Very Toronto

I don't know if this is a Toronto-only thing, but I have only ever seen this kind of thing in Toronto, where someone rents a storefront so they can use the window as a billboard, often espousing little-guy-against-big-government sentiments. This shop is on Bloor west of Dufferin. In case you can't  read the sign at the bottom of the window, it says "Julie Dzerowicz doesn't give a damn about you."

Right next door to the billboard storefront,
Julie Dzerowicz's constituency office.

When she speaks to a voter on her canvassing rambles, Dianne Saxe often asks the question "what could I do to win your support?" meaning, what issue matters most to them so she can tell them what she would do about it.

Responses to this question range from stares, both blank and panicked, to "I dunno"s, to thoughtful statements about housing, climate change or mental health.

This week, a man raking last year's leaves out of his front garden said, in response to Dianne's question, "In 1934 the government passed the Bank of Canada Act," and Dianne tried gamely to turn the talk to something within provincial jurisdiction. 

My favourite canvassing moment this week was when, after Dianne had extricated herself from Bank of Canada Guy, and we had made our way further down the block, he followed us in his car, shouting Dianne's name out the open window, because there was just one more thing he wanted to tell her. 

Democracy. Ya gotta love it.

Dianne and I talk a lot as we scurry from door to door. Sometimes what I say pisses her off, like this week when I asked how it could possibly be a good use of her time to spend two hours to talk to almost no people, on their doorsteps, in the rain.

Patiently, Dianne replayed for me the received wisdom about how going door to door and talking to people face to face makes the biggest impression in a campaign. Yes, I said, but you need at least three things to be true to make that a viable strategy. People need to be home (and they're not) and they need to talk to you (few do, or they're Bank of Canada Guy)) and you need an army of door knockers (which Dianne does not have). 

I said I felt like she was using the big parties' playbook, which forced her to play to her weaknesses not her strengths.

It was around then that Dianne lost patience.  

But it is a dilemma. Dianne's a teeny tiny dog in a big dog fight. Her fundraising has gone well, so she has a budget for an office, staff and a social medial campaign. Now all she has to do is grab the attention of about forty to fifty thousand people, get them to break their usual voting patterns (the Greens took less than 6% of the riding vote in the last election; the NDP is the incumbent) just put two Greens into the legislature where there once was one.

Piece of cake.

About those Volunteers

I won't be able to help Dianne on the 22nd and 29th of April. If you have two hours (2 to 4 p.m.), good walking shoes and are expert at dressing in layers, maybe you could help Dianne. You can sign up to volunteer here. 

Molly The Dog Redux

In 2014 I finished the blog I started after our Jack Russel terrier Molly went on to her reward. Well, not completely finished. Some photos were missing and I didn't link the posts to make them easier to read. 

Now, all these wrongs have been righted. It's been more than a decade since we bade farewell to our little stinker. If you'd like to read about her, you can find the first post here.

Thanks for reading!

Have a great week!

Karen