Its the morning after an election and I am feeling great. I think a lot of good came out of it locally and provincially. This will be a long post but please read it to the bottom as some congratulations are in order - First of all in Brant congratulations to Dave Levac - an inspiring, well deserved and impressive win growing both his vote and his percentage! Ive known Dave since Gr.10 when he was a principal. Hes our local happy warrior, and has long ago cemented his name as one of THE most respected elected officials in the history of our riding. No easy task in a riding as diverse in opinion and engaged in politics as ours. Dave is a natural teacher and one so many others, including myself, continue to learn from. Well done Dave! Congratulations to Phil Gillies - an exceedingly good man Im honoured to call a personal friend and to have worked with on many community initiatives and hope that can continue. He handled a lot thrown at him during this campaign with a grace, aplomb and humour - that last one so difficult to bring to the political conversation but one he never forgets. And hes a Conservative that has not forgotten that the word Progressive is vital and deserves action to accompany it. Phil will continue to push for progressive action no matter what he chooses to do I am sure of it. When Derek Blackburn tells me that Phil Gillies is a man deserving of friendship I take that as one hell of an endorsement! Ive found out first hand that Derek was right :) Congratulations to my dear friend and my solidarity sister Alex L Felsky - a first time candidate running against the most beloved MPP our riding has ever had, and the most beloved PC MPP our riding has ever had and hitting that challenge out of the park! Even at one point literally helping to save a mans life during the last week of the campaign. Volunteering on Alexs campaign has been an adventure, an incredible experience and quite frankly an honour. To raise the vote so high both in raw vote and percent on ones very first run is not just rare but it means something - youve connected with this community and it with you. That doesnt go away in fact if you keep at it, it will only grow. Running for election is one of the things so few people do and doing so in a way that inspired so many new people to get involved has a positive ripple effect that you wont even be able to fully begin to see until a few years later. You had my vote the whole time, but my respect and gratitude for you and your efforts has grown exponentially these last 18 months. Thank you and please keep it up - so many markers of growth and this campaign was both fun and professional! Congrats to Ken Burns and Rob Ferguson for representing their viewpoints so well this election and adding a needed dynamic to the local conversation - some very good ideas from both men who each more than doubled their vote I believe. I know Rob is already doing so in the city (kudos!) but Ken - I will continue to beg you to run for county council so that I can door knock next to you and in support of you. As a fellow county resident I think your voice is a vital and effective one for our community. And congrats to you the residents of our Riding! VOTING WAS UP this election! No small feat in an age of cynicism about politics, parties, and politicians. And at the same Brant has clearly rejected the idea of strategic voting, something that has created such a democratic deficit for so many years. The three most progressive parties increased their vote and percentage and the local PCs also gained vote by running perhaps the most progressive PC in the province. A lot of wins there. I think local people truly did buck a disturbing trend and voted their values! Awesome! We - all politically minded people - need to get away from modern political tactics and embrace policy, conversation, action, community development and cooperation across lines. The lines are fake constructs, and ones that change all the time anyway - the community and its people thats what is real. The people have spoken, theyve engaged and theyve sent back to Queens Park a majority government. This election I am actually pretty happy with that result - I found the lead up to election day was so much more negative, filled with unneeded strife, character attacks, and more. Though I tend to like minority governments I also think this past one wasnt very effective for anyone - and it was the fault of everyone at varying times. I hope things can simmer down at least for the next few years - its needed and I think will be good in the longer run. I am ever hopeful and hope you will be too. All the best in the years ahead to our local candidates, their volunteers, all voters and all the communities of our province.
Posted on: Fri, 13 Jun 2014 10:09:41 +0000
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