Age and Experience Do Matter
Every election, regardless of the level of government, there is always one or two candidates who are young seeking election. When I was young, I dated a guy running for MP. We both had a blast. He had no hope of winning, so he really shook things up. He made bold promises because he knew he would never have to fulfill them. He got lots of media attention because he was young. He basically set the agenda for the election and the incumbent kept having to respond to his ideas. He would wear a t-shirt and jeans to a debate where the other candidates were in their suits. He knew he wasn't going to win, but he did want to use the experience to advance his own interests. It worked. He also had an amazing sense of humour. A few years later, he was asked to be a panelist at a community meeting. When he started to speak, someone yelled from the audience, "hey, I know who you are, I voted for you." He yelled back, "so, you're the one!!"
During the last federal election, the Conservatives had one strategy and that was too point out that Justin Trudeau was just not ready. If Justin didn't tackle this right on, but putting out ads that "he was ready', it might have worked. In the end, voters were just tired of Harper and wanted a change, so probably no strategy would have been effective, however, they might have had more of a fighting chance if they had more than one strategy.
A word that is permeating politics in the US is tribal. You hear it a lot. People are voting along tribal lines. I used to belong to a tribe and was very active in that tribe. The last federal election, I voted for who I thought was the best candidate and against my tribe. I thought I would have more difficulties, but it turned out, it was easy. I then followed up by voting against my tribe in the last provincial election.
There is a young candidate running for City Council in my Ward. I have to say that his age and lack of experience are a factor that is turning me against him. It is because of my son. My son is very fine young man and recently celebrated his 25th birthday. I am extremely proud of him. He is kind and compassionate and has a high degree of emotional intelligence.
However, his first year was not easy. He was born 8 weeks premature and weighed 3 lbs. He spent time in NICU. He had many issues with his physical health. He never cried, he screamed. And, he didn't sleep. Even though, at the time maternity leave was only 6 months, I took a year with my angel, mostly because I wasn't able to get a day care provider for him. One thing that saved me was I was in a group of other new mother's. On Mondays, we went to mommy and me story time. Tuesdays, we went to a play class at the local day care. Wednesday, we went out for a group lunch. Thursdays, we went to a Bible study class that provided child care. On Fridays, we took turns hosting afternoon coffee. That structure saved me. Even still, when we visited my mother for Christmas, I had thoughts of leaving him in a snow bank. I felt so guilty that I confessed that thought to my doctor on our next visit. She saw him every two weeks. Our doctor said, "really, you only had the thought once, I think that every time I see him. He is very challenging."
Something happened when he turned 11 months. One night he slept a record 5 hours and woke up giggling. He did still cry occasionally but he never screamed again.
At the time, I was married and had lots of friends who were very supportive. My family was also a source of support. We lived in a comfortable home and I wasn't worried about where my next can of forumula was coming from. I had my own transportation. One time, I took him grocery shopping at 3 am to a 24 hour grocery store. We were both up and it was something to do. It was that time that I made the decision to go and work for the Children's Aid Society.
It is a very hard job and few people make a career out of working there. The average tenure of a children's aid worker is about 18 months so they are usually young grads trying to get experience and then getting out and moving on. Those young grads couldn't empathize with young moms with few supports and living on limited incomes. Being a single mom is very hard. I ended up working almost 15 years in child welfare just because I wanted to be someone who could empathize with the struggles of parenting.
So, I think age and experience is relevant in elections. Life experience is most important. It is important to go through the struggles that is called life. It gives you sensitivity and a reality check. It is helpful to go though a period where you have difficulty paying your bills or your mortgage and learn the life lessons behind the struggle. How can you display compassion for people who struggle when you have never struggled yourself.
So, I look at the young candidate running in our Ward. His web site seems to focus on pictures of himself in various poses. They look like they were done by a professional photographer. I don't know if that was the best choice of campaign resources. It makes him look like he is in love with himself and not interested in the voters. His campaign platform seems to written in different styles. Perhaps only a writer would notice the chances in nuances, but, I bet his "policy" was written for him by a few different sources. He is backed by Labour so I think they had a hand in this.
What I find most troubling about him is his answer to why he originally filed to run in River Heights and then withdrew and then switched to St. James/Brooklands. He responded:
"I initially ran in River Heights- Fort Garry because it's the ward in which I grew up. I switched over to St. James because I wanted to offer St. James a more progressive choice for Council."
Now, I am going to give his a pass on the grammatical errors. However, what a "typical politician" response. If he really wanted to be progressive, he could have given an honest response which would be that he wanted to represent the riding he lived in but saw that it would be impossible to get elected, so he switched to a riding where he thought it had a chance.
Don't insult our political intelligence by giving us a pat political answer.
I have been following the election with much interest because I love the city. I am learning a lot and what I am learning is that there are specific issues in each Ward. In the Fort Rouge - East Fort Garry Ward for example, one of their biggest issues is trees. They say there is urgency to act so that they don't lose their trees which define their Ward.
In St. James/Brooklands,, there is one issue that I am particularly concerned about. Of course, I want the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre to be built as planned at the site of the old Vimy Arena.
But, that is only one issue. There is another issue that I am concerned about. In other Wards, "the excitement is building". I am plagiarizing that expression from the Polo Park expansion in 1988. Other Wards are experiencing record numbers of new developments that infill is actually an election issue. Not so, in our Ward. We are missing out on new developments. We need growth in our Ward and we do need progressive ideas. No one is talking about that, so I can't really made a judgment on who to vote for based on that. So, I am going to vote for the candidate who I think will do his best to ensure the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre will be a reality.
During the last federal election, the Conservatives had one strategy and that was too point out that Justin Trudeau was just not ready. If Justin didn't tackle this right on, but putting out ads that "he was ready', it might have worked. In the end, voters were just tired of Harper and wanted a change, so probably no strategy would have been effective, however, they might have had more of a fighting chance if they had more than one strategy.
A word that is permeating politics in the US is tribal. You hear it a lot. People are voting along tribal lines. I used to belong to a tribe and was very active in that tribe. The last federal election, I voted for who I thought was the best candidate and against my tribe. I thought I would have more difficulties, but it turned out, it was easy. I then followed up by voting against my tribe in the last provincial election.
There is a young candidate running for City Council in my Ward. I have to say that his age and lack of experience are a factor that is turning me against him. It is because of my son. My son is very fine young man and recently celebrated his 25th birthday. I am extremely proud of him. He is kind and compassionate and has a high degree of emotional intelligence.
However, his first year was not easy. He was born 8 weeks premature and weighed 3 lbs. He spent time in NICU. He had many issues with his physical health. He never cried, he screamed. And, he didn't sleep. Even though, at the time maternity leave was only 6 months, I took a year with my angel, mostly because I wasn't able to get a day care provider for him. One thing that saved me was I was in a group of other new mother's. On Mondays, we went to mommy and me story time. Tuesdays, we went to a play class at the local day care. Wednesday, we went out for a group lunch. Thursdays, we went to a Bible study class that provided child care. On Fridays, we took turns hosting afternoon coffee. That structure saved me. Even still, when we visited my mother for Christmas, I had thoughts of leaving him in a snow bank. I felt so guilty that I confessed that thought to my doctor on our next visit. She saw him every two weeks. Our doctor said, "really, you only had the thought once, I think that every time I see him. He is very challenging."
Something happened when he turned 11 months. One night he slept a record 5 hours and woke up giggling. He did still cry occasionally but he never screamed again.
At the time, I was married and had lots of friends who were very supportive. My family was also a source of support. We lived in a comfortable home and I wasn't worried about where my next can of forumula was coming from. I had my own transportation. One time, I took him grocery shopping at 3 am to a 24 hour grocery store. We were both up and it was something to do. It was that time that I made the decision to go and work for the Children's Aid Society.
It is a very hard job and few people make a career out of working there. The average tenure of a children's aid worker is about 18 months so they are usually young grads trying to get experience and then getting out and moving on. Those young grads couldn't empathize with young moms with few supports and living on limited incomes. Being a single mom is very hard. I ended up working almost 15 years in child welfare just because I wanted to be someone who could empathize with the struggles of parenting.
So, I think age and experience is relevant in elections. Life experience is most important. It is important to go through the struggles that is called life. It gives you sensitivity and a reality check. It is helpful to go though a period where you have difficulty paying your bills or your mortgage and learn the life lessons behind the struggle. How can you display compassion for people who struggle when you have never struggled yourself.
So, I look at the young candidate running in our Ward. His web site seems to focus on pictures of himself in various poses. They look like they were done by a professional photographer. I don't know if that was the best choice of campaign resources. It makes him look like he is in love with himself and not interested in the voters. His campaign platform seems to written in different styles. Perhaps only a writer would notice the chances in nuances, but, I bet his "policy" was written for him by a few different sources. He is backed by Labour so I think they had a hand in this.
What I find most troubling about him is his answer to why he originally filed to run in River Heights and then withdrew and then switched to St. James/Brooklands. He responded:
"I initially ran in River Heights- Fort Garry because it's the ward in which I grew up. I switched over to St. James because I wanted to offer St. James a more progressive choice for Council."
Now, I am going to give his a pass on the grammatical errors. However, what a "typical politician" response. If he really wanted to be progressive, he could have given an honest response which would be that he wanted to represent the riding he lived in but saw that it would be impossible to get elected, so he switched to a riding where he thought it had a chance.
Don't insult our political intelligence by giving us a pat political answer.
I have been following the election with much interest because I love the city. I am learning a lot and what I am learning is that there are specific issues in each Ward. In the Fort Rouge - East Fort Garry Ward for example, one of their biggest issues is trees. They say there is urgency to act so that they don't lose their trees which define their Ward.
In St. James/Brooklands,, there is one issue that I am particularly concerned about. Of course, I want the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre to be built as planned at the site of the old Vimy Arena.
But, that is only one issue. There is another issue that I am concerned about. In other Wards, "the excitement is building". I am plagiarizing that expression from the Polo Park expansion in 1988. Other Wards are experiencing record numbers of new developments that infill is actually an election issue. Not so, in our Ward. We are missing out on new developments. We need growth in our Ward and we do need progressive ideas. No one is talking about that, so I can't really made a judgment on who to vote for based on that. So, I am going to vote for the candidate who I think will do his best to ensure the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre will be a reality.
Comments
Post a Comment