Today was spent glad handing on Beechwood, the interface between wards. People were happy to see me. Many had made up their minds and voted but others were persuaded. I wish there was more of me to go around.
2019 03 21
Sign, sign everywhere a sign. I had one voter call saying "you disregarded our no soliciting sign"....its called canvasing. So yes, for those like her it is a fail. The Joy's of politics...because apparently putting signs ups everywhere else is OK.
2019 03 10
I notice that in the area of Carson Grove I am one of two candidates that is actually knocking on doors. People are readily saying they are glad to see me. There is a good reason why so few have been out and about, it is very hard work going door to door, much harder than sticking a sign in the snowbank.
People like the dog, Dusky
2019 03 07
Today I attended the candidate taping at Rogers TV Community Channel. I met Jamie and Raulston there so that was fun. While at Bridgehead I spoke to a voter who had placed a Jamie sign in his snowbank....she is a beautiful person he said. That is but one reason to vote I replied, adding that managing a 3 billion dollar budget does not require much beauty.
2019 03 05
Today on Rue Guy a voter insisted he lived in Rideau Vanier and said he had a Mathieu Fleury sign on his lawn last fall. That may be that you had a sign but I showed him the electoral map indicating the boundary at L’eglise Street. And so we have the wacky politics of civic engagement and an indicator of why people may not be engaged.
See my post below: where is Rideau Rockcliffe. https://peterkarwacki.blogspot.com/2019/02/where-is-rideau-rockcliffe.html
And here is Craig MacCauly with some radical ideas. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sVfjjCLtlvg
The zany approach likely turned off some voters but Craig still has some good ideas. more transparency, accountability and integrity from our politicians.
- ranked-choice voting would lead to fairer elections and better decisions at council
- Candidates for council should reveal the sources of their funding BEFORE the vote, not after. Politicians should not take large sums of money from the 1% and then reward them with their votes at council.
- incumbent politicians should not misuse their “office budgets” to buy votes and campaign illegally
- healthy transportation: better pedestrian, cycling and public transportation infrastructure
- a sustainable and compassionate city where clean energy, air, and water, public transit, recycling, and green space protection take priority
2019 03 03
Yesterday I was out for a relaxing walk with Dusky and my wife. At the foot of the Adawa foot bridge was Mathieu Fleury, Sheila Perry and Johan Hamels, complete with Mathieu’s portable pop up exhibition tent handing out coffee and Timbits.
This was a nice affair celebrating the fact that the NCC path called the poet’s walk had been ploughed.
Here is a blast from the past, the preservation of the Kipawa River.
Kipawa River Preservation
2019 03 01
It is an unusual thing but today I was asked by a voter to return to her home to meet with her, Dusky and all. After a few questions, she said, “I am voting for you, and I am going to ask my friends to do the same” This generous statement took me by surprise, but then she said, “get ready, you are going to win”, I had to weigh this for a moment.
I am ready to win, you need to be ready. In many ways my whole life has led me to this point.
That is why, when I later hit the social assistance housing projects it was a bit humbling seeing the disconnect between the single family home community of Rockcliffe and this area, recognizing the difficulty of representing both groups well with their completely different needs.
In politics one has limited political capital and it must be spent wisely until eventually it is gone.
2019 02 24
Making my way around east overbrook I can readily see the importance of privately owned low cost rental accommodation. Virtually every building has multiple residences.
The issues appear to be poorly cleared streets, difficulties with garbage disposal and recycling. People are making homes for themselves but it is hard.
With all the rain and standing water one woman said to me, “man I’m votin’ for you!”
Once again I encountered one person who admitted, “I don’t vote”
2019 02 23
Stomping around my neighborhood before I cross the moat this evening, first the hot tub! It seems Johan Hammel and I were in the same locality, in the trenches, going door to door. There are very many MURBs, or multiple unit residential buildings, many like rabbit warren...286 a, 286 b etc. People are generally happy to see me when they actually come to the door but today I encountered three that admitted they would not vote and were not interested in my stuff. I didn’t take it personally.
I have found no matter how hard you try, no matter how good your reasons, at best only 50% of people will agree with you. The rest will disagree and for their own very good reasons. Alas the last time I checked, this is a democracy.
Sometimes there are signs like the one above. We are campaigning. We are giving citizens the information they need to vote intelligently.
We ask for your patience, and that you accept our material.
Thanks
The management
2019 02 22
Today I entered the dragon’s den, Linenlea and Rockcliffe. One pointed to the Penny Thompson sign out front. “Yes”, I said, “All candidates have something to bring to the table”. I sat on school board for three years myself. You are pretty hemmed in as trustee. It’s the province and the superintendent that runs things. The question is, “ who will do the best job on council.” Especially in the wake of Tobi who had been specifically omitted from committees?
Which leads us to the question of who do you think will hold senior city managers to account for their decisions?
2019 02 21
Behind the CMHC lies Rockcliffe Mews, a suburban bedroom community. I stomped around Merganser and Borealis, Solace Crescent...with most people at work I left my card at the door.
The wall of garage doors and unshoveled walks make for hard canvassing.There is no place to park if you are not from around there. Plenty of french. Içi on parle français!
Dusky and I did the loops together. Best regards to Fred Perkins, the only life present on the street.
2019 02 20
Today Dusky and I stomped around Cardinal Glen in Manor Park off St. Laurent N. for two and a half hours. Mostly seniors greeted me at the door. I thought maybe they were as interested in seeing Dusky as they were in my pitch. This is a really nice area of higher end triplexes all grouped within a tight crescent with a brand new park.
Everybody on DunBarton Crescent seemed genuinely glad to see me so I found myself grateful to be out there, knowing that I had to run in order to have the privilege of going door to door to meet them.
Finishing up my day at the University OF Ottawa listening to Sanjay Cherian of Telehealth talk about health system transformation. How do we transform our health system to meet the tsunami of older citizens. Home health monitoring has been helpful in reducing emergency visits.
How can the city's health services portfolio help make electronic collaboration work better?
Sanjay used the analogy of Lego pieces and the design and construction of solutions. Here we have a race car. What is the flight path from horse and buggy to Edsel to formula one race car?
I finished the canvas day on Donald at the MURBs, always a challenge.
For those that miss me I am holding a meet and greet at the Rideau Sports and Recreation Center ( the old Rideau Tennis Club) on March 7th at 7:00 pm. Come out and meet me and bring your concerns forward.
2019 02 19
Today I took my fat bike into 45 O'Conner for a meeting. There were no trucks so Truckmagedon seems to have fizzled. On the plus side, the bike was a hoot to ride. On the hustings this morning I visited many homes. People are quite friendly at the door, even amused since I have Dusky with me. I like the interest that has been shown and meeting my neighbors has been fun. Needless to say I am way outside any comfort zone I may have been in. Trust me, you need cleats. There is ice everywhere.
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