1:34 a.m. - 2003-09-11
Peers and Politics
My second in command to help administer the election dropped by this evening. He and his wife won't close up their lake home-away-from home until mid October, but he wanted to touch base and make arrangements with me on some personal issues. The personal stuff was easy. Do what you want when it works for you. We have no way of predicting when the next election will be called. Could be tomorrow or three years from now. I don't expect any of my staff to put their lives on hold on speculation. We'll work around any complications.
He wanted to have a look at the changes redistribution of the boundaries would create in our constituency. One look at the revised map and his response was identical to mine. A Good! at first and then a groan. No surprise. The oldest, most predictable area was removed. It is also one of the most difficult to deal with because the mobility rate is at about 25% per year. Tough to have anywhere near an accurate voter's list. Most people in transition are very reluctant to have their personal information recorded for government purposes - doesn't make sense from their point of view. They are often the least likely to vote because the issues in the community won't be relevant to their lives. Understandable, but it makes Elections Canada's goal of universal registration impossible. That was the Good! comment. The groan was because we were left with areas that are scheduled to experience very rapid development in the next year. Typical but it means constantly being on top of the continuous change. I actually enjoy that part of my work the most, but it is a lot of extra work.
I had loaned him the book "Banksters and Prairie Boys" that I've written about in earlier posts for summer reading. Had him all fired up. Could he circulate it among his friends - absolutely the more the better. I told him that a sequel was due out soon and that I had several other books that were of similar value. Sent him on his way with those. Knowledge is power. The more the general public has the better decisions they can make about their political choices.
Discussed global politics for a while after. He's originally from the US, but has become a Canadian citizen. He's passionate about both countries and is troubled by a lot of what he sees on both sides of the borders. That's why I wanted him as second in command. He thinks, he questions, and he's not afraid to speak his piece, but he's also willing to research and listen to anyone who's willing to debate him. Not easily fooled or manipulated by his own fears or emotions. I think he scares a lot of people because of that. Too bad there aren't more like him. The world would be a lot healthier place. It isn't that we always agree - we don't - but at least we can have a civil debate and still work together despite differences of opinion.
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