The Globe and Mail’s John Ibbitson visits my old high school:

Mr. Croswell is one of a half-dozen 18-year-olds graduating this year from Orillia District Collegiate and Vocational Institute who have agreed to talk about the federal election and what it means to them. As it turns out, it means nothing to them. What does any federal politician have to say to an 18-year-old whose urgent priority is to get a diploma and get out of this troubled city?

Orillia is 140 kilometres north of downtown Toronto, and that is important because 140 km is too far: Orillia is outside the swelling sprawl of the so-called 905 area (named after its area code) and the commuter havens that surround it. In a generation, its population has crawled to 30,000 from 24,000. If the nearby casino and the headquarters of the Ontario Provincial Police weren’t there, things would be much worse.

Everyone expects the hospital for the mentally handicapped to close sooner or later, the farming economy is in decline, and manufacturing is so small scale that the Boston Pizza outlet is one of the city’s larger private-sector employers.

Politically, however, Orillia is one of the more interesting cities in Canada. It dominates the riding of Simcoe North. Paul DeVillers, a popular local Liberal MP, is stepping down, leaving a constituency with historically strong Conservative roots ripe for the picking. Bill Stanton, a local resort owner, has been running hard for the Tories for months, and many of the locals favour him to win.

But Mr. Stanton hasn’t been seen outside Orillia District Collegiate, and neither have any other candidates.

No one is giving any thought to the O.D. vote, which is fine because no one at O.D. is giving any thought to them.

It’s been more than 25 years since I graduated from ODCVI and moved away. Nothing’s changed.