Thank you, thank you, thank you to the 5,351 Ward 14 citizens who cast their ballots in my favour on October 25. The number of votes comes from this website: http://www.globaltoronto.com/decision2010/index.html?time=13125 It has been an exciting seven months since March 16, 2010 when I went to City Hall and signed up to be a candidate for public school trustee in Ward 14 Toronto Centre-Rosedale.
Last year November I made a firm decision to run for trustee when I was invited to support a group of Somali parents from Etobicoke whose children were being bused away from their home to a school some distance away. It was a bit distressing to hear that this situation had existed for ten years since 1999 even though there is a school close to the Queens Plate neighbourhood. http://www.sharenews.com/opinion/2009/11/25/somali-parents-continue-wait-tdsb-action
http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/education/article/724690--school-too-far-too-scary
After mentioning my intention of running for office as a public school trustee candidate, I was asked if I would consider being the candidate in Ward 1 which includes the Queens Plate area. After months of discussion, on March 15, 2010 I learned that there were other groups in the ward who preferred someone who lived in Ward 1 as their ideal candidate and that they would begin a search for such a candidate. I decided to return to my original plan to run in Ward 14 where I have lived for the past 25 years.
Registering on March 16, 2010, I chatted with people whose opinion I value asking for their advice and support. I received support and advice which I considered and then sent out e-mails to even more people asking for support. I was delighted when I immediately received encouragement and endorsements for my campaign.
There were some alarming moments, including a phone call from the campaign manager of another candidate encouraging me to “drop out” of the race. In hindsight it should not have come as an unpleasant surprise but since this was the first time I had ever been approached to “drop out” of a race (I had run for City Councillor in 2000 and MPP in 2003) I was alarmed. Visions of unsavoury characters confronting me at inconvenient moments danced in my head, especially after I was told that another female candidate had been persuaded to drop out of the Ward 14 race. However, after noting the number of candidates who “dropped out” of this Municipal race for various reasons, I understand that this is nothing unusual.
Another slightly less alarming moment came when I was told by a security guard at a condominium building in the revitalized and gentrified Regent Park that the upmarket Cole street building was out of bounds to my volunteer and I because it was a private building. I explained that as we were distributing campaign literature for the upcoming October 25 Municipal election we did have the right to access the building, he insisted that we leave because those were his orders. Recognizing that the young man was only doing his job we went over to the Daniels Corporation office just across the street from the condominium where we were told by the man at the front desk after he consulted with his boss that we could not go into the building to distribute campaign literature but we were welcome to go to the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) buildings nearby. My volunteer and I left but the next day I was at City Hall to clarify the situation where I was told that legally I had the right to canvass the building and distribute my campaign literature. The Condominium Act states that "no corporation, employee or agent of a corporation shall restrict reasonable access to the property by candidates, or their authorized representatives, for election to the House of Commons, the Legislative Assembly or an office in a municipal government or school board if access is necessary for the purpose of canvassing or distributing election material."
When I eventually returned to the building I was pleasantly surprised to find that the security guard who was there knew about the Condominium Act. My volunteer and I distributed the campaign literature without hindrance.
So here we are on October 26, 2010, one day after the election and I have so many people to thank other than the 5,351 Ward 14 citizens who cast their ballots in my favour on October 25. I must thank Hugh Reilly who hosts Liquid Lunch at Thatchannel.com for interviewing me twice on his program and also Rogers TV for inviting me to the Ward 14 debate on October 7. I must thank Warren Salmon First Fridays group for inviting me to speak at the October event for municipal election candidates. I must thank Wendy Terry, President of Workers Educational Association of Canada who after attending her son’s graduation ceremony came to pick my first lawn sign and posted it on her fence; and Jeff Peters, a member of University of Toronto’s Governing Council who posted my lawn signs on his balcony and his living room window. I must thank the people who wholeheartedly endorsed my campaign, the people who volunteered their time to distribute my campaign literature in the buildings where they live and at events they attended. I must thank the people who encouraged me by calling, e-mailing and chatting with me when we met while I was campaigning. I must thank those people who contributed financially to my campaign including: The Association of Part-time Undergraduate Students at the University of Toronto APUS, CUPE Local 4400 (special thanks to Brother Miguel Lima who advocated there on my behalf), CUPE Local 3907 (special thanks to Brother Ajamu Nangwaya who advocated there on my behalf), CUPE Local (special thanks to Sister Sandra Forsythe who advocated there on my behalf), Paul Braithwaite, Rita Burke, Joy Isaacs, Gloria Middleton and Wendy Terry.
And a huge Asante Sana to my sistren Maria Garrick and Myrtle Rudder who spent countless hours walking with me as I campaigned in ward 14 (which includes the city wards 27 and 28). We were like the three musketeers: Maria, Murphy and Myrtle. These two sistren did not even let campaigning in 50 story buildings prevent them from being by my side as we went from floor to floor distributing campaign literature. Week after week they were there with me even when they had to park their cars and walk from Yonge Street to Front Street campaigning. I cannot thank them enough for being there with me as I worked with a shoestring budget of less than two thousand dollars to cover the expense of campaign literature, lawn signs, phone etc.,
5,351 votes!! Not bad for our efforts. I will be back in 2014. But now I have to go and pick up all the lawn signs I left here and there. That is the only thing I am not looking forward to. I am looking forward to being back on air at CKLN 88.1 FM on Tuesday nights (Word of Mouth) and Sunday mornings (Frequency Feminisms). ON TO 2014!!
No comments:
Post a Comment