to make the democracy machine run for nearly 20 years.
She credits her former job as a school board trustee for helping her anticipate what could have been a curveball.
On Wednesday, CTV News learned that the Simcoe County District School Board and Simcoe Muskoka Catholic District School Board had told Elections Canada its schools would not be available to use as polling stations.
"When the school boards were saying, 'We don't know,' I started to look for alternate locations, so I wasn't caught at the last minute," Bolger said.
She noted all voting locations had been booked for next weekend's advance polls.
A little over half of the 700 staff members required for Election Day have been hired; a benchmark Bolger said is in line with this point in the run-up to previous elections.
While some would-be election staff have decided to stay on the sidelines over COVID-19 concerns, Bolger said they aren't in big enough numbers to put staffing in jeopardy.
Bob George didn't give a second thought to returning to the job he's been doing for decades.
"It's my duty. It's an honour, and it's a privilege," George said.
For him, working in elections is a way to continue to give back after a career of service.
"I joined the army to preserve the beauty of this country and its democratic system," George said. "Then when I got posted overseas and saw other countries, I just see how blessed we are to have the country and the system we have. Some will say it isn't perfect, but boy, it's so much better than a lot of them. So I'm very proud to be part of that procedure," he added.
As a fully vaccinated resident, George feels the polling station will be safe for staff and voters.
The number of people sitting together has been reduced to respect physical distancing. Additionally, hand sanitizers and one-use pencils will be made available.
This spring, Elections Canada projected as many as a 3-million people might choose to vote by mail in a pandemic election.
By Thursday, 389,690 Canadians had registered to vote by mail ahead of the Sept. 14 deadline, compared to the roughly 50,000 people who dropped their ballot into a mailbox for the 2019 federal vote.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.