He’s several hundred miles from home, but for Victoria’s Ted Musson, the journey is just beginning — the 71-year-old is walking across Canada in protest of the 2011 federal election fraud, including the robocall scandal, in which voters received automated calls to dissuade from casting ballots by falsely telling them that the location of their polling stations had changed.
“They were targeting my peers — the elderly and so forth — people who couldn’t just turn on a dime and reassess their day,” he said on Monday, while spending a few days in Creston.
Musson started his cross-country walk on May 19, taking his time as he travels, held back by arthritis and constant doubling back and forth to his camper — he parks and walks a few kilometres, then drives ahead and repeats the process.
“I’m a one-trick pony,” he said.
He’s enjoyed the chance to see parts of B.C. he has never seen before. Musson thought Nelson was beautiful, and has been thrilled with the friendliness and generosity of people in the Creston Valley. When he stopped his camper about seven kilometres north of Creston, a resident came by and — after making sure Musson wasn’t going to empty his septic tank on the side of the road — brought him fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and corn.
Born in Toronto, Musson has lived in Victoria since 2000, after spending 22 years in Vancouver, and he’s seen his fair share of questionable governments, but this one is different.
“This one is the first one, as far as I’m concerned, that is an illegal government,” he said. “My understanding is that Stephen Harper is the only person on the planet who can revisit 2011. He’s not going to.”
An avid baseball fan, he found himself enjoying games less after news of the scandal broke.
“If I was sitting watching the Blue Jays getting their butts kicked or sitting in my little studio, I was sitting there getting angry,” he said.
So, the former musician left his four-by-seven-by-eight-foot music studio, and his government subsidized apartment for a trip that would help him get his view across to all Canadians, and hopefully encourage them to take a closer looks at the country’s political issues.
“They’ll see a crazy old man walking down the highway, at least a third of the time limping — my knees are terribly arthritic,” he said. “Maybe they’ll take a closer look. I’m hoping any attention I get will have people looking beyond this.”
To follow Musson’s journey, visit his blog at electionfraud2011.wordpress.com.