#561 On the doorsteps

"most greet me with a tentative bark. Then, somehow, they seem to decide I'm okay."

On Every Doorstep

Hundreds of doors in, door-to-door campaigning has taken me to every kind of doorstep imaginable.

Some days it's the stairs. Wateridge has a lot of them, and after hundreds of doors my legs know every flight. Many times, nobody is home. I leave a card with my blog address instead of a flyer: less paper, less waste, and it sends people to where the details actually live. Then I note the address and move on to the next flight.

When someone is home, there's often a dog first. About half the homes have one, and most greet me with a tentative bark. Then, somehow, they seem to decide I'm okay. I'll take that endorsement. Too bad the dogs don't vote. Only about 40% of eligible voters in Ottawa do, so a few more ballots from the humans behind those doors would go a long way.

The doorsteps themselves tell you something before anyone answers. Some are welcoming, with swept steps, a wreath, a light left on. Others are littered with garbage and cigarette butts, the corners thick with spider webs. And some have wheelchair ramps, a quiet reminder that a sidewalk, a curb cut, or a snowplow schedule can decide whether someone gets out of the house at all. None of it shows up in a council report, but you see it from the top step.

The people behind the doors are just as varied. One woman ruefully said "you politicians are all the same! I wondered, how did she reach that conclusion?

One door was occupied by a neo-Nazi. At another, I met a candidate for another federal party. Very different people, with very different politics, and I won't pretend otherwise. But both believed they were going to make a difference.

That stayed with me. Everyone on these streets is trying to shape the community, for better or worse, and the real question is what kind of difference we're making and who we're making it for. Each has their own pet issue.

That's why I keep climbing the stairs. Hundreds of doors in, I've heard things no poll or committee report would have told me. A candidate who only shows up for the photo op never hears what people say on the step. I want to know what Rideau-Rockcliffe is dealing with, including from the people who weren't home when I knocked.

With two weeks to go, I'll be at more doors. If I missed you, the card on your door has my blog address. Everything I stand for, and every piece I've written on how City Hall spends your money, is there.