Referendum turnout "incredible," coalition says

Health coalition members count the ballots. Photo by Phil Novak, BayToday.ca.

Voter turnout for today's hospital referendum has been "incredible," says Mickey King, who heads the North Bay Health Coalition.

The referendum questions asks North Bay and area residents to answer 'yes' or 'no' to hte ballot statement ‘I support a North Bay and district hospital that is 100 per cent publicly funded, non profit and publicly run.”

"I have so many people counting the ballots now because voter turnout was incredible," King said from the coalition's Main Street office.

"We did what we needed to do to inform the public about this and to bring them out."

Last weekend the coalition distributed thousands of leaflets around the city publicizing the referendum and what consequences would result if the new hospital was built as a private-public partnership.

Ballot boxes were set up around North Bay, and now the counting has started.

The coalition will hold a news conference Monday morning to announce the results of the balloting, King said.

Those numbers will then be passed along to Nipissing MPP Monique Smith and Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty.

"We think will be able to give them enough eviden that we do not want our new hospital to be a p-3 hospital," King said, "and given them enough evidence that the concerns of North Bay and area citizens should be taken seriously."