typical politician. His convictions are good and he believes in the betterment of his community, as a whole, not for any gain to himself. He doesn’t play the game of politics, but instead wants to focus on positive change by cutting red- tape, political manoeuvring, and inspire those around him to participate in the process. Mark won that first election – with no incumbent in the
field, nine other candidates, and a lack of political experi- ence. It came down to hard work, a good strategy, great ad- visors, and an amazing team of volunteers - lessons I have taken with me into campaigns that I have since worked on, including my own. I fell in love with politics so much that I decided to earn my Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Guelph at the same time I worked fulltime for Mark. After working with Mark on his campaign, I would ad-
vise every young person who wants to get involved in poli- tics to volunteer on a campaign. The experience is priceless. It doesn’t matter which Party you choose, so long as you can relate to its values and platform, or you truly believe in a candidate and what he or she stands for. After a few months at City Hall, I soon learned that you
can’t make all of the people happy all of the time. There will always be those that don’t like you. There will always be those that will do their best to make your life difficult and there will always be those that no matter how much you try to please their every complaint, will still call back the next day with something else. You must respect them, represent them, and assist where you can. They pay your salary and are the judge and jury if you want to keep the job. Mark’s re-election campaign in 2006 was a little easier.
He had name recognition and profile, an even better team around him, and he was no longer the political rookie but the incumbent. In municipal politics, that can be the golden ticket. A couple of years after Mark’s re-election victory, I
switched offices and I am now working for Toronto City Councillor Case Ootes, former Deputy Mayor under Mel Lastman, who was basically responsible for running the City behind the scenes during that time. He is a different kind of Councillor than Mark, much more focused on the politics, public perceptions, and principles of City-wide issues and of the policies that the Left-wing David Miller introduces. Learning from Case is like learning from the Master…
with twenty-two years of strategy, experience, contacts, understanding, and influence. I wanted to be a part of that legacy. Councillor Case Ootes announced his retirement at the beginning of this year, and the two years that I have been working for him have been priceless. I will walk away with much more than I could have ever given him.
All of what I have just described to you is the experi-
ence I have had working in politics, learning in politics and building my love for politics. Working at Toronto City Hall, obtaining a degree in political science, and working on a number of election campaigns, have each helped me build
I will run a tight, decent and honourable cam- paign. And when the results come in on Elec- tion night – whenever that may be – I will already be a winner, as I will be taking away so much in experience.
At the end of 2008, it looked like we were going to have
a Leadership race for the Liberal Party at the Vancouver con- vention. I decided to become a delegate and instead of being a delegate for any riding, I decided it was about time I joined my own home riding of Wellington-Halton Hills. Although I have worked in Toronto for the past 10 years, I continue to commute to Rockwood everyday (if you have been there, you will know why). I contacted the riding President, at- tended their AGM, and before I knew it, I was not only a delegate, but on the Executive Committee for the riding Association. During the following months, I quickly learned just how
small the riding Association membership was, as well as the struggles that plagued it. It had few volunteers, little or no money, poor relationships with the local media, difficulty finding candidates and was faced with major voter apathy towards the Liberal Party. However, those weren’t necessarily our biggest challenges.
Our biggest challenge was the current Member of Parlia- ment, Michael Chong. Mr. Chong is a truly respectable and an honourable person and MP. He is principled as was demonstrated when he resigned from Cabinet on the vote for Quebec as a nation. This would appear to have left him voiceless in his own government and his abilities underuti-
June 2010 | Campaigns & Elections 25
my political portfolio. (Oh, and did I mention that I have been taking private French lessons? Being Bilingual is an ability that I feel is necessary to properly represent our coun- try and people). But how did I become the Liberal candidate for Welling-
ton-Halton Hills?
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80