Politico Interview - NDP's Bobbi Stewart

Continuing on with the Politico's series of Candidate Interviews, we move to our next contestant: Bobbi Stewart of the NDP. I met Stewart at her campaign office on Wyndham (its that underpass strip past the post office where Cafe Aquarius used to be). She seemed a little nervous about her first sit-down interview of the campaign, but was perfectly pleasant as she showed me the brightly lit office area currently manned by her campaign manager/husband Cameron Adams, and my old Script Analysis Prof., Harry Lane.

One thing about Stewart I recognized before our interview is that she's definitely got NDP credentials. Her entire career has been spent in the social justice field as she's assisted new immigrants, at-risk youth, families and seniors. Stewart credits her upbringing in Niagara Falls, and days in her father's corner store, for her beliefs in the causes of social justice and the ideals of the NDP.

“I always tell people that this is where I believe I got my start in community development," she says. "Everybody would come into the store and tell my dad their stories. He would give them store credit, he’d deliver to seniors all sorts of great things. There was a Dominion store up the street, but people liked coming to this small store and get that kind of service."

Stewart came to Guelph in the 70s as part of the first class taking a B.A. in Music at the University of Guelph. Although she enjoyed volunteering with local music festivals, it was in helping those less fortunate that Stewart found true fulfillment, and later she returned to school to get her Masters of Social Work. Between working for such organizations as The Centre for Employable Workers and Working for Work in Kitchener, St. Luke’s Place in Cambridge and the Victoria Order of Nurses in Guelph and Wellington County, and volunteering for groups like Guelph Youth Singers, Onward Willow, the Cancer Society, and the YM-YWCA, Stewart served as riding president of the Guelph NDP.

After the last election, Stewart was prepared to take some time off from politicking and take some time with her now expanded family: her new husband Adams, his two children and her three. So how did she end up getting pulled back in after she thought she was out, as they say. "I was asked," she whispers to me in a laugh.

“I had taking a little break to regroup and settle in with the children and I was having coffee with my dear friend David Josephy who was on the selection committee," she recalls. "I remember the exact day, it was December 2nd, 2009, and at the very end as we were just about to say goodbye and he said, ‘So, Bobbi, I would be remise if I didn’t ask you to seek the federal nomination.’"

Much to her surprise, Stewart discovered that it was a good time for her to make a run for office, a move she said she had always planned on making, just maybe down the road after she retired. But in the spirit of there's no time like the present, Stewart has put her name forward, and here we sit, amongst the orange and green glow of the NDP signs that are a quasi-wall paper on this temporary office space, talking about our individual university experiences learning from Harry Lane.

“What I’ve really enjoyed is that I’ve made an effort to get out to community events and learn,” Stewart says of the campaign so far. She says that she's gone to numerous talks, round tables and townhalls, since becoming the NDP candidate last year and that she's gotten some exposure and learned from the numerous people she's encountered. On going to the polls now, she says it was now or never. “It’s been a steady gear up and frankly it would have been a bit of a let down if we hadn’t go now, because I don’t think we would have had this for another year.”

On the issues, Stewart says that the government should be spending less money on "building big jails and fighter jets" and more on people who need help. She would like to see Parliament to continue to develop and implement a poverty elimination strategy, as well as see more federal money go to affordable housing, while keeping the environment front and centre, as healthcare is the next big issue waiting to be tackled.

On the economy the NDP proposes a cutback in credit card interest to five per cent plus prime, a revision of the Canada Pension Plan, looking again at affordable, national daycare, and helping small business through accelerated capital cost allowances. “So rather than give the corporations big tax cuts, the tax cuts we propose will save $2 billion," says Stewart. "People ask, ‘So where’s the money going to come from?’ and that’s certainly one place.”

But before the NDP can deliver on their promises, they have to fight voter apathy and voter disinterest in what many perceive as an unnecessary election. Stewart says that she hears arguments against an election every day on the campaign trail: why can’t you leave it alone, the government’s fine, the economy’s fine, I don’t trust politicians. Even outside her own campaign office.

“I had a big conversation with a young fellow just outside here the other day, and it was neat because I got somewhere with him and cut down on the cynicism just a little bit,” she says.

Probe further though, and Stewart has no problem saying why she wanted to go to the polls now. “One of the problems, for me, is that I just can’t trust our prime minister," she explains. "There have been too many scandals, the prime minister is too quick to try and hide things and he said at the beginning after the Liberal scandal, the Gomery Inquiry, he wanted to change the face of government to make us more accountable and responsible. And unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to do that.”

Recognizing that one of the key issues of the election by the Conservatives is the notion of a potential coalition between the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecios, Stewart says she's open to the possibility, and so is her party's boss Jack Layton. “If Harper gets a minority government, I think we will certainly need to look at a coalition, and I’m actually quite disappointed that Mr. Ignatieff played in to the media pressure to give them a definite answer about coalitions when he said no.

More than that, Stewart just wants to see a change in tone on Parliament Hill, ironically, one of the very issues that Harper ran, and won on, in the past. “We need to behave as respectful adults and not play the partisan games, and again I find it interesting because Mr. Harper will say that, but I believe that he and his part have behaved in a most polarizing way.”

Politico Interview - Green's John Lawson

I'm pleased to be able to kick off the Guelph Politico Candidate Interview Series for the 2011 Federal Election. In the interest of brevity and interactivity, I will attach the full audio file of my interview with each of the candidates with a brief introduction that will set the mood for the interview (I hope).

But first, a word about the order of these posts. Basically, one evening a few weeks ago, I sent an e-mail to each of the four major campaigns. These interviews are being posted in the order in which I did the interviews, and that order was dictated by the the order in which the campaigns got back to me. So John Lawson is first, followed by Bobbi Stewart, Frank Valeriote and (when I eventually do the interview with him) Marty Burke.

If your one of those types that want to read brief capsule interviews, and in a newspaper format, the April 14 and 21 edition of Echo Weekly will have shorter profiles in my Guelph Beat column.

But for now, let's talk about John Lawson. I met Lawson one morning at his campaign office on Woolwich Street. That morning, in the rather dreary weather, he rode his bike downtown as the true blue (so to speak) Green Party nominee that he is. Surprisingly though, I don't think the most interesting parts of our discussion had anything to do with the environment.

Ever the pastor, Lawson talked about needing a change in tone and a change in attitude in Ottawa. “I believe in change at heart, that if we don’t see each other as brothers and sisters at some level and that we share a common heritage and a common kinship, the future’s not good,” he said. “When I see the polarization of politics, where some people are demonized – we’re right, you’re wrong – it doesn’t build community, and we have enough of that in the world.”

We talked about the environment too, of course. We talked about Green jobs and sustainability, and we talked about the fact that Elizabeth May was once again not-invited to the Leaders' Debates. In fact, our interview took place on the morning of that announcement, and we join our interview, already kind of in progress, on that very topic.

Special Meeting of Council to Talk Health Facility

GUELPH, ON, April 7, 2011 – The City of Guelph will hold a special meeting of City Council on April 13 to bring forward information regarding the new public health facility that was announced by the Board of Health on February 2, 2011.

Senior City staff will provide Council with information about the proposed facility, including legal and governance issues; the proposed agreement between the Board of Health and the University of Guelph to lease and build; financial implications should the Board of Health proceed with its proposed location; and concerns about community engagement and integrated community health service delivery.

This meeting is an information-sharing meeting. City Council will receive information but will not make decisions. Community members may contact the City Clerk's Office at 519-822-1260 x 2269 for more information about the meeting.

• WHAT - Special meeting of Guelph City Council
• WHO - Guelph City Council, Senior City staff, Registered public delegations
• WHERE - Council Chambers, City Hall, 1 Carden St, Guelph.
• WHEN - Wednesday, April 13, 2011,6-8 p.m.

The Crane Also Rises

Now, over four years after a fire destroyed the historic Gummer Building downtown, and nearly two years after all construction on the rebuilding project ceased, comes news that the massive crane over the Guelph skyline will move once more.

“We’re going to get going as soon as possible,” chief operations officer Jason Ashdown said. “I hope to give the crane a test run (Wednesday) and be back under construction within two to three weeks.” 

That's good news for all us downtown dwellers who've had to look at the burnt out, though half-constructed, husk of the Gummer Building for two years and wonder when (of ever) construction would ever get going again. 

Tuesday's announcement seems to stem from a decision Monday night by city council to allow Gummer project owners, Skyline, to convert apartment units in a Yarmouth St. building into condos in exchange for creating 20 new rental units in the Gummer Building. Skyline will also take up office space in the new building, along with previously announced tenants, The Co-operators, who are moving staff from an office on Scottsdale Drive to the core. 

The historic Gummer Building was destroyed by fire on Good Friday, April 6th, 2007. A consortium of Skyline employees later purchased the building for redevelopment, getting tax credits form the city for preserving the historic visage. Construction ceased in the Summer of 2008 as the Global Recession started heating up and funds started drying up. 

We shall if the prophets are right, and the great construction crane in the sky will move again soon.

Obama Doubles Down for 2012

It was kind of a forgone conclusion, but President Barack Obama made it official Monday when he filed his paperwork to run for re-election in 2012. Doing so, Obama becomes the first candidate to officially sign-up for next year's Presidential election in the United States. A little outside the purview and jurisdiction of Guelph Politico, I'll admit, but it's some worthwhile political news just the same.

The disturbing part in all this is that Obama's campaign is reportedly looking to raise $1 billion for his re-election fund. An astronomical number when you consider the ongoing financial situation in the States. And some people think the $300 million we spend here on our elections, across all political parties, is a tough number to swallow. 

As for the candidate himself, he still has his well-wishers, but President Obama has been no where near as progressive as his supporters want him to be, and no where as liberal as his detractors accuse him of being. He's let the Republicans set the agenda, even when they're not in power, and has always tried to lead from a position of someone ready to compromise, even though the people he's negotiating with leave no room for compromise. It's a long road ahead, but in Obama's favour, his potential Republican competitors are either too far on the right (AKA: Tea Partiers) to be appealing nationally, or they lack the name recognition or general charisma to be viable on the stump.

Anyway, here's a letter from Obama announcing the kick-off of his campaign.

Today, we are filing papers to launch our 2012 campaign.

We're doing this now because the politics we believe in does not start with expensive TV ads or extravaganzas, but with you -- with people organizing block-by-block, talking to neighbors, co-workers, and friends. And that kind of campaign takes time to build.

So even though I'm focused on the job you elected me to do, and the race may not reach full speed for a year or more, the work of laying the foundation for our campaign must start today.

We've always known that lasting change wouldn't come quickly or easily. It never does. But as my administration and folks across the country fight to protect the progress we've made -- and make more -- we also need to begin mobilizing for 2012, long before the time comes for me to begin campaigning in earnest.

As we take this step, I'd like to share a video that features some folks like you who are helping to lead the way on this journey. Please take a moment to watch:

Watch the video

In the coming days, supporters like you will begin forging a new organization that we'll build together in cities and towns across the country. And I'll need you to help shape our plan as we create a campaign that's farther reaching, more focused, and more innovative than anything we've built before.

We'll start by doing something unprecedented: coordinating millions of one-on-one conversations between supporters across every single state, reconnecting old friends, inspiring new ones to join the cause, and readying ourselves for next year's fight.

This will be my final campaign, at least as a candidate. But the cause of making a lasting difference for our families, our communities, and our country has never been about one person. And it will succeed only if we work together.

There will be much more to come as the race unfolds. Today, simply let us know you're in to help us begin, and then spread the word:

http://my.barackobama.com/2012

Thank you,

Barack

Dark Side of The Room: Adventures in Rallying

I should of realized it was a bad omen when the #51 bus I was on almost hit a car as it pulled out of St. George's Square on its way to deliver me to the Delta Hotel yesterday afternoon. My mission was possible: to listen to Prime Minister Stephen Harper as he rallied the local Conservatives for Marty Burke and report back on anything that might have been said that was of interest.

On the weekend, I registered on the event site. I didn't have a problem with this. It would make sense that any event with high interest and limited space might want to account for how many people they were expecting. I realize now of course - and part of me suspected before - that the intention was more cynical. But I don't like to apply sinister motives to the leader of my country, or the people that work for him, so I let it pass. My first mistake.

What I did not do, and this was my oversight, was apply as media in advanced. I called the number included in my confirmation e-mail from registering and asked the lady at the other end of the line how I might going about getting a press badge. She had no idea. Really. She then suggested I inquire at the event and that sounded reasonable. So there I was, on the bus, bus driver swearing at a reckless drive, and me looking forward to an evening worthy of a Politico.

So I get to the Delta, snap some pictures of the protesters, meet up with Rob O'Flanagan from the Mercury doing the same, and headed around to the back of the hotel, the only entrance into the venue. I headed to the registration table, which was manned about six different kindly seniors. I approached one man and gave him my name. He found me on the list and asked for my I.D. For (some) comedic effect, I took off my hat and glasses so my real life self could better approximate the picture on my passport. This all seemed on the up and up, so I was given my "Harper Here for Canada" sticker and sent on my way.

I headed over to the Media Table and explained where I was coming from. I was a freelance journalist and a blogger and I wanted to know if I could cover the rally as credentialed member of the press. I hadn't pre-registered as press, but it didn't seem to matter much to the people at the press table. The man there asked me what blog I wrote, and I said "Guelph Politico." "Yeah, I've heard of that one," he said. Pleasantly surprised, I said "Oh. Great." A security guy checked my camera bag and my book bag. I asked him not to judge me by the book I'm reading (for the record it's Patton Oswalt's Zombie Spaceship Wasteland). He laughed and finished his inspection, all was well. I asked the man if I needed one of the green press badges. I had the sticker, he said. I should be fine. Should have got that in writing.

I walked down the hall towards the ball room. At the end of the hall before the foyer, a long table was stretched across the hall so that you had to walk past two security guys standing on either side of a three foot open area between the wall and the end of the table. Not so fast, one of them said, where did I think I was going with my bags and my camera and my notepad? I explained the situation to the one guard that was closest to me, a tall, young man with a bald head who I will call Vince. Vince said I had to check in at the media table, which I had.

One of the event handlers soon appeared to see what the fuss was about. I again explained myself as he asked me questions about what "institutions" I wrote for. For the record, I'm not sure if Echo Weekly counts as an institution, and I know Politico isn't, but I nonetheless laid it all out for the stout brown-haired man who I will call Larry. Larry seemed unsure of me, and asked for my card. I said certainly, and handed him one of my plain white cards with black text identifying me as "Adam A. Donaldson Writer/Journalist" with my contact information conveniently located on the bottom. Still unconvinced it seemed, Larry asked me to wait.

A few minutes later, a woman with dark hair and wearing a black sweater came out to speak to me. I will call her Sandy. She asked me all the same questions again as she took me down to the media table. Once there she asked me if there was anyone at the event that could "vouch for me." I had seen fellow blogger Christian Conservative walking around and name dropped him (his real name). I then looked to my left and Rob O'Flanagan was standing right there. "He knows me too," I said. "He's Rob O'Flanagan from the Guelph Mercury." She considered this for a minute and asked me to follow her again. We stopped first at the Registration table where the man that signed me in remembered me. We then went down to the table at the end of the hall. She asked me to wait. Okay, I said.

Let's just say that time wasn't flying. I noted that it had been about 15 minutes since I first got to the Delta and I began writing everything I could remember about what had happened in those 15 minutes. The other security guard, an older man with salt and pepper hair said to me jokingly, "A good time to make notes, huh?" Yeah, I said without a sense of humour about the matter. And there was so much to write about.

A third handler approaches me now. I'll call her Becky and she was about my age with long, light brown hair. The problem, she tells me, is that they have no designation for bloggers in the press registration. (Incidentally, if I am the first blogger to want to cover a Harper rally, I'd like to get this confirmed ASAP and notify the gang at Guiness World Records.) I told her about how I called the number earlier that day and spoke to an unhelpful woman. That's weird, said Becky, because that number is for some man's cell phone. Well, I called that number and got an unhelpful woman, I repeated. She asked me if I wanted to cover the rally as media, and I said that I did, but I was also an interested citizen wanting to hear from my Prime Minister. She asked me to wait again.

Sandy returned some 10 minutes later. She said I was clear and allowed to enter. A wave or relief and excitement turned my ever blackening mood around. I walked up the security guards (gatekeepers by this point), Vince double-checked that I had been through security and that my bags were given the once over, I said I had and pointed back down to the media table. Okay, he said. Great. I was in the foyer. One more threshold to cross. Or so I thought.

I'm heading to the ballroom now, and may I add quite eager. A female security guard sees me coming and puts her hand up. Oh Lord, I thought, here we go again. From behind me I hear Vince say, He's okay, at which point I was free to enter. Inside the ballroom now, I felt like the worst was behind me, and in a way it was. Giddiness was returning, despite the half hour of explaining myself to half a dozen different people, I was feeling the buzz of a room full of politically active people. I may not personally agree with a lot of the Conservative platform, but I do understand how people can get excited about politics. And then there was Dave.

I headed for the media area as instructed. Not a new idea to me. I was at Stephen Harper's 2008 rally at Guelph Place for Gloria Kovach. There, as here, was an area at the back of the room for media, with tables for note taking and risers for unobstructed picture taking. This was my house, but not so according to Dave. I had to get out of there. Wait a minute, I said, I was told to come over here. I'm covering this for my blog, etc. This wasn't good enough for Dave. A young man in a dark blue sweater over a light blue dress shirt he acted like a tin-plated dictator of his own little fiefdom complete with uniform. (Sorry if that was bitter, but at this point I was at my wits end.)

As I left the media area, I saw Sandy out of the corner of my eye. I walked over to her and told her that I had been asked to leave the media area. She asked by who, and I pointed him out through the crowd. She told be it was okay, perhaps sensing my exasperation, and she walked back over to the media area saying that they were going to give me the V.I.P. treatment. If I can take a time out here, I really have to say that "Sandy" was quite nice in spite of everything. I ran into her after the rally was over and she apologized again, and I appreciate that. But back to before the rally. Sandy told Dave that I had been cleared and that seemed good enough for him. A few minutes later, another woman gave me a media badge to avoid any further difficulties. I smiled and thanked her.

So why did I write this tale of woe? Well, to my credit, I did wait a day to let the emotion cool and not go off like a Howitzer. And I do admit that I arrived without prior notification that I was covering the event as media. I would however like to be given credit for making my intentions clear from the start. I'm not some James O'Keefe misrepresenting myself to my political adversaries to get stories that are as much fictitious as they are factitious. I could have sneaked in my recorder and my Point-and-Shoot camera and pretended to be a Conservative supporter. But I didn't. I'm proud of what I do, and I always try to represent myself well.

And not to turn this into a partisan contest, but this is not my first election. I've covered every election in Guelph since 2006 for various media outlets: The Ontarion, Thecannon.ca, Echo Weekly. In 2008, I interviewed Stephane Dion and was invited to several press events with high profile Liberals. I've interviewed Jack Layton numerous times, and have similarly been invited to NDP events. Elizabeth May knew me by name the last Federal Election. Now, in 2011, I have sat down with the Green Party and NDP candidates, and am scheduled to interview the Liberal candidate tomorrow. Still, a week after I sent initial requests, I have yet to hear from the Marty Burke campaign.

I am not a fan of mass generalizations, but it's hard not to make conclusions on your own when the other side won't present evidence to the contrary. And the conclusion in this instance is that the Conservative Party isn't nearly as open and transparent as it likes to say it is. I would like to think differently, I would like to think what happened to me was an isolated case, but the evidence is mounting that it is not. As a blogger, I'm an X Factor. I get that. When a newspaper comes out everyday for 100 years, you know what to expect. Bloggers are random. They can appear anywhere, write anything, and post it from a place that might not be an office with a mailing address. I, however, do have an office with a mailing address, as I believe I told someone last night.

Overall, the experience was profoundly disappointing. As people all around the world struggle for a shred of democracy, it appears that we have our own democratic struggles here. I await word from Marty Burke's campaign to prove me wrong. In the meantime, take a look at this kid on Christmas morning.

Harper Rallies the Troops in Guelph

If there's one thing you can get a couple of hundred University students riled up for, it's free beer. But if there's two things, the other is Prime Minister Stephen Harper showing up at a political rally at the hotel across the road from your campus.

Somewhere between 200 and 500 students demonstrated in the misty/rainy weather of an April evening outside the Delta Hotel and Conference Centre. Meanwhile inside, a couple of hundred other people had somewhat different political ideas and they were there to help the Prime Minister fill the Guelph-shaped hole in his caucus. In the very humid, tightly packed ballroom of the Delta, Harper hit his talking points and said the right things to get his crowd excited.

“I know this is not what you wanted to be doing right now," said Harper. "We should be doing what Conservatives were already doing: working on the economic.”

Harper explained that the budget announced March 22nd was the next phase of the Economic Action Plan and featured a low tax plan of critical importance to jobs, growth and the financial security of Canadian families. “But as you know, the Ignatieff, NDP and Bloc Quebecois coalition had a different priority," he explained. "An election you didn’t want, an election that the economy doesn’t need, our fourth election in seven years.” Chants of "Shame," then came from the audience.

“So friends, we come to you, the Canadian people, to get our mandate, pass that budget and get on with completing the recovery.”

Harper went on to say that Canadians had said yes to the Conservative budget and that Canadians will say yes to their platform in this election. More than that, Harper continued his message of the day and said that Canadians will also get behind scrapping the long gun registry.

“You know where we Conservatives stand,” he said. “We stand with farmers and hunters while Mr. Ignatieff, the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois actually believe that you can tackle gun crime in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver by having a registry of the property of farmers and duck hunters in rural areas.”

He also re-announced from the day before his party's intention to extend the children’s fitness tax credit, double it and expanded to adults.

For Guelph, Harper said, the assistance of his government was meant that investments like the Old City Hall (New Provincial Courthouse), the New Civic Museum at the Loretto Convent and the Hanlon Creek Business Park were amongst the 26,000 projects across the country his government invested in.

Of his opponent, Harper inferred that an Ignatieff government will mean more taxes. Harper said that the Liberal Leader promises in one hand and takes away with the other with increased taxes and fees. Which is why “Canada needs a strong stable national majority.”

“These series of minority Parliaments, in my judgment, is becoming a dangerous game for this country. This election needs to put an end to that political uncertainty and focus on Canada’s security.”

Harper brought the rally to close by saying that he feels the confidence (but not a boastful confidence) of people across Canada, and talked about how Laurier called the 20th century “Canada’s Century” and how this century can be ours again.

“You are here for one thing, you are here for Canada," he said. "And your fellow citizens here in Guelph and throughout southwestern Ontario believe deeply in this country, and they are not going to choose members of Parliament who are going to sign on to Mr. Ignatieff’s reckless idea that he can lose the election and then run the country with the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois.”

You can listen to the Prime Ministers remarks yourself on these two audio files below. (It's in two parts because I accidentally shut off my recorder at one point, but I don't think I missed much before between the time it stopped recording and I noticed.)

Some random thoughts from the rally:

-Marty Burke didn't say much, which is too bad because this was the first time I heard he speak publicly. But mostly, he just seemed to be there to handle the intros. Noted MPs in attendance were: Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills), Gary Goodyear (Cambridge), Harold Albrecht (Kitchener-Conestoga), Peter Braid (Kitchener-Waterloo), and Stephen Woodworth (Kitchener-Centre)

-Burke also said that “Under his leadership we’ve brought forward Canada’s economic action plan, and as a result our country’s weathering the recession better than any of our competitors. And from that position we’ve emerged stronger than ever.” - I'm a little unsure about Burke's use of the word "competitors." Are we really competing with other countries in that sense? It may have been a slip of the tongue, but it was something I made a note of.

-Of the long gun registry Harper said, “We need to make the common sense of rural Canada, more common in Ottawa.” And he was saying this to a group of urnbanites and suburbanites in Guelph

-If you listen to the full remarks. you'll hear the phrase “Job killing tax hikes.” Which is more or less borrowed from Republican talking points south of the border.

For images from the rally, check this photo slideshow:

Update on Election Coverage and An Open Letter

So when this election thing got underway, I was less than enthused. April is possibly the worst time for an election for me because there's a tremendous number of events and activities I'm involved in and a number of demands on my limited time, such as it is. Still, I seemed to have found myself diving headlong into the 2011 Federal Election, posting once or twice a day, looking at the angles and the issues. You win election. I'll do your bidding. 

Just a quick update on candidate interviews. I've already had a sit down with John Lawson of the Green Party, and I hope to post our interview in the next couple of days for your reading and listening pleasure. (For the lazy, snippets from all interviews will be posted in upcoming "Guelph Beat" columns in Echo Weekly.) Coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon, I will be interviewing Bobbi Stewart and Frank Valeriote, respectively. 

So who's the odd man out? Yes, Marty Burke's staff have yet to get back to me about scheduling an interview with him. I, of course, realize that a candidate's time is not an open buffet where we can pick and chose the time and place for a sit down, face-to-face interview. One must be flexible and "roll with it," as they say. But this is the second Federal Election where I've felt like I was being skirted by the Conservative candidate, and I'd like to present the following open letter:

Dear Mr. Burke and Campaign Staff,

My name is Adam Donaldson and I'm the writer of the "Guelph Beat" column in Echo Weekly and writer of the Guelph Politico blog. Pursuant to my earlier e-mail request, I would like to do an interview with Conservative candidate Marty Burke for my coverage of the 2011 Federal Election.

I know political candidates in the election season are incredibly busy with a variety of events and debates to pursue, not to mention the one-on-one campaigning of "getting out there" and meeting the people. I would again like to say that my availability at the moment is flexible enough so that I can most likely meet with Mr. Burke at the time and place of his choosing. 

I certainly hope to be able to meet with Mr Burke and have a proper interview. In the 2008 election, I was extremely disappointed with the time I got from the Conservative candidate. Where as I met both the Liberal and NDP candidates in their homes, and the Green Party candidate in his campaign office, for intervals ranging from 30 minutes to an hour, I got approximately 15 minutes of phone time with the Conservative candidate. 

This was after I had sent a request via e-mail, only to have the candidate call me one random Thursday morning, without notice, as I was coming home from Stratford on the VIA train. When I asked to arrange a different time, the candidate said she'd get back to me, only to phone out of the blue the next Thursday morning to see if that was a good time. Though I was at home in my pajamas, I had nonetheless prepared for this possibility and conducted the interview despite the surprise and the time limitation.

I say this not to shame anyone in the Conservative campaign, but to merely draw a comparison. Though I am a freelance journalist and a blogger, I had an excellent rapport with three of the four major campaigns, and seemed to be given a trifle by the fourth. I hope this time is the exception because I'm disdainful of rash generalizations and partisan politics. I want the field of candidates to get equal time and equal treatment, and while I realize that some of the positions I've taken in the past, or perhaps the readership I appeal to, may be to the left of the political spectrum, I hope you don't think that means I will ply Mr. Burke with partisan attacks and a bunch of "gotcha" questions. If it will assuage your fears at all, I extend this peace offering: a picture of Michael Ignatieff looking like The Joker from Batman. 

But in all seriousness, I look forward to hearing from you and talking to Mr. Burke about the issues important to him and how as our Member of Parliament he might best serve the people of Guelph.

Sincerely,
Adam A. Donaldson

And Now's the Time of the Election in Which We Dance!

Somehow, I'm not sure if this is what Rick Mercer was elicit when he challenged the cynical youth of Canada to confound the system and vote this time around...

Still, you have to appreciate the vigour of these University of Guelph students. A seemingly hardy bunch. However, these are the kids I'm not worried about when it comes to getting out to vote. I recently found myself drawn into a discussion with a pair of young people who've never voted, and for every compelling reason why they should, there seemed to be an equal and opposite reason why they couldn't:

"I don't think my vote counts."

"Voting matters. Election financing depends on the amount of popular support a party receives in the previous election. You're vote may not be able to elect the Marijuana Party candidate, but it will increase the reach of the party and it's candidate in the next contest.

"And while we're at it, even if you think no one on a ballot is worth voting for, you can still cast a blank ballot. Returning officers are required to take account of all ballots, even spoiled and blank ones.

"Or think of it this way: In Guelph in 2008, 35 per cent of eligible voters stayed at home. Imagine if that 35 per cent put their vote behind a single candidate, becuase Frank Valeriote only one this riding by 32.22 per cent of the vote. Even without the pre-existing support for the other nine candidates in the race, that one person, supported by all those that didn't vote, could have won the race."

"Yeah, but I don't know the issues. I don't keep up with the news."

At this point you bow to the absurd. Do we not live in the information age? Isn't centuries worth of human knowledge a few key strokes and an internet connection away? Andy Rooney once did a 60 Minutes commentary telling people not to vote, and while his points are valid, there's nothing really encouraging in there to turn people around on the subject of getting off their butts and going to the polling station. We've seen the TV images for weeks of the extent people around the world are going to in order to have an iota of the freedom so many of us take for granted, and if that's not enough to make you get more involved I'm afraid nothing will. 

Stewart and Lawson Enter Sign Wars

I snapped this picture on the corner of Edinburgh and Paisley yesterday. It caught my eye because the NDP's Bobbi Stewart appeared to finally be joining the battle for eye sores... I mean the parade of election signs (mostly Marty Burke and Frank Valeriote) that have been popping up all over town since the writ was dropped a week ago today. I remember reading somewhere that Stewart's signs we're getting delivered to her until Thursday, and no matter what you think of election signs in general, I think it's nice to see the orange and white get some love next to the blue and the red. I was also heartened to see some Green Party signs with John Lawson's name pop up around my 'hood today. One week down, five to go.