Listen Up

I went to a Liberal meeting in my riding recently to meet a few fellow members and hear from one of Toronto's newest MP’s.

It was a good night and a first for me from a political perspective. A young and engaged volunteer greeted me at the door. He smiled, asked for my help with the campaign to come and scribbled my name down on a list. I wandered through the room. Noticed a few municipal politicians and chatted with a woman about the Conservatives, policy and change and then tried to sharpen my rhetorical edge a little when I asked her why she was a Liberal. I found out that her husband wasn’t and that they were still together. That’s a good sign.

She’d been volunteering for years locally and seemed very engaged. After all this time she was clearly still a hopeful idealist. I love that. Good will, good ideas and an energetic spirit can lead to significant change. Now that’s something worth talking about. She was passionate about the party, its ethic, new leader and his desire for a brighter future for Canadians.

I had a question though as I looked around the room. It was a busy and packed pub that night. Tables were full. People were talking. There was an energy milling about. What wasn’t in the room though was a varied demographic. Where are all the younger people, I wondered? (Yes I'm old enough to ask that question.) I wanted to grab one of the microphones and ask the room. It would have been a good launching point for discussion. Why so many retired people in the room? Happy to have them to be sure, but where's the rest of the party going on?

The statistics in this country are abysmal from what I understand. People are not voting. Young people are definitely not voting. Why? Because they’re cynical? I don't think so. It has to do with lack of choices and a fear that their votes don't count - that they don't matter. The reality is they do, you do, we do - matter. It’s a message that the Conservatives haven’t really been too concerned about. Autocratic leadership isn't really that interested in the opinions and ideas of others.

It’s going to be a big part of the message in this election. If you want to make a difference you need to get involved. If nothing else, vote. I figure if you tick the box on the ballot you can at least comment on and criticize the leadership. License to complain. That's incentive enough isn't it?

Adam Vaughan a Liberal MP from Toronto was there to support the three new candidates in Burlington and Oakville. With or Without You was playing in the background. U2. You too. I know a little corny, but appropriate. It’s going to happen it seems to me with or without you. The volume of the song was perfect. I could hear Bono clearly and yet still listen to the Liberals as they took to the podium. Politics is not always glamorous. Tonight it’s clear to me that people get into this public ring for the right reasons.

One of the things Adam said about Justin Trudeau was telling. I’ve just finished reading his memoir and what I’m impressed by is not that he has it all figured out, but that he’s honest, authentic and human. He’s a real guy. I believe he has the ability to change the way politics is done in this country. Justin strikes me as someone who includes others and will embrace disparate opinions along the way. Adam told us that one of the many things that Justin does better than Mr. Harper is that he listens. And then he went on to remind us it's time to build a better country."

Justin Trudeau is not asking what’s in it for me, he’s asking, what’s in it for us? He writes in his memoirs that, what the world needs most “…are politicians who are focused on bringing people together.”

Young people may not be that chuffed about getting out the vote. They might not believe that their vote matters or that their volunteer hours will make a difference. Something I do think they will appreciate though is that Liberal candidates are sitting down across the country to hear them out and that the next leader of this country is only too willing to listen, to their issues, cares and concerns. He’s building a country that is inclusive and started sometime ago with a hopeful and positive vision for this country.

Now that’s something work talking about.

And I think worth voting for.

January 2015