Municipal Politics
This past summer, I became an engaged citizen. In my opinion this is the best thing any of us can do for our nation; to perpetuate democracy.
only partly about professional fundraisers and heated de- bates. The other aspect is about working on the fly, act- ing fast, and functioning together as a team. Sometimes, this meant walking down a main city street on a Sunday morning with a giant car-sized balloon attached to your body. It was a beautiful summer morning when the cam- paign was preparing the Rocco Rossi float for the gay pride parade. The float looked great adorned with Rossi posters, rainbows, and of course, two giant balloons the size of Hondas. Problem: we had to drive the float to the starting point of the parade. If the balloons were attached to the float during the drive, they would catch on hydro wires. Solution: have myself and another volunteer walk them to the starting point, seeing as it was only a ten min- ute walk. Off we went, relishing the fact it wasn’t a windy day. I can say with full confidence it was one of the fun- niest/quirkiest situations I’ve ever been in: swaying back and forth attached to this gargantuan inflated ball. People stopped in the streets, pulling out their phones to snap photos while saying “this is going on my twitter”. I was happy to have my own little Rocco Rossi parade. One of the most amazing things about this summer was what I learned about the city of Toronto. I have only been a Toronto resident for three and a half years, now. Coming
20 Campaigns & Elections | Canadian Edition
from a small city like Peterborough, Toronto has always seemed too big to conquer. I’ve come to feel at home in the U of T St. George campus, but this is only one out of hundreds of culturally diverse neighbourhoods nestled in Toronto. Working with the campaign, I was able to learn about some of those other neighbourhoods and niches. These concentrated areas come with an array of different priorities. What I came to love was watching such differ- ent sets of citizens react so positively to Rossi. Quite often I would help with the registration table at various mayoral events. People would often walk past our registration table, reluctant to give the campaign any personal information. That, or they would ask: “Who’s Rocco Rossi?” This hap- pened a lot earlier on in the race, and more often than not, upon leaving the event they would stop at our registration table eager to sign up to volunteer with us, or to have a “Rocco Rossi” lawn sign put up outside their house. This happened at events hosted in households of various shapes and sizes, in art studios, school gyms, banquet halls, hotel lobbies, and private clubs. I became particularly fascinated with understanding how someone does this. How some- one can appeal to two people with different financial, so- cial, and cultural priorities? Now, I’m no political analyst, but what I saw was people’s reaction to Rocco as a person. They saw his genuine passion and integrity, his power- ful speaking skills, and this fiscal way of thinking. It takes someone with these traits to cater to the needs of such a diverse city, and I think Toronto is notorious for being particularly diverse. I have little to say about how I experienced the cam- paign specifically as a woman, and the topic of being a young woman in politics is worthy of an entirely separate article. Instead, I find myself wanting to express what I experienced as a citizen; as a student; as a volunteer. This says a lot, in itself, about how it was to be a woman on the Rocco Rossi campaign. I scarcely-if at all- made note of my gender. I’m not turning a blind eye to the pernicious undertones of sexism that linger in a number of work places. I would say, however, that I felt socially and profes- sionally equal to men in this specific campaign. This past summer, I became an engaged citizen. In my opinion this is the best thing any of us can do for our nation; to perpetuate democracy. I won’t deny the fact I only had an introductory encounter to the vastly complex world of politics, but the most important element of my experience was the shedding of my apathy, and the emer- gence of my hunger to know what is happening, how it is happening, and who is making it happen.
Suzannah Moore grew up in Peterborough, Ontario. She is now a fourth year student at the University of Toronto, double majoring in Bioethics and Political Science. She aspires to have a career in law dealing with domestic and international issues of bioethics, but Suzannah admits as a 21 year old, she is still teasing out a set career path.
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