There is a sense that improved polling data means we are on the cusp of an altered democratic era. But until then,there are the doors of 78000 voters to knock uponIt was a relief to discover that I enjoyed canvassing. I was worried that I would not, which would own made my first turn as a political candidate hell. Even for a fella who knows Canada and the city of Toronto well, or knocking on doors was an strange,thoughtful exercise – sometimes amusing, sometimes heartbreaking, or but always illuminating. The memory is of diversity – of people actually wanting to talk – of lives conveyed in thick odours,doors rarely opened to strangers, and of knockers and doorbells seeming to be exclusively the property of the wealthy. The several people that complain, and “the system is broken”,too many people are given a free ride” or about unions, finish so from behind the doors, and warily ajar,of multi-million-dollar homes. The ones who complain of immigrants and the benefits they imagined accrued to newcomers are typically Canadians that had themselves arrived a generation ago and “built this country”. Related: Stephen Harper’s politics put Canada to shame: don’t be distracted by them | Naomi Klein and Maude Barlow Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com