Common Ground by Justin Trudeau

Author:Justin Trudeau [Trudeau, Justin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781443433396
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2014-06-28T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Papineau: Politics from

the Ground Up

My career as a politician began in a parking lot. A grocery store parking lot, to be precise, directly across the street from a shawarma restaurant and a barbershop. The cameras and reporters who had come rushing to the airport to breathlessly relay that I planned to seek the Liberal nomination in Papineau were nowhere to be seen. Now it was just me with a clipboard, approaching strangers to ask if they would pay ten dollars to purchase a Liberal Party membership. Welcome, I thought, to the glamorous world of Canadian politics.

This wasn’t the actual election campaign. It was the opening days of the nomination battle to choose the candidate who would carry the Liberal banner in Papineau once the election was called. I was in the fight armed with limited money, barely any retail-politics experience, a couple of friends as volunteers, and a staff of one, who happened to be my wife. Sophie was full of enthusiasm and support for me, helping plan the approach and joining me on the ground from time to time, both of us learning the ropes together.

Most Canadians are unaware of the clashes that can occur during the party nomination process at the constituency level. It’s behind-the-scenes stuff that remains hidden compared with all the hoopla generated when an election is in full swing. In some cases these contests are bypassed when incumbents and high-profile challengers win their nominations unopposed. But for would-be candidates involved in a battle to secure nomination votes from party members, it can be a gruelling contest. It begins with each candidate recruiting as many members as possible in advance of the nomination meeting, then inducing these members to show up at a community hall, school, or arena on nomination day to cast their vote. It may sound like drudgery. But I loved it.

After experiencing the drama and manoeuvring of the 2006 Liberal leadership convention, this brand of up-close-and-personal politicking quickened my pulse. I’m a social being by nature. I’m also someone who enjoys physical activity, which campaigning in Papineau required in large degree. Walking the streets of the riding from dawn till dusk to sign up members was enormously appealing to me, and I could hardly wait to get started each day. I understand the importance of working the phones, but all things considered, when it comes to campaigning I prefer to wear out a pair of shoes, meeting people and getting things done at street level.

The work was rewarding for another reason. The grassroots of the Liberal Party had shrivelled through a combination of hubris, overconfidence, and neglect. In many regions of Canada, some Liberal candidates didn’t even bother to walk the neighbourhoods and knock on doors; they considered the Liberal Party more of a brand than an expression of political vision. This attitude was at the core of our reduced support. We needed to move beyond that kind of thinking. We needed to remind voters of the values and philosophy behind Liberal Red.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.