Wow.
What a ride that was. Still resting up after an intense month and final week. So much to share. Give me a little while longer to fill in the details.
We doubled the NDP vote from 2007 (to about 14.5%) and won four polls through good and hard work. Now it seems that the Andrea and an enlarged NDP caucus hold the balance of power at Queen's Park. Let's see how this plays out in the months ahead.
Friday, 7 October 2011
Friday, 30 September 2011
The big picture
The job of a candidate is to get the most votes. But people want to hear on outlook, a perspective on their personal lives, their province and their planet. As a minister I want to assure people that there is hope. As a voter, I want to hear the real issues discussed. As a member of a party, I am aware of the party platform, and respectful of all the thinking that has gone into it. As a candidate, I am very aware that people are often paying attention to every one of my words, hearing things that I may not have said or meant. I have learned to become careful with what I say on the campaign trail, and yet I often yearn for a more free-wheeling discussion.
Last night was a good example: Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Newmarket has a long, proud history of advocacy for social justice. The congregation's social justice group hosted an evening on poverty featuring short videos put together by the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition. ISARC was founded twenty years ago by anti-poverty activists from several faiths to monitor the activity and outcomes of an Ontario government Social Assistance Review process. The group watched the then Liberal provincial government let many of the Commission's recommendations go un-addressed, so it decided to stay together. Two decades later, another social assistance review has been commissioned by another Liberal government, and its report is due early in 2012. ISARC is waiting and watching.
And in the meantime, it is working with the Social Planning Councils of Ontario on a Poverty Free Ontario campaign. A poverty free Ontario. What a concept. It's not only doable, it would be much cheaper than letting people languish in poverty, where their health status takes a nose dive, and all kinds of unnecessary costs are incurred.
The challenge is philosophy, as I see it. Can we imagine a society where no is poor? Many people have swallowed the idea that if you have money you deserve it, and if you don't, you have somehow earned that fate. They don't acknowledge how slim is the line between getting ahead, and getting into deep poverty. All it takes is an accident, a disease, a marriage gone awry, a factory closing and suddenly a secure and predictable future is out the window. Does anyone deserve to lose everything because one thing went wrong?
We can do better. Much better.
Good discussion at the event to sum up in the midst of a very concerned group, and a thank you and challenge from me to the congregation to keep working on challenging and countering the so-called meritocracy world view. This is going to take time. With all the talented, persistent, visionary people on it, we will get there. So a shout out to Rev. Dawn and the congregation at Holy Cross.
Last night was a good example: Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Newmarket has a long, proud history of advocacy for social justice. The congregation's social justice group hosted an evening on poverty featuring short videos put together by the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition. ISARC was founded twenty years ago by anti-poverty activists from several faiths to monitor the activity and outcomes of an Ontario government Social Assistance Review process. The group watched the then Liberal provincial government let many of the Commission's recommendations go un-addressed, so it decided to stay together. Two decades later, another social assistance review has been commissioned by another Liberal government, and its report is due early in 2012. ISARC is waiting and watching.
And in the meantime, it is working with the Social Planning Councils of Ontario on a Poverty Free Ontario campaign. A poverty free Ontario. What a concept. It's not only doable, it would be much cheaper than letting people languish in poverty, where their health status takes a nose dive, and all kinds of unnecessary costs are incurred.
The challenge is philosophy, as I see it. Can we imagine a society where no is poor? Many people have swallowed the idea that if you have money you deserve it, and if you don't, you have somehow earned that fate. They don't acknowledge how slim is the line between getting ahead, and getting into deep poverty. All it takes is an accident, a disease, a marriage gone awry, a factory closing and suddenly a secure and predictable future is out the window. Does anyone deserve to lose everything because one thing went wrong?
We can do better. Much better.
Good discussion at the event to sum up in the midst of a very concerned group, and a thank you and challenge from me to the congregation to keep working on challenging and countering the so-called meritocracy world view. This is going to take time. With all the talented, persistent, visionary people on it, we will get there. So a shout out to Rev. Dawn and the congregation at Holy Cross.
Friday, 23 September 2011
Run, run, run!
OK, it's becoming much clearer why they call it running for office.
Whole days flash by with no chance to blog about them. The grass gets cut (occasionally), but life is focused on immediate matters, and they come one after another with very little break.
There was a meet 'n' greet at the Aurora Library on Monday evening: stand at the NDP table and talk with voters for half and hour or so, then make a three minute speech, then resume talking with people individually. That was fairly good, and I learned a couple of things about presenting myself and the issues. I also met the Green candidate for the first time.
The next day brought a session with a coalition of organizations dedicated to the needs of children and youth, then a studio debate at the local cable channel. Only three of us: me, the Liberal and the Conservative. What an odd experience it is to shake hands with people then argue passionately with them for an hour while cameras record every twitch. I learned some more.
Yesterday afternoon the local chapter of the high school teachers' federation hosted an info session for their members. The PCs stayed away (as they have all over the province). Last night was a "live" all candidates session back in Aurora, at the Town Hall, proceeded by another meet 'n' greet. Not a debate, exactly, because we only ever answered questions individually in the allotted one or two minutes. The preparation is intense, with team members brainstorming about how things might go, and trying to anticipate the questions.
The first question from a local expert on business property tax. Not a strong point for me. As luck would have it, I was the first one designated to answer. Not a memorable response, I think, but it picked up from there.
Then there is media: I'm now on TenTV, which is an Iranian-Canadian specialty channel. That involved a fascinating comparison of clergy involvement in Iran and Canada. Kind of famous and oppressive in the one place, kind of little-known and liberating in the other. (By liberating, I mean the creation of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in response to a global economic meltdown eighty years ago, the party that led to the formation of the New Democratic Party in 1961. The CCF and the NDP have been working relentlessly ever since for workers' rights, fair wages and a just distribution of wealth in our society.)
And so it goes.
Off I go to canvass door to door, then a session with the Heart and Stroke Foundation. I am a "Healthy Candidate," and there is a little recognition ceremony.
More later.
Whole days flash by with no chance to blog about them. The grass gets cut (occasionally), but life is focused on immediate matters, and they come one after another with very little break.
There was a meet 'n' greet at the Aurora Library on Monday evening: stand at the NDP table and talk with voters for half and hour or so, then make a three minute speech, then resume talking with people individually. That was fairly good, and I learned a couple of things about presenting myself and the issues. I also met the Green candidate for the first time.
The next day brought a session with a coalition of organizations dedicated to the needs of children and youth, then a studio debate at the local cable channel. Only three of us: me, the Liberal and the Conservative. What an odd experience it is to shake hands with people then argue passionately with them for an hour while cameras record every twitch. I learned some more.
Yesterday afternoon the local chapter of the high school teachers' federation hosted an info session for their members. The PCs stayed away (as they have all over the province). Last night was a "live" all candidates session back in Aurora, at the Town Hall, proceeded by another meet 'n' greet. Not a debate, exactly, because we only ever answered questions individually in the allotted one or two minutes. The preparation is intense, with team members brainstorming about how things might go, and trying to anticipate the questions.
The first question from a local expert on business property tax. Not a strong point for me. As luck would have it, I was the first one designated to answer. Not a memorable response, I think, but it picked up from there.
Then there is media: I'm now on TenTV, which is an Iranian-Canadian specialty channel. That involved a fascinating comparison of clergy involvement in Iran and Canada. Kind of famous and oppressive in the one place, kind of little-known and liberating in the other. (By liberating, I mean the creation of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in response to a global economic meltdown eighty years ago, the party that led to the formation of the New Democratic Party in 1961. The CCF and the NDP have been working relentlessly ever since for workers' rights, fair wages and a just distribution of wealth in our society.)
And so it goes.
Off I go to canvass door to door, then a session with the Heart and Stroke Foundation. I am a "Healthy Candidate," and there is a little recognition ceremony.
More later.
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Awesome labour day parade
Hundreds and hundreds in New Democrat contingent at this year's Labour Day Parade in Toronto. Provincial leader Andrea Horwath and NDP members of Provincial Parliament were joined by federal interim leader Nicole Turmel and marchers from one to ninety-one. Lots of orange. Lots of touching tributes to Jack Layton and support for Olivia Chow in her time of loss.
Cool this year, and gray, but the rain stayed away. Great solidarity among working people. Rita and I stopped to say hello to friends in the Clergy United group and hand out "This one's for Jack" buttons, then on to the NDP crowd, with a quick word and hug from Andrea. Bonus!
Cool this year, and gray, but the rain stayed away. Great solidarity among working people. Rita and I stopped to say hello to friends in the Clergy United group and hand out "This one's for Jack" buttons, then on to the NDP crowd, with a quick word and hug from Andrea. Bonus!
Hope, love and optimism: not just words
I didn't think it would take a week or more to blog about last weekend. Time flies when one is absorbed in a thousand things with the goal of making the world a little better.
Jack's funeral was an incredible experience, as I'm sure is already clear to all. I arrived just in time to join in the procession from city hall as it neared Roy Thomson Hall. Police cars everywhere blocking off streets, but this time in complete peace. And quiet, too, now that I think about it. Bicycles, strollers, kids on shoulders, splashes of orange everywhere.
The highlights for me remain the words: words being used to console, to inspire, to describe and analyse, to build up. There were no put downs, no sly digs, no rage, just eloquent insistence that the goodness so clear and obvious in the life of one man, Jack Layton, is actually present and available in all of us.
Rev. Brent Hawkes' sermon, Stephen Lewis' eulogy, the family's tributes, the songs--the words were carefully chosen, the stories powerful, the mood created was one of grief mixed with high hopes for a better Canada, a better world. I wept during some of the music, when children spoke of their father, when the camera picked out a widow now very much alone without her soul mate as the honour guard slow-marched out of the hall.
None of imagined losing Jack in the middle of things like this. But it is impossible to imagine a more fitting service of mourning and celebration than the one we saw and heard. Across the country and across the political and cultural spectrum Canadians paused to ponder their best selves as embodied by one determined, spirited and optimistic person.
He lived his principles day by day. We can, too.
We should not have lost him so young, but how lucky we were to have had his vision and leadership all these years.
Jack's funeral was an incredible experience, as I'm sure is already clear to all. I arrived just in time to join in the procession from city hall as it neared Roy Thomson Hall. Police cars everywhere blocking off streets, but this time in complete peace. And quiet, too, now that I think about it. Bicycles, strollers, kids on shoulders, splashes of orange everywhere.
The highlights for me remain the words: words being used to console, to inspire, to describe and analyse, to build up. There were no put downs, no sly digs, no rage, just eloquent insistence that the goodness so clear and obvious in the life of one man, Jack Layton, is actually present and available in all of us.
Rev. Brent Hawkes' sermon, Stephen Lewis' eulogy, the family's tributes, the songs--the words were carefully chosen, the stories powerful, the mood created was one of grief mixed with high hopes for a better Canada, a better world. I wept during some of the music, when children spoke of their father, when the camera picked out a widow now very much alone without her soul mate as the honour guard slow-marched out of the hall.
None of imagined losing Jack in the middle of things like this. But it is impossible to imagine a more fitting service of mourning and celebration than the one we saw and heard. Across the country and across the political and cultural spectrum Canadians paused to ponder their best selves as embodied by one determined, spirited and optimistic person.
He lived his principles day by day. We can, too.
We should not have lost him so young, but how lucky we were to have had his vision and leadership all these years.
Friday, 26 August 2011
How to put our loss in words?
What a full week it's been. I'm off to the big funeral for Jack Layton tomorrow in Toronto. More on that when I get back. Before I do, I'll stop on Newmarket's Main Street where the merchants have arranged to wear orange tomorrow out of respect. I am amazed, and want to thank them for this touching tribute.
Thursday, 11 August 2011
Who gets to comment on our health care system?
The local paper noted the recent Canadian Medical Association report on medicare ("Voices into Action") quoted our local Conservative MPP in reaction, and mentioned that the paper had contacted a Liberal candidate but been advised she wasn't able to comment by press time. Period. No mention of the NDP or any other party. So I issued this press release earlier today, hoping to add to the discussion about a crucial Canadian institution. The doctors' report apparently opens the door for more privatization, and it suits the Conservatives to play up a "crisis" in medicare, trying to persuade people that it's unsustainable in its current form when trusted experts say it very much is sustainable.
I have also written to the editor of the paper insisting on fair treatment of all parties.
Newmarket- Aurora NDP Provincial Constituency Association
Robin Wardlaw – NDP Candidate for Newmarket- Aurora
August 11, 2011
Newmarket: The ‘Voices into Action’ report, in my opinion provides important and timely insights into why we must protect our not for profit, universally funded health care system. Now is the time to make a strong commitment to the Canada Health Accord," according to Robin Wardlaw, NDP candidate for Newmarket-Aurora who has not yet read the full report.
"We must act now to ensure that children, elderly and the Newmarket-Aurora community continue to have access to not-for-profit health care services. Now is the time to strengthen and to continue investing in an affordable health care system for all and to stand up to supporting a single-tiered health care system. In our community we must invest in equitable services that serve all," Wardlaw added. "Now is not the time to talk about health care alternatives especially as we recover from same party who put the system into crisis with their cuts to nursing positions in the 90s, their handing over of key functions to the private sector, and their tax cuts."
Wardlaw’s question to Conservatives is how they would address concerns about medicare while continuing their policy of lowering government’s ability to respond. "The Liberals seem to have caught the bug of reducing corporate taxes from the Conservatives," Wardlaw said, "leaving their hands tied."
Publicly funded dental hygiene for all Ontarians, for example, would quickly pay for itself with reduced heart disease and other ailments. "This would be a long term investment with a high rate of return," according to Wardlaw. At the same time, he acknowledges that not all of the solution is simply spending more. "We need to be more clever with our money, too." "And a public system can certainly put people first, reducing gaps and delays when a person goes from one provider to another."
The New Democratic platform contains some important and timely ideas to improve service, and increase efficiency in the health care Ontarians have come to value so highly, such as adding one million hours of home care, cutting ER wait times and giving everyone access to a family doctor.
"I’m worried that the Conservatives will sound like champions of public health care during an election, then find ways to privatize and chop it if they form government. They will target unionized workers and seek to cut wages, benefits and pensions, driving morale for health care workers lower. This is not what people want, as the CMA report clearly shows," he said.
P.S.
I'm away for the next week. Watch for new posts after the 20th. Hair-raising stories of sailboarding, heartwarming stories of political philosophy discussions, tension-filled stories of intergenerational volleyball all to come. Stay tuned!
Big dreams, many small details
It's the usual, I expect. Keeping focused on the big picture while attending to myriad little decisions. Office, phones, shirts, signs--all the accoutrements of a political campaign. All important in their way, but all taking valuable time and energy. Meanwhile we are getting ready to shape our direction as a province for the next four years, and those issues are much important, with an entirely different time scale. Choose orange shirts or white: in two months, what will it really matter? Choose this party or that on October 6, and shape life for families in Ontario for a generation or more. Forward to a greener, fairer society, or backward into a bigger and bigger gap between people's hopes and their actual chances for themselves and their children.
The campaign team is great. I'm just back from the most recent meeting, and the energy was exciting and humbling. As people find out about our campaign, the reactions have been enthusiastic. More and more people are offering their help, and the appetite for change is very strong, both in party circles and on the door step.
The littler decisions are getting made one by one (although you still have to wait to find out about those shirts, and what to wear to coordinate with them), and they pave the way for the team to get the New Democratic message of a society that includes everyone and looks out for everyone out there for people to see and hear.
The campaign team is great. I'm just back from the most recent meeting, and the energy was exciting and humbling. As people find out about our campaign, the reactions have been enthusiastic. More and more people are offering their help, and the appetite for change is very strong, both in party circles and on the door step.
The littler decisions are getting made one by one (although you still have to wait to find out about those shirts, and what to wear to coordinate with them), and they pave the way for the team to get the New Democratic message of a society that includes everyone and looks out for everyone out there for people to see and hear.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Reaching out to young people
What makes younger voters tick? I listened last evening to a sitting MPP suggest that the important criteria for young people when voting is "who will leave the most money in your pocket." I guess that might work, but it doesn't sound like the younger adults I know. They are altruistic and hopeful. They want to make the world better even if it doesn't make them rich (or even well off).
Why would a leader in society encourage anyone, especially young Ontarians to be greedy? Voters keep telling me at the door they don't care about their own taxes. They care about vulnerable people and the risk of crucial services being cut by a new Ontario government. It makes my heart soar to hear them. They don't buy the "look out for number 1" message, and I don't think younger people do either.
I heard the story today about a bunch of young, single adults hosting a party and bake sale as a fund raiser for a buddy who is under big financial pressure right now. A collective response to an individual's distress. Kind of like medicare. Or public schools. We all cooperate to assist those who might have needs.
Are my glasses too rose-coloured? Maybe. Or maybe the people trying to cultivate selfishness as a political philosophy are misreading the electorate.
Your thoughts?
Why would a leader in society encourage anyone, especially young Ontarians to be greedy? Voters keep telling me at the door they don't care about their own taxes. They care about vulnerable people and the risk of crucial services being cut by a new Ontario government. It makes my heart soar to hear them. They don't buy the "look out for number 1" message, and I don't think younger people do either.
I heard the story today about a bunch of young, single adults hosting a party and bake sale as a fund raiser for a buddy who is under big financial pressure right now. A collective response to an individual's distress. Kind of like medicare. Or public schools. We all cooperate to assist those who might have needs.
Are my glasses too rose-coloured? Maybe. Or maybe the people trying to cultivate selfishness as a political philosophy are misreading the electorate.
Your thoughts?
Friday, 5 August 2011
Progress?
I just finished reading Island beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende, the Chilean writer transplanted to the States. She delves into the slave/plantation history of Haiti, Cuba, a little bit, and New Orleans in the late 1700s and very early 1800s. Her research feels thorough.
While fiction, it is a wonderful exploration of the experiences of African, European and mixed-race people to their condition and fate. People who oppose slavery in this time are considered flaky, subversive or both. Dominant culture people who consider Africans people, with rights, are few and far between, traitors to their race, allegedly.
Yet plantation owners take African concubines and father mix race children, whom they love and seek to protect and support. The mind bending/denial needed to manage opposing thinking is spelled out in understated ways. Beautiful writing, and a powerful depiction of the role of women in resisting horrendous abuse.
But all this ended a century and a half ago, right? The modern reader can't help compare then with now, and I suspect that was part of Allende's purpose. A letter writer in this week's Toronto Star, commenting on a David Olive column about CEOs rationalizing their greed and incompetence, quotes John Kenneth Galbraith: "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." Wealthy plantation owners exploiting shackled and terrorized Africans two centuries ago, today's powerful corporate leaders exploiting a vulnerable and insecure labour force in the 21st century--obviously there are crucial differences, but there are some disturbing similarities, too.
Haiti remains as evidence of profound race and class hatred, a damaged society that defied revolutionary, imperial France and paid a staggering price because the liberators were black, not white. A de-industrialized Ontario, and north-east North America is evidence of big capital released from any kind of responsibility to the workers who make (or made) the wealth. We are prepared to put up billions to keep big auto from jumping ship, and watch with sinking hearts as offshore buyers shut down steel plants and grind miners into the dirt to strip their contracts.
Time for everyday Ontarians to band together to rebuild the social contract. Time for a new normal. Time for the NDP.
While fiction, it is a wonderful exploration of the experiences of African, European and mixed-race people to their condition and fate. People who oppose slavery in this time are considered flaky, subversive or both. Dominant culture people who consider Africans people, with rights, are few and far between, traitors to their race, allegedly.
Yet plantation owners take African concubines and father mix race children, whom they love and seek to protect and support. The mind bending/denial needed to manage opposing thinking is spelled out in understated ways. Beautiful writing, and a powerful depiction of the role of women in resisting horrendous abuse.
But all this ended a century and a half ago, right? The modern reader can't help compare then with now, and I suspect that was part of Allende's purpose. A letter writer in this week's Toronto Star, commenting on a David Olive column about CEOs rationalizing their greed and incompetence, quotes John Kenneth Galbraith: "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." Wealthy plantation owners exploiting shackled and terrorized Africans two centuries ago, today's powerful corporate leaders exploiting a vulnerable and insecure labour force in the 21st century--obviously there are crucial differences, but there are some disturbing similarities, too.
Haiti remains as evidence of profound race and class hatred, a damaged society that defied revolutionary, imperial France and paid a staggering price because the liberators were black, not white. A de-industrialized Ontario, and north-east North America is evidence of big capital released from any kind of responsibility to the workers who make (or made) the wealth. We are prepared to put up billions to keep big auto from jumping ship, and watch with sinking hearts as offshore buyers shut down steel plants and grind miners into the dirt to strip their contracts.
Time for everyday Ontarians to band together to rebuild the social contract. Time for a new normal. Time for the NDP.
Saturday, 30 July 2011
A satisfying project by the water
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| Here's what I was up to in cottage country for a few weeks. This is the middle of construction, as you can see. Not quite ready for use. |
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| Roof, siding, door, windows, a porch--now it's ready to go. The project was to help inlaws add a bit of space to their camp. We found a clearing in the woods and didn't cut down any trees to add the shed. That log on the saw horses turns up inside, in the final picture. |
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| Not sure if it shows up in the photo: the stairs are cut from a log, a big white pine that blew down several years ago. |
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| The view through the trees is of water in two directions! Very pleasant. |
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| Here I am, posing on the finished project. That look is supposed to pride in a job (reasonably) well done, but I think I was too tired by then to show it. |
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| The "ladder" to the top bunk is another fallen tree, with big pegs added, after this picture was taken, as steps up. The gun in the corner is a pellet gun, by the way, used on empty cans only. |
Friday, 29 July 2011
New post coming soon
Continue being patient. Just back from my northern adventure, and the time has been quite full since then. Updates on the building project and recent campaigning coming soon (probably tomorrow).
Friday, 15 July 2011
What matters and how to get it
I'm back from the north for a few days, and able to blog again this weekend, then there will be another gap till late July.
What matters to me is a fair society. Getting one is difficult, it seems. People have been at it for a long time, sometimes at great personal sacrifice, and we're not there yet.
No mistake, there is much fairness in Ontario and Canada already. But many people are falling behind, and vulnerable people are called that for a reason. In fact the gap between the rich and the rest of us is growing. I was talking yesterday with some people who get by without much day to day food security. Kind of humbling what they consider enough certainty about where their next meal is coming from. They are also volunteers who process reclaimed food each week. They sort and process non-perishables from area food stores taken off the shelves because they are just past their best before date. Then collections of this still-nutritious food are distributed to various groups--area community meals, the food bank, low income seniors and so on. One of the men has a medical condition requiring a special diet. He gets an extra $1/day to purchase it. The man with diabetes copes without any extra money for his diet. He gets his insulin at no cost luckily, but he has costs every month for some of his insulin equipment out of his $598/month. He saves rent by sleeping in his truck. The group was passionate, informed, articulate, and willing to work for change. They inspire me.
The food reclamation project, an initiative of the York Region Food Network, is good stewardship of unsaleable food, unless you count the extra trips it makes, and the large number of unpaid hours put into handling it several extra times compared to groceries purchased at the front of the store. Then it begins to look like an expensive way to distribute leftovers. What seems more fair than handouts is enough income that people didn't have to rely on them. If people received a living income and didn't need charity, we would quickly find something else useful to do with leftover food, I feel sure. In the meantime, the system we have, if it can be called a system, brings disgrace to all of us. And now pressure is on pensions, as corporations try to slip out of commitments made in previous decades, trying to leave seniors to their own devices in the days and years ahead.
And we have this exercise called an election every four years in the hopes of getting change, getting what we want. The playing field in elections seems to be tilted toward those with a great deal of money. Not the fairest mechanism I can think of. So the campaign team here in Newmarket-Aurora is using creativity instead of bottomless resources. They are an exciting group, and it is wonderful to be surrounded by such strong commitment. It will be interesting to see what we can do together to move closer to a society where true fairness is a routine expectation, not a distant hope.
Tomorrow: off to market (farmers' markets, that is), in both towns to meet people and hear what's on their minds. More on that later.
What matters to me is a fair society. Getting one is difficult, it seems. People have been at it for a long time, sometimes at great personal sacrifice, and we're not there yet.
No mistake, there is much fairness in Ontario and Canada already. But many people are falling behind, and vulnerable people are called that for a reason. In fact the gap between the rich and the rest of us is growing. I was talking yesterday with some people who get by without much day to day food security. Kind of humbling what they consider enough certainty about where their next meal is coming from. They are also volunteers who process reclaimed food each week. They sort and process non-perishables from area food stores taken off the shelves because they are just past their best before date. Then collections of this still-nutritious food are distributed to various groups--area community meals, the food bank, low income seniors and so on. One of the men has a medical condition requiring a special diet. He gets an extra $1/day to purchase it. The man with diabetes copes without any extra money for his diet. He gets his insulin at no cost luckily, but he has costs every month for some of his insulin equipment out of his $598/month. He saves rent by sleeping in his truck. The group was passionate, informed, articulate, and willing to work for change. They inspire me.
The food reclamation project, an initiative of the York Region Food Network, is good stewardship of unsaleable food, unless you count the extra trips it makes, and the large number of unpaid hours put into handling it several extra times compared to groceries purchased at the front of the store. Then it begins to look like an expensive way to distribute leftovers. What seems more fair than handouts is enough income that people didn't have to rely on them. If people received a living income and didn't need charity, we would quickly find something else useful to do with leftover food, I feel sure. In the meantime, the system we have, if it can be called a system, brings disgrace to all of us. And now pressure is on pensions, as corporations try to slip out of commitments made in previous decades, trying to leave seniors to their own devices in the days and years ahead.
And we have this exercise called an election every four years in the hopes of getting change, getting what we want. The playing field in elections seems to be tilted toward those with a great deal of money. Not the fairest mechanism I can think of. So the campaign team here in Newmarket-Aurora is using creativity instead of bottomless resources. They are an exciting group, and it is wonderful to be surrounded by such strong commitment. It will be interesting to see what we can do together to move closer to a society where true fairness is a routine expectation, not a distant hope.
Tomorrow: off to market (farmers' markets, that is), in both towns to meet people and hear what's on their minds. More on that later.
Sunday, 3 July 2011
On the hustings
(What is a husting, anyway? Does anyone have one I can use for a few months?)
The rubber hits the road when a person starts knocking on doors, or chatting with people at a big Canada Day celebration. I was out there late last week after wrapping things up at church, and taking away the last few books and personal items from my study. The reactions, as you would expect, range from warmth to hostility. ("I never vote. All politicians are lying, cheating, so and sos." That sort of thing. How I'd love to spend time with those folks to find out where they got their ideas, but there is only time to press on, and talk to people who are willing to talk.) One great thing? It's not February.
The level of taxes is uppermost in some people's minds, and they seem to be the more comfortable ones, to judge by my very unscientific polling. Just getting by is the reality for others. But the variety of us never ceases to amaze me. There are certainly common threads, but we are very different from each other. Canada Day on Main Street in Newmarket was a joy. Perfect weather, good eats, good music, good mood in the thousands of people on the street and in the park. I heard such relief and pride at being in Canada from people who clearly were new to the country. Awesome.
I was encouraged with the number of people willing to work on the campaign both days I was out. I'm working on my approach, trying to figure out which questions allow people to say what's concerning them. There is usually initial caution when someone opens their door. It's almost as if other people have been at the door before me selling/asking/preaching something people didn't want. Go figure.
Now there is a little pause in the blog, till I get back from some away time in the middle of next week. Talk to you later.
The rubber hits the road when a person starts knocking on doors, or chatting with people at a big Canada Day celebration. I was out there late last week after wrapping things up at church, and taking away the last few books and personal items from my study. The reactions, as you would expect, range from warmth to hostility. ("I never vote. All politicians are lying, cheating, so and sos." That sort of thing. How I'd love to spend time with those folks to find out where they got their ideas, but there is only time to press on, and talk to people who are willing to talk.) One great thing? It's not February.
The level of taxes is uppermost in some people's minds, and they seem to be the more comfortable ones, to judge by my very unscientific polling. Just getting by is the reality for others. But the variety of us never ceases to amaze me. There are certainly common threads, but we are very different from each other. Canada Day on Main Street in Newmarket was a joy. Perfect weather, good eats, good music, good mood in the thousands of people on the street and in the park. I heard such relief and pride at being in Canada from people who clearly were new to the country. Awesome.
I was encouraged with the number of people willing to work on the campaign both days I was out. I'm working on my approach, trying to figure out which questions allow people to say what's concerning them. There is usually initial caution when someone opens their door. It's almost as if other people have been at the door before me selling/asking/preaching something people didn't want. Go figure.
Now there is a little pause in the blog, till I get back from some away time in the middle of next week. Talk to you later.
Change that puts people first
Now that the dust has settled, I can tell about last weekend. What a whirlwind of emotions.
I said hello to a party and goodbye to the congregation that has been my home for fifteen years. Both were good events for different reasons. I'll come back to the NDP convention. The last church service and parties that followed on June 26 were deeply touching. It was moving to think back over all the highs. lows, achievements and powerful relationships at Trinity United in Newmarket. A minister gets pretty close to people, depending on what is happening in their lives. There were the usual events--baptisms, weddings, funerals--of course, but also illnesses, employment changes, parenting and relationship issues, and many others that brought me to people at vulnerable times of their lives. In the midst of that was the congregation's varied worship life, and its outreach into the community and the world. A lot to let go. Tears flowed, naturally, and there were good laughs together. Church members were very generous to Rita and me as I stepped down, and I thank them for that and all their kindness and support over the years.
Along with sixty others, I said hello to the provincial NDP on June 24 and 25. Another emotional time. It was great to be with rooms full of people who share a commitment to social justice, and, as the campaign slogan goes, "Change that puts people first." Check out the platform at http://ontariondp.com/en/policy. Candidates learned about policy, and also how to be an effective candidate at the door, on the air, in a public meeting. Gradually during the weekend, we built our appreciation of the fact that we each represent the party for the next three months, wherever we are. There were official portraits taken, and a pose with the leader.
Speaking of the leader, Andrea Horwath gave a great speech on Saturday afternoon surrounded by hundreds of supporters. She pointed out what is missing from the plans and performance of the parties, to loud appreciation, and went on to give hope by outlining what an NDP government will do instead. As I keep saying, she will be a wonderful premier of the province. It was highly energizing to be with her and all our teachers, some of whom are sitting MPPs. Ontario needs the steady hand of the NDP to balance the interests of everyday Ontarians with those of big business. It's just not right that people are getting left behind.
I said hello to a party and goodbye to the congregation that has been my home for fifteen years. Both were good events for different reasons. I'll come back to the NDP convention. The last church service and parties that followed on June 26 were deeply touching. It was moving to think back over all the highs. lows, achievements and powerful relationships at Trinity United in Newmarket. A minister gets pretty close to people, depending on what is happening in their lives. There were the usual events--baptisms, weddings, funerals--of course, but also illnesses, employment changes, parenting and relationship issues, and many others that brought me to people at vulnerable times of their lives. In the midst of that was the congregation's varied worship life, and its outreach into the community and the world. A lot to let go. Tears flowed, naturally, and there were good laughs together. Church members were very generous to Rita and me as I stepped down, and I thank them for that and all their kindness and support over the years.
Along with sixty others, I said hello to the provincial NDP on June 24 and 25. Another emotional time. It was great to be with rooms full of people who share a commitment to social justice, and, as the campaign slogan goes, "Change that puts people first." Check out the platform at http://ontariondp.com/en/policy. Candidates learned about policy, and also how to be an effective candidate at the door, on the air, in a public meeting. Gradually during the weekend, we built our appreciation of the fact that we each represent the party for the next three months, wherever we are. There were official portraits taken, and a pose with the leader.
Speaking of the leader, Andrea Horwath gave a great speech on Saturday afternoon surrounded by hundreds of supporters. She pointed out what is missing from the plans and performance of the parties, to loud appreciation, and went on to give hope by outlining what an NDP government will do instead. As I keep saying, she will be a wonderful premier of the province. It was highly energizing to be with her and all our teachers, some of whom are sitting MPPs. Ontario needs the steady hand of the NDP to balance the interests of everyday Ontarians with those of big business. It's just not right that people are getting left behind.
Monday, 27 June 2011
How to see me on Cable 10 in York Region (before June 29)
On was recently on a political panel (see earlier post). "Perspectives with Jamie Young" airs frequently on Cable 10. Here's the list. There are a few more chances to see it before this Wednesday, June 29.
Plus, this year's shows will rotate all summer, but I don't have a listing of when the June 22 show might appear in July or August.
Sunday 6:00 AM
Monday 5:00 PM
Tuesday 7:00 AM, 2:00 PM, 10:00 PM
Wednesday 8:00 PM - LIVE SHOW rotation starts here
Thursday 12:00 PM, 4:00 PM
Friday 3:00 PM, 9:00 PM
Saturday 2:00 PM, 11:00 PM
Next post: "Change that puts people first," the NDP campaign for the fall, and the unveiling last Saturday
Plus, this year's shows will rotate all summer, but I don't have a listing of when the June 22 show might appear in July or August.
Sunday 6:00 AM
Monday 5:00 PM
Tuesday 7:00 AM, 2:00 PM, 10:00 PM
Wednesday 8:00 PM - LIVE SHOW rotation starts here
Thursday 12:00 PM, 4:00 PM
Friday 3:00 PM, 9:00 PM
Saturday 2:00 PM, 11:00 PM
Next post: "Change that puts people first," the NDP campaign for the fall, and the unveiling last Saturday
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Taking it to the airwaves
My political debut on TV was last night: a one hour panel discussion on Rogers Cable (York Region) with myself, and area candidates from the Liberal and Conservative parties. I believe the audience is several people.
The Liberal was Bernie Farber, on leave from the Canadian Jewish Congress and running in Thornhill. The Tory was Farid Wassef, on leave from his work as a pharmacist, and running in Oak Ridges. I'm on leave, so to speak, from ministry. It occurred to me the sacrifice of income all three of us are making to run for office. All three of us are concerned about our neighbours and our province. I may not be a perfect judge of character, but it seemed that both Mr. Farber and Mr. Wassef are in it for good reasons (even if their political philosophies are off base). And yet the cynical will dismiss us all as "crooks" or worse. As first time candidates all, we couldn't be accused of being slick.
It's a somewhat strange experience, being part of such a panel. The audience is nowhere to be seen, yet close enough to see every tic and twitch. To whom does one address one's thoughts? "Don't look at the cameras!" was the advice from the producer. We all sat on stools more or less in a row, so we tended to look at the host, Jamie Young, and sometimes at the person whose point we were challenging.
The conundrum of talking/debating on TV aside, it went pretty well. There was lively discussion. The other two kept on each other about the respective records of the Liberals and Conservatives, or proposing new spending or new tax cuts. I went to the root of issues such as health, education and jobs over and over. Mr. Farber used to be a social worker in Ottawa. He agreed with me about the kind of things, such as poverty, that really determine our health as a society. Mr. Wassef agreed with me at one point. That felt good, though I wasn't ready for it from a Conservative, so it threw me off for a second. Everyone seemed surprised that the minister mixed it up in a debate on politics. Have they never heard of Tommy Douglas?
When I started to get nervous, I reminded myself that people were counting on these kinds of ideas getting out there. It had nothing to do with me "performing" well. The New Democrats have a better analysis and better ideas for true progress as a society, and those ideas deserve to be out there, which was my task. I engaged Mr. Wassef in the corridor outside the studio. I don't know if he will get in or not. I took my deep concerns about the effect of vulnerable people and the economy should Hudak and the Tories form a government to him again, one on one. He seemed genuinely interested in the discussion and my concerns, and asked me to be in touch after the election. Naturally, I thought of a dozen things I could have said and meant to say on the air in the couple of hours after taping finished.
So it has begun--my entry into the public discussion. Alas, now that I'm an expert on televised political panels shows, I don't expect to be on another one during the campaign. Sic transit gloria mundi, as the ancient sage put it. Now you see 'em, now you don't. The thing that lasts is the argument, the fight, the struggle for real equality in our province and on our planet. "The people united will never be defeated." Believe it.
If you happen to catch the show ("Perspective") in repeat, let me know your thoughts.
The Liberal was Bernie Farber, on leave from the Canadian Jewish Congress and running in Thornhill. The Tory was Farid Wassef, on leave from his work as a pharmacist, and running in Oak Ridges. I'm on leave, so to speak, from ministry. It occurred to me the sacrifice of income all three of us are making to run for office. All three of us are concerned about our neighbours and our province. I may not be a perfect judge of character, but it seemed that both Mr. Farber and Mr. Wassef are in it for good reasons (even if their political philosophies are off base). And yet the cynical will dismiss us all as "crooks" or worse. As first time candidates all, we couldn't be accused of being slick.
It's a somewhat strange experience, being part of such a panel. The audience is nowhere to be seen, yet close enough to see every tic and twitch. To whom does one address one's thoughts? "Don't look at the cameras!" was the advice from the producer. We all sat on stools more or less in a row, so we tended to look at the host, Jamie Young, and sometimes at the person whose point we were challenging.
The conundrum of talking/debating on TV aside, it went pretty well. There was lively discussion. The other two kept on each other about the respective records of the Liberals and Conservatives, or proposing new spending or new tax cuts. I went to the root of issues such as health, education and jobs over and over. Mr. Farber used to be a social worker in Ottawa. He agreed with me about the kind of things, such as poverty, that really determine our health as a society. Mr. Wassef agreed with me at one point. That felt good, though I wasn't ready for it from a Conservative, so it threw me off for a second. Everyone seemed surprised that the minister mixed it up in a debate on politics. Have they never heard of Tommy Douglas?
When I started to get nervous, I reminded myself that people were counting on these kinds of ideas getting out there. It had nothing to do with me "performing" well. The New Democrats have a better analysis and better ideas for true progress as a society, and those ideas deserve to be out there, which was my task. I engaged Mr. Wassef in the corridor outside the studio. I don't know if he will get in or not. I took my deep concerns about the effect of vulnerable people and the economy should Hudak and the Tories form a government to him again, one on one. He seemed genuinely interested in the discussion and my concerns, and asked me to be in touch after the election. Naturally, I thought of a dozen things I could have said and meant to say on the air in the couple of hours after taping finished.
So it has begun--my entry into the public discussion. Alas, now that I'm an expert on televised political panels shows, I don't expect to be on another one during the campaign. Sic transit gloria mundi, as the ancient sage put it. Now you see 'em, now you don't. The thing that lasts is the argument, the fight, the struggle for real equality in our province and on our planet. "The people united will never be defeated." Believe it.
If you happen to catch the show ("Perspective") in repeat, let me know your thoughts.
Tuesday, 21 June 2011
The vision thing
George Bush the 1st famously referred to "the vision thing" during a campaign in the 90s, creating a memorable quote while revealing a certain emptiness around the pesky question of a vision for his nation. Now it's time for those of us running in the fall election to step up on that subject.
The campaign is already forcing me to focus more sharply on a vision for Ontario that is both specific and achievable. I have long had a vision of a world more just and peaceful, but politics is not called "art of the possible" for nothing. Visioning is an excellent exercise. I recommend it. It starts with "If I were a member of the provincial legislature, I would...," or some such beginning. And that's where the crunch comes, of course. What is the top priority for the province? What is next, and so on? Do those things have costs? How will they be paid for? For me the top priority is doing something about the shameful disparity between ultra-high income individuals and those with very little. The gap is just too expensive to sustain, in every way.
Tomorrow night is the TV taping on Rogers Cable with me, a Liberal and a Conservative candidate from three different ridings in York Region. Vision will definitely come up, because I will be presenting one from a social democratic perspective and asking the others to clarify their's for viewers. Wish me luck!
The show airs live at 8 p.m. on the Rogers channel, then is repeated once or more every day for a week, and sporadically through the summer, as I understand it.
On a more personal note, I said goodbye to all my friends and acquaintance at the community lunch at Trinity United Church. It was a good moment, and I was moved to think of the relationships that have developed there over the years. The meal is known as LAMP, for Lunch at My Place. Keep on shining, LAMP!
The campaign is already forcing me to focus more sharply on a vision for Ontario that is both specific and achievable. I have long had a vision of a world more just and peaceful, but politics is not called "art of the possible" for nothing. Visioning is an excellent exercise. I recommend it. It starts with "If I were a member of the provincial legislature, I would...," or some such beginning. And that's where the crunch comes, of course. What is the top priority for the province? What is next, and so on? Do those things have costs? How will they be paid for? For me the top priority is doing something about the shameful disparity between ultra-high income individuals and those with very little. The gap is just too expensive to sustain, in every way.
Tomorrow night is the TV taping on Rogers Cable with me, a Liberal and a Conservative candidate from three different ridings in York Region. Vision will definitely come up, because I will be presenting one from a social democratic perspective and asking the others to clarify their's for viewers. Wish me luck!
The show airs live at 8 p.m. on the Rogers channel, then is repeated once or more every day for a week, and sporadically through the summer, as I understand it.
On a more personal note, I said goodbye to all my friends and acquaintance at the community lunch at Trinity United Church. It was a good moment, and I was moved to think of the relationships that have developed there over the years. The meal is known as LAMP, for Lunch at My Place. Keep on shining, LAMP!
Thursday, 16 June 2011
G20 Agriculture Ministers action on food security
Here's my version of a letter organized by Oxfam to draw attention to the looming food crisis on the planet. Supporters are encouraged to write to their Minister of Agriculture. In the case of Canada, that's the Honourable Gerry Ritz. Go online to Oxfam to check out the campaign.
Dear Minister Ritz,
There are nearly a billion hungry people in the world, and you are in a position to help them. On behalf of all Canadians, you need to show leadership at the G20 Agriculture Ministers Summit on June 20-21.
To ensure vulnerable people and countries have the food they need, I urge you to:
1. Help build resilience to food price shocks
National food reserves can help stabilize prices. Canada and the G20 should encourage countries to use them, and Canada should support the G20 proposal for regional emergency reserves.
2. Insist on greater transparency regarding food stocks
Rising prices are in part due to uncertainty about how much food exporting countries have on hand. Canada should support the G20 proposal to publish timely information on actual and forecasted food stocks.
3. Take measures to limit excessive speculation
Excessive speculation in commodity derivatives can drive up food prices. Canada should support a G20 agreement for improved regulation of commodity futures markets.
4. Phase out incentives to use food for fuel
Requirements for minimum ethanol content in gasoline divert massive amounts of corn from the world market, raising the price while doing nothing for the climate. Canada should start phasing out its minimum content rule, and support the G20 proposal to suspend it when food prices are high.
There is an old story about Joseph, sold into slavery in Egypt over three thousand years ago, who ended up saving the whole region through his foresight and care. He arranged for food to be stored in good years ready for "lean" years, and averted a terrible famine. We could learn from this story.
Thank you very much for your attention to these issues. I look forward to hearing from you.
Dear Minister Ritz,
There are nearly a billion hungry people in the world, and you are in a position to help them. On behalf of all Canadians, you need to show leadership at the G20 Agriculture Ministers Summit on June 20-21.
To ensure vulnerable people and countries have the food they need, I urge you to:
1. Help build resilience to food price shocks
National food reserves can help stabilize prices. Canada and the G20 should encourage countries to use them, and Canada should support the G20 proposal for regional emergency reserves.
2. Insist on greater transparency regarding food stocks
Rising prices are in part due to uncertainty about how much food exporting countries have on hand. Canada should support the G20 proposal to publish timely information on actual and forecasted food stocks.
3. Take measures to limit excessive speculation
Excessive speculation in commodity derivatives can drive up food prices. Canada should support a G20 agreement for improved regulation of commodity futures markets.
4. Phase out incentives to use food for fuel
Requirements for minimum ethanol content in gasoline divert massive amounts of corn from the world market, raising the price while doing nothing for the climate. Canada should start phasing out its minimum content rule, and support the G20 proposal to suspend it when food prices are high.
There is an old story about Joseph, sold into slavery in Egypt over three thousand years ago, who ended up saving the whole region through his foresight and care. He arranged for food to be stored in good years ready for "lean" years, and averted a terrible famine. We could learn from this story.
Thank you very much for your attention to these issues. I look forward to hearing from you.
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Working for change
Back with the gang this afternoon at another meeting trying to reduce and then eliminate poverty. There is a blizzard of initials--groups, projects, programs--evidence of a great deal of concern and energy for a better province. Then there are ninety-seven of the present MPPs standing in the way (the total of Liberals and Conservatives). Frustrating isn't the word for it. We can find millions and billions for warfighting equipment and high tech combat in distant places, but we can't seem to make our neighbours' well being a priority. What does that say about us?
John came by the church again this afternoon. He loses his trailer home tomorrow, and there is nothing to be done about it. He has a lease agreement for $450/month, but he has been forced to pay $600, plus another $100 for heat not called for in his agreement, so the landlord is already in violation of the Tenant Protection Act, but John's being evicted, and there is no help. The shelters are full, the wait for rent-geared-to-income housing in York Region is 11-15 years the social worker from the Housing Help Centre just told me, and a new place in the Newmarket-Aurora area will take 75-80% of John's $1100/month income. So my frustration pales in comparison with John's. John is smart, funny, well-informed, a banker in a former life. He admits that booze got the better of him during a difficult period, and now he is a casualty of a badly torn safety net. He's not the only one. There are tens of thousands of Ontarians in what is sometimes called "deep" poverty.
The Liberal plan to get a 25% reduction of families living in poverty in 5 years got sidelined by the recession. It won't be achieving its goal by 2013. New Democrats will keep fighting for decent, affordable housing for John, and a comprehensive response to the scandal of poverty in the province no matter how the election turns out, but it would be so much simpler if we formed the government!
John came by the church again this afternoon. He loses his trailer home tomorrow, and there is nothing to be done about it. He has a lease agreement for $450/month, but he has been forced to pay $600, plus another $100 for heat not called for in his agreement, so the landlord is already in violation of the Tenant Protection Act, but John's being evicted, and there is no help. The shelters are full, the wait for rent-geared-to-income housing in York Region is 11-15 years the social worker from the Housing Help Centre just told me, and a new place in the Newmarket-Aurora area will take 75-80% of John's $1100/month income. So my frustration pales in comparison with John's. John is smart, funny, well-informed, a banker in a former life. He admits that booze got the better of him during a difficult period, and now he is a casualty of a badly torn safety net. He's not the only one. There are tens of thousands of Ontarians in what is sometimes called "deep" poverty.
The Liberal plan to get a 25% reduction of families living in poverty in 5 years got sidelined by the recession. It won't be achieving its goal by 2013. New Democrats will keep fighting for decent, affordable housing for John, and a comprehensive response to the scandal of poverty in the province no matter how the election turns out, but it would be so much simpler if we formed the government!
Tuesday, 14 June 2011
First Queen's Park visit
Here I am (top left) at Queen's Park, or at least a significant proportion of me, joining Andrea Horwath for a press conference. (See earlier post.) With help from many thousands of residents of the riding on October 6, I will be seeing a lot of the place.
Monday, 13 June 2011
Nominated, then standing with William Lyon Mackenzie
Quite a weekend. I was very excited to be with New Democrats on Sunday afternoon. Great energy in the room--a mixture of long term and new members. It was a proud moment to receive the nomination with family present. What an honour to represent the party in the coming campaign. There was then a fantastic outpouring of pledges, too, a nice start to the fund raising. (More details on how to give in the weeks to come.)
I was disappointed with Conservative candidate Frank Klees' broadside in the local paper on Sunday. He came out swinging at the Working Families Coalition, going so far as to suggest that they could "buy" the election with their spending on ads. This seems curious coming from the party with the biggest war chest, and a demonstrated eagerness to run attack ads. A court told the Tories there simply was no evidence that the coalition is affiliated with another party, but that didn't stop Mr. Klees making that same allegation in his large, multi-thousand dollar ad. The coalition represents nurses, teachers, industrial workers and many others, the people the Tories claim to fighting for. Not surprisingly, when they look closely at the Conservative platform they see the assault on wages, benefits and dignity resuming if the Conservatives form a government.
Today was another happy one for me: down to Queen's Park to be with Andrea Horwath, leader of the party, as she introduced about ten of us new candidates to the media, and spoke about the appetite of Ontarians for real change. She was wonderful, as usual. She has the ability to be practical and visionary at the same time. What a great premier she will make. The event was outside on the grounds. In fact, it was right up against the large, elegant monument to William Lyon Mackenzie, one-time member for York in the provincial government, and honoured as a fighter for responsible government in Ontario. Mackenzie roused the citizenry in Newmarket before his little band headed down Yonge Street to take on the establishment in 1837. The rebels objected to the creation of a class system in this country, and the creeping elitism taking place then. (Some things never seem to change.) Great legacy to remember whenever we go to the polls around here.
It was a beautiful, sunny morning, more family turned up, and I was again thrilled to be in this race, raising the issues that matter for the people of Newmarket-Aurora. Got home easily on that publicly funded GO system, and joined a room full of fellow citizens giving blood. I have another appointment for September, and that's the only blood I expect to shed in the election (barring uneven sidewalks or unfriendly dogs), but I'm willing to spend sweat, and, depending on how sad the stories I meet along the way, even tears before October 6.
I was disappointed with Conservative candidate Frank Klees' broadside in the local paper on Sunday. He came out swinging at the Working Families Coalition, going so far as to suggest that they could "buy" the election with their spending on ads. This seems curious coming from the party with the biggest war chest, and a demonstrated eagerness to run attack ads. A court told the Tories there simply was no evidence that the coalition is affiliated with another party, but that didn't stop Mr. Klees making that same allegation in his large, multi-thousand dollar ad. The coalition represents nurses, teachers, industrial workers and many others, the people the Tories claim to fighting for. Not surprisingly, when they look closely at the Conservative platform they see the assault on wages, benefits and dignity resuming if the Conservatives form a government.
Today was another happy one for me: down to Queen's Park to be with Andrea Horwath, leader of the party, as she introduced about ten of us new candidates to the media, and spoke about the appetite of Ontarians for real change. She was wonderful, as usual. She has the ability to be practical and visionary at the same time. What a great premier she will make. The event was outside on the grounds. In fact, it was right up against the large, elegant monument to William Lyon Mackenzie, one-time member for York in the provincial government, and honoured as a fighter for responsible government in Ontario. Mackenzie roused the citizenry in Newmarket before his little band headed down Yonge Street to take on the establishment in 1837. The rebels objected to the creation of a class system in this country, and the creeping elitism taking place then. (Some things never seem to change.) Great legacy to remember whenever we go to the polls around here.
It was a beautiful, sunny morning, more family turned up, and I was again thrilled to be in this race, raising the issues that matter for the people of Newmarket-Aurora. Got home easily on that publicly funded GO system, and joined a room full of fellow citizens giving blood. I have another appointment for September, and that's the only blood I expect to shed in the election (barring uneven sidewalks or unfriendly dogs), but I'm willing to spend sweat, and, depending on how sad the stories I meet along the way, even tears before October 6.
Friday, 10 June 2011
A poverty-free Ontario
What a great morning I had on Tuesday, in the sense of thought-provoking and challenging. The York Region Food Network (not a TV channel but a group dedicated to food security) teamed up with the York Region Human Services Planning Board to present thinking on how to eliminate poverty in the Region and province. Guests from the Social Planning Network of Ontario were featured. Retired professor Marvyn Novick was the main speaker, and he was powerful and inspiring.
Novick described poverty as a moral issue, and called it "a moral stain" on Ontario. He's right. It is. We spend money on all kinds of things. We choose not to spend enough to lift every Ontarian to an income that would ensure their dignity. His address was called "Dignity for All." That's the real goal. Poverty is demeaning, and we need to agree to make it history. He's fed up with hearing that the time is not right. Unemployment insurance was introduced in 1941 during World War II. The family allowance came along in 1945, just as the war was ending, and the government was mortgaged to the hilt to pay for armies and munitions. People just made them priorities. They had an ethic of collective responsibility, an ethic that has suffered in recent decades with an onslaught of personal responsibility thinking.
Novick took on the big excuses for our inaction, the "buts" people add after they agree that poverty is bad. "Get a job." Over half of low income families get their income from work. Pay rates are just too low and the affordable housing supply is inadequate, meaning some people spend 80-90% of their income on rent and utilities. "Get an education." Over half of low income Ontarians have post-secondary education. And the small fortune they spent getting it are likely helping keep them from getting ahead. "Get out of that welfare family." Canada has a low proportion of so-called intergenerational poverty. That term was imported from the United States where some opinion leaders use it to refer to a racialized group, African-Americans. In actual fact, a very small percent of low income Canadians were born into poverty. In other words, working and furthering one's education will not necessarily be a springboard out of poverty. And the circumstances of one's early life are not a good predictor of one's later income level.
Novick has stopped apologizing for sounding militant. He points out that women first, then gay and lesbian people in the 20th century didn't care if some people's feelings were hurt when they set about getting their rights. And he goes back to the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights to find the basis of his call for "dignity for all."
I drove straight from the presentation in Aurora to the weekly community meal served by Trinity United Church in Newmarket where I am a minister. At my table, all three guests suffer from depression. They are articulate about how bad that disease is, and how important it is to have a reason, such as a community meal, to get out of the house each day. Could there be a more stark illustration of what people had been talking and thinking about all morning? The volunteers at Trinity work very hard to make the lunch a place of warmth and dignity, and I am proud of them for that. And they would likely go right on providing a community meal even if the Ontario government ensured all citizens of an adequate income because the lunch serves other purposes besides hunger for food.
So I was sad, and angry and hopeful again on Tuesday, thinking about what some people go through each day, and the fact that I/we let them. We can do better than this. Help make sure this becomes an election issue. Ask the candidates and parties what they will do to eliminate poverty. What are we waiting for?
Novick described poverty as a moral issue, and called it "a moral stain" on Ontario. He's right. It is. We spend money on all kinds of things. We choose not to spend enough to lift every Ontarian to an income that would ensure their dignity. His address was called "Dignity for All." That's the real goal. Poverty is demeaning, and we need to agree to make it history. He's fed up with hearing that the time is not right. Unemployment insurance was introduced in 1941 during World War II. The family allowance came along in 1945, just as the war was ending, and the government was mortgaged to the hilt to pay for armies and munitions. People just made them priorities. They had an ethic of collective responsibility, an ethic that has suffered in recent decades with an onslaught of personal responsibility thinking.
Novick took on the big excuses for our inaction, the "buts" people add after they agree that poverty is bad. "Get a job." Over half of low income families get their income from work. Pay rates are just too low and the affordable housing supply is inadequate, meaning some people spend 80-90% of their income on rent and utilities. "Get an education." Over half of low income Ontarians have post-secondary education. And the small fortune they spent getting it are likely helping keep them from getting ahead. "Get out of that welfare family." Canada has a low proportion of so-called intergenerational poverty. That term was imported from the United States where some opinion leaders use it to refer to a racialized group, African-Americans. In actual fact, a very small percent of low income Canadians were born into poverty. In other words, working and furthering one's education will not necessarily be a springboard out of poverty. And the circumstances of one's early life are not a good predictor of one's later income level.
Novick has stopped apologizing for sounding militant. He points out that women first, then gay and lesbian people in the 20th century didn't care if some people's feelings were hurt when they set about getting their rights. And he goes back to the 1948 United Nations Declaration of Human Rights to find the basis of his call for "dignity for all."
I drove straight from the presentation in Aurora to the weekly community meal served by Trinity United Church in Newmarket where I am a minister. At my table, all three guests suffer from depression. They are articulate about how bad that disease is, and how important it is to have a reason, such as a community meal, to get out of the house each day. Could there be a more stark illustration of what people had been talking and thinking about all morning? The volunteers at Trinity work very hard to make the lunch a place of warmth and dignity, and I am proud of them for that. And they would likely go right on providing a community meal even if the Ontario government ensured all citizens of an adequate income because the lunch serves other purposes besides hunger for food.
So I was sad, and angry and hopeful again on Tuesday, thinking about what some people go through each day, and the fact that I/we let them. We can do better than this. Help make sure this becomes an election issue. Ask the candidates and parties what they will do to eliminate poverty. What are we waiting for?
Saturday, 4 June 2011
Rainy day thoughts
Good to get rain today after a fairly dry week. Not so good if you were counting on fair way for today's activity.
Elsewhere, rain and the lack of it are becoming even bigger issues, it seems. Floods in some parts, wild fires in others. World food prices are high and rising due to droughts last year, and increased demand. As people in China and India and elsewhere grow their incomes, they want to eat more protein, like we do. The demand for increased supplies water, potash, and land to produce more and more food is going to be a big challenge in the decades to come because we may be running out of one, two, or even all three of those inputs. And in our part of the world, we are still chewing up the world's best farmland at an increasing rate. Help!
It would be good to see Ontario thinking harder about food security for Ontarians, and also collaborating with other jurisdictions to figure out answers for everybody. Teamwork. Meanwhile we have hungry people in every community in the province, and also an epidemic of obesity with its attendant problems. In other words, we haven't adjusted well to all the changes of the last century or two in the western world.
I wish we saw more leadership from Ontario and Canadian decision makers and opinion leaders on this stuff. Answer? Elect more New Democrats and help the province start to get real about what is sustainable for people and the environment. Elect a New Democrat in Newmarket-Aurora as part of a province-wide shift in thinking.
And while I am not getting the lawn cut (with my push mower) today, the water barrel is filling up. I'm inside musing and putting down some thoughts here instead of chasing weeds and trimming that broken branch in the backyard.
Your thoughts?
Elsewhere, rain and the lack of it are becoming even bigger issues, it seems. Floods in some parts, wild fires in others. World food prices are high and rising due to droughts last year, and increased demand. As people in China and India and elsewhere grow their incomes, they want to eat more protein, like we do. The demand for increased supplies water, potash, and land to produce more and more food is going to be a big challenge in the decades to come because we may be running out of one, two, or even all three of those inputs. And in our part of the world, we are still chewing up the world's best farmland at an increasing rate. Help!
It would be good to see Ontario thinking harder about food security for Ontarians, and also collaborating with other jurisdictions to figure out answers for everybody. Teamwork. Meanwhile we have hungry people in every community in the province, and also an epidemic of obesity with its attendant problems. In other words, we haven't adjusted well to all the changes of the last century or two in the western world.
I wish we saw more leadership from Ontario and Canadian decision makers and opinion leaders on this stuff. Answer? Elect more New Democrats and help the province start to get real about what is sustainable for people and the environment. Elect a New Democrat in Newmarket-Aurora as part of a province-wide shift in thinking.
And while I am not getting the lawn cut (with my push mower) today, the water barrel is filling up. I'm inside musing and putting down some thoughts here instead of chasing weeds and trimming that broken branch in the backyard.
Your thoughts?
Friday, 3 June 2011
Contact me
Get hold of me during the campaign by:
- commenting on the blog
- e-mailing me at robinsrun2011@gmail.com
- other contacts to come soon
- commenting on the blog
- e-mailing me at robinsrun2011@gmail.com
- other contacts to come soon
Official start: June 12
Sunday, June 12 is the actual day. The Newmarket-Aurora NDP is holding it's annual meeting and nomination meeting that day. I will be there with a big smile and many supporters, presenting myself as a candidate for the riding. The meeting is at 1:30, at the CUPE 905 hall on Charles just south of Davis Drive. (Charles is the first street west of Prospect and the hospital.) You have to be a member to get in, but that's not hard. Just go to the Ontario NDP web site and join up. You'll need your credit card ready. (The fee is modest. Our ambitions are not.)
To actually vote on my candidacy, you had to join by May 13 at the latest. But even if can't vote that day, the more, the merrier. You can still get excited by the speeches and the anticipation of bringing change to Newmarket-Aurora and Ontario, sign up to work on the campaign, and donate money to get things started. Come out and see orange on June 12. (But remember to join first!)
To actually vote on my candidacy, you had to join by May 13 at the latest. But even if can't vote that day, the more, the merrier. You can still get excited by the speeches and the anticipation of bringing change to Newmarket-Aurora and Ontario, sign up to work on the campaign, and donate money to get things started. Come out and see orange on June 12. (But remember to join first!)
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Robin's run begins
A minister getting involved in politics? Happens all the time. Many of the founders of the predecessor of the NDP, the Commonwealth Cooperative Federation, or CCF, were ministers. They were interested in a society where people were treated fairly so they could keep their dignity. So I am. And many other ministers have served, or are working presently in legislatures for ideals they cherish. It's a good fit.
I want to record my run for the Ontario legislature in the Newmarket-Aurora riding in this blog, and create some community among those who get here to read it. Questions? Thoughts? I want to hear what's on your mind. I would like a respectful conversation, with contributors trying to get their vision for the riding or the province into words. And maybe we'll have some fun along the way.
I will be learning all the time. Being a keen observer of politics may not have prepared me to run. I'll be finding that out in the months ahead. Thanks for following me.
My vision is of a caring, fair society that prizes innovation, sustainability, and highly livable communities. I have a feeling I'll be refining my vision as I get talking to more people in Aurora and Newmarket. Stay tuned.
I want to record my run for the Ontario legislature in the Newmarket-Aurora riding in this blog, and create some community among those who get here to read it. Questions? Thoughts? I want to hear what's on your mind. I would like a respectful conversation, with contributors trying to get their vision for the riding or the province into words. And maybe we'll have some fun along the way.
I will be learning all the time. Being a keen observer of politics may not have prepared me to run. I'll be finding that out in the months ahead. Thanks for following me.
My vision is of a caring, fair society that prizes innovation, sustainability, and highly livable communities. I have a feeling I'll be refining my vision as I get talking to more people in Aurora and Newmarket. Stay tuned.
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