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Joe Oliver Attends Toronto Blue Jays Game, Team Loses, #JaysCurse Continues

Gah!

Four strikes? They're out.

The NDP has criticized federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver for avoiding public appearances before the federal election campaign. But Oliver, who is running for re-election, surfaced at a Toronto Blue Jays home game on Saturday — in spite of the "Jays curse."

Earlier this month, Canada's three main party leaders formed a pact to stop attending Blue Jays games after the team lost each time one of them was in the crowd.

But the stigma of these losses was not enough to keep Oliver away from the Rogers Centre — and as a result, the Jays fell to the Red Sox 7-6.

Canada's only Major League Baseball team now has an 0-4 record at games attended by party leaders or federal ministers in August and September.

Oliver quickly laughed off the loss on social media, and noted the Jays remained in playoff contention in spite of his presence.

According to a tweet from Toronto Star columnist Susan Delacourt, Oliver was seated next to Postmedia Inc. president and former Blue Jays CEO Paul Godfrey.

Before the game started, Godfrey was photographed introducing Oliver to Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, much like Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau did back in September in a similar encounter.

NDP candidate Andrew Thomson, who is running against Oliver in Eglinton-Lawrence, has described his political opponent "missing in action."

Still, Oliver's appearance as a Jays spectator was not lost on federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair. When The Telegram reporter James McLeod told Mulcair of Oliver's attendance, he replied:

Do you believe in the "Jays curse"?

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