Angry in the Great White North

Apparently, Bob Rae is sick. The former Liberal Party leadership candidate, the former leader of the Ontario NDP, and the former premier of Ontario, had to take a pass at a major event taking place in Toronto today, where Bob Rae would have stood beside Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion:

I'm in Toronto at a rally for Stephane Dion. Almost all the Liberal GTA candidates are here (apparently Bob Rae is sick) and it is the first Dion rally in Toronto.

Dion brought up farmers and the wheat board to great applause - in Toronto. He also spoke about how the Tories are ignoring aboriginal Canadians. Dion is here to talk about a "richer, fairer, greener" Canada - the three pillars in digestible form.

Bob Rae might well be feeling under the weather. He's had a rough night last night.

Remember that appearance with Bill Clinton in Hamilton yesterday. What? You didn't know Bill Clinton was coming? That's OK. Apparently a lot of people didn't seem all that excited to see Bill Clinton:

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton is expected to be a sellout at Hamilton Place today.

The charismatic 42nd president and former Ontario premier Bob Rae are the stars for the Champions of Youth speaker series fundraiser for Burlington-based Transitions for Youth.

Clinton was originally scheduled to speak at Copps Coliseum. However, slow ticket sales -- at $175 to $200 each -- forced the change to the smaller venue. Ticket sales had only reached about 2,000 March 27 and the shortfall prompted Hamilton Entertainment and Convention Facilities Inc. (HECFI) to offer up Hamilton Place instead. It seats about 2,200.

The expectation was to sell 7,000 tickets for a change to see these "stars".

As it was, they couldn't fill a stadium with 2,200 seats. And that's even after they slashed ticket prices and made high school students attend:

Moved to Hamilton Place, the event that also featured former Ontario Premier Bob Rae, was attended by barely 2,000, including hundreds of high school students who got cut-rate tickets in the last week. Despite the turnout, a spokesman for Transitions for Youth called the fundraiser -- to set up an endowment fund -- a success. Estimates for Clinton's speaking fee are between $100,000 and $400,000. The agency could have raised between $220,000 and $300,000 from ticket sales.

Agency director Ellis Katsof couldn't say how much the agency had raised, but said he was pleased. "We're absolutely thrilled with the outcome," he said, before declining any further questions.

The agency might have lost money on this. I wonder how much Bob Rae charges to speak.

In any case, I hope Bob is feeling better soon. If it's stomach flu, get plenty of rest, drink fluids, and keep warm. If it's a case of the disappointment blues, well, just get back up on that horse. Stephane Dion won't appreciate it if you keep skipping out on events.