MY YEAR IN POLITICS - Running for Parliament



NINETEEN MONTHS A CANDIDATE

I had just turned 61 when my slip into politics began. It was October, 2009.

I had come through a bout of reflections about my mortality shortly after turning 60 and was wondering how to enter into the next round of my life. I wanted to see an end to the deadlines and accountability that came with my pursuit of money and advancement as a bureaucrat in the federal government and then as a senior consultant. I was still working full time as associate vice president with CRG Consulting but I was looking forward to leaving the work force. I could not yet think of myself as “retired” but I knew I was getting ready to live within that concept.

I therefore needed to get into full time politics, and – if elected – to the House of Commons like I might have needed a hole in the head. Yet here I was and now (the election is far behind me) I am still sorting out the pieces.

My intention was to keep a record only of what happened in the first full year (January to December) that followed my becoming a candidate for political office in October the year before. Given the hype about an imminent election I thought my political journey would be done long before the first year was out.

I knew this journey was one I wanted to remember. That is why the unedited diary reads like a private document. That is why there was initially no thought given to an explanation about who I am, how I came into this process, and why a person of my maturity and with my professional background and contracting options stayed in the game after I began to see what it was all about.

Along the way I came to believe that my experience might be of interest to others who wonder about (and worry about) the state of politics in Canada today. There are many thoughtful and interesting analyses of politics in Canada in the media and on the internet but none to my knowledge have been written from the perspective of a local candidate during his or her run for office. There are very few accounts of “lessons learned” offered by those who lost.

Because the process I observe upon is true, the people I interacted with are real people. I need to speak honestly about my relationship with them but I sincerely appreciated the help I received along the way. I use the real names only of those who had the highest public profile among the many I dealt with. The real people behind the altered names will know who they are but a google search will not lead a reader to their life within these pages. From one and all I welcome input and correction.

Down the Rabbit Hole

I had covered a lot of ground before I got to this round in my life.

I had always been interested in participatory politics though I had rarely been active in political party associations. As you will see I was more active in Liberal party politics than in Conservative circles, but my time in Liberal party ranks had been a long time ago. I had been a regular contributor to the financial coffers of the Conservative party for decades.

When I filled in my “Nomination Contestant Questionnaire” and submitted it to the National Candidate Election Committee for the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) it seemed to hit all the key competencies the CPC was looking for. It was agreed that if I were elected candidate at a nomination convention organized by my riding association in Ottawa-Vanier I would be able to represent the party with energy and enthusiasm.

I am a graduate of Canada’s Royal Military College and had been eight years in the military; I had been a doctoral student, teaching assistant, and sessional lecturer on political theory at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, for four years; when active in the Liberal Party of Canada I was executive assistant to a minister of the government of Pierre Trudeau; I had been part of two commissions focused on the future of our country (the Drury Commission on the future of the Northwest Territories and the Task force on Canadian Unity); I had been a public servant for 22 years and reached the rank of acting assistant deputy minister while with Canada’s Department of National Defence; and, over the 7 years before becoming a candidate for public office, I had made a lot of money as a consultant.

On the community service front I am the founding president of the Real Property Institute of Canada; I was on the executive of the Sharbot Lake Property Owners’ Association where my wife Marie and I now own the cottage my parents had built; and, I was active in local sports when my two boys were involved in soccer and in hockey. The national office of the CPC believed my being bilingual (I grew up in Quebec City) and an immigrant (from the Netherlands) would be plusses in my run for Parliament as well.

Ever since my time in a minister’s office I had had, at the back of my mind, the notion that running for Parliament would be a challenging thing to do. But all I ever did in the subsequent thirty years was attend the odd party meeting (always the Conservative party) and I came away every time with a sense that – while I knew I would be good as a politician – I was not the kind of person who builds the networks required. Without a network, as a general rule, entry into politics on the side of one of Canada’s national political parties is almost impossible.

When in university one of my areas of great fascination was the turn within Germany, after the Great War, to the politics of fear and terror introduced by Adolph Hitler and the Nazis. My parents and their families in the Netherlands had seen the disintegration of democratic principles and ideals first hand. The impact on them and therefore on me was to entrench an undercurrent of unease about civil society. Things can go belly up very quickly.

I have always wondered how a reasonably well educated population could fall into the frenzy of German politics in the 1930s. I frequently asked myself: “What kind of person would I have been had I been born into that time and place?”

In the summer of 2009 this longstanding interest had led me to a book written by Ian Kershaw titled Hitler. It is a 1500 page book. I undertook the reading of it as a project at the cottage and at home.

Once again I learned about by the forces upon individuals and societies that can take them in a direction where democracy of the many cedes its place to the absolute authority of the few. I asked myself whether it would be possible in a country such as Canada for individuals and communities to abandon their right to have a say about political decisions that impact on their daily lives.

I was just coming to the end of this book when I read a notice from the CPC electoral district association in my riding that they were forming a “400 Club” to support the promotion of conservative values and principles in Ottawa-Vanier. What better way to ensure that democratic values are maintained than to participate in what I thought (naively) would be a speakers’ and readers’ club of like-minded individuals?

I would learn soon enough that the “400” referred not to a target number of interested people but to a dollar amount, pure and simple.

I knew very little about the Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association though I had always paid a membership fee and contributed annually to the federal party since the late 1980s. While never gravitating to the right wing of the party (I held back my contributions in the years when conservatism in Canada was dominated by the Reform party) I have always found comfort in the broad principles of conservatism. From time to time these same principles had led me to view favorably (and even vote for) the Liberal party in my riding. The Liberals often espoused conservative principles when governing. But I always knew that my attraction to the Liberal party was impermanent. I was a conservative, through and through. You will see how this translated into my thinking about Canada and about Ottawa-Vanier soon enough.

Owing to the nature of my public service and contracting work – which had all been focused upon national issues – I was not familiar with on-the-ground political concerns in the riding. I assumed ongoing research was being done by the local riding association (referred to below either as the electoral district association – EDA – or OVEDA, for Ottawa-Vanier Electoral District Association) and that they would fill me in if I became their candidate.

Ottawa-Vanier, by the way, is a riding with about 100,000 voters located just east of Canada’s Parliament Hill. Indeed, Vanier used to be known as “Eastview” because of how clearly the tower of the central block of Canada’s parliament buildings is visible when looking down the main street (Beechwood) in this area of the capital city. I would learn that the riding was a complicated mix of the very well to do and of the socially and financially disadvantaged; of long- tenured public servants and of new Canadians who found it difficult to find work; of students and university lecturers, and of the homeless and drug addicts; of well protected unionized teachers and of small business people for whom every day was a day of risk. Into the mix, a sizable minority of the riding is in the former city of Vanier. Vanier has long been home to most of Ottawa's francophone  population.

I also learned that the Liberal party had held this seat for 85 years, ever since the riding was created. The seat was considered a fiefdom by Liberal incumbents and their followers. I was told that the local Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) asked a mutual acquaintance why someone of my professional stature would bother running in “his” jurisdiction.

I decided to join the 400 Club.

It was late summer at the time and I learned that a meeting of the 400 Club was planned for the fall. Shortly afterwards, and long before that first meeting of the Club happened, I also learned that the candidate representing the Conservative party in Ottawa-Vanier had resigned. I received a request, sent to all members of the association, to think about who might be called upon to step into the shoes of Patrick Glemaud who had run in the previous federal election.

A candidate of Haitian origin, a federal government Department of Justice lawyer and entrepreneur, Patrick became well known only months after his resignation because of his being a key player in the so–called Guergis/Jaffer affair. It was an affair that linked a sitting Conservative MP and minister (Helena Guergis) and her lobbyist husband (Raheem Jaffer) to a number of transactions which were alleged to benefit from her influence. Patrick was a partner to Jaffer. Breaches of the Lobbyist Code of Canada were eventually confirmed and Ms. Guergis was removed from the CPC.

Patrick’s decision to resign as candidate, however, had had nothing to do with the affair. The affair came later. Patrick had decided for his own reasons to get on with his life rather than run a second time.

When learning of the vacancy my reflex was to think: ``Why not me?”

A more rational man than I would likely have given this “opportunity” a pass. After all, my public profile had always been Liberal. I had already had the experience of working closely with ministers when we on Parliament Hill shared Pierre Trudeau’s negative attitude towards MPs (“nobodies”). My colleagues and I in that period had little regard even for the Parliamentary Secretaries who worked with our ministers.

John Munro, then minister of the Department of Indian Affairs, had me travel with him in government aircraft all over the country during his last two years in office. My background in collective and individual rights, when in the PhD program at Carleton University and as a fledgling consultant, had become an asset as he and his government sought to develop an aboriginal rights agenda in light of new directions set by the Supreme Court of Canada and subsequent changes to the Constitution. I had sat on the floor of the House of Commons when the Cree-Naskapi Act was passed in a “committee of the whole”.

As the phrase goes, I had “been there, done that”. I had gotten the T shirt.

Nevertheless, on a whim and without much thought as to consequences, I sent an email to the referenced internet address and submitted my name. I added a few words about my past, pointed to my long-term financial support for the Conservative party, and that was that. I did not expect to hear anything in return because I had long ago assessed that a person without deep party connections would have little welcome and no chance. I did not tell my wife Marie about my email. I sincerely believed nothing at all would come from this.

A couple of days later, to my surprise, I was called by the president of the Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association, Carol Latimer. She was very enthusiastic about my candidacy in our discussion over the phone. She asked me whether I was serious and whether I would authorize her to take my candidacy one step further: the association had set up a Search Committee. Would I be OK with attending a meeting of that committee?

Again, I said “yes” (what else could I say?). And again, I did not mention anything about this to Marie.

As the day for my “interview” with the Search Committee approached I appreciated that I had to say something to Marie. I changed the story line a little bit: “I was called by the party and asked to submit my name,” I said. I shifted the initiative to the party rather than sharing the real story that the initiative had come from me. To enter into this kind of thing on a whim was beginning to appear a little reckless.

The interview with the Search Committee happened on the 5th of October eighteen months before an election would eventually be called. The interview was held in the home of one of the committee members (Gene Pierce) who, to my surprise, happened to be the fellow who had purchased the Rockcliffe home of Marie’s parents when my father-in-law left the Supreme Court. Marie’s parents had sold that house in order to move back to their home province of New Brunswick and its capital city Fredericton.

So when I was welcomed at the door by Gene Pierce, a man I had never met before, I was able to say that I had been in his house many times over the last 20 years. He appeared confused when I said this. I do not think he fully understood our cross-over in regard to his house until many weeks later. Even when the light about this came fully on for Gene, unfortunately, I continued to be a source of considerable confusion to him…and he to me.

But more on this later.

.

The interview was a sullen affair. The four members of the Selection Committee seemed unhappy to see me.

I was asked about myself and about my commitment. I volunteered that I had often thought about throwing my name into the hat for a run at Parliament if ever the opportunity came up…and this was it. Deep inside I was still only a few degrees warmer to the idea than when the whim first came to me. I still did not expect to find myself running for Parliament, on the side of the governing party on top of that.

I learned that there were three or four other contenders (I never did get this straight). I eventually met one of them. This particular candidate was a young guy, perhaps 30 years of age, who did not live in the riding and had little experience. He had been endorsed by the outgoing candidate, Patrick Glemaud. I learned in due course that he and Patrick worked together.

I learned that my being a candidate would require my preparing for, and winning, a nomination convention likely to be set up for the next month, November. After the interview I read all about the nomination process and, frankly, despaired about my ability to line up the supporting team of people I would need.

My first challenge would be to get twenty five members of the Conservative Party of Canada, resident in Ottawa-Vanier, to sign my nomination papers. I did not know a single person whom I knew for sure to belong to the CPC. I sent an email to the only two people in my neighbourhood whom I suspected might be members. I never heard back. My guess had been wrong. Those two people, by the way, had been friends of my wife and me for decades. After making my political affiliation known to them they rarely spoke to us again.

I stopped looking around after this first false start and was fully prepared (and actually comforted) to think that my experience would be terminated on the day the Selection Committee would disqualify me for not having the 25 names.

I nevertheless managed to convince my brother Gerald to be my money manager and acting campaign manager for the nomination convention should things ever get to that stage. For a person to run legally in a nomination convention he or she requires a duly authorized manager because tax-payer money might become involved. Contributions are sought by candidates running for nomination and receipts are issued for tax deductions. The first payment I made towards my candidacy was a cheque for $1000 issued to the CPC. This was a requirement in the process.

I believed my inability to get more than one or two names (Gene and Carol) of the twenty-five I needed would bring this journey to an early end. I began to worry about my looking foolish at a Conservative Party of Canada nomination convention.

Then, to my surprise, I learned that the other potential candidates were having the same problem getting the 25 names. I suppose this should have told me something?

Before October moved beyond the half-way point I learned that the Selection Committee would themselves pull together lists of 25 supporters for each of the candidates still in the race. And now I learned that there were only two of us left. The young guy and I.

Given my competitor’s close alliance with the previous candidate I believed the convention would likely be my one and only chance to speak about politics to the membership of a political electoral district association. It would likely be the largest audience I would ever have to listen to my views in policy areas of my choice. I would make the most of it. And then I would lose with good grace, and thankfulness.

I learned that candidates for nomination typically recruit, and count upon the votes of, new party members. That was not an option in my case because I knew nobody who supported Conservative Party policies. I would therefore rely entirely upon those attending the convention to vote in support of me (or not) even though none would have heard of me before. I was fully prepared to give a good speech…and then to fail. Indeed, one of the Selection Committee members had said to me in passing that – given my lack of a network and connections within the party – my chances of winning at the upcoming convention were zero. He fairly scowled at me when he said this.

And then, on the 15th of October, I was told that the young fellow I thought to be the shoo-in for the nomination would be stepping aside.

At short notice I agreed to attend an association board meeting that very evening where I would meet the Selection Committee, other association members, and the young fellow. The young guy made a nice little speech about my vast experience. He observed that the riding needed someone with my kind of background who was also a long-term resident of the riding. He confirmed his stepping aside and he declared his full support for my candidacy.

I should note that after this meeting I never saw the guy again. I will be making a number of asides in the course of writing this diary because, by the time I began minor editing, I had seen the future.

At the board meeting on 15 October, therefore, I was proclaimed the candidate. If still the candidate at the time of the next election I would be representing the Conservative Party of Canada, the party of the national Government, in a federal election. My whim of a month ago was beginning to turn into a major enterprise.

My political journey began officially about a week later.

The last step was an interview with representatives of the national office of the Conservative Party of Canada who confirmed that a check of my records had been done and that I was qualified to stand for them in a federal election. This interview had had to be carried out over the phone because I was rushing to Quebec City for meetings on a contract concerning the future of the Quebec City armouries on the Grand Allee. This would turn out to be my last contract before I committed all my efforts to politics.

Talking to the faceless CPC bureaucrats at the other end of the line (most of whom I would eventually meet in person) I was quizzed on the elements of my “application papers”. In particular the interviewers queried whether a guy from Rockcliffe, one of Ottawa’s most well to do neighbourhoods, could properly appeal to voters on the streets of Vanier and Lower Town. I apparently impressed them with my quick reply. To the sound of clapping over the telephone line I pointed out that I was not born to wealth and that in fact I was living proof of the conservative view. If a person is left to make his or her own choices he or she can achieve anything they want in a democracy like Canada.

My family’s first home in Canada had been a small apartment for a family of five in an area in Quebec City not unlike parts of Vanier. We had moved from there to houses of better quality on each turn, but my own first home had been a very small bungalow typical of the low-cost corners in Ottawa-Vanier. Marie and I began our married life in a rented apartment and now, fifteen years later, we have landed in Rockcliffe.

With that I was in.

At least for the time being.

I was told there was no guarantee I would still be standing on the day of an election because the Prime Minister holds the right to change the party’s representation at any time until the day after an election is called. The risk of my being dropped was low, however, as long as I took my direction from the riding association and stuck to the party lines. I had become, in effect, my riding’s “nominated” candidate. Canada’s election laws say that elevation to the full blown status of “candidate” can only come from a party leader the day after the writ drops. I would remain a “nominated candidate” for well over a year.

The days and weeks between my acclamation by the board in late October and the Christmas Party of the association in December of that year were filled with new contacts and activities. I soon realized that the association was not a robust, cohesive or active group. In fact it was broken in every sense of the word… starting with its bank account.

And it was a motley crew! A good percentage of members had joined the association as a route to promoting personal agendas. Others, including the president, had been directed to our EDA by the national office to “save” the association during an election two years previously. After that election they had stayed where they were.

The remaining few, while pleasant enough, kept their heads down. These few had joined the association in order to assess whether the Conservative party would merit their vote at election time. Among them were a number of new Canadians whose religious affiliations and family values placed them far to the right on the political continuum. They recognized themselves to be conservatives, but at a broad policy level they wondered if the Conservative Party of Canada would recognize cultural differences. On a personal level they wondered what the CPC could do in our riding to bring jobs and social programs to their families.

It was interesting that when French was spoken at an association meeting the speaker was almost always a person of African origin. This caused a great deal of confusion. Bilingualism was in short supply among association members. The few who spoke French found the African accents hard to understand.

The president of the association had honed her political skills and connections in Calgary. She had been involved politically in that part of the country and had also served a number of times in an official capacity with the Calgary Stampede, a major cultural event in the province of Alberta. Her connections had come in very handy when loans were needed to prop up Patrick’s financially bereft campaign in the previous election. Edmonton and Calgary ridings have much more money in their accounts than they can legally use in a campaign.

Carol was an interesting individual. She was an amalgam of major strengths and debilitating weaknesses. I would learn that her weaknesses would, in the end, almost always trump her strengths. She was a woman of middle age, short and round, whose feet when she sat on a chair dangled off the ground. Her hair was dark and her eyes, probably brown, were too often black with fury. She also had a loud and cackling sense of fun, and her mind was sharp.

Carol lined me up with Gordon Peters, the interim campaign manager. Gordon was a very capable man who had made a career as senior manager in the federal prison system. He had been successful in the political sphere as well. In a neighbouring riding Gordon had managed the successful campaign of a former military officer who was now a minister with the Conservative government. Gordon, too, had been parachuted in by the national office to help out in the last election when Patrick’s campaign was faltering.

Gordon cut quite a figure and I liked him from the start. He was very tall, at least six and a half feet, and everything about him was big. He was about my age, early sixty’s, with greying hair always well cut, and blue eyes. His size and his self confidence caused others in the association, especially the small and round president, to shrink away from him. She wanted to get rid of Gordon and he wanted to get rid of her, but they were stuck with each other for the time being. I was therefore stuck with their feuds.

I was very pleased to meet the association’s public relations officer, Mark Rogal, who was expected to play the lead communications role during the always imminent campaign. He had recruited a support volunteer (Heather Parks.). Together they took me in hand within days of our first meeting and brought me into contact with a photographer to take the pictures that would be used in a first edition of one-page flyers (known as “door knockers”) during the campaign. Mark was a handsome guy of about thirty, my height (I claim to be five foot, nine inches), slim and fit. His light brown hair was short, as befits a fellow who had recently joined the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves. Heather could have been his twin. The photographer was an officer with Ottawa’s police force and a personal friend of Heather’s.

The financial agent for the association was Ross Carothers. Ross was a long-term member of the association and had been its finance officer for many years. He had also been official agent (a legally required official in every candidate’s campaign team) for the Ottawa-Vanier candidate in a couple of previous campaigns. At first I hoped against hope that Ross would one day become the official agent of my campaign as well.

Unfortunately for me, Ross had little time for candidates with independence of thought. I learned at the outset that financial support approved by Ross would come with many strings attached. Given the total impoverishment of the association when I first arrived on the scene – there was an outstanding debt of some forty thousand dollars owed to three Calgary-based associations – he had little leverage on me until after my efforts had begun to build up our bank account. His attitude towards me then became a matter of considerable tension. To me he appeared reluctant to approve expenditures that used funds which would never have been raised without my efforts.

Ross always struck me as being a strong supporter of Carol no matter how isolated she increasingly became within the association. He was a fellow with professional background as an accountant, having worked at senior levels in a number of businesses based in Ottawa. He and his wife were both retired so he had the time to do the work he had volunteered for. His health was sometimes shaky, but his attitude was firm. He had lost a brother-in-law to murder and he wanted the criminal law system to provide satisfaction to the families of victims.

Ross was of average height, soft in his body but not overweight. The glasses that covered his light brown eyes were large in the frame and dark, much as one might expect for an accountant of my generation. His most distinguishing feature was a tongue that darted furiously in and out of his half-opened mouth when he felt himself to be under pressure.

Gene Pierce, the man who had welcomed me to the former home of my father-in-law, would be the person to introduce me to the geography of the riding. He could navigate himself – and me, when I was the driver – to every single corner and back street of Ottawa-Vanier. He knew what the Statistics Canada data said about voter turnout and the distribution of votes in each of the fifty or so polling districts in our riding. He knew where the residents lived who had the “deep pockets” I would need to help get our association out of debt and into the black.

Gene was another of the curious figures I would have to deal with. He was still an American citizen. He was unable to vote in Canada himself. His detailed knowledge of the riding became almost creepy to me when I learned that he had been a long-term bureaucrat in one of America’s information-gathering agencies. Gene knew where each church, synagogue, mosque, cathedral, and all other imaginable houses of worship were located, where the bulk of their congregations lived, and so on. He was six feet tall, looked to be in his late fifties, and deaf in one ear. His deaf ear meant that he had taken to leaning to the side of his good ear, whether sitting, standing, or walking. He walked with tremendous enthusiasm. He loved going “door to door”.

Let me pause for a moment on the topic of “deep pocketed” supporters. Most of these people sent their money to the national office of the CPC. I learned that contributions made directly to the CPC (as opposed to the local riding) were retained at the national level except for a 10 percent kickback to the riding in which the supporter lived. This fact had never been well advertised by the local association, who were perhaps discouraged by the national office from doing anything about it. The end result, of course, is to put the national office in the driver’s seat for all purposes related to money.

Legislation in Canada with regard to political party financing sets out how much citizens can contribute. There is a maximum amount, now set at fifteen hundred dollars, that can be distributed between the national and local levels. I learned this many months after I became the nominated candidate and only after Ross had resigned. The notion among association members when I arrived was that the same maximum could be contributed nationally and locally. This erroneous notion took the pressure off from efforts that should have been made to deflect the payments that were going nationally to the local level instead. The local level was largely absent in the lives of the big donors.

Guy DesRoches – a former candidate himself in a northern Quebec riding – served as the association’s “fund raiser”. Guy may well have been an ideal candidate but, as my diary will attest, for reasons that are more negative than positive in my book. One thing for sure: Guy was not suited to fundraising.

Guy was a handsome guy, hovering around sixty like many of us in the association, standing just over six feet with a rim of grey hair around a well shaped head. His eyes were blue. His look was intelligent and almost always pleasant. His spoken French reflected a sophisticated background and professionally he had been in just the right kind of work for a contemporary Conservative. He had worked all his life in the field of economic development. Guy would prove to be quick – too quick – in his uptake of information. And then he would be stubborn as a mule when new information came in.

Initially my closest contact was with an executive member of the board of the association by the name of Bruce Waverley. Bruce was assigned the job of “policy instructor”. I was told to meet with him regularly, that he would be the one to link me to the party’s policy people in the national office, and that he would pull together the material I would need to speak to people in our riding who were party members and to the general public.

Bruce knew Guy from times they spent together in government and private sector work. Bruce had also been professionally involved in the business of economic development. He and Guy looked at each other with the same blue eyes. But Bruce still had a full head of hair, if mostly grey, and he still dressed on most days as if he were headed to the office. Bruce was the most professional looking of all the folk I had met to that point. I was inclined at the outset to trust the man.

I was on my way.

Or so I thought.

In fact all of those named in the previous paragraphs would be “fired” or would walk away from the association and from my fledgling campaign before the federal election was eventually called. Every one of the departures was acrimonious when it happened. Whether all those departures reflect upon the association, the people themselves, the political process or upon me is a matter others must decide.

In late October, a week after my nomination was confirmed, I let all my immediate neighbours know by way of a short notice in their mail boxes that I was about to set out on a political journey and that our street might be lined with cars from time to time when Marie and I hosted a political event at our home. I did this entirely at my own initiative, without telling the association about it. In doing so I had broken the first rule applied to party candidates: get national office approval before making any moves into the public sphere. Fortunately (or not) I had no one from the association looking over my shoulder. The board of the association was far too busy with internecine feuding to guide and manage the foolish candidate.

The first of my political events was just days after my notice had gone out to neighbours. Marie and I invited to our place the 25 people, plus association executive members, who had endorsed my nomination as riding candidate regardless of their never having heard of me before. Carol, who arrived in the last half hour of our two hour cocktail party, stood in the back of the room nervously brandishing contribution envelopes and new member application forms. She seemed uncomfortable with the people. She likely wondered as well what this novice candidate might say. The fact that Marie and I had coordinated the event, and paid for it, without advance notice to the national office made her especially nervous.

I thanked everyone there. In my short speech I observed: “You did not make a mistake. One of my undertakings is to help the Conservative party grow in our riding so that our members in Ottawa-Vanier never again have to endorse someone they have never heard of before.”

In the end, as you will see, I did not make good on this undertaking. After I lost the election I was congratulated by the CPC in a form letter on the quality of the campaign and then, seemingly having served my purpose, I was dropped by the association and the national office of the party like a hot potato.

Back then, however, Marie and my initiative with this core group of supporters was extremely well received. My talk was followed by a short question and answer period where I acquitted myself very well. Most of the questions focused upon who I was and how I happened to find myself in this position.

I think Carol was pleasantly surprised by my performance. Perhaps to compensate for these positive feelings she beetled over to Marie and raised alarm bells about the lonely lot of a candidate’s wife. Marie to her credit was her usual diplomatic self in her closing down of this line of discussion. We were going to give the association and the party one target, not two.

We were again off and running. But…

The whole thing began to fall apart. The people around me did not work well together. The knives were out. The acrimonious departures began.

My major challenge in the early rounds was to watch and learn whom in the association I should listen to. Every piece of advice I received from one person in the association was certain at some point within only hours or days to be contradicted by someone else. I learned that anyone contributing to my adventure might quit the association or be shoved aside by the president or by the CPC at any time. I would typically be the last to know.

I learned for example that Mark`s style – entirely pleasant from my point of view – was viewed by others to be brusque and unacceptable. Guy and Carol were particularly incensed by what they viewed as his presumptive and impolite manner. When Mark produced a brochure for me with the advice that I should hit the ground running, first Carol and then others rejected its contents. By Christmas I would not yet have any material or any introductions within the Ottawa-Vanier community…except for a coffee party held in Carol’s apartment building. She happened to live in an apartment building, the Champlain Towers where my parents had lived for a few years before moving to a seniors’ residence close to my sister’s place. The most pleasant and welcoming attendees at Carol’s party had been friends of my parents. They had come to the event, advertised by Carol in the foyer of the building, because they recognized my name.

The example of Mark’s preparation of an introductory “door knocker” is worth elaborating upon.

Shortly after I was confirmed as the CPC candidate Mark correctly decided that a one-page information piece should be prepared that I could use when visiting voters in the riding. He asked me for draft content about myself and he arranged for final text and translation to be written. He asked Heather to help him with this.

Through Heather, her photographer friend was contacted and I was sent to his home office (Heather attending) to pose for a number of photographs. The photographer was a police officer in his day job.

About two weeks later Mark shared with me a sample “door knocker” and I was asked to approve it. I did not greatly like the image Mark and Heather had selected among the many dozens of pictures taken (it looked more like a police mug shot than a political profile) but I was happy to trust their judgment about this. The text on my background was good.

The door-knocker now approved by me, Mark contacted a printer he had used for other purposes in his professional life and about 500 copies of the door-knocker were produced. I was ready to go!

But, no.

While the draft door-knocker had been shared all along the way with the board executive, and while the form and content had been reviewed by the community outreach lead for our association (Gene), Carol suddenly had a fit about the thing. She exercised her executive power to issue a cease and desist instruction. The door-knocker, now being printed, would not be approved by the association for use.

She advised that she would be pulling together an alternative one-pager and that I should not start reaching out to riding residents – even if only to CPC registered members – until her replacement door-knocker was in our hands.

The upset and hassle this caused among board members is best left to the imagination. Ross, for one, was extremely upset. As finance officer he did not want to pay for a few hundred brochures that would not be used.

In the end I footed the bill for the production of Mark’s door-knocker myself and I never asked the association executive to approve my use of them. I did use them (another national office rule broken) but only when I snuck out of the house and skulked around the neighbourhoods entirely on my own initiative. I was in no position to call upon persons listed as association volunteers. Carol’s intervention delayed my formal introductions in Ottawa-Vanier by at least two months.

I soon learned that Bruce, my policy advisor, was a one-issue guy. He and his wife were very strong right-to-life activists. I felt I would be able to work my way around that because I believed that, without a commitment to life, the slip into abortion as a birth control option would become much too easy. But as it happened, Bruce would not be lasting too long with the association either.

At a fund raising event in the home of one of my wealthiest supporters Bruce took the chair. After a rather light and fun presentation by an invited Senator (guess who?) Bruce asked for questions from one person in the audience in particular: a personal friend he had brought to the event – not a riding resident – who was a strident anti-gay activist. This person took extreme issue with the Government’s position on same-sex marriage even though the Senator’s speech had had nothing to do with sexual orientation. It was embarrassing to everyone in the room.

At the end of the evening I was told by Wendy Shore, the association member responsible for getting me into the riding’s high-rises and therefore known as the “high rise advisor”, that I must distance myself from Bruce or else she would quit. She told this to Carol as well, from which point onwards Carol became openly negative towards my policy advisor and he towards her.

By mid-December, after a dozen meetings between Bruce and me, the national office called me at home and told me to not take anything advised to me by Bruce seriously. But the national office did not give the same message to Bruce and did not intervene between Bruce, Wendy and Carol. I was left to sort this out on my own. No one told Bruce that he had fallen into disfavour and he continued to demand my presence and my attention for policy instruction twice each week.

It came to a head in the third week of the month. Bruce attempted a “coup”. His troubles with Carol and, I suspect, rumours of his falling into disfavour among association members and the national office, had moved him into an attack mode.

He “instructed” Carol to resign in the New Year, shortly after the annual Christmas party she was actively arranging. Bruce said he would take over after she stepped down. He told her that if she refused to resign voluntarily he would push her out anyway in the same way that he and a couple of others still on the board (Gene was one of these) had succeeded in removing a previous president a year or so earlier.

Carol was furious. Carol told me she would be resisting this “coup”. On her side she said she was confident she had the support of Ross. She also began to line up other board members whom she judged to be either supportive of her or very negative about Bruce.

For my part, Carol had proven herself to be the most dynamic person on the association’s board by a long shot. Her ideas about politics were always very good. Her sense of fun was palpable. When she seriously applied herself to the production of draft material her contacts in Alberta were able to produce very good stuff. I want to emphasize the word “draft” because as I have said her application of personal time and energy to the production of final product was an entirely different matter.

Marie and I decided to throw in our lot with Carol.

This meant that Marie and I began to actively help Carol prepare a counter-attack. We helped her to write letters and emails to Bruce and to association members. We suggested what her approach should be towards the national office of the party.

Carol followed our advice to the letter and, in short order, she knew she would have the support of the national office of the CPC should this internal putsch come to a head.

When the struggle did come to a head just before Christmas Bruce was the one who had to resign.

Along the way I had had some rough words with Bruce myself because I had not liked his conduct through all of this. I had also gotten a better measure of where he stood politically. I seriously doubted that I would stay on as the candidate if he had succeeded in his effort to become president.

Bruce had been very clear in return that if he replaced Carol I would do exactly as he said or else I would be dumped in my turn. When Bruce resigned I felt greatly relieved. My bi-weekly rounds of policy instruction had become rounds of mental and emotional upset. Those rounds now came to an end.

Soon after Carol was once again firmly in the chair, unfortunately, I learned that her own weaknesses could be debilitating for me but in very different ways.

She would blow away anyone who might propose meetings, coffees, events, material, fund raising, or whatever on their own initiative. She would blow them away by pointing to the glaring inadequacies of the plans they were bringing forward. She would then offer alternatives that, every time, were considerably better than what she had been critical of…but she would be unable to produce anything in the way of follow up to her own counter proposals.

Already by Christmas her aggressive stance and her success in the face of the attempted “coup” had, in the immediate wake of Bruce’s departure, cost us the participation on the board of Gordon (my interim Campaign Manager), Mark (my PR guy), Wendy (the high-rise coffee person), Heather (support to Mark), and some others. Carol had had a near-total falling out with Gene (the “canvassing guru”) though he still hung on. She had no respect at all for Guy (fund raising). Carol also wanted total dominion over me.

She was extremely put out by initiatives I was taking to launch me into the politics of Ottawa-Vanier. We were closing in on Christmas and still nothing had been done by the association itself to move me into the public space. Because the Conservative party was in a minority situation in the House of Commons an election could be called at any time.

For the second time in as many months I again believed my time as candidate might be very short when, called to a meeting at her apartment, Carol advised that I had no business seeking ways to get myself known except through her and with the support of the EDA. The influential members of the association now consisted only of herself and Ross.

Ross was firm about my being unable to impose any financial cost upon the association at all. None of my proposed initiatives could be implemented without association approval. Every dollar I might spend had to come from Ross. And I already knew that Ross would spend money only when instructed by Carol.

Carol wanted me to be her “little boy”…and I would not agree. She actually used those words at the meeting between us in her apartment.

Is it surprising that the disagreements between us reached the high decibels? At one point Carol was preparing to stomp out of the meeting until she realized that she would be stomping out of her own apartment and have nowhere to go. When I got up to leave instead her husband intervened and she began to settle down.

Peace was restored but the issues remained unresolved. I was looking at a future without support from anyone except from Carol, and I had already learned that Carol – while excellent at the production of draft material – was unable to produce final copy unless pressed to the wall.

I was not very optimistic about the future.

It did not help that the association was still broke. I have already observed that the previous election campaign had been funded primarily by way of loans from rich associations in Western Canada (Calgary and Edmonton). Our association owed a lot of money to those loaning associations. At the first board meeting after my nomination I was asked what I was going to do about this.

I, of course, had no “rich” sponsors. I knew no one currently sitting with the CPC in the House of Commons. I had never had to raise money before, except to support sport teams by selling chocolate bars when I was in high school. The looks exchanged among board members affirmed that they might need to get me replaced sooner rather than later.

On the home front Marie, who had tracked all this, hoped at various points in the action that I might “resign” my nomination. I was firm, however, that this would not happen. As always, after some pretty intense debate Marie backed off and affirmed that she would continue to help in whatever way she could.

Over the course of my nineteen months as a Candidate debates of this kind would arise between Marie and me time and time again…but Marie always reaffirmed her support and always came through. At various points in the diary I share the tensions which simmered, exploded, and then were always resolved between us. I hardly ever give to Marie the credit she is due for sticking it out from the beginning to the end, and especially for helping me to carry on when all the forces seemed lined up to defeat my personal resolve to “go the distance”, We have always had a strong and loving relationship. My run for public office certainly tested that relationship. We proved to ourselves – and to our extended families – that all was, and remains, well between us.

My answer to others who counselled me to resign, by the way, was essentially this: “If the party does not want me I will wait until they kick me out. Then I will have learned a little something about active politics and I will have even more to talk about!”

One of my conundrums during this early period, even before the significance of my new venture had fully settled in, was how much to say to business associates and clients in the work place. CRG Consulting does most of its business with the federal government and here I was – about to be “outed” as a representative of the Conservative Party of Canada.

At a meeting in Quebec City where the issue was the rebuilding of an historic military armoury that had burned down a few months before my hesitancy to announce my intentions came to an end. I had to say something. There were over a dozen people in a large conference room at a hotel which stood a few hundred metres away from the burned out hulk. Two or three consulting firms were represented, all of us engaged to work together on construction options which could meet a variety of different objectives including concerts of international scale. The armouries were at the edge of the walls around the old city, backed onto an open park known locally as the Plains of Abraham, and were integrated with another historic structure called the Citadel.

The people in the room included a half dozen public servants. Those folk, being unaware of my status as a candidate for public office, let loose for about thirty minutes critiquing their respective ministers and lambasting the office of the Prime Minister which had taken a particular interest in this project. I knew that I would be meeting with those ministers and the Prime Minister’s staff at a Christmas party scheduled for early December on Parliament Hill. I said nothing about my intentions in the course of the meeting and I did not engage in the banter and the slander all around me. But I knew the public servants would be worried about my keeping confidences when in political circles and I knew I should stay away from settings such as this in the future.

When I returned to Ottawa I advised the president of my firm that I would henceforth remove myself from meetings with public officials. I would complete my portion of the work already contracted with the province of Quebec and Canada on the Quebec City armouries and then I would withdraw from contracts which could put me and our firm in a compromised position.

Throughout this period the national office was largely silent. I met some of the people, usually in Carole’s company, but I learned I could not turn to the national office for help in my situation. I came to see that from their perspective they were doing me the favour of lending me their brand. I was to be seen but not heard. Indeed, the one or two times I was in a position to express frustration to a national office member the observation which came back to me was: “You think this is bad? You should see how the other associations are operating!”

The Christmas season that ended the year, joyfully and perhaps appropriately, was the first highpoint of my time in politics. The Christmas party that was organized by the CPC on Parliament Hill gave Marie and me our first true sense that something big was happening. We were welcomed by everyone we met as contributing members of the Conservative “team”. Words of encouragement abounded. Undertakings to be helpful over the months to come came from ministers and political staff without reserve.

The Christmas party later in the month organized by Carol, her husband Will, and a member of the association who worked for the other two named Eleanor Blackwell was excellent. Notwithstanding there had been no money for pre-writ photos, brochures or newsletters (remember the party said that elections were usually won in the pre-writ period) Carol decided to go for broke on her Christmas party. Ross who brought his wife and grandkids along for gingerbread house construction and other activities somehow found the necessary funds. We had an extremely good turnout and broke even between costs and contributions.

I did not begrudge the Christmas party expenditures. I had attended the provincial level Christmas party hosted by the provincial Progressive Conservative Association just a few days previously. It had been a poorly attended and bottom-basement event that reflected poorly upon the effort people must make in order to represent their riding in parliament (federal or provincial).

Because of the success of the Christmas party, to which I had invited some family members and friends, I headed into the New Year with a sense of optimism about what might lie ahead. The close of year also saw me attend the first of my functions as an aspiring politician.

I had been invited by the Sudanese Canadians through Francis Lebrun, a board member whose attitude towards me and the CPC was more quizzical than supportive, to attend a church function. At the function, on the heels of truly beautiful and moving songs of joy by the church choir and by members in the congregation, I was asked to speak.

While Carol huddled fearfully at the back of the Church (she had not had time to contact the national office or block my way) and Marie looked on in wonderment, I stepped up to the pulpit and spoke about our shared human journey. I began with a reference to where our human species is alleged to have been born, somewhere in Africa, and I matched the Pastor’s words of pride in his – and his congregation’s – now being citizens of Canada with my own pride in being African. I tracked my own origins through the peoples who settled in Europe and then in the Netherlands and concluded with observations upon our shared values in the Christian faith. The importance of Christmas to all Canadians flowed naturally.

Marie, I could tell, was impressed by my first foray into public speaking as a politician. She said this when the Pastor asked her to say words of welcome to the gathered assembly. She confirmed this after we returned home. Even Carol was impressed, and doubtlessly relieved that I had not said anything about which the party would have found fault.

For my part, I have never doubted my ability to effectively represent people, principles, and values when called upon to do so. I loved having opportunities to put my capacity for this on display. I have never been the kind of person who orchestrates his or her own way into the limelight. The curious set of circumstances that had made me a candidate for public office was, for me, a stroke of tremendous good fortune.

And now, onto day one of my first full year as a candidate. This was not going to be an easy ride.

1 JANUARY

The year began without much fanfare.

During our morning coffee, which Marie and I have almost every day beside the fireplace (in winter) or in one of our two sun rooms, the discussion alternated between Marie’s wish to “retire” from her job with Canada’s federal government and my effort to understand the political journey which had begun only three months earlier.

My reflections today were upon the hopes of members of the Sudanese community in my riding and, in particular, upon Francis Lebrun. Francis was from South Sudan, a region in the Sudan that was in the process of separating and becoming a country of its own.

Francis was, as you might expect, black. Unlike other African-Canadians I would come to know during my run at politics, however, nothing else linked him visibly to the African communities in the riding. Francis was an immaculate dresser, wearing what appeared to be the latest in business fashions. He at no point wore the colorful shirts and sweaters that I often would see worn by other African Canadians at riding events. He was a thin man who, because of his bearing, appeared taller than he really was. Whether he was handsome by virtue of how he carried himself or by has nature I cannot say. It surely amounts to the same thing: he looked good and also somewhat compelling.

At this early stage in our relationship I assess that he is far less committed to a victory for me in the next election than he is to his own success in meeting with as many Canadian politicians as possible. He appears quite self-satisfied about his ability to name representatives of both major federal political parties with whom he has had discussions over the last few years. The current Member of Parliament for the Ottawa-Vanier riding is often named among the number of other politicians with whom he appears to be quite close.

Francis’ expectations from me seem to relate primarily to his own employment situation. If he hopes, with my support if elected, to address the poor prospects (economic, social, education) facing too many of the recent immigrants from Africa in our area of the city he must surely know that most of the policy tools for dealing with these problems lie with the provincial governments of Canada, not federal.

Interestingly Francis is not alone in confusing responsibilities of the respective governments. The major preoccupations of the local Liberal member (as regularly promulgated in newsletters, web-site and speeches gratis the taxpayers of Canada) are on matters of a municipal (traffic), provincial (French-language hospital), neighborhood (cocktail parties), and parochial levels. The fellow goes to go to a lot of funerals and reports on them in the House of Commons as if he had just lost one of his own. The only federal interest in which he appears to take an interest, official bilingualism, seems specifically directed to the protection of the French language in Ontario (he is a Franco-Ontarian). He seems to use his French language preoccupation as an excuse to travel regularly to the French-speaking countries in Africa as well.

But I digress…

After the event at Francis’ church Carol observed that this was the very first time Francis had ever done “something useful”. Carol had come to dislike Francis very much, long before I met either one of them. She had long ago stopped trying to understand what Francis was saying. My uncertain feeling about Francis, I am sure, had a lot to do with Carol’s description of him after he and I had first been introduced.

Conversation over coffee between Marie and me bounced around among various other subjects of interest and concluded when the time came to begin preparations for our hosting of Marie’s two sisters and their families. Marie’s father is with us for the week…so he is the main attraction.

The only thing noteworthy in the rest of the day was the manifest disinclination of Marie’s extended family to make any mention, at all, of the political journey I have set out upon. Not one word was said by anyone about my running for politics in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier. There were about 15 members of Marie’s extended family at our place for lunch. Not one word.

I wait to see how this disinclination plays itself out over the months ahead. Marie, alone among her family, is on my side and is interested in what the future may bring my way.

Oops…I am wrong about that. There is one more.

We just received a call from Marie’s Uncle, Clifford Warner. He is now over 90 years old but still in very good health. About 25 years ago, five years before Marie and I met, he had run for Parliament himself – representing the Liberal Party of Canada. He asked to speak to me, which he does from time to time when he calls, and we compared notes on our respective experiences. He wished me well and the wish was clearly sincere.

There are at least two in my wife’s extended family therefore, Marie and Cliff, who support my efforts … if not the goal itself (to add one more Conservative to the House of Commons). Marie has said she will vote for me but she hopes the Conservatives lose the federal election when it comes. Cliff is still a member in good standing with the Liberal Party of Canada. I am pretty sure he would rather see the Conservatives lose as well.

The day ended with an email coming to me from William Latimer, husband of Carol. The email included an attached card which wished me Happy New Year to the tune of a Johan Strauss waltz. It was a nice touch.

2 JANUARY

The first task today was to shovel snow off the roof of our house. As the snow gets deeper the insulation from upper layers of snow and the weight of it all causes snow closest to the roof to melt. The water trickles down the roof underneath its cover of snow, freezes at the edges, and the water backing up behind the ice “dams” begins to seep through the roof shingles into the house.

Once back in front of the computer about two hours later I returned to a fledgling effort I had begun in late December to describe what a Rem Westland Campaign might look like. I do not work very well without a fairly concrete idea about where I am going. I had copied my association’s advisors on my initial drafts but I was not getting any help from those guys. My inputs were being ignored.

Before I could get started on this effort today, however, I received an email from Gene advising me that my draft of late last month, which I had called my Preliminary Plan for an eventual Campaign, is “seriously off track”. I had sent him a first cut in the last week of December. The Preliminary Plan is shared, for those who may be interested, in a “Letter to the Board” that is displayed below (see entry for 6 January).

I was not happy with Gene’s observation. No one else had had an alternative to propose, least of all Gene himself. Gordon, my designated campaign manager when still on the board of the association, had pulled a draft campaign plan together that had caused enough of an uproar to convince Gord to quit when Bruce was “fired”. Gordon’s plan had been full of technological bells and whistles and would have required an army of volunteers and a full coffer. His plan was overly ambitious. On the positive side Gordon’s plan had at least been a nod to the fact that we live every day on the brink of an election being called.

After Gordon quit the association (he remained an advisor to me) I broke another national office rule by coming up with a campaign plan of my own. The Campaign Guide given to me by the party said, in so many words, that “a candidate who plans his own campaign is a fool.”

I emailed Gene and then called on the phone to explain that my goal with the Preliminary Plan for an eventual Campaign is simply to get started in the public process (meet members, give presentations, raise money). As things stand, I explained, I have absolutely nothing from the association to get me going. I have no flyer, no approved door knocker, no newsletter, no website, no media plan, no nothing. All that seems to happen, I told him, is that he or someone else blocks what another may be trying to do or what I try to do for myself.

When I pointed to step one in my Plan which was simply to go door-to-door in my own area of the riding to introduce myself and my intentions to signed-up members of our own association Gene warned that my doing so might be contrary to Elections Canada rules.

Well…

I answered that Gene himself had extolled the courage of the previous candidate, Patrick Glemaud, for his having begun door-to-door campaigning well prior to an election call. Gene had gone with Patrick in that effort. I was proposing to do something not nearly as ambitious as Patrick: I was proposing to knock on the doors of association members only, and only in my own immediate area. No other doors!

Gene then shifted his concern to the money I would be spending and said I would need approval from Ross in advance. To this I answered that I was prepared to “gift” the cost of my self-introduction to our association and to the CPC. I had previously confirmed with Ross that “gifts” are legal as long as they are correctly recorded.

In that light, Gene himself offered to prepare a door knocker for me (he referred to Mark’s version that had already been rejected by the rest of the Association) and said he would bring the invoice to me for payment.

Well…

One of the lessons in his bringing me the invoice a couple of days later was that neither he nor any other volunteers working for our political association would be spending money of their own to help me get to our shared goal. Our shared goal, of course, is to have me win the next federal election. But the bill for brochures, pizza and cokes would always come my way until the day when I had raised enough money to enable the association to pick up the tab.

I now was getting a different measure of Gene. He had retired from the American public service relatively young. He had had enough money to buy an expensive house in my area of town but not enough income to live the kind of life the house required. Gene was looking for contracts, especially from the CPC. His particular interest (and his selling point for contracts) is limited to the exercises called “Voter ID” and “Get Out the Vote” (GOTV). These two “programs” are now being used by all federal political parties…but they have been “perfected” by the CPC. I will get back to these two programs in due course.

When I asked Gene to join me when knocking on the doors of association members in our home area of Rockcliffe, however, he begged off. For Gene, to knock on doors without all the Voter ID paraphernalia in hand would be a waste of time. We had on hand, of course, no political material of any kind. I would have to make my first rounds into the voting public entirely on my own. To say that I was disappointed with Gene would be a great understatement.

In a review of my exchanges with Gene, Marie and I were again both drawn to the conclusion that Carol, in all of her oddity, ranks higher in terms of energy and savvy than any of the other association board members. But she had begun to draw fire after the removals of Bruce (close friend of Gene), Mark, Heather, and Gordon. A determined assault upon Carol by other board members, to remove her as president, had begun.

My question to myself was whether to become vocal in my endorsement of her continued presidency. I was sure I would be able to help her survive the gang-up that Gene and Guy (with Bruce still in the background because he was a friend to them both) appeared to be planning. If that gang-up were to defeat Carol, furthermore, I was sure Bruce would reappear on the executive of the association.

But Carol, in her turn, had been extremely reluctant to back any of my proposed initiatives as well. What a mess, and what an odd assortment of choices I faced among the current members of the executive and board of the association.

I concluded this day of politics by listing the names of people who have – to date – indicated an interest in becoming part of my campaign team. I had been told by the national office that a candidate’s own campaign team would eventually prove to be much more helpful than the Electoral District Association itself. I was told that most candidates begin building campaign teams, entirely separate from their associations, when they organize themselves for a nomination convention. Because I had been acclaimed I had not had to do this.

I had expected the EDA I stepped into to be a vibrant, well informed, well funded operation. I had hoped to rely upon the association and eventually draw campaign team members from the association. I was beginning to realize that my situation was pretty desperate.

At this point I nevertheless had 26 potential team members, about twenty of whom I view to be serious. Depending upon the skill sets those twenty I may soon have a core group to which I will be able to turn for reassurance and confidence-building.

Most of the people on my list are family or friends. Most of them have decidedly Liberal or NDP orientations. Only three on my list of potential campaign team members are currently CPC or association board members as well. None of the others have any political experience at all. While odd, this collection of characters gives me the courage – because of the mere fact that they exist at all and appear to be friendly – to think that things may start to get better. Perhaps the make up of my team will lend me an appeal that goes beyond my party’s brand. Conservatism as branded by the CPC is not a big seller in Ottawa-Vanier. I will need people to come to my side who agree that I would be the best representative for the riding in the House of Commons regardless of party affiliation.

I also sent an email to Patrick Glemaud reminding him of my pre-Christmas offer to lecture to his class at the University of Ottawa where they are studying negotiations theory. Given my extensive background in Aboriginal claims negotiations and high record of success while with the federal government and as a consultant in this area I know I can make a positive contribution to his class. I also am looking for ways to bring Patrick into my campaign. He once had a team of supporters. He is a recognized member of the Haitian community. But he is not an easy guy to wrestle down.

After supper I received one more email from Gene. This time his position was more in line with my own. We could agree, over the emails, that door knockers would be better than “cold calls”. I said I also would love to have copies of the most recent version of the EDA newsletter (about four months out of date) to drop off when visiting with association members. My goal, I said, is to reconnect them with the CPC and to get them to begin talking about Canadian conservatism with their neighbors.

I hope Gene and I will be seeing eye-to-eye before much longer. Notwithstanding his inconsistency towards me, he appears to be one of the most committed of the EDA board members. He and Gordon seem to get along. While Gordon has quit the association he continues to support me personally. I also have Guy listed as a potential campaign team member. Gordon does not like Guy one tiny bit, but Guy and Gene are friends.

3 AND 4 JANUARY

Not too much to report for yesterday or today.

Yesterday we took my son Kees back to his apartment in Montreal where he attends McGill University. Along the way we discussed some of the goings-on within the ranks of the Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association. Kees is a pretty reasonable fellow so I was looking for his reactions. We avoided a discussion of government policies because I could sense that his bent is to roundly criticize the Conservative Party of Canada and anyone who would be so foolish as to stand in support of what that party proposes for Canada.

When I returned to Ottawa late in the day, unfortunately, a round of tension ensued.

I received an email from Guy in which he proposed to relegate my Preliminary Plan to the realm of food-for-thought. He then endorsed Gene’s proposed focus upon Voter ID and GOTV instead. Marie tells me the note from Guy was not at all unkind…but it almost unhinged me. I have such a small team of supporters. I have included those two guys on it. And their first move is to get together to block an initiative that could take me out of the gates and into the public eye. Their Voter ID and GOTV alternatives are non-starters because one needs an army of volunteers to implement those programs. We have no volunteers other than the few I have mentioned so far.

Remember: in the media – every day – the possibility of a snap election call by the Prime Minister is front and centre.

In my desperate effort to take substantive first steps forward I have grown highly intolerant of counter-proposals. To date the only effect of a counter-proposal has been to shut down the proposal which had come from me or from someone else. I emailed back to Guy that I found his contribution useful (the usual dodge) and then basically rejected his endorsement of Gene’s focus.

Our association’s data on voters in our riding are woefully incomplete and out of date. Voter ID is a program that requires confirmation of names and addresses of as many residents as possible, along with an indication of their being strong, neutral, or negative regarding CPC support. The data obtained by telephone calls and door knocking are entered into the CPC record called Community Information Management System (CIMS). At election time attention shifts to GOTV, which is to say that all CPC supporters are supposed to be contacted personally or by phone, plus as many neutrals as possible, and encouraged to go to the polling booths on voting days.

The preferred focus of the CPC in electoral politics is upon the mechanics of voting. The goal is to get known CPC supporters to the polls on voting day, hoping that as few on the opposing sides turn out as possible. The art of persuasion, in the eyes of the CPC, is a thing of the past. Converting Liberals and NDPers to the conservative cause is viewed as a waste of time. But in my riding, and I bet in a great many others, CIMS data are virtually meaningless. Far too often I was embarrassed at the doors because “known” Conservative party supporters were long dead or had moved away years before.

To devote the time needed to correct the record (there are over 60,000 registered voters in Ottawa-Vanier) would make sense only if the association had a large and dependable volunteer cadre and lots of money to do the leg work or telephoning required.

In my situation the election was always imminent (therefore no time), we had only one or two people who could be counted upon to do door knocking, and we had no money at all.

In addition – while CPC strategists have become wedded to the technical wizardry of elections – even CPC leading lights acknowledge that that wizardry (Voter ID, GOTV, Direct Voter Contact/DVC) is useful only in close contests. I pointed out to Guy that elections in the Ottawa-Vanier riding have not been close for as long as anyone can remember. If we are going to win we need to do something different.

To accurately identify Conservative party supporters in our riding (Voter ID), make “direct voter contact” with those folk (DVC), and then spend time and money to get them to the voting booths on voting day (Get Out The Vote)…would only guarantee another loss. We already know we do not have the numbers to win in this riding! We have enough Conservative supporters to win only if the Liberal and NDP supporters stay home. In order to win we have to hope desperately for a successful implementation of CPC “programs” on our side and a pathetically low turn out by everyone else.

In the unwinding of my tension, which became directed at Marie as well, I asked that we open our minds to innovative approaches.

For example, why not set aside the usual areas of expenditure which aim to build CIMS and spend most of our money on meals for the disadvantaged? Another thought was to purchase $50 gift certificates from riding businesses (up to 4,000 certificates) and distribute them at “let’s talk politics” sessions in the course of a campaign. This could be part of a “vision” which links residents in our suburban ghettos to the small and medium businesses in our urban core.

I had difficulty sleeping the night of 3 January, and vowed to myself that 4 January would be better. I absolutely must manage my physical and emotional self so that the unpleasant combination of high blood sugar, adrenaline, and high blood pressure is avoided as much as possible. I have told Marie many times over that she absolutely must help me in this effort.

Happily, 4 January played out much more peacefully than the evening the night before.

My day was partly consumed by a review of the association membership list to identify those members who live in the Village of Rockcliffe. Those 30 or so members will be visited by me, with a flyer and cover letter in hand, whether or not I have company from my “team” (namely, Gene).

I vowed to my association supporters when Marie and I had had that reception back in October to visit the home of every one of the 500 or so signed up members in our riding. I want to tell them that the time has come to start talking politics with each other, with friends, and with neighbors. The time has come to send their support dollars to the local association rather than to the national office. A federal election could come at any time.

My day included a stop at CRG Consulting headquarters. There I met with the president of the Corporation. I was pleased to hear him endorse my use of the title “associate vice president” throughout the pre-writ and the election period. He and his principals, it seems, are happy to have an associated senior executive be closely identified with one of Canada’s main political parties. Brian advised, furthermore, that CRG Consulting continues to build its Aboriginal connections and looks forward to my re-engagement on an aggressive basis after the election…assuming I do not win of course!

My close of the day included contact with a former official agent for Conservative candidates in previous Ottawa-Vanier campaigns, Dan Gregory. I arranged a meeting at our house that my brother and – hopefully – Ross will also be able to attend. I want to free-wheel our way through different campaign funding options, purely as an intellectual and learning exercise on this early round. I have an eye on my brother becoming the Official Agent for my campaign team. [I am going to always capitalize the words Official Agent from here on in because of the supreme importance of that position on a candidate’s campaign team. Elaboration will follow below.]

I also followed up with Guy to my email note of last night and proposed that we meet on January 5, which we will be doing. My meeting with Guy will follow my meeting with Carol, whom I had previously agreed to see at ten o’clock in the morning.

With Carol I will propose ways for her to reduce the pressure she will get at the board meeting next Wednesday to resign.

Now that Gord and Bruce have left the association I want to discuss with Guy whether he would agree to act as an interim campaign manager and convene a campaign team meeting that initially includes no one currently on the association board except himself. I know Guy to be a close associate of Gene but Gene has fallen – at least temporarily – off my list of helpful people.

It struck me that, if we adopt a rule that no board member can also be on the campaign team (except the interim campaign manager) we will be able to keep Carol at bay and also free Gene to work on his pet projects (for the association) without compromising my campaign team goals. I will try very hard to have an open mind when I meet with Guy, notwithstanding what I see to be lapses in judgment in his association role as fund raiser and events organizer. He is a great guy, looks good and with the right instructions he can probably carry out someone else’s plan. As far as I can see he does not think ahead in a strategic way. He is focused upon tactics. He will never be able to develop a workable plan on his own but he may well be able to work with one that has been placed in front of him.

At this point I see Guy as the most stable individual still on the board of the association and therefore as a potential leader in my preparations for an election campaign. If Guy agrees to stand with me I will ask him to resign from the executive of the board but remain a board member.

5 JANUARY

This was quite a day.

In the morning I met for about two hours with Carol, Will, and Eleanor. We met in Carol’s office, which doubles as her living room. In her professional capacity she heads a fledgling (and floundering) company which offers terrorism and “asymmetric training" to DND forces. She would be coming to me soon enough to learn whether I could help her win contracts by setting her up with associates of mine at CRG Consulting.

On this day the mood among us was quite good but there was also an element of suspense. We knew the upcoming board meeting is likely to be difficult for Carol.

Carol opened the meeting with a 30 minute presentation of what the association’s website now looks like. Included on the site was the revised flyer based upon content and an image of me which I liked better than what Mark and Heather had chosen. Up until now – three months into my journey – the association’s website still featured a younger non- Dutch looking Patrick Glemaud. The bottom line? The revised website looks extremely good. I felt enormously relieved to see good quality product that I had not had to fully develop on my own.

When the topic changed to preparations for the upcoming board meeting I suggested to Carol that she provide an agenda for the meeting and that she get to her presentation of the website as quickly as possible. “Only after the board has seen the proposed outputs,” I said, “should you ask for board approval for the funding that brought your various products to their conclusion.” I knew Carol to be vulnerable to the charge that she is again (the Christmas Party was the last time) spending association money without corporate approvals.

“My point, Carol, is to make the quality of the output the target of the board rather than have the target be your own efforts. If you and your efforts become the target, the focus will be upon your approach in spending the money of the association. On that topic you will be guilty as charged.”

With the focus instead upon the outputs now achieved, I told Carol that at the meeting I will strongly endorse those outputs. The board can then turn to other matters.

The next step, I said, will be to set up a proper board executive. In this regard I suggested to Carol that she ask for nominations for two or three executive positions…but ask that those willing to stand also indicate a willingness to work within the framework now depicted in the contents of the website. Let’s not go back to square one!

Another topic that came up between us is my approach with the campaign team. Carol said she has problems with some of the people on my team. She does not like my rule that campaign team members cannot also be association board members.

Carol worried that the team I am setting up could one day stand in opposition to the board. She noted that a number of my potential team members (Wendy, Mark, Heather, Gordon) have already been dismissed from the board by her or Ross. Carol is exactly right of course.

To avoid too much debate I chose to focus upon my need for people. I said that a warm body is a warm body. “To lose capable people entirely, Carol, would be a great loss indeed. There are not very many of us!” I said that unless I ask someone to do for my campaign team the exact same things for which association had asked the person to step down, there should not be a problem.

Furthermore, I reminded Carol that the campaign team will work according to my Preliminary Plan. The Plan is clearly limited to “baby steps” that get me active in the community…beginning with my own neighborhood. If the contents of my campaign team’s Preliminary Plan conflict in any way with the broader agenda of the association I said I would adjust the Plan. “I foresee no conflict,” I said, “in structures, personnel, or functions.” To myself I acknowledged that my goal is to achieve eventual separation between the two organizations.

In the afternoon I had lunch with Guy and elaborated upon the Preliminary Plan. I asked whether he would be interested in acting as interim campaign team manager, knowing that his job will largely be limited to acting as link between my baby steps and the broader agenda (if any!) of the association. I assured Guy, as I had assured Carol, that my priority between now and the time of an election will always be work that the association asks me to do. But I suspected the association would not be asking me for very much at all.

Tomorrow I will be attending Chinese New Year festivities, hosted by Michael Day, a board member with a personal and professional interest in Canada-China relations. I will therefore miss the board meeting this evening. Because of the internal wrangling that would be happening at the board meeting I was very pleased to have an excuse to not attend.

I was gratified to learn from Marie that she would be happy to attend the board meeting as a kind of silent witness. Her presence alone, we agreed, is likely to keep tempers a bit more even than would otherwise be the case.

Oops, two more things.

1. Carol told us that she intends to meet separately with Gene to say that the content of an email he had sent to her prior to Christmas was unacceptable. It was indeed a heck of an email. Gene criticized Carol every which way to Sunday with words that were derisory and inflammatory. Carol said: “Gene will be told that the eyes of the national office are upon him.” This may be enough to drive him out of the association. I would then happily accept him on the campaign team, however, because he would then have only one boss – me!

2. Eleanor mentioned the government’s decision to prorogue Parliament in the middle of a growing debate about treatment of Afghan detainees by members of the Canadian Forces. I elaborated upon why I was not bothered by that decision. Eleanor and Carol said they liked my explanation and asked me to write it down in letter format, addressed to the editor of one of our local papers. There may be an audience for my reasoning.

I include the letter for the information of those who may be interested in the substance of my positions.

_____________________________________________________________________

Letter to the Editor:

From: Rem Westland, Designated Candidate, Ottawa-Vanier Electoral District Association, Conservative Party of Canada

Subject: Proroguing of Parliament

I was asked by an associate of mine how I can justify the decision of the federal government to prorogue Parliament. She asked: “Does that decision not represent a disdain for the political process and a dictatorial attitude on the part of our Prime Minister?”

My answers were the following.

First, the political process begins and ends with the power of the electorate in Canada to choose their political representatives. To prorogue Parliament is to send Members of Parliament back to their home ridings. When back in their ridings those Members meet much more frequently and extensively with their voting public than when they sit in the House. To send Members of Parliament back to their ridings is not anti-democratic.

Second, my personal view is that the pressures in the House prior to the decision to prorogue were not pressures that reflected well upon the political process. The contrarian ways among Parliamentarians these days were moving the Afghan detainee issue towards a witch-hunt that would be costly and acrimonious. The Canadian effort in Afghanistan deserves better than this.

In my view, which echoes what I read in some of our papers, there may be great merit in opening a debate about how Canada should use it powers (military, financial, political) in situations such as now found in Afghanistan. Similar situations may arise in Pakistan, in Yemen, or elsewhere. How should Canada expect to conduct itself and its operations in the kind of “warfare” we see more and more in the world today?

I did not get a sense, prior to Parliament being prorogued, that Members of Parliament would have been getting to the larger questions if the Opposition attacks on the Government had continued. I hope Parliamentarians will turn their minds to the larger questions after they get back to their ridings and talk to their electorate.

Regarding the bills that died on the Order Paper, the fact is that the Opposition parties were not strong supporters of much of that legislation. Again, over the extra few weeks that the prorogation will provide, Members can check the pulse of their electorates and reaffirm where they stand individually and collectively on the business of the Government. Legislation which is already drafted can move forward very quickly when Parliament resumes.

Finally, regarding the charge of “dictatorial” conduct, I reminded my associate that Mr. Harper is Prime Minister in a minority government situation.

To say that a Prime Minister can act dictatorially in a minority situation is to say a whole lot. It requires Opposition parties to support what a dictator may propose. One cannot be a dictator in Canada in a minority situation.

My concluding comment was that the “dictator” charge is part of the “we do not trust the Conservatives” concern.

Many people in this riding know what kind of man I am. They know that my lifelong approach reflects balance in almost everything that I do. They know that I respect Canada’s traditions and reflect them in my own background and career.

I am a strong supporter of Canadian conservatism and I intend to become part of Mr. Harper’s Government when the next election is held. You can be very confident that conservatives such as I can be fully trusted and will always serve Canada very well.

6 JANUARY

I will have to move fairly quickly through the next three days because I have fallen behind in my plan to record every day as it unfolds.

I find this diary stuff quite challenging, by the way.

This is not because keeping a record lacks excitement for me…but because every day is full. Along the way I find that home life presses in from all sides, particularly from Marie. There is an undercurrent of criticism which I understand as “your diary is just another demand on time that we could be spending together and as a family”. Yet politics have not even begun in this house! Oh, well…

The main event on this day was an update on the board meeting the previous evening. The highlights are essentially these:

First, the CPC national office was represented and this proved to be very helpful. The CPC sent its officer responsible for the oversight of electoral district associations (EDA) across Eastern Ontario, Colin McSweeney.

Like many of the CPC party “in gang” Colin, though a young man, has been at this game for many years. I would call him a party “professional” or politico. The same could be said about the sitting Liberal member of Parliament. After 35 years in the business Mauril Belanger still lists his role on the student federation of Ottawa University as one of the highlights of his career. As far as I can tell he has had little substantive work experience except as a politico.

Both Colin and the sitting MP could be fairly described as large, overweight thick dark hair and brown eyed individuals. They are certainly not twins, but in the shared aspects of their looks they reflect an image of party partisans which appears true to a remarkable extent: a remarkable number of political party workers are overweight people with an air of presumption that compensates in their minds for a dearth of practical experience – except in the mechanics of the political process.

Colin came armed with knowledge and authority regarding how EDAs are supposed to function. Marie tells me he stepped in many times to keep proceedings on track.

Carol did as I had proposed: She opened the meeting with an agenda that gave the draft website center stage for the first half of the meeting. By getting directly to the website she was able to focus attention upon her products rather than upon herself and her spending of money.

In the course of the meeting the animosity towards her style of leadership was very much in evidence but no one could gainsay the quality of the website and the information links it will provide. So the collective attack upon Carol was muted.

Gene and Guy played out a game plan of their own (discussed between them in advance) which drew attention to shortfalls in Carol’s performance over the last few months. Those shortfalls related to how the draft website was developed (no consultation with others), and also to personnel management and to funding. Her shortcomings, they said, all turned upon a lack of shared information and corporate collective effort. The association, they said, had become a one-person show with Ross being the only other member on the board being in the know.

The solution, they said, was for the members at the meeting to set up a true executive committee and commit themselves to making it work. This is what happened, with Colin’s guidance.

In the outcome the executive committee will be Carol as president, Eleanor as vice-president, Ross as finance officer, Gene as secretary, and Guy off the executive but continuing to serve as members at large. Carol told me she moved Gene onto the executive so that he will have to support the majority and keep silent with his criticisms. Thus Guy is no longer the board’s fund-raising chair. He is free to take on interim campaign chair responsibility without being compromised by what the association may ask him to do (or not do).

It was agreed that Guy will be the association’s link to the campaign team, as I had hoped, and it was also agreed – not without some debate – that the association will create an initial campaign team budget of $6k for Guy to draw upon. There was initially a disinclination to support my request for interim funding but Marie was able to focus everyone’s attention upon a note I had sent to the board explaining my funding requirement.

_______________________________________________________________________

LETTER TO THE BOARD

Preliminary Plan for and eventual Campaign

The Election Campaign Guide provided by the Conservative Party of Canada advises that a candidate’s campaign plan should not receive wide distribution. This is because the plan may contain elements of strategy and tactics which depend upon a certain level of confidentiality in order to succeed.

For the board meeting scheduled for 6 January, therefore, I have asked the interim campaign team manager, Mr. Guy DesRoches, to distribute the preliminary plan to board members in hard copy.

This Letter to the Board draws from the contents of the preliminary plan but has been written with an eye to electronic distribution. I have called upon board members to help implement the plan in order to coordinate the efforts of the campaign team (oriented to the period of the writ) and the association (pre-writ authority).

Highlights of Planned Activities

During the period of the preliminary plan (January and February, and possibly ongoing if the government’s budget is approved by the House in early March) lead responsibility for the design of the plan will be with Guy.

The activities during January and February will be the following:

- Meet with campaign team members (introductory meeting).

- Convene 400 Club meeting.

o To be coordinated with the board of the association.

o There will be a planning meeting (January, my place) and then a formal meeting (February, location to be determined).

- Meet with all association members (door-to-door), and/or drop off association material (Newsletter preferred). Current members will be asked to each recruit two additional members. The door-to-door will be done in daylight hours and completed by end-February. I hope to be accompanied by an association member who resides in each of the 10 Districts/15 Communities in our riding.

o Eleanor Blackwell: to confirm poll area and addresses of listed association members.

- Visit “main street” commercial establishments in Vanier and Overbrook. This will happen in the course of January and February, accompanied by an association member if possible.

- Hold “Let’s Talk Politics” events in the riding.

o Eleanor: to organize visits to schools and to Ottawa University.

o Gene: to propose a couple of community center options (likely in February).

- Meet with Community organizations/Service clubs as the opportunity may arise. These will likely be evening events.

-

- Write articles/submit advertisements in local and community papers (2 entries, in each of January and February).

o Carol: to review content and forward on behalf of the association.

- Meet with previous CPC candidates for Ottawa-Vanier and meet with area MPs and other candidates in the Ottawa area.

Material Required to Implement the Preliminary Plan

- Translated Newsletter, and Flyer or Door Knocker, to leave with individuals and groups (1500 copies of each). $2000.00

- Association to update website (to feature Newsletter, Flyer, and CPC information). $1000.00 for translation of current drafts (already paid for?).

- Room rental (2 events in February) to host “Let’s Talk Politics”. $300.00

- Coffee and doughnuts (visit to schools, and other “Let’s Talk Politics” events). $300.00

- Room rental/meal for official 400 Club meeting in February. $2000.00

- Advertisements in local media and neighborhood papers. $400.00

Estimate of Funding Required to Implement the Preliminary Plan

- Approximately $6,000.00

Estimate of Revenues to be Generated by Campaign Team Activities

- $9,200.00 (23 additional members to join the Club)

____________________________________________________________________

While the association’s board struggled for an outcome that would move our efforts onto a more cooperative track, I was attending the Chinese New Year event with Michael Day.

The New Year event, which was put on by the Federation of Chinese/Canadian Cultural Organizations, was a variety show which featured singers and dancers from Mainland China. The event also celebrated 40 years since Canada-Mainland China political relations were established.

I was amazed to learn, by observation and in the course of discussions, how riveted the Chinese community in Canada remains by Mainland and Taiwan politics and stress. The Mainland government appears to keep a pretty close eye on all residents who originate from China, even if now Canadian citizens. Any conduct contrary to Mainland China political goals may not have significant ramifications within Canada…but I was told that the impact upon family and friends back in China could be serious.

We are very lucky in this country. One of the goals of a federal government must be to help citizens of Chinese origin free themselves from the yoke of Communist Party pressures and politics.

Before and after the event I had an opportunity to meet with: the Mayor of Ottawa; Pierre Poilievre (Conservative MP for the Kanata area); other politicians of the Ottawa area; and – always fun – a classmate from Royal Military College.

Mike Darch is very active in the promotion of economic development in Ottawa. His organization has its eye upon investment and business links from Mainland China, which explained his presence at the show. He had a much more prestigious seat at the event (front row) than I (very back, and on the balcony)!

7 JANUARY

This day began with my congratulating the new members of the association’s executive committee. I followed it up with an email that confirmed my strong support for a corporate approach and said that, henceforth, I will no longer engage in one-on-one discussions with board or executive committee members unless authorized by the committee. I was very explicit about this because I saw the creation of the committee as my way out from under the thumb that Carol wanted to keep upon me.

The only authorized member to deal with me one-on-one, I said, is Guy.

Very shortly after my email was sent, however, I received a call from Carol asking that I stop by to receive a one-on-one report on what happened at the board meeting. She clearly has no intention to approach me only through Guy.

I chose to ignore Carol’s email invitation for a meeting and began to pull an initial meeting of a campaign team together instead. As I did so I realized that the number of those attending will not be high. Family will be over represented. I am not making very good progress at all. I really will need experienced assistance and support from association members somewhere down the line. But, hey, one has to start somewhere!

But there will be an initial meeting of the campaign team in late January (to be reported upon below). The engine will begin to turn over.

In the evening I met with Bruce Poulin, candidate of record for the provincial Progressive Conservative Party association in the previous provincial election – and a graduate of RMC about ten years after me. My goal was to obtain from him some names to add to my initial list of volunteers, but this did not happen.

We found ourselves sitting beside an elderly couple (attractive wife!) who live in Rockcliffe and – the man at least – are strong Conservative party supporters. Of the two hours Bruce and I spent together I assess that we spent about 1 ½ hours in discussion with our unexpected seat mates. But this is what politics is all about. It was fun.

Between Bruce and me we reaffirmed our intention to work together. I will attend his association’s Annual General Meeting later in January. I will accept to be a delegate of his association to his political party’s provincial convention in March if I am voted in at the local level.

8 JANUARY

This was the day for my meeting with projected Official Agent (my brother Gerald) and former (Ross, and Dan Gregory) official agents for previous CPC electoral campaigns in our riding. I held the meeting over coffee at our place in Rockcliffe.

The meeting appeared to achieve its objective, which was to open the lines of communication among Gerald, Ross and Dan. [I learned later that there would be no follow up from any of the three unless I initiated it and paid for the coffee.]

In the discussions I was a bit strident regarding observations by Ross and Dan upon how to win an election in this riding. My stridency reflected my attempt to stay focused upon the issue at hand: what are the legitimate ways to spend association funds when the goal is to make a really big splash in a loser riding? I did not want to do what was done before.

I opened the discussions by talking about balloons, teddy bears falling from the skies, $50 gift certificates to reward citizens attending meetings in the suburban areas, marching bands, food for the needy, and even elephants in Rockcliffe. The two past official agents thought I was nuts. My brother thinks I am nuts as well.

I got over the incredulity of my guests by playing the fool…because my real goal was limited to opening lines of communication among the three of them. I learned in the course of the discussions that as long as expenditures are unambiguously in support of getting a candidate elected the expenses are likely to pass Elections Canada muster. Of my various schemes only the gift certificate one was rejected out of hand: it looks more like business promotion that candidate election…to say nothing of the implication that I was proposing to buy votes.

In the afternoon I met with Carol.

After agreeing that we were having a meeting that was not happening (because one-on-one) and will not happen again, we had a fun exchange.

I learned Carol’s perspective on the developments at the board meeting of the previous Wednesday. In short, she understands – correctly in my view – that the national office continues to view her as an effective association president…even if one that needs to be corralled a bit by an effective executive committee. We agreed that we would both, in our respective roles, do what we can to remain true to the concept of a collective approach.

If the approach does not work for me, I will signal this to Carol. If the approach does not work for her, she will signal this to the national office. Our shared undertaking was to avoid individual and collective failure…and I rekindled my optimism that things would work.

At the end of the day I received from Ross a link to the website that is being developed. I perhaps acted hastily (time will tell) but I decided to share the link with my growing number of campaign team members. My purpose was to confirm that we are finally hitting the road.

The site is not yet available in both Official Languages, which was a condition firmly set by Colin McSweeney at the board meeting. But already it is clear that the site will be a high quality one. I also learned today that the flyer developed for me by Carol and her contacts out West will be used by the national office as an example for other EDAs to consider.

9 JANUARY

This day began with a review of emails.

The most important exchanges were with Gordon regarding his continued pressure upon me to adopt a much larger scale campaign plan. While no longer a member of the association Gordon has stayed on the campaign team.

I was very much inclined to work closely with Gordon for a number of reasons. As I have mentioned previously he had been a very senior official in the government only a few years before (warden of Canada’s largest penitentiaries and Assistant Deputy Minister in the Solicitor General’s department) and he had organized the last two successful campaigns of the Honorable Gordon O’Conner in a neighboring Ottawa riding.

Gordon said he would be pleased to resume management of my campaign if I would join him in his more ambitious approach. I answered that Guy was now the interim team manager whereupon Gordon opined: “Guy is useless. If he is confirmed as your campaign manager I will want nothing to do with your campaign whatsoever.”

I had no doubt that Gordon’s capacities ranged far above those of Guy but I worried that Gordon’s plan was overly ambitious. It focused upon what candidates are “supposed” to do…by the book. The funding required would be well over $80,000 and the supporting team of volunteers would have to number in the many dozens.

I pointed to the more modest Interim Campaign Plan and expressed reservations about an alternative plan which – even if our association raised the required financial and human resources between now and an election call – might make very little difference in the outcome of an election. I said I hoped he would do a soft-sell of his views at the initial campaign team meeting in light of my concerns, and be nice to Guy.

The Interim Campaign Plan will be shared at that first meeting. I told Gordon I was worried that the precedent of association members proposing alternative (and unworkable) plans in order to bring things to a dead stop would be repeated.

I spent the rest of the morning (it is now almost 2:00 pm) updating this diary, after getting past Marie’s criticism that I waste my time and show too little respect to her and her work in the Department of Justice. I am sure I will be hearing a lot in this line of criticism over the next few months. She said she finds it hard to take this running for Parliament thing seriously…(as I sometimes do as well).

While typing away I received a call from Carol about how I should handle the efforts by Francis Lebrun to corner the market on Sudanese/CPC relations across the country. This was news to me. I asked Carol to tell me more…

Apparently Francis wants the CPC to become a catalyst to help Sudanese communities across the country work more effectively together, and he wants to be recognized as the force behind this coordination effort. This is a far larger proposition than a local riding candidate would expect to deliver upon. Carol agreed with me on this.

I also believed, however, that a correctly managed initiative of this kind could bring favor to our riding and could result in loans being easier to access by our association and my campaign team from EDAs across the country and from the national office if we were to adopt Gordon’s ambitious campaign plan and local finances were to fall short.

Carol and I agreed that Francis should be asked to deliver the names and contacts of Sudanese “elders” across the country. She and I will then take those names to the national office. The national office would have to take it from there. I said we have to be careful because Francis appears less committed to the CPC than he sometimes says (and Carol agreed). In the end…nothing came from this idea at all. There was no follow up by Francis.

10 JANUARY

This day included a couple of long emails, one from my brother and one from someone called Jerry whom I knew only from emails. Jerry had found my email address and had decided to write to me in my capacity as a Conservative candidate. Both men were providing advice on how I should prepare for the eventual campaign. Jerry is a person I would never meet in the flesh.

I reacted positively to Jerry’s input. I was quickly on the return email and asked him to confirm his attendance at the initial campaign team meeting planned for 20 January. He said he would be there. Jerry appears to be a lawyer and he appears to have a pretty balanced perspective about things. There is a gentle tone in his messages. His advice would take me beyond the basics of the Preliminary Plan but, with his ongoing support, his proposed additions to the Plan could be do-able.

Jerry attached an assessment of the Government’s decision to prorogue Parliament that reflected, in every way, what I had written myself. His tone, however, was much less personal and intense than my own had been. He provided information on the history and purpose of the power to prorogue and observed that the howling of opposition party members and the media makes little sense. I have always benefited from those who take the time to make my sharp edges a little duller.

My brother’s input was received less well by me…at least initially. Upon reflection I believe I often receive his advice as a younger brother might be expected to receive advice from an older brother: poorly, and with a knee-jerk inclination to reject. I was angered, however, by the underlying message in his email: “This is what you should do…so get on with it!”

I handed the email to Marie rather than read it closely on my own. Her reaction was much more positive.

So…I had to get over my initial – childish? – reaction.

Upon rereading my brother’s advice more attentively I came away impressed by the substance of his message. He has really sized up the issues and the problems very well. His orientations are the right ones. His purpose with the advice is to help me win.

I won’t record Gerald’s advice at this juncture because there is so much advice floating around. When it all comes to ground in the form of a revised campaign plan I will review what I received from so many quarters and – hopefully – be able to see who contributed what to the result.

I was pleased, however, to respond to my brother’s comments with a very positive email of my own. He seems to be the right guy to be Official Agent on my team. This time it was Marie who dulled the blade of the cutting edge I would otherwise have included in my return mail.

The day ended with two smaller tasks.

I developed a follow up note of information to our immediate neighbors elaborating upon my reasons for standing for the CPC in the next federal election. I believe this note is necessary because I get curious looks from people who mostly ignored me before. A neighbour across the street, one of the few who regularly says “hello” and who is close to political and social events in our part of town, observed loudly: “I guess you could not get anyone else to run?” One of my goals is to retain as much credibility for myself in this process as possible. I want people to get a better idea of who I am.

I called my daughter Amy at the close of the day to review email exchanges between us over the last couple of weeks. We returned to a recent decision by the government to stop funding to a number of “independent” bodies whose purpose is to review government policies and act as social critic. Over time those bodies have become very independent in their actions and words. Notwithstanding that they might receive 100% of their funding from the government they regularly appear in the media as strong objectors to every initiative recently taken, or not taken, by the CPC government in the areas of foreign aid and education.

I explained to Amy that a governing party, whatever its stripe, would not ordinarily be expected to support public funding to organizations which then spend all their money to subvert the government’s goals. Parliament might do this (Human Rights Commission, Privacy Commissioner, Environment Commissioner, and so on), but not a rational government team. I asked her to research examples, if any, of new organizations of that type created by the federal government while the CPC has been in power. My hope is that she will not find any such examples.

11 JANUARY

This day began with relatively little activity on the political front. I spent a few hours cleaning up the house, exercising, and looking after the dog. I traveled to CRG Consulting headquarters to pick up a cheque for previous contract work, and I returned home intending to read.

I was waiting for copies of Carol’s highly acclaimed flyer to put into envelopes and deliver to neighbors along with the short letter I wrote yesterday…but the flyer appeared not to be ready. Carol is always reluctant to put finished product on the table.

And then the politics began.

I was visited at home by Colin McSweeney, the national office guy responsible for this area. We discussed internal association issues for a bit and he shared with me various perspectives about politics and campaigning he has acquired over 32 years of involvement (he is all of 43!). He appeared relaxed about it all and to really enjoy this stuff…though his being considerably overweight speaks to me of stress.

The meeting between us concluded by his advising me that my letter about prorogation is inappropriate. He reminded me that letters to the editor are typically only 300 words long…and he did not like my inclusion in the letter of words that appeared critical of the Prime Minister. He said he would amend the letter and return it to me for review if I felt I really had to make some kind of statement in the public press.

I held back from him that I had already sent the letter to EMC Vanier, a local paper. Indeed, I had received a reply from the editor of the newspaper thanking me for the letter and asking that I shorten it but retain the flavor and the information. So I certainly intend to re-send the letter…but I will give Colin a couple of days to follow through and show me what – in his judgment – an acceptable letter would look like.

The day ended with a visit by Marie and me to Carol and Will. I picked up the flyers. I learned that they had been finalized and printed by Colin. He had insisted to Carol that she hand over to him the penultimate version.

We discussed Carol’s idea that the association create a Gold Club to bring serious money to the organization. She will be raising this with Colin at a meeting between them planned for Wednesday this week. This would be a rival to Guy’s 400 Club, which means of course that the 400 Club will likely not get off the ground if a Gold Club comes to life. In the end nothing came of the Gold Club and the 400 Club withered in a mess of mandate issues.

By moving in the direction of a Gold Club, of course, Carol was also again moving out of her own jurisdiction. She should be consulting first with her new executive committee. I was nonetheless supportive of the idea because I could see that Guy’s efforts were not leading anywhere. I even proposed to Carol some words to say when meeting with Colin. Her being out of mandate (she is not the fundraising chair) is almost certain to cause friction when she surfaces with this idea at the next board meeting or executive meeting whether or not Colin comes on side.

I concluded the day by drafting the note to immediate neighbors, friends, and associates in Rockcliffe and Lindenlea, which elaborates on the political journey I have embarked upon.

TO FRIENDS AND ASSOCIATES:

You may not know it yet…but I will represent the Conservative Party of Canada in our riding (Ottawa-Vanier) in the next federal election.

The purpose of my note is to share this information before it catches you by surprise. Some of us have crossed paths professionally or personally in the past; in Lindenlea and Rockcliffe we know each other as neighbors; and, many of us have watched our kids grow up over the years, starting with kindergarten in the Rockcliffe Park Public School.

I was pleased to take up this challenge because I know I can make a positive contribution to the political process in our riding and at the federal level. My undertaking is to demonstrate by personal example that politics can be fun…but should also be taken very seriously. The more we individually engage in the political process, the better that process will work for us all.

I am tempted to raise a high profile issue or two in the context of this letter. But the issues come and go. There will be time enough for debates in the months ahead.

I welcome you to stop by our house in Rockcliffe or to chat when we meet in the stores down the street if you want to know where I stand. If you are planning a coffee among friends and think it may be interesting to have the “Candidate” on hand to participate in your discussions, please let me know at the email address rwestland@.

12 JANUARY

Once again I have fallen a couple of days behind. This diary stuff is for the birds…but I will try to keep at it. There are only twelve months left after all. Today is actually the 14th of January.

Yesterday (13 January) the world collapsed around Port au Prince in Haiti. An earthquake struck. All bodies with a public purpose in Ottawa are asking themselves what they may be able to do to help.

On 12 January, however, I and the rest of the world were still blind to the imminence of an earthquake in Haiti. On the 12th I had acted upon my intention to re-send my letter on prorogation to EMC Vanier, after adjusting it to take into account preliminary comments from Colin McSweeney and also from Marie. The adjusted letter is much better, shorter, yet remains consistent with the intentions of the first version. A group effort achieves more intelligence and balance than a single person can manage…most of the time.

13 JANUARY

This morning the news hit. Haiti’s capital city is in ruins. The infrastructure in Port au Prince (whatever it was worth before) is now worth nothing at all. Millions of people no longer have the miserable homes and accommodations they had before. Dozens of foreigners will be caught up in the tragedy (dead, wounded, lost) because the very few higher quality buildings and offices in the city are also mostly flattened.

My immediate challenge remained, nonetheless, to finalize and begin to deliver a letter of self introduction I had crafted with the input of Guy and Gene. The rudiments of election preparation seem awfully banal against the backdrop of the large scale disaster in Haiti, but the show must go on. You will recall that I have been impatient to make myself known to association members all across the riding.

TO MEMBERS, PAST AND PRESENT:

The purpose of this letter is to introduce myself. I will have knocked on your door and/or have left this note and a flyer in your mailbox.

I and my team want to give Conservative Party members and voters every opportunity to get to know me before the writ is dropped for the next election.

Please feel free to contact me directly (rwestland@) or via the Ottawa-Vanier Electoral District Association (OVEDA) if you would be interested in hosting a discussion among us. My pledge is that active consultation among us will continue after I am elected.

As candidate I cannot yet speak for the party or the government. But I can certainly elaborate upon why I am running for public office and I would be pleased to explore with you whether and how Canadian conservative principles can be reflected in decision-making at the federal level.

I am running for office because, like you, I believe a vibrant political process is essential for the long term stability of our country. Given our remarkable good fortune in this part of the world, a stable Canada – if well governed - can assure a high quality of life for most of its citizens. A vibrant political process, however, requires us to be actively involved in political discussion and debate.

I am confident I have the professional background and the personal qualifications to be a very good Member of Parliament. It is time for this riding to once again be represented in the governing party in our Nation’s Capital.

Gene and I traveled around Rockcliffe in the late afternoon (around supper time) to catch as many people at home as possible. Out of some 25 members, we stopped to chat with at least half of them.

I should note that it took us about three hours of driving around and knocking on doors to meet with the dozen who were both at home and willing to open their doors. Over the next few weeks I hope to canvass the homes of all five hundred or so association members in our riding. It will take a long time and I will consume a lot of gas. I or Marie do all of the driving.

The discussions at the door were always interesting. At one home where we were about to get the brush-off the recipient of our letter expressed a parting interest in my unusual first name…and our discussion shifted to Dutch. The door opened wide, his Dutch wife was called downstairs, and we had trouble declining an invitation to stay for coffee or tea.

As a general rule, unfortunately, the members we spoke to are all pessimistic about Conservative party chances in our riding. My own optimism seemed to amuse them rather than persuade. Oh, well… .

Association business, in parallel to my first steps into the community, began to take the Haiti earthquake into account. The association was planning a fund raiser (50’s 60’ Dance), which now began to look like the area Conservatives planned to fiddle while Rome (read Haiti) burned. I was asked by Guy to agree with him that the fundraiser should proceed.

The problems are two fold:

First, there is the problem of the association appearing to dance while Haiti goes down the tubes. Since the previous candidate in our riding is Haitian by birth this would look especially bad and could even become grist for the mill for our main rival in the riding, Mauril Belanger.

The second problem is that the dance, intended by the association to happen at the end of the month, should have been fully subscribed by now. To sell tickets only two weeks before a scheduled event is surely a high-risk strategy. Guy told me “Carol would not allow me to begin selling tickets until now!” Guy then added: “Look, I booked the hall and the band two months ago. We are on the hook for the payments.”

Our being in this position reflects the overall impossibility of the association. It is blocked within itself. It is totally unable to deliver upon undertakings made by one association member because another member always has a better idea.

Carol has dealt with this problem in her usual way. In her one-on-one meetings with Colin McSweeney and with me she is seeking to stop the planned event.

Stopping things is a habit of hers that I have observed upon before. As always, however, she offers useful alternative ideas. In this case she is proposing that the dance be turned into an event free for participants but one that is used to encourage donations from those attending for the ongoing efforts in Haiti.

My advice to Carol, and separately to Guy, is to decide the future of the dance – and the association’s response to the Haiti situation – in the context of the newly established executive committee. Also, I advised again and again that the association should do nothing without first securing the support of Patrick Glemaud.

On balance, after considering a number of alternatives in discussion with Marie and taking note of the pre-payments already made, I recommended to Guy that the dance continue – if he can get the numbers out – but that all profits be turned over to whichever group Patrick designates as the most worthy and/or useful in the eyes of his community. We could also offer non-financial assistance (babysitting for parents who must go to meetings, or even to Haiti) or support families in our riding who have to pay phone bills and meet travel costs. Our support could go on for months rather than be one-time.

The day concluded with a request by Carol that I see her “off the record” in her home. There she again filled me in on her back-room dealings with the national office. The effect of her dealings with Colin will be to undermine the work of other executive committee members…as always. I wonder if Colin realizes that he and the national office have become complicit in this?

14 JANUARY

This is the day for a lunch I had scheduled with Georges Bedard, a municipal councilor who represents a portion of the federal Ottawa-Vanier riding. Georges was once in the federal public service. He was on my staff when I was responsible for implementing the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement in Cree country some twenty years ago. Georges has been a counselor for a number of years. He is closely identified with the Liberal party at the local, provincial, and federal levels. It will be an interesting discussion. I said to him that I wanted some insights into the political process in our city and that I asked to meet with him on the basis of friendship, not political orientation.

I should note, by the way, that the events of yesterday have convinced me once again to really give the association’s corporate approach a chance to work. Guy sent an email around this morning advising executive committee members that a message from the demon dialer (a technology-based telephoning tool) about the upcoming dance will be held back until the committee decides how it wants to proceed in light of developments in Haiti. I saluted this wise approach, repeated my own suggestions for his consideration, and went downstairs to the basement to do my exercises.

I will be pressed to make it to the meeting with Georges on time…but the designated restaurant is fairly close at hand, located within the riding. I’ve got to run…

Lunch was fun.

Georges and I reviewed experiences we had shared while working together at Indian Affairs and we had a wide ranging discussion about local politics. His being a Liberal and my being a Conservative was not a barrier at all…though we avoided debate about the issues and we did not talk about our respective political game plans.

I asked him what the protocols were regarding opponents attending each other’s events and about stopping by – unannounced – at the meetings of community groups. His answer was: for community group meetings, wait to be invited or ask for an invitation. For attending coffee hours set up by political opponents, feel free to drop in unannounced. To have one or more opponents in the audience when being center stage oneself is not unusual in politics. Georges told me I should not be surprised to see Mauril Belanger or one of his team sitting in the back of one of my coffee events. It may already have happened at the one and only coffee held for me to date.

When back in my home office I contacted Francis Lebrun regarding a “let’s have coffee” event featuring Mauril planned for 16 January. I asked Francis to attend the event and to let me know what happens.

That just about does it for today. The news from Haiti cannot possibly get worse because of the desperately poor conditions where the earthquake happened. That tragedy consumes half of the national news hour. And yet…the news from the association board meeting that is happening while I write these words will be much more significant for my next steps in politics than what happens to that poor little Island in the Caribbean.

15 JANUARY

Today has been an easy day, so far…

I formulated a personal message regarding the association’s planned dance (now scheduled for February 6) so that it might catch the eye of alumni of Quebec High School, which I assess to be about 50 people strong in the Ottawa area. I then forwarded the web link to a coordinator of High School events in this city and asked that she send the information on my running for Parliament around.

I sent a copy directly to my sister and invited her to join the event…and received a positive reply. So things may be looking up: I am now up to 6 tickets! Only about 194 to go to break even.

To reconcile accounts between personal bills paid and amounts still owed I stopped by the bank. On the way back home I stopped at McConville’s Garage in Vanier. The owner, Bruce McConville, had been referred to me by Georges Bedard, confirmed by Eleanor, because of his capacity as an organizer and his conservative bent. He is a business man well known in Vanier who ran in the last Municipal election and came second to Georges. Just maybe, I am getting close to a person who could help to really make a difference in this riding. But he was away from his place of work and, in the end, I would never hear back from him at all.

I have not heard from Carol today either, which is saying something.

I did, however, share with Wendy (the high-rise person) my concern that our new webpage may be owned by Carol rather than by the association and could get lost to us if Carol picks up her marbles and goes home. We need to be very sure that the new site belongs to the organization and that our hold on the contents is permanent. Wendy undertook to raise this with executive committee members.

And now, off to walk the dog, pick up groceries, and retrieve my son Gerrit’s watch from the watchmaker (he had smashed the face of it).

16-17 JANUARY

It is now January 18. I have no recall of any political activity over the weekend. We went to Sharbot Lake to check out the cottage. The cottage is always fun but Marie and my respective moods were negative. I forget what the argument was about but we were pretty tired of it all by the time Monday came around.

18 JANUARY

An eventful day…

The better part of the day was taken up by closing-down activities on the contracting and professional consultations front. I met over lunch with Terry Homma, a senior Director at Public Works and Government Services Canada, whose purpose was to thank me for the contributions I have made over the last 5 years of contracting with his department. I estimate I earned about $800K over those five years.

A highlight between the two of us was work on the successful sale and leaseback of seven large office buildings across the country. This was a $1.67 billion deal which many said could not be done…or should not be done. But the government had wanted it done and we were successful. My role was to advise upon strategy within the federal system and to draft most of the written material that went to senior levels and to Ministers. On the very last round the new deputy minister wanted significant changes in the text of a submission to ministers and was unhappy with the result…but it was too late to stop the transaction and he was stuck. The eventual success of the project, of course, made everyone a hero except me. But that is how consulting works.

In the afternoon I prepared myself for the initial meeting of the campaign team planned for the day after tomorrow. I reviewed the slides Gordon Peters had proposed for an adjusted – but still very ambitious – campaign plan, made some minor adjustments to make his amendments more achievable, and added some cover material to help team members appreciate context, goals, and intended conduct. I will get into the details when I report upon the 20 January meeting.

In the evening I met with Guy and a person who works for the Manning Institute (a Conservative Think Tank). Fraser Mansbridge is a leading light, though only 23, because his disciplined application of Conservative Party election techniques appear to have closed impossible distances between Liberals and Conservatives in a couple of Ontario ridings, especially in Kingston. In both cases the Conservative still lost… .

Fraser elaborated upon the approach and the work required to implement the Voter ID election tool, GOTV, Direct Voter Contact, and other such “programs”.

At one point during his elaboration of these programs I asked Fraser: “Do you find yourself getting cynical about the political process?” His answer was quick: “Yes”.

Two beers later he agreed with me that there will always be a place for old-time politics (preaching and converting). But old-time politics, he reaffirmed, are no longer associated by political party operatives with winning.

The real fun began later that evening.

Carol and Will showed up at our door unexpectedly at about nine pm. She was in a high state of agitation.

After sharing with us a long story about the mental instability (in her view) of a particular association board member, she shifted to her purpose for the visit: she plans to resign.

Before she got to that point, however, we heard again about how the hesitant and misdirected approach of Guy and other executive committee members is destined to land us with a failed fund raising event (the dance), unproductive expenses on many fronts, and a lost election opportunity. For her part, her last contribution will be to point out the shortcomings of the association to the national office in her letter of resignation.

Her eyes were wild and her voice was a couple of decibels higher than usual. Marie grew a bit nervous in the course of the meeting among us.

It is clear to me that Carol is fairly crying out for me to confirm a position for her with the campaign team, preferably as team manager. After she leaves the board of the association she would become eligible according to my rules. She said she now believes I was right. The campaign team can operate separately from the Electoral District Association in all respects except to leave the banker function with the association until the writ drops. This, of course, is quite contrary to what she – on behalf of the association – had said to me only two months before.

In her concluding comments she observed that she and Will were on the front end of a major contract “coup” that could be worth millions of dollars. Her resignation from the board will give her the time she will need to work on that contract.

It amuses me a little that Carol’s success on the contracting front (if indeed it happens) came to her…from me! She had asked me to link her to CRG Consulting and I had done this. Her partner in the promising venture is John Innis, a colleague vice president with the firm. [As far as I know nothing ever came of her venture.]

I made no undertakings towards Carol during her visit and she left in a bit of a huff.

19 JANUARY

I spent the better part of today completing preparations for the meeting of the campaign team.

Along the way I was upset by a disinclination by Ross to help me deal with a complaint coming from a member of our association of long standing. Phillip Ray complained in a telephone call to me that contributions he has made to the association over the last year have not been acknowledged with any receipts and that he has never received his membership card. I then asked Guy to try and repair the damage done to our reputation in the eyes of Mr. Ray. By the end of the exchanges with Ross and then with Guy it became clear that I will have to visit Mr. Ray and talk my way through his upset myself. I am pretty sure he will not be getting a receipt for his recent contribution or a membership card very soon.

Carol called to reaffirm her intention to resign and to thank me for helping set her up on the contracting front. For my part, I was already skeptical about her positive feelings about a contract. Her impending contract would appear to be about national security but she is not talking to contracting units at DND or any other federal department interested in international security training. She is using her political connections to talk to political assistants.

From my experience as executive assistant to a minister of the federal government and also as a senior public servant I know that political assistants are rarely able to make things happen. They are conveyors of information, nothing more.

On closing, Carol said she looks forward to talking with me again about a position on the campaign team sometime next week.

Before supper I called my brother, on instructions from Marie, and received a tongue lashing regarding my disinclination to play a leadership role in the association and over my approach with the fledgling campaign team. His analyses were, as usual, spot on but he undertook to do nothing to help me.

I accepted his criticisms and acknowledged that my laid-back approach (hoping leadership will emerge from somewhere) cannot last much longer. The imminent demise of the association’s management team when Carol resigns will beg the question: who is now in charge?

In my review with Marie of Gerald’s call we agreed that my brother may now be the most likely candidate for stepping into the campaign team manager position when an election is called. Guy and Gordon continue to checkmate each other and neither responds to my imperative to build a campaign plan upon a realistic assessment of the association’s resources (volunteers and money). It continues to be true that an election call could come almost any day. I keep jumping about because I may have to land four-square on some mix of team leadership, team membership, and team plans with only days of notice.

I will reflect on the idea of Gerald stepping into Guy’s role for a few more days. One of my options is to offer Gerald a payment of $5000 during the period of the writ. [The “writ” is the official document signed by the Governor General which authorizes an election to take place.] I believe he does not have a contract with anyone at this time so a small stipend might make a difference.

This evening I plan to attend the monthly meeting of the Vanier Beautification Committee (VBC). Georges Bedard had advised: if invited you should go. I was invited…so I will go. I will report later on how it went.

Well, “later” has arrived.

The meeting with the Vanier Beautification Committee went very well. My role was limited to a self-introduction and then I sat and listened to what others were saying. It was informative. My feeling while I listened was that I am a bit of a fake in this political job: Those folk have taken community living much more seriously than I. They are working actively to improve their public space and they work hard at achieving mutual respect when different views are expressed. For my part, I just dropped into my role as candidate for a federal political party by happenstance.

I am not a community-level politician, that’s for sure.

I feel a little disheartened about my political venture right now… . I am sure my spirits will be revived in time for the campaign team meeting tomorrow.

20 JANUARY

Today was indeed a better day.

I think the better day began when I woke at around 2:00 am and found Marie to be awake as well. During the short time that I remained conscious I heard Marie say: “You are doing a very good job and if others – including your brother – say otherwise you do not need to include them on this journey.”

The first event of the day was tea with Ian MacDowell and his wife Lydia. He is a member of the provincial PC association and he asked me to stop by. Ian is now about 80 and has the reputation of being an anti-Semite with positive feelings for the Klu Klux Klan. In his earlier days he was quite active and vocal in support of the Arab countries in the Middle East. More recently he challenged in court a written reference to himself as an anti-Semite and the court decided against him. His story had received fairly high profile in the Ottawa media just a few weeks ago.

Ian’s wife is a very attractive Chinese woman who comes from, and still does business in, the City of Beijing. I would assess her age to be about 38.

I had been cautioned by Marie, Carol and others not to go to the tea with Ian because he is not liked by the Party. I risked being compromised if my meeting with him were to become public. So…of course…I went.

In the event, I had a great time.

Ian and Lydia were gracious hosts. Ian’s stories about past betrayals and loss were fascinating. Lydia’s insights about being a former mainland Chinese person in Canada were helpful. The discussion did not dip into right-wing extremism at any point. The politics we discussed were entirely contemporary and, on many points, we found when Ian and I compared notes that we approached things similarly. Clearly his life had led him to some conclusions which are anathema to me…but he seemed to have gotten there with his eyes open and was prepared to accept the consequences.

In the evening we had the very first meeting of the campaign team.

I was uneasy about this meeting. I worried that many of those who had said they would attend would not show…and I was right about that. In particular I worried that few under 50 years of age would show. I knew I could count upon my daughters, Jason (father of Miriam’s Monica), and my son Gerrit. In addition to those four the sister of one of Gerrit’s friends also showed up, giving me a total of five under 50. The older ones commented afterwards on how impressed they were by this amazing show of support from “young people”.

The over-representation of my own adult children actually did not make it any easier for me. This would be the first time I would be elaborating upon my intentions directly to immediate family. I wanted to have them leave with their good impressions of their father intact.

Only Marie would be missing. My granddaughter Monica was ill that evening so we opted to have both Jason and Miriam in attendance because of what I wanted to achieve: namely, the appearance of younger people to impress the older ones and perhaps build some confidence.

We had 28 present. This was not a bad number, especially given the relatively small space available in our living room. We had a number of association board members present as observers, a couple of long time friends, my brother, and six people who had heard about me through friends of friends within the network of Conservative Party supporters.

One of the association’s observers asked if she could take notes on the meeting to share with other board members. I agreed, on condition that I get a copy of her Minutes for inclusion in my diary.

INITIAL MEETING OF THE REM WESTLAND CAMPAIGN TEAM

SUMMARY OF THE MEETING

The meeting began with a “round table”, in the course of which our candidate observed that the purpose of the meeting, in addition to sharing information on the status and next steps of the campaign team, was to confirm who the “core” members of the team may be. Previous CPC candidates for the Ottawa-Vanier riding have observed that success requires a “core” group of 20 or so to whom we can turn when all else fails. In this regard, in the view of the candidate, the meeting was a success.

Why we can win:

Our candidate presented the meeting with a list of policy and issue areas on which the public appeal of the CPC and Liberal Party, and of Mauril Belanger and himself, can be rated. He was following one of the enclosures in the CPC handbook which instructs candidates to take a rigourous approach.

On the basis of the list presented the team members discussed and applied a scoring system which suggests our party is 4 points ahead of the Liberals in our riding owing to the relevance of federal government policy in Ottawa-Vanier. This is because the CPC holds almost all the levers required to achieve results.

On an objective (“let’s get real”) basis, the score was adjusted to put the Liberals about 5 points in front. This is because the CPC brand does not sell very well. In our riding people do not trust that any of the levers accessible to a CPC candidate will ever be pulled to benefit Ottawa-Vanier.

The areas where there will be the greatest potential will be: public image (CPC vs. Liberals at the national level), and name recognition (local). We have to focus in our riding on getting the Westland name widely known. Even more important, however, we agreed that our objective must also be to get the incumbent’s name associated with negative things – like inactivity, absence, presumption of power, and so on.

The selection of policies and issues most relevant for the Ottawa-Vanier riding, the rating of the competitors, and the tasking of the campaign team and of the candidate were the priority tasks task for the team.

Everyone present was asked to take note of the activities where his or her own comfort level is the highest and where he or she is prepared to make a largely independent contribution: discussion and persuasion (coffee’s, “let’s talk politics” events), door knocking (CPC members), community group meetings and events (Business Improvement Association, others), media contact (neighborhood papers).

The team leaders in these endeavors will primarily be Guy, Eleanor and Gene.

Gene proposed that team members individually “adopt” a neighborhood and help our candidate spread the word by meeting with CPC members and engaging additional riding residents through random selection of homes and/or guided visits based upon CIMS and Voter ID.

Campaign plan:

The plan presented drew from work previously done for the Ottawa-Vanier Electoral District Association by Gordon Peters. We were told that the contents of the plan are meant at this stage to be for information only, and this goes as well for the “types of effort” associated with different campaign team positions and functions. Greater precision will be provided over the course of the next few meetings by Guy and the team leaders.

How to plan a campaign approach which simultaneously attacks the vulnerability of the incumbent and also respects – and benefits from – the approach and profile of the national party was an important subject of discussion…and is certain to be revisited over the weeks to come. Our candidate observed that, while he retains a veto over words that are intended to come from his own mouth, his priority will be to take the lead provided by the campaign team in its collective wisdom and advice.

General discussion and next step:

Guy, Gene and others approached everyone at the meeting to confirm areas in which he or she may be interested in making an ongoing contribution. The lead for scheduling and preparing the next meeting will be with Guy.

At the end of the meeting I felt confident that my kids still admire their father. There is so much “opening of the kimono” required when a novice such as I steps into politics. This was the first time I opened it in front of my family.

I regretted, however, that my brother had felt it necessary to challenge me and Guy on a number of counts and then to state in stentorian tones that losing was inevitable unless the campaign team resorts to “attack ads” and aggressive web warfare. I tried to cut him off in the course of his monologue because I know how verboten his kind of language is among association members.

I worried that I may have lost my brother’s will to contribute to the campaign because of my dismissing his views so firmly. Because of his stridency, on the other hand, I was suddenly uneasy about his possibly being a candidate for campaign manager. I need people around me who will help reduce tensions not increase them.

It did not help that Gordon was quite obviously irritated by whatever Guy had to say as well. Gordon and Gerald appeared to recognize in each other their respective backgrounds as senior public servants (my brother had been regional director general of PWGSC) and together they appeared to view everyone else in the room (including me) as incompetents.

Oh, and by the way, I learned to my surprise at some point in the day Guy had sent out an email that cancelled the planned dance! I saw this email when I reviewed emails prior to going to bed. Guy’s stated reason was that the lack of subscriptions (only 7 tickets sold) made the decision an imperative one. My information from Carol, who called to cackle, was that national office (Colin McSweeney) had directed him to do this.

In return for the cancellation Colin made a personal guarantee that a late March event – more political – will be organized by the national office. Colin added that he will personally ensure good political representation. I had not expected this outcome at all. I was relieved. I was pleased. I felt complimented. I was impressed. I was awfully thankful.

21 JANUARY

This appeared to be unfolding as a reasonably quiet day.

As I reflected upon the comments by my brother at yesterday’s meeting I allowed my attitude towards him to soften. Gerald should be allowed to make a few mistakes as he contemplates stepping into an important leadership role. Better now than during an active campaign. So let’s keep him on the short list for campaign manager for the time being…

I called national office, Colin McSweeney, to propose that he meet with Colin Lindley on my team and Gerald. Colin Lindley was a friend from almost 40 years ago, well known to Gerald as well because our families had been neighbors in Quebec City. My purpose for the meeting with Colin McSweeny was to help my brother adjust his sights. I want Colin Lindley to be there to help ensure civil behavior all around.

We cannot afford to piss off national office in this venture. If Gerald hears from the national office that a campaign planned around attack ads will be rejected by the Prime Minister he may find it easier to back away from that idea. I did not include Carol’s name as an attendee at the meeting (this will make her very angry) because, frankly, I think her tenure will end very soon, one way (her resignation) or another (her being fired by the executive committee).

In the course of the day I received a very informed email from Jason asking about politics in our area. I offered him my replies, copy to Gene. Gene, via emails, then stepped in to offer some advice of his own. Jason’s questions reflect an interest in the political process and a readiness to explore that process within the constraints of Conservative Party principles. I began to think of him as a potential partner on the Hill…so let’s see how that plays out!

Another good-news item was a phone call from Eleanor. I used an exchange about association administrative issues to learn whether she would still be able to work with the campaign team if Carol quits the association. Her answers were entirely satisfactory. I was pleased to confirm in my own mind (shared with Guy by phone) that Eleanor should should become scheduler and volunteers coordinator on the campaign team. She tells me she is prepared to quit her position on the board of the association in order to take this on.

I was also pleased to receive a call from my brother, further to a voice mail I had left with him and a copy of the Minutes on our first campaign team meeting, signaling his continuing interest to serve as Official Agent or – if the alternative is confirmed between us one day – as campaign manager. I shared with him some of my reactions to what he had said yesterday and, as in the case of Eleanor, I liked what I heard.

I was jolted a bit by Gerald’s view that Gene and Priscilla Hammond (an acquaintance of Guy’s whom he had asked to join the team) could not be part of any campaign team he might be heading and I talked him down from that position. Both Gene and Priscilla appear to be dependable people. Now is certainly not the time to become picky!

And that’s about it for now. The diary is back up to date.

22 JANUARY

Well… . We are behind again. Today is January 25, so I am backtracking again and trying to remember the highlights. My daily “agenda” helps a bit but does not pick up the particular thoughts and outbursts that come to and from me in the course of a day.

At a lunch in the course of these three days with Gordon, where I believed we were going to talk about an adjusted version of his more ambitious plan for an eventual campaign, he declared: “Rem, I have had enough!” He would not be continuing.

His reasons turned around the continuing poor relations he has with our association, observing (correctly, in my view) that whatever he proposes will be for naught if the association is not prepared to help him stitch the pieces together between now and the time an election is called. “We have no volunteers to fill in the walk-papers for Voter ID data; we have no money to do this by telephone calls; we have no fundraisers that will yield more than a few dollars more than their costs. Frankly, Rem, you don’t have a chance.” I paid for the lunch.

To say I was put out by his withdrawal would be an understatement. I certainly could understand his pessimism but the fact is that my work to have association members contribute their money locally was having its effect. We were now out of debt. If no election is called for a few months yet the association will soon have the money it needs to begin doing those things that Gordon seems eager to have them do. Gordon, however, was not going to change his mind. He is now off the team.

In the evening I attended a fund-raising event for Haiti on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. I wanted to attend the event because Patrick Glemaud would likely be there and I wanted to confirm to him my interest in the future of the Haiti situation.

The event had a gala-type atmosphere. Among the many hundreds attending I did indeed cross paths with Patrick and was able to exchange thoughts over a 15 minute conversation. He is evidently quite entrenched within the Conservative Party decision-making ranks with regard to Haiti and possibly with regard to other activities as well. There was a large screen on the stage on which were displayed pictures and a video featuring the Prime Minister. Patrick was by his side in most of the pictures.

While he is no longer a candidate, he continues to be a “player” at the lower levels of the party’s power ladder. I forecasted at the time that he will be appointed ambassador or judge some day. When looked at post the Guergis-Jaffer scandal that began to unfold six months later one has to smile at how close Patrick had come to the seat of power … and how quickly the seat of power got very far away from him. Haiti went to the back burner and his political lobbying went to the front.

Mauril Belanger was in attendance as well. What an unpleasant image he presented that evening. His hair was unkempt; he seems to be getting heavier; his facial expression was that of a pouting child. Apparently he had not been allotted a seat that reflected his own sense of importance and he was much put out. It is remarkable to me that such a person has been able to sit in his seat in the House of Commons for so many years and is highly likely to do so again after the next election.

In the course of this day I pursued my desire for a meeting among Colin McSweeney, my brother Gerald, Colin Lindley and me on the subject of campaign management and leadership. I am now inclined to agree with my brother that my campaign needs an aggressive edge but I want the debate about this to be among Gerald and the two Colins, with me on the sidelines.

Colin McSweeny seemed receptive to the proposal for a meeting…but as of today (January 25) he has not responded to optional dates and times. [The meeting among them ultimately did not happen.]

An interesting development in the course of the day was a set of additional questions coming from Jason which were on the mark and intelligent. My replies were intended to get him thinking more deeply about conservative values and policies, with another round of wondering whether Jason might become a back-up to me if – against all odds – I were voted into the House of Commons.

23 JANUARY

What I remember most about this day is that Gene and I, driven by Marie, made a tour of Conservative pary members’ homes in the Beaconhill area of our riding. Over a two hour period we knocked on some 20 doors, handed over the material which identifies me and invites political discussion, and spent some time with a number of resident/members of the association who asked questions or made observations.

I was struck by the pleasure that most folk express when they learn about my purpose. The initial reluctance when the door opens gives way very quickly to an open sense of welcome. In some cases the desire to talk about politics and to compare notes about recent political events could become hour-long sessions if we allowed it.

In the evening we went to the home of Dr. Somal Balaka. I had been introduced to him by Gene when we knocked on doors a few days before. Somal, said Gene, is one of our deep-pockets supporters. “You should do what you can to bring Somal on side.” I learned that Somal’s contributions all went to the national level and that this would not be changing. He proved to be a generous host, however, and a supporter I could count upon to participate in fundraisers and receptions.

The company at his home included senior representatives of the Indo-Canadian community and of the Indian High Commission. Also present were a number of professors who work in the area of India/Canada politics.

In the course of the evening, at which vegetarian appetizers and a vegetarian meal was served, we circulated among the gathered assembly (about 40 people in all) and discussed a wide range of subjects. Most of the subjects had some relevance to the political culture in India.

It was interesting to me to be known for my political involvement rather than for anything else. At times like these I begin to feel like a politician… .

24 JANUARY

The day began with a telephone call from Marie’s dad in which he shared the information that Marie’s Uncle Cliff (brother to her Mother) passed away the previous evening. Cliff was quite an amazing fellow. One of the most balanced, modest, yet high achieving men I have ever met. He will be missed. As the day wore on Marie and I drifted in and out of tension as we considered whether, and who, should go to St. John to attend the wake and the funeral.

The most interesting political event of the day was a visit I paid to Carol. I wanted to meet with her to be open about my disinclination to consider her for the manager position on my campaign team. I am sure she wanted to be considered.

In the course of our discussion I set out, once again, how I understand politics these days. I was hoping for a discussion between us on the topic.

There is a core of legitimate politics, I said, which involves discussion, debate and persuasion. For these purposes one uses meaningful oral exchanges (longer than 30 seconds), letters, print media, television, the internet, and so on. In order for me to engage in this kind of politics I really do not need much support or much money.

Around this legitimate core, however, there is a blood sucking industry that specializes in tools such as Voter ID, GOTV, DVC (direct voter contact), and so on. I think this industry does not contribute to politics. Whereas this industry may well make a difference in close races where getting people to the polls can move final numbers into the victory zone, the focus of this industry is upon people as digits. This, to my mind, is part of the reason why political participation in all forms is going down rather than up. I have no interest in using those tools at all.

I said to Carol that most of the experts who want to offer their services to the association, and most of the money that is required for elections these days, is attached to what the blood suckers want. To obtain accurate data on the scale they want (ideally 100% of voters) would require a very large team, and money, working throughout the periods between elections. We, on the other hand, have a very small team (only five or six dependables), no money, and data which are wholly out of date on only a thousand or so of the sixty thousand residents in our riding. We have information on about 1% of voters, and it is poor information at that.

I observed that I do not need a big election team in order to do what little I think is required for legitimate politics. I observed that much of the work of larger campaign teams will be work I have little interest in. This is why, I said, I am in no hurry to find a replacement for Guy.

Carol got quite agitated in her reaction. Her assessment was that I am not bloody minded enough to win the upcoming election. I must stop getting caught up in the humanity of the exercise. I need to make executive decisions about who is performing well and who is not. Her bottom line is that I need to fire Guy and Gene…which would beg the question, of course, of who would remain standing.

I said in answer that my brother has given me the same advice. He would also tell Priscilla to stay home, I said, and dismiss still more. Gordon, I told her, has already quit. For my part, I said, it is more important for me to work effectively with as many current association members and other volunteers as I can. For me the jury is still “out” regarding who is a good long-term investment of my time and interest and who is not.

We parted on good terms, or so it seemed to me.

In the evening we had Jason and Miriam over for supper.

Before leaving their place, where we were delayed while Monica finished a rare day-time sleep (lying on Miriam’s neck), I elaborated extensively about how conservatives approach political and social issues to Jason.

Jason seemed truly interested in what I was saying…though maybe he is demonstrating a remarkable politeness and a capacity to turn off behind glistening and attentive eyes.

The elaborations continued over drinks at our place and over supper. Indeed, at some point I noted to myself that I was acting as if I were a teacher talking to a pupil with an interest in the subject matter before us. It was almost as if I were being driven by the need to find a disciple.

Out of respect for their own priorities and principles I wanted to be sure that Jason and Miriam were prepared to step out and represent Canadian conservative principles by becoming “seen” as members of my team. My advice was: stay in the background unless you know for sure that you are prepared to become identified with the kind of conservatism that the national Conservative Party – as implemented by the federal government – is associated with. It is not easy being a conservative in our area of the city these days, especially for folk at the ages of Miriam and Jason.

In the course of the day I had spent some time developing a proposal for the association’s executive committee regarding where and how my approved “envelope” of $6,000 will be spent. I sent this proposal to that group at the very end of the day because I understood the new executive committee planned to meet on Monday (tomorrow).

25 JANUARY

It was decided in the early morning that Marie will go to the wake and the funeral for Cliff on her own. She will represent me and the boys.

That was certainly the right decision to my mind. This meant that Marie can take the airplane (cheaper for one). It keeps me off the roads. It enables me to follow through upon my invitation to 400 Club members to discuss the purpose, potential, and future of that group of supporters.

My evening was spent updating the diary (now done) and – I hope – getting caught up in the filing of CPC information bulletins that are gathering in a heap downstairs.

Oops… . Instead of getting around to the filing I turned instead to drafting a letter for possible inclusion in the next edition of the Rockcliffe News. This little paper is circulated to all residents in our rather exclusive corner of Ottawa.

Letter to the Editor:

Many readers of this newspaper will have heard that a fellow Rockcliffe resident has agreed to represent the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) in the next federal election. In a riding that has not elected a Conservative candidate in over 80 years, a number of my neighbours have asked: “why would a rational person do this?”

I asked the editor of this paper for an opportunity to answer this question and was pleased when she invited me to do so.

My journey began when I agreed to have my name added to a list of people interested in replacing the outgoing CPC candidate. I thought it would be a great way to become involved! I had not expected the others, one after another, to step aside. When I found myself to be the last one still standing I asked those simple questions: “If not me, then who?” and “If not now then when?”

Why me? I accepted the acclamation because I believe I have the qualifications to become a good Member of Parliament and to represent this riding very well. For starters, I am a Dutchman who grew up in the English and French cultures. To be fluently bi-lingual is an essential qualification in a riding such as ours.

My background spans time in the military, in public service at senior management levels, and in private sector consulting. In the course of those years I have had quite a bit to do with issues that matter to residents of Ottawa-Vanier, including the future of former CFB Rockcliffe, construction of a new bridge over the Ottawa River, and consecration of the Veterans’ Cemetery at Beachwood. As a Rockcliffe resident I recently represented some of our traditional values in the OMB process and we (almost) won our argument! As a resident of Lindenlea I had coached our two boys – and many of your children as well – in soccer during their years at the Public School and we (almost) won a game or two.

Why now? I accepted the acclamation because I have the energy and the passion to help reinvigorate a political process that cries out for reengagement by voters.

I sense among us a growing disenchantment with the politics being played within the Houses of Parliament. Yet leadership coming from within the political process is crucial for the health of a democracy. If the opportunity to step into the political process and begin to provide that leadership presents itself, as has happened to me, I believe saying “no” is not an option.

I look forward to meeting with many of you over the coming weeks and months. By the time the next election comes around I intend to convince you that I am indeed a rational person and that my decision to get actively involved in the politics of our riding was the right one!

26 JANUARY

So far this day has been spent quietly, engaged in filing downstairs and clearing emails from time to time. Marie is in St. John for the wake and the funeral of Cliff.

During my filing I retrieved the names of more potential volunteers (now added to the list) and I came across the contact points for the president and the newspaper of the Manor Park Community Association. I asked Eleanor to get me to the 10 February community meeting. I will draft a letter to their newspaper as soon as I get around to it.

The Manor Park Community newspaper is funded by advertisements. Another venture for me within the next short while will be to propose the contents of an advertisement that will either be for a one-time insert or, perhaps, become a regular inclusion in that paper. If the association is on side I will make it a regular inclusion…but somehow I suspect they will not be.

The evening was spent my home hosting a meeting of the only ten people registered as members of the 400 Club. As I have said the name of the Club comes from the idea that members will make a commitment to pay at least $400 to the association in the course of a year.

As an aside, however, let me tell you how this Club was conceived by Guy. He saw it as a group of people he would call together if their current year contributions to the Association total $400 or more. For 400 Club members there would thereafter be no fee for attendance at association activities. I pointed out to him that even a meeting of 10 people could cost quite a bit of money in food and drinks, and then a whole lot more if entertainment or a speaker was planned. Unless the cost to join the 400 Club was $400 in addition to the cost of attending association events the participation of club members in future events should be displayed as an offset against their $400 contribution. Guy’s approach, I said to him, means that one day a 400 Club member might actually represent a net loss to the association.

At the meeting of 400 Club members I spoke enthusiastically about the need in our community to begin “talking politics” among us. I proposed that the club members view themselves as the core group who begin to meet among each other and with friends and neighbors to discuss political issues and political direction. As candidate, and again after being elected, I would be pleased to join in their discussions and help change the passive political culture we have allowed to evolve.

As it turned out the assembled members of the 400 Club had little time for my proposal. They saw themselves as part of my fundraising efforts, nothing more. One of our most dependable funders said: “Sir, frankly we don’t care about talking politics with you. We are here because for a Conservative Party candidate to win in this riding you need lots of money. We are here because you need money, and that’s it.”

Dr. Balaka, who attended the meeting at my request, offered a middle-of-the-road option: members are more likely to join the club and keep contributing if in return they get to meet with high profile political people who, even better, are invited to a club meeting to address one or more of the political issues which are topical at the time.

I brought the meeting to a conclusion by subscribing to Doctor B’s proposal and by saying that – during an election – I would feel comfortable asking club members to pay an additional $400 to buttress the funds available at the start of the campaign. I received agreement about this, perhaps a bit hesitantly given, but I said a couple of times that my shyness about asking for money will not stop me from approaching 400 Club members when the writ is dropped.

I feel I achieved my fundamental objective. I regret, however, that politics remains – for 400 Club members as well – a contest about money and numbers rather than a reason for discussion, debate, and persuasion. The consensus is that the time for discussion will come after I win the election…because only then will people be enthusiastic about hearing my political views.

Tomorrow morning I will summarize what came out from our discussions this evening and return the 400 Club lead to Guy. And good luck!

27 JANUARY

The day began with my preparation of a summary of the 400 Club discussions. I sent an email to all participants, copy to all members (and separately to Carol), highlighting the agreements to:

1. Prepare a brochure for 400 Club members in which the association undertakes to provide two events a year where high profile Conservatives will meet with the members to discuss politics and to receive individual petitions.

2. Affirm a readiness of 400 Club members to receive a request from the CPC candidate, after a writ is dropped, for an additional contribution of $400 (or more) at the front-end of an election.

I sent a copy of this to my brother as well, who promptly called to challenge my assessment that progress is being made. As usual, I found the challenge frustrating. We delved into the kind of funding package our campaign team might expect at the start of an election and I followed up with an email later in the afternoon to detail my own “worst” case and “best” case scenarios.

As a worst case I foresaw the campaign team requiring an infusion of up to $40,000 from EDAs across the country (similar to Patrick’s experience) and still leaving a debt of $10,000 for the association to handle after the Elections Canada subsidy is paid. This worst case foresees a $50,000 campaign which, to my mind, would allow for reasonable representation of me and our efforts.

As a best case I foresaw an $84,000 campaign leaving no debts behind.

I invited Gerald to prepare his own analysis and have association executive committee members meet with him to assess the reasonableness of his own projections. His purpose would be to scope out the range of costs within which a campaign manager, once appointed, should expect to operate. We will want to have a realistic campaign plan.

In the evening I attended the Annual General Meeting of the provincial association for the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario in our area.

Not much to say about this, I regret. The provincial association is in significantly worse shape than our federal association. It labors under a continuing debt of over $20,000 since the last provincial election three years ago; its membership has just tripled…to 90 souls; for various positions and opportunities the route to the top is by acclamation (no competition); and so on. Politics in our area are sure in a dismal state.

For a few years after my own run for public office was over I stayed in touch with the provincial association just to see how things would unfold. The new candidate for that association, Fred Sherman, was a really likable man but he lost quite badly (fewer votes than ever before) in the provincial election a year later. In the months after that, because the provincial Liberal government had been returned with a minority and could be overturned at any time (a situation much like my own) the association again had to select a new candidate. Rather than re-engage Fred, and upon the direction of Progressive Conservative headquarters in Toronto, the rump of the association picked someone who lives and works in Toronto. The take over of an association by the power centre became, in the case of the provincial EDA in Ottawa-Vanier, complete.

28 JANUARY

I spent the morning, after housecleaning and walking the dog, attending to emails. One of my projects was to propose a Charter for the 400 Club.

THE 400 CLUB

THE CHARTER OF THE CLUB

MEMBERSHIP

1. The 400 Club invites interested members of the Conservative Party of Canada to become members of the Club as well.

2. The goal of the Club is to have a membership total of fifty (50) people, spanning all ages of eligible voters. This maximum number is set because one of the purposes of the Club is to promote interaction among members and with senior CPC representatives.

3. The Candidate for the CPC in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier will be a member of the Club, and will remain a member after election to the House of Commons.

4. The Club is sponsored and administered by the Ottawa-Vanier Electoral District Association (EDA).

BENEFITS FOR MEMBERS

5. For the cost of a $400 contribution to the Ottawa Vanier Electoral District Association members will be invited to at least one social event in the course of a calendar year at which cocktails and a light lunch or dinner will be served. The purpose of this event will be for members to meet and network with each other.

6. At this annual social event, and on two additional occasions in the course of a calendar year, members will enjoy a presentation by a senior public figure and/or representative of the CPC who will be asked to speak about contemporary issues and respond to questions. These occasions will include the opportunity (requests to be submitted in advance to the chairperson) for private meetings between the special guest and a member.

7. The candidate for our EDA and, if elected, the Member of Parliament, will be pleased to attend any social events planned by members if his/her participation is desired.

OBLIGATIONS OF MEMBERS

8. Members are required to make a personal commitment to contribute at least $400 in the course of a calendar year. This would be in addition to the cost of attending association events.

9. Members will be asked (no obligation) to make a contribution of an additional $400 to the campaign of the CPC candidate when an election is called.

UNDERTAKINGS OF THE OTTAWA-VANIER ELECTORAL DISTRICT ASSOCIATION

10. The EDA will promptly provide tax receipts for contributions made by members, including cover charges for club events.

11. The EDA will ensure, during an election year, that the Ottawa-Vanier candidate’s campaign team promptly provides tax receipts as well.

12. The chairperson of the Club will work with members to arrange personal meetings with CPC representatives, and/or to have a CPC representative(s) attend social functions arranged by members when desired and to the extent that schedules permit.

13. The EDA will keep a record of Club meetings held in the course of a year and will share highlights with Club members who were unable to attend.

The founding chairperson for the Club will be Guy DesRoches.

I had prepared this draft charter myself, and then stepped in front of Guy’s proposed agenda for an upcoming meeting of the campaign team. I said I wanted to be sure each of the participants would do something to prepare for the meeting. Guy does not prepare things in advance.

I asked Amy, Natasha, and Jason to consider ways to communicate effectively using the internet; I asked Jason to focus upon volunteer out-reach and to consider the potential of a stage production of some kind to tour the riding; and, I asked my brother to consider helping me get the materials together so that the front end administration required for my candidacy is facilitated when the writ drops.

I will now sit back and wait to see how the 2 February meeting goes. I have done my part.

I copied Gerald on all the emails in my continuing hope that he will catch my drift: I am looking for a campaign manager who will step into the flow, pick up the reins, and manage the growing campaign team towards a successful outcome in the next election. I do not want yet another person whose only purpose is to check-mate what others – including me – might be doing.

My bottom line for my brother is my hope that he will perform well as Official Agent. He has shown initiative and capacity in this role. The functions of Official Agent are key to running and wrapping up the campaign (after the election) and going back home - or to the House - in good order.

Today I went to Parliament Hill and met with Drew Oshtash, a political aid to M.P. Laurie Hawn. It was a very informative meeting. I really like the guy.

Once again I had before me a political wiz kid whose “wiz” relates to his interest in, and capacity to apply, the electoral “programs” currently in favor with the CPC. Almost unique among all those I have talked to so far, however, Drew said he would make a personal effort to help our riding association pull the CIMS and Voter ID tools together. He would actually help us to get things done. This was the first offer of meaningful help I had yet received from a political operator on the Hill.

Drew began by citing the data regarding voter make-up in Ottawa-Vanier. He used those data to affirm that I have no chance at all. That said, he went on to observe that a valiant effort at winning up to 40% of the vote could nonetheless get me in as long as the voter turnout by Liberal supporters is very low. This is precisely the message that so disappoints me about today’s politics: each large political party has such a strong interest in low voter turnout from the other sides. Political strategies are grounded more and more upon a presumption that low voter turn-out will remain the norm.

But Drew made it really interesting!

The help he offered was, subject to our teaming up with a local Conservative MP, to use that MP’s mailing privileges to get documents into the hands of all Ottawa-Vanier residents in order to bring CIMS data up to date. The mail out would cost in the order of $700 rather than a usual cost in the range of $12,000. Drew would do the administrative work on the national party end.

Once mail in response to those documents returns to the national office there will be a second stage of work that involves the interpretation and transcription of information received, and that will add to the cost. But the opportunity in and of itself to make contact with all residents and be lined up with a sitting MP seems to make sense to me. I shared this news with Guy and Gene and will await their reactions.

In the course of our discussion Drew reminded me that I need to prepare two or three “three second” sound bites and have the discipline to use those sound bites over and over during a campaign. Also, he cautioned me to highlight only 3 issues in the course of the campaign and, once again, to repeat them ad nauseam.

His concluding observation was interesting as well: Drew quite unabashedly advised that our campaign must use negative advertising to have any chance at all. In his experience we will get many more points by effectively undermining Mauril Belanger’s image than we will ever get by building my image up. The hope is that Mauril will engage with us over the negative ads which, in Drew’s experience, will cause him to lose even more… .

So my brother’s off the cuff advice of two weeks ago is again supported, though this time from within a context of words which were filled with fun and frolic rather than Gerald’s growly menace.

[Unfortunately, nothing came of Drew’s advice nor of his offer to help. The association did not endorse his proposals to me, Drew stopped answering emails I sent his way, and I never saw him again. In the House of Commons Mauril Belanger led a successful campaign to make it illegal for one Member’s communication privileges to be used to help communicate a candidate’s message in a neighbouring riding. I wonder if Mauril knew this idea had surfaced within my circle of supporters?]

The evening was spent knocking on doors. If anything special happens this evening I will update the diary for 28 January. Otherwise…see you tomorrow!

29 JANUARY

On this day I finally gave up upon the likelihood of Eleanor doing research to provide an annotated list of community associations in our riding. I wanted to see, at a glance, which groups are operating in which neighborhoods, when they hold their meetings, what the contact points are (including names and numbers of presidents/CEOs if known) and what issues dominate for each of the groups.

I spent the day surfing the web and reading the EMC (local paper) to pull the pieces together for twelve different community groups. I have 6 more to do. I will get this done…on my own.

Towards the end of the day I started to get excited about campaign ideas.

I know I am looking for a bare-bones approach, one that is easy to manage yet will leave a good impression upon the CPC and the electorate in our riding. I find myself, when I contemplate this, moving towards the highlights of what Gerald had advised when the campaign team first met…but always with a greater sense of fun and potential than he displays.

I discussed my ideas with Marie, primarily with regard to a new kind of poster. Marie herself had suggested the image of a broken chair: “This seat belongs to all of us!” on the front of a large postcard and then, “Let’s fix it!” on the back. This idea took clear aim at the presumption of Liberal ownership of the Ottawa Vanier “seat” and the consequent collapse of the democratic principles which results. A second postcard would be of a repaired chair with the name Rem Westland, Member of Parliament festooned upon it, and remwestland.ca provided for follow-up by interested residents. [From here on in I will often refer to “the Chair” flyer. By the time of the election both messages had found their way onto the front and back of a single card. It had become a thing of beauty.]

The bare bones approach I now envision would market simple messages, in door knocker style material, and volunteers would be used for the sole purpose of delivering the material to as many doors as possible in the course of the campaign. On the side we will play with the Internet; and, of course, I will do the meet-and-greets and the open forum debates that are characteristic of riding-level elections.

I have prepared a summary of what this approach requires, to be worked on over the next few days, shared with Marie, adjusted, and shared with Guy and Gerald to learn whether they are interested in helping to put some simple products together.

30 JANUARY

On this day I reflected some more about my campaign approach, discussed it some more with Marie, and spent all of the day wrestling with a sore throat and runny nose. Damn.

I picked up my granddaughter Monica at about 10:00 am and took her with me to the first of three riding-area Winter Festivals that had been announced in the local papers. It was bloody cold, by the way, but very sunny.

My participation at the Festivals was very positive for me. At one of the two Lowertown Festivals I met again with Georges Bedard (I think this reminds him that I am serious…) and watched some Inuit kids display a bit of their culture. At the second Lowertown Festival I met the executive of that community association, which will facilitate follow-up in the course of next week.

At the New Edinburgh Festival, which Marie attended with me, a photographer for the New Edinburgh News saw me standing by a couple of horses rigged up to pull kids on a sled around the neighborhood…and took a picture or two. There is a chance that the “Candidate and his Granddaughter” may end up displayed in the next edition of that local paper [it was!] which certainly helps with candidate recognition.

My next step is to take the damn dog for a walk. He is barking outside the back door – likely because it is too cold for reasonable life forms to be out in this kind of weather. But, hey, what choice have I got? Tomorrow and Monday we will be in Montreal and Knowlton (Kees and my Mother)…so look forward to very light coverage of my political life over the next two days.

31 JANUARY

Well, we did not get past Montreal. I realized this morning that my cold and sore throat were getting worse, along with feelings of a fever. Marie was quite determined to get to Montreal to see Kees but supported our canceling the ongoing trip to Knowlton and South Bolton. We had lunch in Montreal and returned home by 6:00 pm.

The day was spent ruminating about an upcoming campaign, especially if the writ were to drop in early March as most of the political pundits are now forecasting.

We rehashed in the car, and again upon arrival home, the idea of setting up a campaign team “board”. Sitting on the board would be me (chairman of the board), Gerald (Official Agent), Marie (candidate “handler”), and a CEO (campaign executive officer). With this kind of oversight, implementing a plan which I will write up tomorrow, we might again consider Carol in a lead (CEO) role. When we run through the strengths and weaknesses of the known players we always conclude that none has the spark, energy, experience, and contacts that Carol has. I have left Guy off the list on this round because he seems reluctant to take grab hold of things.

I continue to contemplate where and how to use Jason, with an eye to his becoming my office leader after election and then learning the ropes and stepping into the MP (Member of Parliament) position at a subsequent election. My intuition is that he could be quite impressive. The rule on the Hill is that family members cannot be hired by sitting MPs…but Jason and Miriam are partners, not man and wife.

[Jason and Miriam separated shortly after the election then reunited a year or so later. We hosted their wedding at the Navy Mess in Ottawa…and it was a wonderful event.]

1 FEBRUARY

Last night, which again saw me sleeping in my son Kees’ room upstairs, went a little better than the night before. I wake frequently to cough, blow my nose, suck on a lozenge, and do all those things that a sufferer of a nasty cold must do. I counted upon sleeping for however long my body might require. At 8:00 am Marie woke me, for us to have coffee together before she leaves for her office. After having wakened me she offered to let me sleep even though the desire to have me join her for coffee was evident and strongly felt. Also, to return to sleep was now impossible. But coffee time is almost always worth the challenge for me to get out of bed and for the two of us to set out on the right foot.

Most of my time today was spent developing my list of community groups and associations in our riding.

I travel back and forth from pages in newsprint strewn all around me, the internet, and from different website links to document for each group or association where they meet, when, what their issues are, who the executive is, and so on. My purpose is to have always on hand a “timeless” summary of local groups and issues that can quickly situate me when I head to, or chance upon, community meetings or events.

From time to time in the course of this project I lamented my fate at the hands of an association that has none of this information on hand and has no energy among any of its members to help me with the project. You will hear me say this again and again: as candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier…I am largely on my own.

I also worked some more, with little changes here and there, upon my short-and-sweet campaign plan in the event of an election in March or early April. This morning the Ottawa Citizen forecasted an election call by the end of this month. I have to keep the pressure on myself.

2 FEBRUARY

Today I took the difficult step of sharing the latest draft of my evolving campaign plan with my brother. I recoiled inwardly while doing so because I expect the response to be negative. I expect him, for example, to deride my effort to work within expenditure limits that keep my comfort level high. I want the resourcing levels (people and dollars) to be achievable. If indeed an election is called later this month there will be no time to bulk up on either count.

Others may want a more ambitious approach. But no one else is doing anything to make more ambitious – and therefore expensive - alternatives happen. I remain the master planner in this business…I have no choice. I am learning that our EDA, likely also true for other EDAs across the country, does not expect to do very much during the pre-writ period.

In the evening we had the first campaign team meeting Guy, who is still the interim team leader, would be chairing. I was not optimistic.

The meeting got interesting right from the outset when Colin McSweeney from the national office showed up. I had not expected this. Indeed, just yesterday I had advised Guy that one of our objectives must be to distance ourselves from the national office. Those folk are filled with good ideas but to date they have not done very much to help us.

Colin sat opposite me. I detected in his demeanor some negative “vibes” sent in my direction and I reacted to a comment or two from Colin by whispering to Marie – sitting beside me – “don’t let me lose control!” Frankly, to see that fellow sitting opposite me, slovenly dressed but looking so competent in his own eye, and knowing that he had not deigned it in his interest to return any phone calls or emails to me since the one time we spoke after I was acclaimed as candidate, placed me in a very negative frame of mind. I was ready for bear.

The meeting unfolded at a low key. For the longest time no one seemed motivated to contribute anything. A few platitudes were shared about electioneering. There was a lot of silence.

One development that astonished – but impressed – me was that Jason volunteered to deliver the team’s internet-based communications. I know he does not have access to a computer…but his motivation seemed very authentic. Indeed, I had just sent him a note advising “don’t volunteer to anything”, and there he was!

I think he can do the job. I leaned over and whispered to Marie that she and I will make sure he has access to a computer if his interest does not waver.

The fun began when Ross reacted to advice from Colin about how to prepare for a campaign financially. Ross, quite calmly at first, observed: “you guys in the national office talk a good line but you never have anything tangible to offer.”

Remember: when residents in a riding contribute to the national office of the CPC the riding receives 10%. When riding residents contribute directly to the riding association…the association retains 100% of the amount contributed. So the challenge for riding associations is to get CPC supporters to “think nationally but contribute locally”. In our riding we have the reputation of being one of the highest contributors to the CPC but almost all the money goes to directly to the national office and we get relatively little back.

The debate between Ross and Colin grew very tense, very quickly. Within a minute or two they were shouting at each other. The one (Ross) was elaborating upon how much Ottawa-Vanier residents contribute at the national level; the other (Colin McSweeney) was stridently saying that educating residents to contribute locally rather than nationally is our job. Each was telling the other that a poor job is being done.

An interesting turn came when Colin stood to gather his stuff together to walk out. His words at that point – addressed to Ross as representative of the association – were clear: “you guys are a bunch of fuck-ups and you cannot expect national to save your asses.” If he had actually left (which is what I was hoping he would do) that parting shot would have been left ringing in our ears. Our future relationship with the national office would have become very interesting indeed.

Instead, after an intervention by Guy, Colin slowly returned to his seat…and Ross stood up.

Ross had totally lost control over his temper at this point. With his tongue darting in and out of his mouth he shouted that the national office has zero interest in our riding and has long satisfied itself that we are a bunch of losers. Ross lamented that, after some seven years working for the party, national has never taken the time to thank him for his efforts. He grabbed his stuff…

And then Ross, the finance officer for the Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association, left the building. He did not come back.

This gave Colin the opportunity to recover his cool. Ross’ departure appeared to confirm Colin’s negative assessment about our association’s competence. Many around the table found themselves bowing towards Colin for being the more savvy, cool, calm, and collected guy. He was the one who survived the exchange, after all.

The air actually cleared a little. One after another, those present who were also members of the association declared their confidence that the association can certainly do better than it has done in the past. The collective refrain was: “We can do what national expects. We can raise the money we need. We will follow the advice national provides. We have been but minions who, quite rightly, are viewed by national to have become inconsequential in the scheme of things.”

An important outcome from this round of self criticism was our collective agreement, on the spot, to have national office take over the planning for the event in our riding on 31 March that Colin had mused about previously.

This will replace the event (and financial loss otherwise) of the cancelled 50s/60s dance that some in the association hoped yet to salvage.

Guy, you will recall, had confirmed a ballroom, a band, and finger-foods without doing anything at all to confirm the number of attendees. When I challenged him about this he had shouted: “It is not my job to call and confirm who is coming! I was told that at least 100 people would come and I have done my work based upon that number.” He followed this with the outburst: “They lied to me when they said over 100 people would be coming! They lied to me!”

Colin undertook to handle the change of date with the hotel (he knows the owner) and to shift the dollars already spent on the cancelled dance over to the 31 March event.

In response to our declarations of weakness, fealty and future loyalty Colin observed again and again that the made-in-Ottawa-Vanier strategies we will come up with should be implemented “without regard to the national office”. “Do as if you are on your own,” we were told. We all but stood to applaud this illogical non-sequitor to national having just dismissed our finance officer and having taken the lead for the end-March event. We were so very thankful to have a savior among us.

Colin then delivered himself of a pointed message – addressed directly to me – about the sole exception to the “screw national” message:

“The only thing that really matters to us and cannot be forgiven,” he said, “is if you – the candidate – undertake to write letters to the media, give interviews, or in any way step into the public eye without having cleared your intentions and the content in advance by national.”

Colin is upset that I sent my letter to EMC Vanier without waiting for, or caring about, prior clearance from him or his team. Colin is also upset because I did not participate in the declarations of fealty and admiration that had come from association members. He would have seen that none of the new members of my fledgling campaign team had joined in the mea culpas either. He would not have seen Marie’s hand gripped solidly onto my arm to remind me to stay calm when I had wanted to hurl expletives at Colin because of his – and the national office’s – disdainful attitude towards candidates and their wives. In the eyes of the national office Marie and I must seem like poster children for the warning in the Election Campaign guide that candidates and their wives can become difficult and unmanageable.

Colin, who is a pretty smart guy, knows I will continue to act as I choose best. I will do this again and again, whenever the motivation and opportunity arises. Sorry, national.

3 FEBRUARY

This day was interesting for two reasons.

First, on this day my brother reacted to my latest draft of a proposed campaign approach. As expected, his intent after questioning my assumptions was to offer instead a range of alternative activities and outcomes which someone (presumably me) would have to make good upon.

I almost lost it.

Remember now, at this point my cold was almost totally in my throat and was squeezing out my voice. So when I called my brother on the phone my shouting was just above a whisper. But whisper-shout I did…

I affirmed to my brother that the plan I had sent him is the best I can do. I now know how my association works. I now know national. I said that I have a realistic appreciation of what is doable and what is not. I addressed each of his better ideas and explained why every one of them would bite the dust within the chess game that association members play among themselves, to say nothing of the disgust national feels towards our association.

To think that either our association or national has the corporate capacity or corporate will to be persuaded to act in any particular way is to be unrealistic. We have to work with what we see: a bunch of individuals who have either no capacity (association members) or no interest (national) to support me in a coherent way.

The plan has to be simple!

Our exchange allowed me to say quite directly that I now want Gerald to limit his involvement during the campaign – if an election is called in March or April of this year – to the role of Official Agent. While we had talked about him going to the campaign manager position I said that my main concern is to come out the other end without a great big financial loss. Watch my back, I asked. Let’s not fight about the plan.

I then said: “Gerald, if the election is not called for the spring we may have time. If we learn that we will have time to get ready I will be pleased to reconsider you for campaign manager. But if you take over, you take over. I will not want to be concerned about people moving about, about tensions with our association and with national, about finding new people, about resolving internecine feuds, about money, about nothing. These will all be your job and your responsibility!” He said: “OK. That would all be my job.” And I felt good about that even though I had seen little evidence that would have me believe him.

In the evening I stopped by Carol’s place.

Because of the possibility of a spring election, and having confirmed to my brother that he will be the Official Agent (i.e. finance officer) if this happens, I wanted one more time to test Carol’s willingness to adapt herself to my imperatives. I prepared the equivalent of a want-ad, an organization chart, and the campaign plan itself to share with her. Notwithstanding all her shortfalls, it would be wonderful to have her kind of energy, experience, and connections engaged in the management of my campaign.

The organization chart included a summary display of how the campaign will unfold over the 5 to 7 weeks that a campaign typically lasts.

The want-ad and the org chart appear below. As you skim through the contents of the chart and the “want ad” remember that all the contents are still coming from the candidate himself (me), one who knew nothing at all about any of this only three months before. In the view of the national office candidates should be in reactive and responsive roles towards the leadership of their associations. Given the continuing imminence of an election and my determination to not be embarrassed during the period of the writ, I really had no choice.

CAMPAIGN MANAGER

DESCRIPTION OF BENEFITS AND EXPECTATIONS

Benefits:

1. $4,000 – to be paid during the campaign (installments, or one-time).

2. High profile leadership role in an important political event.

3. Support of other campaign team members in the execution of the campaign plan.

Expectations:

Within the framework of the campaign plan: implements the plan with regard to communications, fundraising, volunteer coordination, internet oversight, and office management by:

1. Confirming organization of staff support to provide the campaign team with communications services, fundraising, volunteer coordination, internet communications, and office management.

2. Identifying and engaging, and – if needed – replacing, volunteers to plan and deliver the above listed services.

3. Providing direction to team leaders, monitoring performance, and ensuring results.

4. Attending campaign team board meetings as requested.

5. Advising the candidate upon amendments to the campaign plan and implementation requirements in response to daily developments (new issues, unexpected financing, opportunities that arise, etc.).

6. Assuming direct responsibility for functions, pending the hiring of a replacement, if a supporting volunteer resigns or must be let go.

Termination:

1. The work of the campaign manager terminates upon dissolution of the final team meeting, shortly after voting day.

2. If the candidate decides, between the day the writ drops and election day that the campaign manager must be reassigned, the payment owing will reflect the percentage of days in the campaign period that the incumbent has served.

3. If the incumbent campaign manager decides in the course of the campaign to resign from his/her duties and undertakings, the payment owing will be negotiated by the departing campaign manager with the candidate and the campaign’s Official Agent. The maximum that will be paid is the percentage of days in the campaign that the incumbent has served.

CAMPAIGN TEAM ORGANIZATION

CAMPAIGN TEAM BOARD

CANDIDATE OFFICIAL AGENT OFFICIAL AUDITOR

CAMPAIGN COORDINATOR

Supported by Team Leaders for:

DISTRICTS COORDINATION

COMMUNICATIONS

FUNDRAISING

VOLUNTEERS

INTERNET

OFFICE

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PLAN

Pre-writ

1. Candidate, campaign coordinator, and districts coordinator (DC) work with EDA management to achieve:

- preparation of signs, including locations (arterials and volunteered space)

- cash (hold back for transfer when writ drops) of $5,000 minimum

- pre-writ Direct Mail (if budget permits) to identify candidate and platform

2. Official Agent and campaign coordinator identify office space and prepare for rentals (space and equipment), insurances, and so on.

3. Candidate and candidate manager finalize: mock-up of creative flyer – the “chair” – for delivery to all households; advertisements, to be submitted to local print media; purchase of T-shirts or trinkets to be worn or delivered by volunteers; web-based communications (including Youtube presentation) for the campaign.

4. Campaign Coordinator ensures the lists of volunteers are in order, including location of campaign signs on the lawns of willing residents.

5. Official Agent ensures bank accounts are ready to go, the way is cleared for the candidate to be officially designated, cost forecast charts are ready (to be adjusted as we roll), and receipt books are all in order.

Period of the writ

First day:

6. Candidate hosts meeting of campaign team and volunteers in the new team office to discuss plan, approach, and priorities.

7. Campaign team coordinator assigns volunteers to work with districts coordinator throughout the campaign.

8. Campaign team coordinator ensures communications director, volunteers and funding director, internet team, and office manager have all they need to get to work.

9. Districts coordinator assigns duties to volunteers.

10. Official Agent and candidate ensure all documents are ready for official designation.

First week:

11. Official Agent and candidate complete all submissions for official designation.

12. Campaign coordinator and districts coordinator ensure “flyer” is distributed to first round of doors in the riding. This work continues is subsequent weeks until flyer has gone to each door.

13. Candidate and fundraiser ensure 400 Club members have each made a contribution.

14. Campaign coordinator and communications director plan candidate appearances and interviews for the duration of the campaign.

15. Districts coordinator plans follow-up visits by candidate to neighborhoods/doors where volunteers say his presence has been requested.

16. Campaign coordinator and communications director ensure ads planned for campaign have been submitted.

Throughout campaign:

17. Business of the campaign unrolls under the direction of the campaign coordinator. Campaign leadership team meets on an as-required basis.

Last week

18. Leadership team meets to consider the Last Week Strategy.

19. Open-House is convened on the evening of the last day of campaign.

After Election Day

20. Team meets to have wrap-up discussion of the campaign.

21. Official Agent, Official Auditor, and new Member of Parliament develop coordinated approach to ensure financial wrap-up happens within time limits set by Elections Canada.

Even as the discussion between Carol and me began, however, I wondered: “Why the heck am I even here?” Without looking at the material Carol launched into an intense harangue which lasted the whole time of my short visit.

Carol’s monologue about her work, about her disappointment in our federal government, about how badly she is treated professionally, morphed into a diatribe focused upon Guy and Gene. By her conduct I seriously doubted the wisdom of giving to such a woman an opportunity to step back into the unfolding of my life as a politician.

But I am a follow-through kind of guy. In a moment of relative quiet I pointed to the printed material in front of us and described my intended approach. I said I will need someone to implement the approach.

In answer, I received back from Carol a stream of better ideas, each one serving to check-mate another piece in the plan she had before her. When I stopped her from time to time to say that I am not interested in alternative ways to proceed, nor interested in alternative assumptions about how national or other EDAs could help us, she took time for a breath and carried on. She viewed my insistent return to the plan I had placed before her as confirmation of my inability to understand what it takes to win an election.

Before I could bring the discussion to a head (“Would you, or would you not, be interested in working with me on the basis proposed?”) Carol observed that she and Will plan to move to Halifax in June to move in with Will’s Mother.

The time period of the plan before her (Spring election, and therefore well before June) would have left ample time for her to join my team. In answer, however, Carol observed that she and Will must attend a number of seminars and meetings outside of Ottawa in later March and throughout April.

As Carol continued to criticize the plan I leaned forward, slowly slid the material back into my briefcase, and left her apartment as soon as I decently could. My journey with Carol is over.

4 FEBRUARY

This day was noteworthy on a few grounds.

First, Marie and I had a difficult morning because Marie is frustrated about the persistence of my cold. The cold builds in the course of a day. Because I do not leave off my political work during the day, by the end of the day I am tired and my voice is close to gone. So our time for discussion together is compromised.

Furthermore, last night I again scurried up to bed in Kees’ room chased by endless hacking owing to the fluids running wild in my head. This morning at 8:00 am, after a difficult night and finally in a deep sleep, I was wakened by Marie to learn whether I wanted to sleep some more or come for coffee… . So what choice did I have? I went downstairs for coffee.

Our discussion was strained and Marie left for her office soon after the coffee had been poured. So I had coffee on my own and read the paper. Pretty nice…but I really don’t like it when tensions introduce us to a day.

Lunch was a 3 hour affair with a classmate from RMC who works for veterans’ associations. We had a greatly enjoyable discussion the whole time about politics, with a little bit of religion thrown in, and were joined by a woman from Lorne’s office and by a pub “regular”. I loved it…but my voice took another beating.

In the evening the plan is to knock on more of the doors of Conservative party members in the Beaconhill. So now, at 1700 hours, it is time for me to pull the door-knocking material together. Gene was supposed to go with me but in the end I will doing this on my own.

5 FEBRUARY

It gets more interesting all the time… .

Yesterday’s visits to party members in Beaconhill, by the way, went well. It was particularly interesting to knock on the door of Jim Dory, whom I had known when working with the Department of Indian Affairs. He joined the party only 6 months ago and was impressed by how soon after joining the party had taken an interest in him as a new member. I knew this to just be a coincidence but he most definitely did not.

Today began with some loony emails from one of the association’s board members who appears paranoid…more so than the others! This is the one Carol had laughed about and had worried about on many occasions in the past.

The emails elaborated upon ways in which the guy’s estranged wife is, according to him, harassing him. The harassment includes physical beatings, aided and abetted by “insidious forces originating from the Congo and also from within Canada”. He called for the CPC to establish Shelters for Men and also for an investigation into why and how insidious forces based in Congo are managing to break into the private space of a Canadian citizen.

When I passed these emails on to Carol she advised me to hang back: the emerging association email policy will take care of everything!

This emerging email policy, by the way, has now been some three months in the making. I will not hold my breath. Carol began to work on this policy when she was pissed off by snarky emails Gene had sent criticizing Carol’s work and personal style.

I went out on the limb a bit today (yet again) by communicating directly with a representative of Ottawa University who appears to be the President of the Young Conservatives over there. I had been anxious to meet with those students but there has been no follow up by my supporting team of association members for about 3 months now. In my email I observed upon my interest in discussing Canadian conservatism.

I will be interested to learn whether my reaching out in this way will excite national office (whom I copied on the email) into to a state of frenzy. I had not asked for permission in advance.

Oh, and another thing: At the association board meeting on Wednesday evening it was suggested – and the board agreed – that we begin organizing monthly pub gatherings at which area members would be able to meet the candidate. I wonder if there will be any follow up upon this.

I am now off to walk the dog.

My next stop, dog in tow, will be the National Cemetery about 15 minutes walk from here to discuss the idea of my writing an article in the local paper about the origins of Canada’s National Veterans Cemetery. I played a major role in the launching of the Canadian Forces Cemetery, the creation of which set the stage for its “National” designation about five years later. To publish an article about this matter will bring profile to my candidacy which, as everyone says, this business of politics is all about.

And thus, with a visit to the cemetery, I ended the day. The officials I met at the cemetery office (the dog was tied up outside) invited me to send them a draft of my proposed letter and said they would take it to the Cemetery’s board to determine the board’s interest.

[In the unfolding of this initiative I learned that the incumbent MP’s wife is a member of the “Friends of the National Cemetery”. The person who had first received my letter and had read it with enthusiasm fairly threw it into my face when I returned for an update. That person left the Cemetery organization a few weeks afterwards.]

6 FEBRUARY

The only time spent politicking today was in the late afternoon. Marie drove Gene and me around the area known as Manor Park, where we jumped out of the Jeep at the homes of association members to introduce me and to encourage members to attend the Manor Park Community Association Meeting on Tuesday, 9 February. I will be attending that meeting and have been allowed five minutes to say who I am.

[Only one of the CPC members whose doors we stopped at went to the Manor Park community meeting three days later. She greeted me as a total stranger and ignored me throughout the meeting. She came up to me after the meeting to apologize, saying “I don’t want anyone around here to know I am a supporter of the CPC.”]

The first door we came to was the home of a Mrs. Williams. She appeared rather reluctant to receive my information, whether given orally or in the envelope I carried with me. Just before she closed her door on us, however, I asked if she was any relation to the Williams that is listed as a cadet among the first of the cadets who were there when the Royal Military College was opened in the late 1800s. To my surprise, and to my pleasure, she observed that her husband’s great grandfather was indeed a member of that founding class.

I think this connection softened the lady’s attitude towards me and Gene somewhat. Perhaps the door slammed shut a second or two later than it might have done otherwise. I was left outside, rather pathetically holding the envelope that contained my campaign material, and in midsentence in my reflections about Military College.

Another door which gave me pleasure was the door of a member named John Gordon Robertson. Marie and I assumed when we drove to the door that the Mr. Robertson at that address would be the son of Gordon Robertson who had been a Deputy Minister of many federal departments and, for a while, the Clerk of the Privy Council (the head of the federal Public Service). I had known Mr. Robertson, at a distance, when I worked on contract for the federal government’s Federal/Provincial Relations Office over 30 years ago. At that time he was the head of the unit developing text for Canada’s new Constitution and my job was to propose content for a new clause on the collective rights of Aboriginal Peoples.

It pleased me no end, and I cannot say exactly why, when I recognized the person at the door as being the self-same Gordon Robertson I had met over 30 years before. He was always, to me, emblematic of the best that Canada’s public service could be. And there we were, shaking hands. Perhaps I was pleased to be doing my own service to the country, by running for Parliament, which reflected in small measure his own life-long devotion to good governance.

In the evening we went to supper with my daughter Amy and her husband Marty. The meal was excellent, the discussion was lively, and I noted to Marie on the way home that the discussion was entirely about politics. We did not bore each other with dredged up stories about the work place, about my contracts, or – at least not to a great extent – about family.

7 FEBRUARY

The day began with me drafting possible content for a magazine in town that focuses upon style, the editor of which is known to Jason. While I think the possibility of that magazine taking up a story involving a CPC candidate in a loser riding is small, our living in Ottawa’s most exclusive neighborhood in a riding that includes the city’s poorest sections provides grist for the political mill. I proposed text which I think would hit the nail squarely on the head.

“IN STYLE” PERSPECTIVE

We learned about the recent acclamation of a candidate to represent the Conservative Party of Canada in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier, and we were intrigued.

Ottawa-Vanier is often described as the riding which has the greatest disparities within its boundaries. The riding includes the leafy enclave of Rockcliffe at the top of its socio-economic ladder and the teeming mixture of houses, apartments, businesses, and street life of Vanier and Overbrook at the bottom. We learned that the newly acclaimed candidate lives in Rockcliffe, and we wondered what we might learn about him by visiting his home.

The candidate and his family live just inside the boundaries of the former Village of Rockcliffe in a century-old home often referred to as “the English Cottage”. The house sits in the middle of a large lot and looks for all the world as if it might still remember a time when it stood almost alone in a dense forest.

The new candidate is, as befits our conception of conservatism, not so very new in person. He is in his early 60’s and fits very well what he describes as the characteristics typical of Conservative Party members in this country: stable marriage, grown kids, successful career, and home owner. He is proud of his achievements and well represents the conservative belief that, if left largely alone and if playing on a level playing field, most people will find a way to live a pretty good life.

While hosting us for a tour of his home the candidate observed upon a number of other highlights that, in his view, confirm his conservative orientation.

First, there is the older house. We were interested to learn that the candidate and his wife could not imagine buying open land and building a new house on the site. They could not even contemplate a significant renovation of an already-standing home as they may have had to do had they stayed in their old neighborhood of Lindenlea.

It reflects conservatism, says the candidate, when a person trusts that the older house has become what it is because of the attentions and wise investments of previous owners. To step into their shoes and to help mold the structures handed over from previous generations of owners is to show respect for what those previous owners stood for and what was important to them in their day.

Old doors have been replaced, a new boiler system has been installed, wood floors have been cleaned and are covered with new or reclaimed Persian rugs, but the character of the place remains the same. A former resident of the house remarked that the house had begun to look run-down but that the place looks happy again.

Inside the old house the happiness of the place is reflected in furnishings and artwork that all seem to smile at the owners and visitors inside. When we ask about the origins of the pieces of furniture and of the paintings we see on the walls, almost every item holds memories of family, of previous generations of their respective families, and of trips.

When we asked why the new candidate expects that voters living down the hill in Vanier and Overbrook might be drawn to his leadership and his example, given the great disparities in where they live, he answered: “I believe that most individuals, most families, most homeowners, and even most people who aspire to own a piece of Ottawa-Vanier likely feel as I do.”

“When I tour the area,” he said, “I see splashes of color, newly painted and improved homes, intriguing gardens and interesting garden fences, decorations at Christmas and art objects outside all year long, that speak to me of the pride which so many others feel in the places they call home.”

“We all walk our own paths through life,” he said. “My path took me from a small apartment with my family in Quebec City then via Kingston and various locations in Ottawa to this beautiful home in Rockcliffe. But the intensity of pride I felt every step of the way and the pride I now feel in the life all about me is no different than the intensity I see reflected in the faces of those who come out to hear what I have to say.”

In a riding that has not voted Conservative since it was created, the new candidate’s confidence about the future now includes his confidence that the conservatism he sees among residents of his riding will be reflected in their vote in the next federal election.

Without revealing our own political leanings…we wished him luck!

Marie, who was out of sorts in the morning anyway (at least, that is what I see as being the excuse) hated the article. In her eye the article presented me – and her I assume – as being older, settled, upper middle class, distant from the masses, and so on. And she was right.

As I told Marie while our argument slowly degenerated into ad hominems, my point was exactly the point she said was being made. “Let’s not even try to hide or disguise the obvious.

“If a magazine like this one is going to feature us in a future edition,” I said, “it will be because the editors find more or less what they expect to find. We are not young any longer; we really do live in Rockcliffe; our kids are indeed grown, not small,” and so on.

“A visit with us will confirm all of those things,” I added, “yet I have the sense of fun and confidence that could take me to the House of Commons one day and I am confident this, too, would be noted.”

I sent the article to Jason for his consideration without “clearing” it through Marie.

In my email to Jason I added that we await next steps in the development of a website; and, I proposed that he and Miriam consider whether they could help me pull together the kind of advertising piece that I want to use as our “core” message if an election is called in the Spring. I look forward to their reply…

I also sent to Carol a pretty thorough criticism of the content of the latest version of a draft Newsletter that she proposes to add to the association’s website. The content of the version she sent me has not been altered since what I saw and rejected almost three months ago. The wonderful text she had proposed on an earlier occasion has disappeared. Her latest text takes us back to square one.

A few pictures of me had been added. Perhaps Carol thought that that would be enough to move my ego towards quick acceptance of what I saw. But, once again, I saw instead that her ability to bring home a good idea and good product is very limited.

I emailed to Carol that we might have to simply abandon the Newsletter idea. I know this will make her very nervous because she is doubtlessly committed (likely to the tune of $1,000 or more) to the person who has pulled the Newsletter together. She has done this without association consideration or approval. She may, once again, have her back to the wall with the executive committee. She may be fired before she gets to quit.

The tension between me and Marie, by the way, continued to rise during the day. She says she views the decision by me to send the “In Style” article directly to Jason is confirmation that her input is not wanted. She wants nothing more to do with my politicking. I, with equal immaturity, was pleased to agree with her desire to leave me alone in this venture.

It will be interesting to see how and when we manage to emerge from this round of tension, once again on the same side of the page and of the argument, as we always do.

In fact, I am just about to step into the bedroom (door slammed shut at the moment) to find my way towards some kind of compromise. I expect an apology from me will be key. I would not have the confidence or comfort level I need to continue on this journey if Marie were not by my side.

8 FEBRUARY

On this day I had lunch with a consultant to the Quebec Crees and a newly appointed judge whom I came to know while helping Raymond Chrétien (former Canadian Ambassador to the United States) successfully negotiate a $1 billion settlement with the Quebec Cree organization. I had done this while holding a highly remunerative contract through my consulting firm. I will not name the two individuals.

[My qualification for that contract had nothing to do with my political orientation. The contract had been offered by the Liberal government then in power. Indeed, my contract was terminated by a minister – Jim Prentice – of the new Conservative government who felt as negatively about me as I had always felt about him. My professional background included time at the helm of the federal government’s Specific Claims Secretariat, in which capacity I had led my team of officials in the resolution of 240 Aboriginal claims. I was known as “the best closer” in the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, and Raymond had asked for someone who could help resolve the Cree claim “within two years instead of the usual twenty.” I viewed Jim as one who stood on the side of the claim negotiators who would rather negotiate endlessly - and be paid very well – than achieve final settlements for the communities they represented.]

Our conversation over lunch was enjoyable and went on for over two hours. In the course of the discussion among us I would assess that about 10 minutes were devoted to the business of consulting and of judging. All the rest of the time was about the political process and about politics as I have found it so far. When stepping away from the table I observed that politics is important, challenging, and also clearly interesting to most people. One of the reasons I have stepped into this role is to confirm this assessment for the duration of my candidacy and – if luck should have it – beyond.

The day closed with a surprising call from Francis Lebrun.

Francis advised me that he has arranged a coffee for Friday this week with David Kilgour, formerly a politician (first Conservative, then Liberal) and Cabinet Minister in a previous Liberal government. David now works as a consultant and an advisor to governments on international affairs, primarily African affairs.

So far, so good.

But Francis has also invited a member of the association who is tightly wound up around the issue of an allegedly abusive wife and “subversive forces” based in Congo. He wants the government to build Men’s Shelters for men like himself who are fleeing abuse from their female partners and from African pursuers. He believes agents hired by the government of the Congo in Africa were directly responsible for his marital woes.

That fellow, who may even be right about his suspicions, could not possibly be a good choice for informal discussion with David. I have no idea what Francis is up to, but I know I cannot be at the coffee. I will have to find a careful way to sidestep the coffee before Friday comes around.

9 FEBRUARY

This was a very tiring day for me.

In the morning I met with Gene to “sell” my latest, and again more streamlined, version of a campaign plan, in the event of a spring election. In all the media it is said that a spring election is inevitable. I was desperate for people who knew a thing or two about campaigning.

I asked him to be a member of the leadership team, primarily because I have so few volunteers to choose from. He is still a member of the board of the association but Guy tells me he intends to quit because of his endless disputes with Carol.

Once again, and over a two hour period, I elaborated upon my concerns regarding the association’s performance and pre-writ capacity; my view that the Direct Voter Contact (DVC) and Voter ID programs – even if we had the dozens of volunteers and thousands of dollars to implement them – are more alienating of potential voters than positive in their result; my insistence that a planned campaign be affordable; my belief that innovation and a repeated mantra – such as the “let’s fix it” slogan – is the only way to break through the entrenched habit of most riding residents to vote Liberal.

Once again, in answer, I heard about my being too careful in my plans; too hesitant; and so on. Gene placed before me all the arguments and tactics I have been hearing from established CPC interests for the last four months. When I challenged him to show why – in all of its failings to date – he believes the association can help me achieve his “higher order” of election activities and expenses, Gene had no answer. He apologized for the poor performance of the association to date and affirmed – as others have said at every step of the way so far – that things will get better soon.

In the end I assess that Gene will help to deliver the kind of campaign I want to see delivered as long as I leave the door open to the contemporary “science” of electioneering and to the related costs (all much higher). If I do this I will make it clear that the delivery of the resources required (people and money) will have to be done by someone other than me.

I met with my brother in the afternoon for essentially the same discussion. Again, the discussion took a couple of hours but this time Marie was in the room to help deflect the charge that I am wet behind the ears, lacking courage to act, being too negative and conservative, and so on. Like Gene, Gerald believes the DVC programs are the way to go notwithstanding what I can point to as clear evidence that it is too late for Voter ID (if there is an election this coming spring) and too expensive to design and implement GOTV in our riding.

In the end, I assess that Gerald will remain a part of the team on the basis of the same understanding that Gene has. They both need to know that I remain flexible. They both seem to accept that a precondition for additions to my streamlined plan will be the need to find the required resources before additions can be included.

One positive that emerged from my discussion with Gerald and Marie is that I will revise my preliminary plan to focus less on process and more on outputs. The outputs I believe to be reasonable and achievable will be listed together with the outputs Gene, Gerald, and likely Guy expect to see. But those outputs will be in separate categories (affordable/realistic, and unresourced).

In the evening I went to the monthly meeting of the Manor Park Community Association. I had about 10 minutes to introduce myself, which I did by talking about why I am running. To this audience I talked mostly about politics in our riding being “broken”:

- To have a new bridge study run through one expensive phase, yield one preferred outcome, and then quickly open up to two additional (previously rejected) options plus a third (never before considered) option is to have a failed process. The first phase of a study should have as its outcome a stabilized set of alternatives: the study recently circulated has not achieved that result at all.

- To have DND be obliged by a government to close a perfectly useable Base located in our riding and then leave it languishing in the DND inventory for 14 years and counting, is to have a broken political process. Mauril Belanger was the Associate Minister of National Defence when this debacle began to unfold and he has been our ridings representative in Parliament ever since.

- To see a long-term Member of Parliament hold coffee meetings in highly populated areas of the riding and achieve a turn-out of 2 citizens (in one case) or 8 people in another case is to see a broken political process.

I observed that politics are not vibrant in our riding anymore. I observed that a new Member of Parliament is one way to kick-start a new round of vibrancy and interest. I said I am a long-term conservative who has always voted for the best government alternative: and, on this round, I think voting for me and for the Conservative government is a one-two punch that will prove the best option for politics in Ottawa-Vanier.

I believe my comments were well received. Upon leaving the meeting I sensed a feeling of friendship and support from most of the participants…even though the next election may be a longer way off than the media are continuing to predict.

When I came home in the evening I received my first question from a member of the voting public. A person on whose door I had knocked a week or so ago sent me an email about the Conservative government’s intention to shut down a safe-injection sight in Vancouver. This person has, through his son, personal experience with drug use and drug crimes and is a strong supporter of safe injection sites. He asked me for my views and affirmed that he will not vote for the CPC if our position remains what it is.

I replied that the issue begins by knowing whose jurisdiction safe injection sites fall into. The jurisdiction is provincial (health).

Regarding the value of safe injection sites, my observation was that the CPC principles of prevention, intervention, and enforcement do not provide for the “stabilization” of illegal activity. The challenge is to demonstrate that safe injection sites “prevent” crimes related to the abuser’s need for money. I said that, if elected, I will be certain to explore the link of safe injection sites to prevention of crime…but the problem of jurisdiction will remain. The issues of prevention and intervention fall into provincial jurisdiction under Canada’s Constitution, not federal.

10 FEBRUARY

On this day I stopped by CRG Consulting, on business. The ambiance in the firm remains very positive for me. When my political journey ends or begins to slow down I expect I will want to re-engage with CRG Consulting to the extent my time allows.

When I came back home I received an email from a Carleton University student who asked about my views on drug use and crime in Vanier. I returned to the three-point principles of the CPC and observed that the first two principles, prevention and intervention, fall into provincial jurisdiction. This is one reason why the CPC is so solidly lined up behind the third principle of “enforcement”: if provincial programs of prevention and intervention do not work, enforcement becomes the main tool for a federal government to use if federal crimes are committed. The CPC has simply said that it views this tool as entirely legitimate and will insist that judges use the tool in the ways prescribed in the laws.

“If the provinces are performing poorly on prevention and intervention,” I asked, “does this mean that the federal government should perform poorly on enforcement as well?”

When asked why drug users tend to congregate in Vanier I observed that lifestyles are all about choice and discretionary income. If, by will or misfortune, one finds oneself hard-wired to a drug habit the discretionary income available for other purposes – such as room and board – falls way down. Drug users are looking for the cheapest possible places and, by finding them, have the effect of making those places less marketable still. So neighborhoods deteriorate.

I spent most of the afternoon revising my proposed campaign plan so that it includes the elements desired by the core team members (chiefly the direct mails and the DVC programs funding). As I say above I will present the full plan as a “challenge” to the others. I will be keeping tabs only on the essential elements that I want for myself. I foresee the biggest tussle being how we direct volunteers. I want our very few volunteers to deliver my preferred products as a priority.

I will want them to deliver the “time for a change” slogan featured on my “chair” flyer…and to restate the slogan…from door to door. Sixty thousand times. No need to wait for a reply.

In contrast my team will want our volunteers to ask at the doors: “Will you be voting Conservative in the next election?” and “Can we have your email?”, “Would you be interested in joining the Party for $10 and in giving us your email?”, and so on. If someone came to my door with those questions I would slam it shut again, as politely as possible of course. After obtaining answers (read slammed doors as a “NO!”) Gene would have the volunteers record the information accurately and then transcribed when back at our pre-arranged meeting place so that the information could be registered in the national office CIMS file. CIMS, remember, stands for the Conservative Information Management System.

Let me again unburden myself of my frustrations about this: the information provided at the doors is scant. Most people are greatly offended by the questions and are loath to say how wives or husbands, or adult children, might vote in the next election. Accurate transcription of the scant information rarely happens. The truth is, we mostly made it up when we took our data from the “walk sheets” to the data-entry stage. The time lost at the doors is great. The worth of the information when it comes time during an election to Get Out the Vote (if you have the volunteers or money to work the phones) is zero.

Those crazy programs have become a target for critics in the media who deplore the condition of democracy in our country at this time. But the programs are not the issue. The lack of participation is the issue. The programs have been developed to take advantage of declining participation rates. In their cynicism the programs may indeed be making things worse. But participation does not happen anymore between elections, and there is no time during the election itself to make up for this.

11 FEBRUARY

The main events today were a visit to a local sports store to order a blue three-season jacket (shell and lining) with CPC logos all over it, to check the prices of p-caps, to do some banking, and to play around with possible content and layout of a campaign flyer.

I stopped by the local print store to determine their capacity to help me pull a flyer together and reproduce some 60,000 copies (“no problem, sir”) and I went home to prepare for the evening’s walkabout with Gene.

The preparations for the walkabout, still only to the homes of members, involves my printing the letters to members and my inserting those letters with the door knockers into envelopes. It takes about an hour to get ready. I know I cannot count upon Gene to help me. When we get together he simply asks where the material is…and I hand it to him.

The walkabout, as always, was OK. This is not the kind of thing I really enjoy doing but when contacts are made and you find yourself in a face to face discussion it can get kind of engaging.

It made Marie, our driver for the occasion, and me giggle a few times to see how earnestly Gene undertakes this door knocking exercise. He really likes it. He enjoys pouring over the poll maps, recalling previous visits, and sharing his experiences walking these streets in previous campaigns. At the doors, however, after he has knocked or rung a bell, he steps far back and leaves it entirely to me to handle the human interaction.

Hunched over somewhat and leaning to the left, he ambles down the roads (greatly underdressed for the weather by the way) and leans into the driveways and walkways of our intended targets. In his recalls he often observes upon the many kilometers he walked during the last campaign. Without the funding to do a “mail out”, in the last days of the previous campaign he and some others stumbled through these long and dark streets to drop flyers and brochures in peoples’ mailboxes. Somehow, they thought this made a difference. To Marie and me…it seemed almost comical.

12 FEBRUARY

Today was the day I was supposed to have coffee with Francis and David Kilgour.

As I recorded previously, when I learned who was to be a part of the coffee I knew I would not be participating. In the course of the week I sent an email to Francis to excuse my absence on the (false) grounds that CRG Consulting required me to attend a meeting of their executive .

The better part of the day was taken up by drafting a letter to the EMC newspaper which was prompted by a three-page spread in yesterday’s paper “celebrating” Mauril Belanger’s fifteen year “reign” in the House of Commons. I struggled over quite the right way to represent myself which would stay somewhere short of electioneering. My final effort, which had been influenced to a great extent by comments from Marie, was the following:

I VOTED FOR HIM TOO

As a longtime resident of Ottawa-Vanier I voted for Mauril Belanger and contributed to the start of his very long tenure as a Member of Parliament. The conservatives, as observed in the February 12 edition of this paper, were in disarray and I believed – as Mr. Belanger also did at the time – in the importance of a balanced budget when our country faced a serious deficit.

Because the seat had gone Liberal since Confederation I did not doubt he would win. But, as a public servant at the time, I wanted to support a disciplined approach to the economy even if it put my own job and those of my colleagues at risk.

Mr. Belanger is quoted to say he never achieved much profile at the federal level notwithstanding his various roles over those 15 years. He says he worked hard to help community groups and businesses achieve results within municipal and provincial jurisdictions. He says he has been a good local politician. As readers of this paper will know I am running for federal office.

During the many years Mr. Belanger sat in the House I worked federally at senior levels in the departments of Indian Affairs and of National Defence. I was elected the Founding President of the Real Property Institute of Canada in 2000. I left the Government in 2003 to become Vice President with a real estate consulting firm. A lot happened to the rest of us over those 15 years!

While at DND I was played important roles in the creation of the National Military Cemetery and in the unexpected closure – in support of deficit reduction - of former CFB Rockcliffe. I still regret the inability of Mr. Martin’s government to follow through on the closure. It could have saved the military hundreds of millions of dollars in holding costs.

While I strongly support the objectives of the event Mr. Belanger hosted to celebrate his own time in the House of Commons, I chose not to attend. My presence may have changed a toast to his ongoing tenure to a toast to his impending retirement.

Candidate

Conservative Party of Canada

It will be interesting to learn whether it falls within the scope of the EMC’s policy to include my rejoinder to the story on Mauril in the next edition of their paper.

[In fact my letter would indeed appear in a subsequent edition of the paper…and the Letters Editor left his position soon afterwards. I wondered whether the paper’s editorial board had been told to remove him.]

In the course of the day it amused me to learn that the coffee with David Kilgour fell badly apart. After a few minutes of discourse, which was enough time for our association member to rant loudly and apparently incoherently about his mistreatment by his African wife and the need for men’s’ shelters, David fled the building and vowed to never return.

When hearing the story from Francis I took pity on him and undertook to write an email to David…which I did. I elaborated upon why a meeting between the two of us might be fun and asked Francis to again set it up. Our agitated associate, however, was not to be included!

PS: This is the day the picture of me with Monica and the horses at the New Edinburgh Winter Carnival made it into the EMC paper. So the effort by the candidate to get noticed has succeeded again, if at a very low level of notoriety. I am described in the picture as being a Rockcliffe Park resident and Monica is my daughter. But, hey, any news is good news.

13 TO 15 FEBRUARY

This was a long weekend for me, beginning with the arrival of Kees from Montreal (McGill University) and ending with our return from Knowlton after visiting with my mother. The visit to Knowlton was an overnight that was added to our trip to Montreal on Sunday to bring Kees back to his apartment.

What is highest among my bits of recall is the debate Kees and I had regarding Global Warming.

The debate began in the car on Sunday and may not yet be ended. I played devil’s advocate by positing that perhaps the Global Warming science has become a paradigm for practitioners within which only data that prove the theory are accepted. Any research or commentary not supportive of the science is viewed as illegitimate.

Kees was adamant that the science in support of Global Warming is accurate; that errors and misrepresentations revealed in recent email releases reported upon in the Globe and Mail are simply part of the business; and, that researchers who challenge the data which support Global Warming are basically sick in the head. In a follow-up email that I read upon returning home Kees reiterated his position and lumped me in with those who are sick in the head. Oh, well…

I replied to the email but made the mistake of sharing the incoming with Marie. Her reaction was less to the tone and content of Kees’ words: it was to his message that conservatives are basically sick in the head. She wept that my becoming aligned with the CPC will alienate us from everyone – including our own son. The issue, therefore, was not the email from Kees to me. The issue is my staying the course in this political journey.

After a failed attempt between us to agree upon a movie, and after a successful attempt to eat an atrocious meal in a restaurant in our riding, the tensions between me and Marie subsided. But I am sure those tensions will not go away. The enthusiasm it takes to stay with a journey such as this will have to come mostly from me. I know I cannot get to the other end without Marie’s support so I will keep trying to make my enthusiasm infectious.

In the course of the week I followed a television story on the fortunes of an Electoral District Association in Calgary that wanted to hold a convention to select a different candidate from the one currently sitting in the House of Commons. The CPC, from its national office, put an end to this idea and fired the president of that Calgary EDA.

I found this story rather troublesome. The Calgary EDA president was interviewed on television and seemed a perfectly reasonable person to me. His reasons for wanting to have a nomination convention were democratic and his motivation was a sense among EDA board members that the sitting MP no longer represented the views of the riding. He observed that, upon his being fired, all the board members resigned. So the president was not isolated in his views.

Given all the problems I am having with the EDA in my riding I find it a bit distressing that an EDA which seems to have its act together can get set aside for its efforts. This is not an easy business.

On Saturday I had a meeting with Carol which is worth recording.

At the campaign team meeting two weeks ago, and from time to time since then, Guy and some others have been following up with national on Colin’s commitment to stage a fund raiser in late March. The event is intended to be a meet and greet, where the main attractions are a senior Cabinet minister and the wife of the Prime Minister. I would be listed as a host of the event. The ticket cost would be $200 for each participant, paid to the EDA bank account. A poster has been created and translated. The next step has been – for two weeks now – to put the poster onto the website of our association and to make a number of telephone calls to ensure adequate participation.

At our meeting Carol advised that she is opposed to the event and will put a stop to it.

Once again, an idea that seemed to have legs may be running into difficulty. I will certainly not be placing any phone calls to potential participants myself until after the air clears and it is now mid-February. Guy does not come back from Florida for another week or so. We are stalled…

In my discussion with Carol about this her ideas were – as always - good ones. Her “plan” was to reject the national lead, retain the end-March date, and work hard to host an event where I – no one else – will be the attraction. “For example,” she said, “we should be inviting media people and community group leaders. We have to market you as a candidate, not the party.” I liked the sound of that.

But surely I have learned by now that Carol does not produce results. She blocks the efforts of others. I left her apartment with a sense of wonder about how things could be so odd. It seemed to me, however, that the 31 March event will almost certainly not be of the nature that Colin and the national office have in mind unless Carol gets shut down.

16 FEBRUARY

This day confirmed the “return of Carol”. She is feeling her oats once again. She has not yet quit. She has not yet been fired.

I received a call at about 8:00 am – which is early for me – in the course of which Carol read out a letter that will go onto the emails. The letter offers an “apology” for the association fixing the 31 March date for the fundraiser without talking to me and Marie in advance.

It is true that, some time ago, I had expressed to Carol a personal reservation about the 31 March date because Marie and I have a long-standing commitment to be in Fredericton on the 1st of April (the birthday of Marie’s Dad). Marie had sent an email to Carol expressing her displeasure about our not being consulted before the 31 March date was fixed in stone.

So Carol planned to use Marie’s email to justify blocking national’s plan to have a Loreen Harper/John Baird meet-and-greet at the Hampton Inn.

I remained neutral in my mind and supportive to Carol in my words. If the outcome of Carol’s return to the fray is a meet-and-greet that raises less money but features me more prominently…I can handle that. I have observed on the extent to which politics have become centrally-led whereas my preference is to have a made-in-Ottawa/Vanier campaign. I have seen how political participation has become events-oriented whereas I continue to strive for an issues orientation. An event which is high profile because Conservatives want to see and be seen among the likes of John Baird and Loreen Harper – without much regard, if any, for me and my goal to be elected in Ottawa-Vanier – is an event which is not consistent with my preferred approach.

In the course of this day and the next, however, Carol’s alternative approach unraveled.

National office/Colin McSweeney called me, wondering what sense I could make of the resistance he encounters within our association to his proposal regarding March 31. “One way or another you guys have to recover the cost Guy has already incurred by committing to the Dance fiasco.”

I engaged in the discussion with national office but did not play any cards of my own at all. I was pleased to remind Colin that national seems to have a negative attitude about candidates and that I had been advised – not least by him personally – to stay out of administrative and planning issues. Whether there is an event on March 31, and even the nature of it, is not my problem.

Then, to Colin’s mirth, I affirmed that I can look after myself – including the period of the writ if necessary. Given the performances I see all around me, I said, I may well have no choice. Colin answered: “Good luck; you won’t have a chance”. He reminded me of his oft-repeated slogan: the candidate who is his or her own campaign planner and manager is a fool.

In the evening, in Guy’s absence and fool though I may be, I chaired the third meeting of the campaign team.

I emailed to all and sundry a last-minute reminder of the meeting in the hope of achieving a reasonable turn out. In the end, we had 12 in attendance – which is not inspiring. Included in that number were three people who will not be regulars but whose presence implies a level of support and endorsement (personal friendship, Parliament Hill staffer, Rockcliffe neighbor) that reflects to my mind the potential of a wider audience one day.

I devoted the first half of the two hour meeting to a presentation and discussion of my current draft of a campaign plan. I am proposing a core strategy (key messages, signs, solid public performances) around which others can build a more robust and contemporary campaign if they have the time and resources (volunteers and money). I believe I received a pretty good level of endorsement for what I presented. For the moment I will stay on my course.

I figure I have until the end of this month to have key materials ready to go…just in case the writ drops this Spring.

The second half of the meeting dealt with office space for the campaign. I left the lead for this discussion somewhere among Priscilla Hammond, Gerald, and Ross (who decided to remain finance officer until his term ends in April). Technically only the association can sign a lease for office space that must be set up prior to an election call and then closed after the election is over. Anyway, I am not yet very interested in this aspect of the looming campaign. I want an office that reflects a certain amount of professionalism but that is all.

I will be preparing a note for Guy about this aspect of the meeting. I will direct all follow-up on office and office-related issues to him. In the end, of course, I expect I will have to sort it out myself. [In fact, just days before the election was called, it was Marie who worked with the association’s executive and ensured that I got the quality, location and space I needed.]

17 FEBRUARY

This is the day Marie stepped into the doodoo.

Marie was bothered by Carol’s letter of yesterday because of how blatantly it positioned Carol’s intention to block national’s March event behind Marie’s desire to travel to Fredericton on March 31. The fact is, and Carol knew this, Marie and I were prepared to change our plans to accommodate a March 31 event in Ottawa because of the event’s importance to the national office.

In her emails on this issue Marie, using some input prepared by me, also took issue with the inconsistent role played by the national office. Colin was on the phone to her almost immediately.

Marie’s message to Colin, again inspired by me, was that national office had stepped into a chess game between Guy and Carol – a game which, like all the others, is played to the disadvantage of me and the “brand” – and then stepped away again as soon as things got hot. We learned that Colin had withdrawn the offer of Harper/Baird participation as soon as Carol expressed her reservations about the event.

National’s intervention was proving to be just another example of someone “taking on” the president and then backing off. The outcome was always the same: a defective president (because unable to deliver) left ever more firmly in charge…of doing nothing.

Colin, then and there and on the phone, retreated from his decision to cancel the Harper/Baird event. He said he was determined to proceed as planned. In the end, after a long telephone call among Colin, Carol and Ross, Colin prevailed. The event is back on.

All of this happened in bits and pieces over the 8 hours of the working day.

For my part, in the early afternoon I met with David Kilgour.

He had emailed me in the morning to say he was available in the early afternoon, and we agreed upon coffee at Bridgehead down the street. The coffee was fun. While David placed a thirty minute limit on our discussion, we carried on for about two hours. Our discussion focused upon campaigning and upon a few substantive policy issues.

On the campaigning front my conclusion was that I am already doing, or planning to do, everything that David proposed. The only important difference between David’s advice and what I am told by the CPC is about being seen and heard within Mauril Belanger’s “strong” areas of the riding. David said I should definitely move onto Mauril’s turf. “Mauril will hate this,” he said. “Even when I was a member of his party and a minister Mauril would get furious if I stepped into this riding without his prior approval.”

The national office, I answered, believes the chance of making conversions in today’s politics is nil so forget it. I nevertheless agree with David and I will be looking for ways to get it done. I want to talk to those who traditionally vote for the Liberals in this riding. I will not ask for permission from my own national office, and I will not ask for permission from Mauril.

On substantive issues we talked mostly about law and order. My effort now is to understand the different roles and capacities of the federal and provincial governments in the areas of prevention, intervention, and enforcement. My developing view, as you know, is that federal concern about law and order moves a federal government ineluctably towards penalties and incarceration because prevention and intervention are mostly in provincial jurisdiction. If the provinces do prevention and intervention poorly the federal government either does enforcement poorly as well (to not appear to play the heavy) or must pick up the pieces by sending law breakers who move into federal jurisdiction…to jail.

In the evening I attended a regular meeting of the Rockcliffe Park Residents’ Association. I let everyone know who and what I am, though my being a resident of Rockcliffe explained my presence most convincingly of all. I am not sure I would have been welcomed as a CPC representative.

I assess that most of my fellow residents in this toney part of town are Liberals in how they vote. I felt distinctly unwelcome and decided I would not attend future community meetings in my home area of the riding.

18 FEBRUARY

Today is my day for catching up in this diary and for completing a few other reports (such as the discussion at the campaign team meeting on office space). A minor surprise, perhaps to grow into a major one over the next few days, is that Carol has not made any effort to contact me. I suspect Colin has told her to leave me alone. I also suspect Carol is angry that Marie’s follow up with Colin helped to overturn her desire to cancel the end-March event with Loreen Harper and John Baird.

I received an excellent email today from my friend Colin Lindley commenting upon the discussion among campaign team members. He convinced me in the contents of a one-page email that my core message in the “chair” flyer (Let’s Fix It!) might be easily subverted by opponents in the course of a campaign…so I will soften that message a bit.

I also used today to send out some follow up emails to Jason, Raquel (a neighbor), Gerald, and others in order to get my planning for a core message and some ads moving towards penultimate completion prior to the end of February. I think I now have all that I need, especially given the input from Colin Lindley.

The evening of this day is planned to include a walkabout with Gene (Marie at the wheel).

But the walkabout did not happen. Trouble in paradise!

The first problem was an incoming email from my brother. As he had done previously this was an email again questioning the wisdom of my developing campaign strategy and making proposals that would require me to do a whole bunch more work. I felt – wrongly as it turned out – that his support for me was slipping. I was upset and angry.

Then, just prior to the scheduled time of our departure, a totally different issue arose out of left field. I was blindsided by this one.

I received a telephone call from Statistics Canada that repeated a call a few weeks previously regarding Marie and my use of the federal government’s “renovation program”. I had closed down the previous call because I was bothered by the details in the questions…and received a letter from the government a few days later saying that they would be calling again and expected my cooperation…or else!

Well…the second call was now upon me. Once again the questions went into remarkable detail, wanting to know ages, personal status of all residents, jobs, income, work habits, and dozens upon dozens of other such questions – to say nothing of the endless list of questions about types of renovation that a homeowner might make.

I said repeatedly that we had not made any renovations and had not used the program… “But that makes no difference, sir,” as the reply.

My irritation was clear (my coat and boots were on for the walkabout) but the caller was insistent. Marie, hearing me from her end, was getting increasingly concerned about the detail I was providing over the phone. As the call progressed, my irritation was growing, Marie’s concerns were cresting. The two of us took to shouting at each other while the caller on the other end of the line pressed relentlessly onwards.

In this cacophony of sounds the caller relented and allowed a short-circuiting of most questions about renovations we had undertaken (I said “none” to each question) but the tensions between me and Marie had grown past helping.

To try and keep my own internal systems from going haywire I took an extra half-pill of my blood pressure medication. This certainly calms me down a bit. The medication can also, however, bring on a panic attack…and there it came.

After a few rounds of more shouting between us – I being accused by Marie of opening ourselves up to an invasion of privacy by the government – and she being accused (by me) of being constantly critical of me in my role as candidate, my energy was totally depleted and I went to bed. The walkabout just had to wait.

I had gone to bed in a high state of discouragement. For a while there this whole effort seemed ridiculous to me: why in the world am I doing this? Why does a grown man put notices about himself into envelopes and knock on peoples’ doors during their supper hours or when they relax on a Saturday afternoon? What is the relevance of this almost infantile type of behavior (“look at me!”, “look at me!”) given what I know about the very small impact of local campaigns upon results? How can doing what I am doing help in any way to prove my capacity for public office?

We recovered later in the evening, had a nice supper, and I watched the hockey game. Marie took a telephone call (I was out of action) and found Carol on the other end of the line. They spoke for about 30 minutes, with Marie coming away from the call with a positive view about what Carol might yet contribute if only we can keep her craziness down.

Things were getting back to normal.

19 FEBRUARY

A day off! My son Gerrit and I went to the cottage to work on a bathroom renovation and to trim a few trees. It was a beautiful day. In the early evening we were able to set the waste wood alight at the site of our fire pit (mostly under the snow) and burn the waste wood and gunk we had produced in our 5 hours or so of work inside the cottage.

20 FEBRUARY

Today we got back into the game.

With Marie at the wheel the two of us drove around a couple of our neighborhoods and I delivered the flyers and covering letters. This will help to get me to the point where I can say that all party members have been notified of my candidacy either with a personal meeting or a “lit drop”. It has taken almost three months of three evenings per week to try and make meaningful contact with only 100 voters (knocking on 500 doors). To win the riding we will need about 20,000 votes, so you can see the immensity of the challenge (and the impossibility of meaningful “Direct Voter Contact”).

As always, the personal meetings at the door are much more pleasant than I expect when I first knock. CPC members are almost unfailingly happy to see me. But only about 20% of doors knocked on were opened. In some cases residents hovered visibly behind sheer curtains but were disinclined to open their doors to talk.

In the course of the day I drafted a note to my brother, further to his incoming of two days ago, and Marie sent it forward to Gerald from herself. This is the approach we have decided upon to keep me somewhat shielded from criticism coming from my brother.

I also developed content for a brochure that could be sent to all area citizens pre-writ by our association or during the period of an election by the campaign team. Surely at least one piece of literature is needed in which I associate myself and the Ottawa-Vanier riding with key party and government positions. The text I proposed is the following:

VOTE REM WESTLAND

Image of the Candidate

REM WESTLAND AND THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA STAND FOR

SAFE COMMUNITIES

A STRONG ECONOMY

A BALANCED APPROACH

MEANINGFUL RESULTS ON LOCAL ISSUES

(pictures of the Candidate walking in different areas of the riding to be inserted)

SAFE COMMUNITIES

Ottawa-Vanier neighborhoods have become safer since a Conservative government was elected in 2006. A lot more needs to be done.

To be serious about crime and to get results Ottawa-Vanier needs a seat at the table.

STRONG ECONOMY

The Conservative government got us out of the economic downturn and knows how to balance the books.

Effective support for Ottawa-Vanier businesses, jobs, and pensioners requires a voice within the government.

A BALANCED APPROACH

Safe communities require prevention, intervention, and enforcement.

Protection of our jobs, pensions, and opportunities requires the right mix of spending policies and restraint.

Environment, health, social, and economic objectives are all important and require a balanced approach.

RESOLUTION OF LOCAL ISSUES

Ten years of vacant CFB Rockcliffe lands, at high cost to the Canadian Forces, is not good enough.

Fifteen years of promised bridge construction and reduction of traffic congestion, including an expensive study that yielded no meaningful result, is not good enough.

Sixty-five years of representation by the same political party is not good enough.

VOTE REM WESTLAND, CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA

I sent this proposed content to Guy, copy to the association’s executive committee and to core campaign team members. Whether and how to proceed with the brochure will be up to others. I have done my bit. Even as I say this, of course, I know I should be reading up upon how to finalize, print, and reproduce the brochure on my own.

[Now in hindsight I can add a perspective which I did not have at the time. Most candidates come on board with their respective association days – or even just after – an election is called. They buy into campaign material prepared on a national scale by their political party. Candidates’ pictures are inserted into a national template. My own effort, from start to finish, was counter to the predominant way of doing business.]

I ended the day with an email to those listed as 400 Club members advising them of the March 31 event and asking for their support. It will be interesting to learn what kind of response we get. I undertook in my email to follow up with a telephone call and I will be doing this before the end of the week. I will do this myself rather than rely upon the automatic “demon dialer”.

22 FEBRUARY

Today I spent most of the morning preparing an assignment of roles for members of the “core” campaign team in the event of a spring election.

I wrote that I will be asking this in the form of a personal letter to each person, covering a copy of the plan itself. The plan will be reduced to its highlights and will include a budget. The requirement of team members will be to deliver the bare bones minimum before developing and delivering more robust additions. This will be my closing effort to constrain the leadership group of my campaign to tactics which are manageable within the budget range I think is realistic.

When I shared my intentions with Marie she balked.

The problem is that I proposed in the approach to name her as the leader for candidate coordination. Marie does not like to be placed on the firing line, and she most definitely did not want the publicity that her role could bring down upon her.

In a telephone discussion between us I quickly assessed the problem. Marie is still active in the government as a senior public servant. I said I will be removing her from a lead role. But this did not help very much. Marie’s reaction when I said I would remove her name was that I was expressing doubt in her willingness to back me up.

It took us a while to get past this one, but we did. In the final analysis it makes more sense for Marie to simply back me up as needed and have no defined role at all.

I made a major mistake today. I hope it will not come back to haunt me some day.

On the spur of the moment I decided to let key CRG Consulting people know that I have a contact in Patrick Glemaud who is also known in the Prime Minister’s Office and who may be in a position to help CRG associates find opportunities in the planned reconstruction of Haiti. In my email I mentioned my affiliation with the CPC.

While my words were about helping CRG Consulting executives make contacts that might or might not make a difference, in my heart I know that I was showing off. I believe I was well short of crossing the line between a contractor and a lobbyist…but it will be very important to me in follow up correspondence (if any) to show that I understand my position. I cannot use my political connections to curry favor with the government. I must be very sure to direct any follow up to Patrick as a senior member of a private sector firm in his own right and not compromise him either… .

I will look for the right way to climb down from this mistake over the next couple of days. One never knows who may be reading the emails and what agenda others may have.

23 FEBRUARY

Another difficult day… It began with my recall that this was the day of my father’s birth. He died four years ago.

I went into this day with a sense of determination, advising Marie a number of times that our objective is to enjoy this political journey as an end in itself. We must always stay in touch with the start of all this: “Remember: winning in the election is not what this was about!” I had an opportunity to run in a federal election and I seized it. Our goal is to keep our personal reputations intact and to satisfy ourselves that a good job was done. This is what my dad would have asked of me.

To stay cool and calm, perhaps even happy, about what transpires in this business, however, is not easy.

The morning was OK. Very little politicking went on.

The noon hour was a minor round of politicking in that I attended a reception at the Army Officers’ Mess in town for Veterans. I had been invited by my classmate Lorne McCartney and I looked forward to the event.

At the event I was not disappointed. I met with a number of people I have come to know over the years. I enjoyed an extensive discussion with Andre Michaud, now a senior official with the Commonwealth Graves Commission with whom I had built up a good friendship when we were on basic training way back in 1968 at Chilliwack BC. Andre was a year below me at college but went up the CMR line so we really did not have a college friendship. But I always felt close to him for some reason.

I also had the fun of talking to the Liberal critic for Veterans’ Affairs who introduced himself as “minister”. This was an enjoyable conversation which we had been into for about 20 minutes before I realized that the person I was talking to was not himself the minister of Veterans’ Affairs…but a United Church minister who had joined the Liberal party and been successful in the last couple of elections.

The actual minister came in a bit later. I talked with him for a short while before lunch and also with his deputy minister. She had been known to me when I worked on Cree files from my position with CRG Consulting. She had not liked my approach as a consultant (too forceful) and she had been instrumental in bringing my very lucrative contract to an early end. But her tone today was friendly as all get out, seeing as how I shared the political stage with her boss.

Things got bad in the afternoon.

I may have shared before that I had asked Carol to consider how a central message (“This Seat Belongs to All of Us”) and four advertisements (“Where is Mauril?”) can be set up with pictures and text. The pictures would be taken of the sites where each of Mauril’s three main projects had manifestly not been achieved. Sixteen years after taking on these projects, and four elections of their being repeated in his campaign material, there was no bridge; the traffic on King Edward street was as dense as ever; and, the abandoned military base in our riding was still a ghost town.

Between Carol and Eleanor the idea to work with John M – a Calgary University student temporarily in Ottawa who had taken pictures for our association at the Christmas party – was born. I had approached John for some ideas and Carol had waxed enthusiastic about the projects.

Well, today the trip-up came. In a call from Carol she observed how my expectations are well beyond what volunteers would normally be asked to deliver upon. She said this forcefully…even though I had kept her in the loop throughout my preparations. She said I was taking advantage of John’s willingness to help.

I was advised that, even working with professionals, the chance of my having the products I wanted within the short period of time left to me before a possible spring election was zero. I was asked to indicate which of the five projects would be my priority if only one, or two, or three (and so on) could be delivered upon.

In effect, Carol had set me up to expect the very best and had then dashed my hopes by saying that almost nothing of what I wanted could be done. I was disappointed, discouraged, even disgusted by my own oversight when I chose to trust in her enthusiastic undertaking to produce results. Carol cannot produce results. Period. Ever. It was my mistake and now the anger was entirely mine as well.

Before bedtime I called John and discussed the options with him. This, too, did not go well. He had clearly been convinced by Carol that my expectations were unrealistic and perhaps unrealizable even though I had full confidence that I could do it all myself if only I could manage cameras and computers. I told John I would pick him up on Thursday of this week for a drive to the spots where I want to have pictures taken. “All I want to do,” I said, “is to show you how simple my idea actually is. I already have the prop – a hand-drawn sign with the words “Where is Mauril” – prepared.” I left it to John to call me if he has a change of mind.

The night was tough as well. I went to bed angry. To my surprise I fell asleep quickly enough but at about 3:00 am I woke up coughing and went upstairs to hack away into the late morning.

24 FEBRUARY

I realized at about 4:00 am that I was not going to be well enough to honor an undertaking to go to Montreal to describe my journey into politics to Anne Drost (Fasken Martineau legal firm) with whom I had worked on the Cree files, and a student lawyer with that firm who wants to set her sights upon a political career. I wrote a note to Marie to cancel my train tickets and to let me sleep.

This day, after a hard beginning, turned out OK.

Because I was supposed to be in Montreal I was not bothered by any of the usual daily contacts. I was able to concentrate upon the presentation of the five products I want to have ready in the event of a spring election. I was able to coordinate with Marie the answers to emails that went her way from campaign team members and from Carol.

With Carol the focus was upon the association’s Newsletter. It remains unchanged after my repeated criticisms of it. She now wanted Marie to twist my arm to let the Newsletter go as drafted. It would also require translation and would, altogether, cost in the order of $2000. Between me and Marie, and with Marie writing the notes to Carol, the answer was: “No way!” The content developed for Carol by some fellow in Alberta is entirely wrong for me and for this riding. While in Alberta people may collectively be cringing in the face criminal attacks for example, in Ottawa-Vanier this is no longer the case.

In the afternoon Marie and I visited the locations where I want to have pictures taken. I wanted to verify with her whether my ideas were more complicated than I thought them to be. At the various locations we discussed possible images to be captured in the pictures. We opted for me standing in front of the bridge site, the closed air force base, and traffic on King Edward Avenue with my prop.

I am still not sure whether John will be joining me with this.

I spent the later afternoon improving my simple sign (“Where is Mauril?”) with wood, hammer, and nails. I also engaged in some additional emails concerning an expectation by Carol that our association pay her way to an upcoming provincial Progressive Conservative convention in Toronto.

The cost of attending is in the order of $1500, which is money Carol does not have. I already paid for my attendance some time ago. I resented the idea that Carol’s attendance, and perhaps that of others, would be paid by the association. My goal for that organization is to spend their money in support of a successful campaign. To pay $4500 for three people to attend the Provincial PC convention would represent quite a loss to a campaign that could begin as early as next month. Carol does not think about things like that.

My approach was to ask Ross how to square a possible decision to fund my participation at the Convention with the fact that I had already paid. I knew Ross would not want to deal with the tax implications of this. I learned that others had already been approached with the idea to pay for Carol and that the consensus was “No!” I expect Carol’s anger level is rising all the time.

For my part, I have just about had it with the poor woman.

The evening is just about at a close and I will be shutting down this diary. I may yet be placing a call to Jonathan to beg out of the trip tomorrow before he embarrasses me by not calling and not showing. I will tell you what happened tomorrow.

25 FEBRUARY

Whew… that was close!

My concern about John’s room to maneuver free of Carol (and Eleanor?) grew this morning when I had heard nothing from him – by phone or by email – by the time of our planned departure (for the photo-shoot) at 9:30 am.

I called him (voice mail) and was drafting an email thanking him for his interest, empathizing with him for having so many demands on his time but leaving no doubt that our working relationship was at an end. And then he called.

By noon of this day we had had an interesting and satisfying run at the various “Where is Mauril?” sites. John’s enthusiasm was unabated throughout. He took five or six pictures at each site. On our drive we shared our concerns about Carol’s modus operandi and I judged that his now being in line with my own thinking was authentic.

My advice to John was: “Look, whatever may be Carol’s creativity and energy the evidence is clear. Her fear of failure, or whatever may explain this, prevents her from delivering results unless she has no other alternative. Whether the material has been developed by Carol herself or by someone else working with her input, in the final analysis she cannot allow anything to emerge in final form.”

I shared my discouragement the previous evening when Carol proposed to shut down my effort to pull five campaign-ready pieces together by asking me to focus upon the one out of the five that constitutes my priority. I was especially discouraged when she observed that my “This Seat Belongs to All of Us!” is not worthy of inclusion in any list. I want all five. I want the mock-ups by Monday noon next week.

John agreed and said I would most certainly have them. But I was not sure. If Carol gets between him and me again, I thought, I bet she will yet again put a stop to things.

Just in case, therefore, I asked my son Gerrit to go with me to the same places in the riding and take the same pictures. It will be “Job Done” one way or another. If Carol suffers an anxiety attack about this daring-do on my part, so be it.

Today, 25 February, was wet and snowy (and became more so over the next 12 hours) but Jonathan called to confirm he got all the shots I wanted and now I look forward to the results.

Lunch today required a quick change in clothes and, with Marie, off we went to the Rockcliffe Community Center to share the noon-hour presentation being given by Senator Mike Duffy.

His presentation was a bit disjointed but, when it counted, was right on the money. He delivers the Conservative party messages with a sense of fair-play and fun, without diluting the essentials one tiny bit. His answers to questions were entirely consistent with the messages I want to deliver while on this political journey: “We need to start talking politics among us! It really matters!”

I was struck by the competitiveness of the folk attending the lunch – mostly older (65 and over) residents of this exclusive enclave who are still seeking to prevail one over the other. My own effort to be noticed, aided by the Senator, was rebuffed by a number of elderly women who together acted as the Masters of Ceremony. They called upon their own friends and the longer-term residents of the community to engage with the Senator. The chair of the meeting ignored me totally.

The Senator nonetheless gave me some special moments and displayed camaraderie between us which confirmed our being on the same side of the political spectrum.

In the evening we had another walkabout to members.

I am starting to tire of this exercise but I am determined to complete it. I said I would knock on the doors of all party members, and I bloody well will. We skipped those who live in the apartment buildings, however, and many were not home when we called. Tonight the snow, sleet, rain, and slush added to my eagerness to have this round of door knocking come to an end.

I find my motivation is much reduced because just about everyone answering the door now says they have seen my image in party material and know of my intentions. All I am adding is a personal touch. I am sure this is worth something…but perhaps not so very much.

Along the way I heard myself saying to Gene that his idea of a “direct mail” of the brochure I had developed is not bad. It may be costly, but we are learning that people take the time to look at material we had previously stuffed into their mail boxes. Whether our messages are carried to the door or mailed, therefore, the difference may be very little in terms of impact upon a vote. It becomes a question of money more than anything else. A direct mail to 60,000 households costs about $15,000.

The day ended with sample images sent my way by John M. “All goes well,” he added. This quick response comforts me. Marie, too, was pleased by the quick follow up and by the quality of the images he had included with his email. This means I can more freely express my hope that John will “work out”.

John also had contacted my second daughter Robin (MA student at Queen’s University in Kingston) and others to learn what he might do to contribute to the Facebook development. I redirected John to Jason (the poor guy still has no computer) and again sat back to enjoy the moment. For the purpose of a campaign this spring I think I have the key elements coming together.

I will be drafting my hand-over message to Guy and to Gerald before Monday (when they both come back from short vacations). I am confident I will be handing over a plan and approach, including draft campaign products that can be delivered upon.

26 FEBRUARY

Oh, boy.

This day began with a copy of my letter about Mauril Belanger in the EMC local paper.

It will be interesting to learn who reacts to this letter and on what grounds. Upon re-reading I assess that my greatest vulnerability is the possible inaccuracy of the “hundreds of millions of dollars” statement regarding the redevelopment of the former Canadian Forces Base Rockcliffe. I should have said “tens of millions”. Oh, well…

As it happened, by the end of the day I had received no reactions to my letter from any quarter. I do not know if this is because the EMC is so little read; because my new associates in this political process viewed the letter as too risky and are holding back; or, because folk read letters such as this and promptly forget about the contents.

In the evening we went for supper to a Japanese restaurant in our riding and who should come into the place shortly after we sat down? None other than Mauril Belanger!

Marie and I debated whether I should stride over and say “hello”. Marie was so opposed to the idea that I elected not to act on my impulse to do so. It is entirely possible that he and his wife did not see or recognize me on their way in…but I doubt it. If there was a moment there for a friendly connection, it came and it went.

Before going to bed I drafted terms of reference for Guy’s stepping into the role of campaign manager in the event of a spring election; and, I added yet another summary of what I want the campaign to focus upon. These two documents follow:

MEMORANDUM TO GUY DESROCHES

Attachments: Campaign Plan Summary

IN THE EVENT OF A SPRING ELECTION

Purpose

1. The purpose of this memorandum is to confirm your agreement, by signing where indicated below, to act as campaign manager for the election of Rem Westland (Conservative candidate, Ottawa-Vanier) should an election be called for the spring (March or April).

Responsibilities

2. I have taken note of your wish to be “interim” campaign manager pending my selection of someone else. This would be a person of your stature and political background, but one who may also be closer to the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) national office and may have more recent campaigning experience.

3. In the event of a spring election I will not yet have identified an alternative campaign manager.

4. I therefore propose that you accept the campaign manager position but operate more as a coordinator. This means campaign management responsibilities will be shared, though you will be the main contact for the CPC national office, media, and the public.

5. Should your schedule require you to be away or to have “down time” during the campaign its ongoing management can be handled through another core team (CT) member (or new appointee from outside the CT altogether) as may be decided by the core team.

Performance Agreement

6. By agreeing to step into the campaign manager position I will understand you to agree to deliver a campaign along the lines of the attached campaign plan summary.

7. I expect there will be considerable pressure coming from within the CT itself and also from the national office of the CPC to adapt/change our campaign plan so that it is more robust (i.e. more expensive) and more consistent with the standard approach used across the country (i.e. focus upon Direct Voter Contact programs like Voter ID and GOTV).

8. By signing below you will be agreeing to broaden our plan and our approach only if the required resources (volunteers and revenues) are securely in place and only if the key elements of our own campaign plan are certain to be delivered. Those key elements are the mock-ups of a central message (the “chair” flyer) and of the four “Where is Mauril?” ads.

9. If you indicate your agreement to act as campaign manager/coordinator on the basis set out in this memorandum, my agreement in return is to take my direction throughout the campaign from you and your core team members.

10. I will retain a right of veto only with regard to what you and your core team members may want me to say or be quoted as saying.

Remuneration

11. The campaign plan summary includes a budget for salaries and honoraria.

12. Subject only to the final confirmation by the Official Agent (likely in discussion with Elections Canada officials and our Official Auditor) that salaries can be paid your agreement to act as campaign manager will include a payment to you of $4,000 for your services during the campaign and to help close down operations.

13. Should you need to withdraw from the campaign or reduce the extent of your involvement the corresponding reduction in the $4,000 amount and/or its reallocation will be decided at the sole discretion of the Official Agent.

14. The budget for salaries also includes a payment to the Official Agent in the amount of $4,000.

15. Should Gerald, as Official Agent-designate, need to withdraw from the campaign or reduce the extent of his involvement the corresponding reduction in the $4,000 amount and/or its reallocation will be decided at the sole discretion of you in your role of campaign manager.

16. The timing and structure (lump sum or installments) of the remuneration agreed upon among us will be decided at the sole discretion of the Official Agent.

17. Because he shares in the obligations and benefits set out in this part of the memorandum I will be asking Gerald to indicate his agreement in the space provided below.

Rem Westland/Candidate

Guy DesRoches/Campaign Manager

Gerald Westland/Official Agent

And here follows the second document:

CAMPAIGN PLAN FOR SPRING ELECTION

SUMMARY OF THE PLAN

ORGANIZATION

1. The campaign will be coodinated by Mr. Guy DesRoches, working within a core team consisting of.

- Official Agent (Gerald Westland)

- Candidate and Volunteers Manager (Eleanor Blackwell)

- Districts Manager (Gene Pierce)

2. Decisions about campaign plan implementation (including changes in direction during the course of the campaign) will be made by the campaign coordinator with reference always to the core team. If there is disagreement within the core team about any particular decision approval will require a simple majority vote among core team members.

CAMPAIGN TEAM (CT) STRUCTURE

3. In support to the core team, reporting to the campaign coordinator, the CT will consist of:

- Office manager (Priscilla Hammond)

- Internet manager (Jason, Miriam and crew)

- Communications (Eleanor/Rem Westland, pending appointment of someone else)

- Volunteers management (Eleanor, pending appointment of someone else)

- Fundraising (to be determined)

4. The assignment or reassignment of people to the CT structure is at the initiative of the campaign coordinator (subject to core team confirmation, if there are disagreements). This includes possible changes to the CT structure in the course of the campaign.

CAMPAIGN TEAM BUDGET

5. If there is a spring election the CT will work within a planned budget of $64,000, inclusive of goods or services transferred in kind from the Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association (signs, and perhaps some campaign literature including flyers and/or ads intended for the campaign).

6. Within this amount the broad categories of costs will be:

- Office operations (including rent, fit up, insurance and supplies): $16,000

- Internet operations: $1,000

- Communications (flyers, brochure, ads, appearances): $15,000

- Volunteers support (refreshments, meetings, open house): $6,000

- Signs: $10,000

- Salaries and Honoraria: $9,000

- Incidentals, including trinkets and insignia: $7,000

7. At the initiative of the campaign coordinator, with core team majority vote if there are disagreements, the broad categories and the allocations of funds can be changed.

8. Also, at the initiative of the campaign coordinator and with core team support, the budget for the campaign can be decreased (if forecasted transfers and revenues do not materialize) or increased.

9. If resources (revenues and volunteers) prove to be higher than expected the priorities for additional expenditures will be:

- “direct mail” of a brochure on the candidate and position on key issues

- Voter ID (district canvassing, telephone banks)

- GOTV (use of volunteers, rental cars and gas, telephone banks, etc.)

CAMPAIGN TEAM OPERATIONS

Campaign team operations will fall into the following broad categories of activities.

10. Administration to meet legal requirements: Within 5 days of election call for correct registration of the candidate, and throughout the campaign for expenditures of funds. Gerald

11. Signs printing and installation: Arterials within two days of election call; property signs placed throughout campaign. Gene

12. Office selection and set up: Target full implementation within 5 days of election call. Guy and Priscilla

13. Creative design and preparation of central message and advertisements: done on the basis of the attached mock-ups within 5 days of election call. Eleanor and Rem

14. Mass distribution of central message: Within first two weeks of election call. Eleanor and Gene

15. Riding-wide initiatives to contact voters and introduce candidate: Throughout the campaign. Gene

16. Submission of ads to local and regional media (includes Citizen and Le Droit): minimum of two submissions in the course of the campaign: Guy and Eleanor

17. Scheduling of candidate’s time (open forums, coffee meetings, canvassing, etc.): continues throughout the campaign. Eleanor

18. Preparation of the candidate: requirements and approach will be determined in the course of the campaign. All

CLOSE DOWN OF CAMPAIGN

19. The close down of campaign operations will be overseen by the campaign coordinator, who will exercise his own authority for the purpose. The core team will have ceased to exist.

20. The closing of the books will target a four-month deadline for the filing of all receipts; and, a one-year deadline for resolving all financial issues so that Elections Canada payment of 60% of costs is achieved. This will be the ongoing responsibility of the Official Agent.

And then I went to bed.

27 FEBRUARY

In the morning I shared the memorandum of agreement with Gerald and with Marie. Happily for me, neither of the two was greatly troubled by my effort to pull all the pieces together. I felt good to go.

Gerald advised that my intention to provide salaries should be subject to separate contracts between me and Guy and between me and himself, and this I will do.

I then sent the material to Guy to learn if he will agree to play the role of campaign manager on the basis proposed in my memorandum of agreement if there is an election this coming spring. I am eager to learn what his decision will be… .

In the late morning I toured the three sites intended for my “Where is Mauril?” ads, this time with my son Gerrit. He had his camera with him and he will work with me on Sunday to pull some mock-ups together for what those ads could look like. This means I am certain to have a completed package for Guy prior to the campaign team meeting next Tuesday. I will either have the input from Jonathon or, faut de mieux, the pictures taken by my son.

In the afternoon Marie drove Gene and me around to complete the visits with members, except for members living in Vanier. I will tackle Vanier tomorrow or in the course of a day early next week, accompanied or on my own depending on anyone’s availability.

The weather was reasonable this time and, as usual, the hesitancy of residents at any door almost always changed to warm receptions when the homeowners learned who I am. While I fundamentally do not enjoy this door knocking business it does have its high points. My capacity to explain government policy is sometimes tested. More significantly, I am exposed to the worries and aspirations of people in my neighbourhood. Their concerns might be about themselves, like the fifty year old fellow who is totally handicapped by diabetes and lives with his mother, or about their children. In one home I was called in to persuade a teenage son to begin his homework.

But now the evening begins. I am shutting down the business of politics and plan to read a book or watch a movie on the television. Marie is likely to be a part of this bit of R&R…assuming we can agree on which movie to watch.

28 FEBRUARY

This was Sunday, a day of rest. I did no politicking today.

1 MARCH

I should have gone to Church yesterday. Today proved to be a doozer of a day. Perhaps I was being punished?

I used much of the day to gather research for a “two pager” I want to write on the subject of crime and crime prevention within our riding. In response to an email from me to him, I had received a lot of material from a Professor Waller of Ottawa University’s Institute of Crime Prevention; also, I had gathered statistics on crime in Ottawa Vanier going back 4 years.

I forwarded some information on the riding’s economic profile (occupation categories, employment numbers, and so on) to Colin Lindley and asked him to suggest what messages I might develop for sharing within the riding when the campaigning begins. Colin Lindley was a statistician with the Government before he retired.

Finally, I went down the hill to a UPS store on the corner of Beechwood and Stanley – the noon hour deadline for Jonathan’s images had come and gone – and reproduced the pictures Gerrit had taken for me “just in case”. I emailed Jonathan to inquire about the status of his input but said the pressure if off because Gerrit’s stuff can also be used.

And then I heard by email from John.

Once again I found myself being blasted. His diatribe echoed the idiocy of the EDA. I could see Carol’s fingerprints all over the email. In short, John hurled criticisms at me (calling me intemperate, hasty to judge, inconsistent in direction, disorganized in the extreme, misrepresenting of discussions between us, and so on). Preparing a Plan B (Gerrit’s pictures) behind his back reflected a lack of confidence that his own material would be ready on time, he said. “Your approach,” he concluded, “is damaging to my reputation and a severe insult besides.”

After observing that he could not trust me any further than he could throw me, John allowed that our working relationship could continue as long as I paid him what I owed and formally undertook to be a better professional than I had shown myself to be to that point. Needless to say, I was not going to agree with the latter part of his demands. “I am sorry I have failed you, John,” I said, “but I will ensure that you get your money.”

I asked John to deliver his disc with photographic images to Eleanor along with his invoice, told him I would sign the invoice and bring it to Ross for payment, and affirmed that business between us would be over. I have not yet heard back. Eleanor did not receive his disc until about a week later.

On Marie’s side, she has not heard back from Jason with regard to her offer of a lift to the campaign team meeting tomorrow. Every misfire had me question the resolve of volunteers who have offered support, even volunteers coming from within the family.

The evening got a little better. Guy called to say that he accepts the terms in my memorandum of agreement but that he does not want to be paid. We agreed that the budget would include an amount for honorariums and compensation, out of which Gerald could make payments to Guy (and others?) after discussion with me and subject to the financial health of the campaign. I redrafted the memorandum and sent it to Guy.

I think we now have (almost?) lift-off in the event of a spring election.

2 MARCH

The day began with a surprise email from Fraser M, he of the Kingston CPC and Manning Center background who is a recognized whiz at the DVC programs.

It appears he and the Manning Center have parted ways, meaning he has “free time” to contribute to our riding association…as long as we pay for the support. His areas of support would be fundraising, Voter ID, and campaign planning.

My reaction was to refer his interest to Guy, who referred him back to me.

My advice directly to Fraser was that our campaign for a spring election has moved too far ahead for me to still be open for his services. At this stage it would be too destabilizing to bring a new person – in a leadership position – on board. [My position notwithstanding, I sensed today that Guy would love to hand over his responsibilities to someone else.]

I said it is not too early, however, to consider a relationship between Fraser and the EDA. My proposal to him, which Guy forwarded to Carol, was to consider a contract under which he does fundraising, pays himself a pro rata share to be agreed upon with the EDA, and uses the money that goes to the EDA for the purpose of developing our Voter ID and GOTV programs.

Later in the day Carol called me, and seemed to agree.

As part of my contribution to the evening’s meeting of the campaign team – which I intend to skip – I summarized for Guy how far we have come. I was able to list about a dozen outputs which could be finalized quickly if the budget planned for presentation to the House later this week is defeated and an election is called.

The outputs now include: the candidate’s website, the EDA website, the door knocker, the mock-ups of the “central message” (the “chair”) and of the four advertisements (Gerrit’s pictures), the approved contents for a brochure, a campaign plan and budget, and so on. As I said to Guy: “we are good to go.”

In the evening, while Marie attended the campaign team meeting in my place, I went to Miriam and Jason’s home and baby-sat for my granddaughter Monica so that those two could attend. I felt I had done my job. Over to Guy, to demonstrate whether he is able to take control.

When Miriam and Jason came back to the apartment at around 10:00 pm I learned that my preparations were mostly well received. Except for some suggestions to improve the products here and there, the team agreed that the materials for publication and for distribution.

I was advised by Guy in an email that evening, and early the next day by Ross, to proceed with the creative work I need to have done to finish off my preparations. Note that no one in the association or on my team was stepping forward to do this for me.

3 MARCH

The requirement this morning, set out via emails once again, was to lock-in the $6,000 commitment I have from my association to get my creative work finalized; and, to affirm that association support for the draft campaign plan (the bare-bones version) is seriously meant. I will always worry about Ross’ comment that the association might, or might not, agree to hand over its funds when the writ drops. He had said: “It depends on whether we support your plan or not.”

I set about drafting emails to all and sundry, some from me to others and some from Marie and Gerald to the rest of the team – for Marie and Gerald to sign if they agreed with the content. The gist of them all was that Marie and I will hold ourselves to the bare bones plan – including a financial commitment from the two of us – but we will not put our own money into a more robust plan if the additional elements are unfunded. We fixed our upper limit at $10,000 (eventually this became $20,000).

Among the texts I prepared today was a draft Letter of Intent to go from the association to Gerald regarding financial transfer commitments for when the writ drops. I was getting desperate about locking in an association commitment.

Gerald had sent me a number of points he wants the letter to cover and I incorporated those points. Note, as always, that my Official Agent-designate did not undertake to write the letter himself. It will be interesting to learn where this project takes us. I worry the ball will be dropped somewhere between now and an election call and that I will be scrambling for money even though the association now has over $30K in the bank and has me to thank for that.

I also took time to update the association’s executive on my expenditures to date. I demonstrated that I could transfer funds from some spending categories to others to do all the creative work I still need to have done. All I needed from them was easy access to the $6,000 already set aside. I did not want to wrestle with Ross over every penny.

I will be missing the board meeting tonight where my draft budget and other matters will be discussed. I have said that CRG Consulting is having an Executive Retreat tonight, which is not true. My underlying purpose is to miss a meeting that I forecast will be cantankerous and non-productive. I want to stay away from meetings of that kind in future.

Tomorrow I hope to go to the cottage to continue work on the renovation of our bathroom. The weather forecast is very positive, meaning that I may be able to spend part of the time sitting on the side deck in the sun and acquiring the kind of tan that makes me look healthy and vigorous. I have an image to maintain after all!

4 MARCH

Today was indeed a day at the cottage…and on the way home I listened to the budget being presented to the House of Commons by the government.

For my year in politics the budget was an important moment. If the budget is defeated in a vote then the government falls and we go to the polls. It would mean an election.

But the contents of the budget were pretty neutral, all things considered. The government offered little in new spending and the brakes are being applied only moderately to the growth in the deficit. The timeline for ending deficit spending was set for six years from now. The reactions to the budget were generally positive.

The Opposition parties were predictably disappointed in the budget and will not support it; but, the NDP said the number of their Members of Parliament who will be in the house will not be enough to force an election. This means an election in the spring has become unlikely.

This means I must now psyche myself for a longer timeframe in this run for Parliament.

When back home late in the day I used some of my time in the evening to recast my intentions for the amount the association had set aside for me in their budget. Basically, I want to focus initial expenditures upon the “chair” document (“This Seat Belongs to Us All”) and upon the brochure. The ads can come later and can be set up informally to be ready whenever needed. My timelines have changed.

I therefore worked a bit upon recasting the central message, the ads, and the brochure – all in preparation for my handing this stuff back to the association (the brochure and the ads) and for my moving the material for a spring election back onto the shelf. If there is no spring election we could have another year to wait. In the summer the House is not sitting. The only options become late fall or winter. No one wants to go to the voting booths in cold weather. So an election as much as twelve months from now appears likely.

The urgency seems to have passed though the voting on the budget will not happen for another week or so.

For supper, by the way, we had Marie’s sister Anne (from New Brunswick) over. She is in town on business related to a drug patenting commission she sits on. As always, while a lot was said about the commission and the work she is doing, no mention was made of my new enterprise. When Marie asked me a question or two about how the day went with my political business she actually whispered so that Anne would not overhear. The La Forest family’s attitude to my venture remains decidedly negative or neutral.

5 MARCH

I learned that on the evening of Wednesday (3 March) that Carol had not attended the association’s board meeting that I had also missed. I find it interesting that no one has yet updated me on what was discussed or decided. I had asked for a few decisions to be made on my behalf but I guess I can wait for the Minutes of the meeting. There is no longer a sense of great urgency and I am losing interest in the association (but I guess I have said that before).

I spent most of the day packaging and re-packaging the material I had been preparing in the (now highly unlikely) event of a spring election. I want to be sure the material is brought up to a standard where I can safely forget about it, knowing that the stuff can be surfaced and finalized at short notice if I have little else when – likely spring next year – an election actually does happen.

In the early afternoon I received an email from Colin Lindley. I had asked him for input on a policy issue or two, drawing from raw data on the economy in our riding. I note this because his reply was just like that of most others: he will wait to see what I produce and will help to edit my text if I would like. Same old; same old. The lead is with me.

In the afternoon I attended a meet-and-greet at the Westin Hotel where the provincial Progressive Conservatives are having their Annual General Meeting. I met just about everyone I had hoped to meet; plus, I had an opportunity to meet the leader of that party and to have my picture taken by his side. This is what political profile is all about. Mind you, I suspect the photographer (the one who took my pictures last November) will send any images to Carol…and that means I will not see them again.

On my way home in the evening I stopped by the Café Caco, a bar owned and managed by a man who belongs to the Portuguese community in Ottawa. I sat with him and a couple of his friends (Tony, and Pedro) for almost two hours talking politics and how the political process might be relevant in their lives. I enjoyed the discussion and will be staying in touch with those guys. This part of the political life, namely meeting with people and learning about them and their concerns, is a very satisfying aspect.

6 MARCH

Today was a whole day at the Westin attending Progressive Conservative Party events. But it wasn’t, really.

I attended a morning presentation on the political fortunes of that party and then I attended one of the policy workshops (on justice policy). The policy workshop helps me to round out my research on this subject for my own position when the time comes. The bottom line is that the provincial party appears pretty targeted upon enforcement, just like the national Conservative party…even though prevention is really what “safe communities” should be all about. Prevention is in the jurisdiction of the province. In my view the provincial conservatives should be pushing hard for more work on this important dimension of crime prevention.

Later in the day there was a speech by Tim Hudak , the new leader of the Progressive Conservatives. His delivery was good; his material was good; I think he looked good. But, I must say, the hype that surrounds events of this kind is almost scary. Not only is this fellow treated to rock-star accolades and attention…he is surrounded by students who have been choreographed to rise and chant whenever prompted to do so. If this were a political event in a totalitarian state we would not expect anything different.

When it came time for the evening meal I slipped away from the festivities and ran upstairs in the Rideau Center to watch a movie. I saw the movie Precious, and it was excellent. I was moved to tears by the limitations in human intellectual capacity that some of the actors represented, while displaying with remarkable effect the very strong capacity of all human beings to appreciate their circumstances emotionally. When politics begin to seep into your psyche you find yourself becoming more emotional about the plight of others, at least that is what seems to be happening to me.

After the movie I slipped back into the events at the Westin and I could see I had not been missed. I attended (briefly) a reception hosted by the CPC where I met John Baird and some others. To John Baird I could say that I will see him and Mrs. Harper on 31 March at the Hampton Inn.

7 MARCH

This is a Sunday and my undertaking is to reduce the amount of time I put in daily to the political process. I am, after all, working to a new and longer timeline.

I opened my laptop from time to time to arrange and rearrange the material I want to produce and to retain, given the great likelihood of no spring election this year. For some of this material I will need a special disc or “stick”. I proposed to my son Gerrit that I set up what I need and that he produce the disc for me in return for $150.00 payment. He is interested and he can do the job. It means that everything I have will be in one secure place.

A positive note in the course of the day was an email from my brother to Marie, which she forwarded to me, in which he made some pretty astute observations about the national office and the people in it. It appears he has met with a senior CPC official and has received credible information. I see again that Gerald is doing more than what I might have expected from him. This is always the sign of a person you can count upon.

Tomorrow will begin with an early morning attendance at a Crime Prevention Ottawa event, featuring a presentation of violence against women. I plan to attend to show my face and perhaps speed up the recognition process a bit.

8 MARCH

The event at City Hall was more interesting than I had expected. This is largely because I found myself able to play a bit part towards the end of the presentations.

The subject matter was “disappeared” Aboriginal women who were mostly – but not all – known to be involved in prostitution and drugs. The data show that some 500 Aboriginal women have gone missing, and assumed dead, over the last 10 years or so…a number that – relative to population share – would be in the order of 18,000 women if the group being looked at were all non-Aboriginal Canadians.

I found the presentations and the elaborations a bit “same old, same old” because the issue is but a manifestation of all the social evils I have seen and heard about before. To me the problem is one of women who are vulnerable. They are mostly strangers in the middle of cities (out of their usual element) and often debilitated by drugs besides. They become easy prey for the deviants who prowl areas like the lower east side in Vancouver.

I raised a personal example.

A few years ago an Inuit girl (about 13 years old) came to me when I was walking the dog. She was quite distraught and pleaded that I help her find her “friends”. I brought her home, to find Marie very upset that I brought home a run-away who was clearly made up for the street. Marie wanted to call the police; the girl grew desperate at the thought of the police being called, so I hustled her into the car to help her try to find her friends.

For about 30 minutes I drove around Vanier, with my companion leading me to different hotels along some of the main streets. She clearly was looking for a hotel, not a home. In fact, upon her insistence, we turned into the parking lot of a run-down motel. We were only there for a moment or two because she saw a police car parked close to the motel office and became desperate for us to turn around.

When I returned to our house, after some more debate between us, Marie called an Inuit center in Vanier and – thankfully – there was someone still in the office.

Some hours later the incident ended when I drove the girl to her apartment complex, was met by her father, and watched her being led into the building. We now knew where she lived, we knew the Inuit Center was informed, we had the names of the mother and the father, and we had been profusely thanked by them both.

But things could have gone very wrong. I learned in the papers the next day that the motel I had turned into had been raided by the police and that a dozen “johns” had been picked up for sex with underaged girls.

I asked the Crime Prevention Ottawa (CPO) team what they would advise to a man in my situation.

The advice from one was that we should have called the police. The advice from another was that Children’s Aid should have been notified. A third concluded that neither the police nor Children’s Aid would have been appropriate: I should have had a number available to me where services for Aboriginal women were assured. All agreed that I had placed myself in a risky position: if the police had stopped me and if the girl had made any allegations about my conduct I could have been in jail.

At the CPO presentations I saw a representative of the Vanier Community Association, so I know my presence will be commented upon as well as my story. My relevance to the community will grow a bit.

I also met briefly with the chairperson of the meeting, a woman I have known since about thirty years ago when I worked on James Bay Cree and Inuit issues at Indian Affairs. She was an extremely attractive young lawyer at that time. She is now a mature looking, but still attractive, senior official in the government and was pleased to acknowledge the fact that we have crossed paths a number of times over the years.

When I returned home I received from Gerrit the material I had asked him to set up on discs for my use with graphic artist firms and printers…and he walked away with the $150 I had promised.

In the course of the day I learned about a requirement in the national office to help staff telephones to call people for the event on March 31 and I accepted to become a part of that. Given that the event is intended to help save my association about $5,000 (the amount already committed because of the Dance fiasco) it is the least I could do. I noted, with interest, that only one other person associated with the EDA or the campaign team would be helping to make phone calls. That one other was Guy and I was pleased to learn this.

9 MARCH

The highlight of today was a meeting in the party room in Guy’s apartment building where the status of our preparations for a spring campaign was the focus for discussion. A spring campaign is highly unlikely but we still have to go through this exercise just in case.

What a meeting.

The first half of the meeting involved me, Marie, and Gerald launching critique after critique of the performance of our association in support (or non-support) of the candidate…namely me.

Guy and Gene affirmed again and again that the association’s problems are almost fixed, but we could not agree. The record is clear: the association is broken. To attempt to defend the association with words to the effect that “all is better now” is to risk a lack of commitment to the real change that is required. “Let’s all be truthful about this,” I said, “and acknowledge among us that my getting ready to this point has required me to almost all of the work, almost entirely on my own.”

In the sometimes heated exchanges among us very little was left unsaid. Eleanor was there to witness the exchange (she kept very quiet) and Priscilla kept piping up with words to the effect “I could see this coming. The association has been broken for years.”

We got onto a more settled track at around noon and the last two hours of the meeting went well. I was once again directed to bring my various projects to their conclusion, including a printing of the brochure if this can be done within the envelope amount. No one yet said: “Rem, bring the stuff to me and I/we will take it from here!”

We also discussed extensively the requirement for an agreement between the association and my campaign team. The team needs to know what it can expect from the association. The association has to begin managing itself with an eye to its raison d’etre…which is to help its candidate win a federal election. I think we all agreed with this at the end but Guy observed that the association will not be in a position to respond until after the 28 April board meeting where the composition of the board may change substantially.

The time for the next Annual General Meeting has almost arrived. At that AGM all board and executive positions will be up for grabs.

After getting home I checked emails and then headed down to the national office to help with the phone calls.

I rather enjoyed placing the phone calls. With each call I had to overcome a reluctance to reach into the private lives of people I do not know but I was always greeted with positive words of support. I often found myself talking to people I had met when walking around the neighborhoods with Gene, which will also help to cement my reputation among a core group of CPC supporters.

At some point in the evening Colin McSweeney asked me about my relationship to an RCMP investigation into dealings between CRG Consulting and the federal department of Public Works. This had become topical because today’s papers gave front page coverage to the allegation that CRG Consulting’s president had curried favour with a senior public servant and, worse, had lobbied on behalf of a client of the firm without being properly registered. In Canada there is legislation which governs how lobbying is supposed to be done.

I was pleased to provide my answers because I knew this issue was likely to come up and I was ready. First, I said, it is important to note that the company’s president had voluntarily confessed to bid-rigging under terms specified in Competition Bureau regulations. This should permanently take the heat off at least one of the issues.

More to the point: associates such as I who work for consulting firms do not have direct relationships with contracting authorities when contracts are let. These negotiations are done between the firm and the government or private sector. I have nothing to do with the charge that a senior assistant deputy minister was favoring our firm; I have nothing to do with a possible charge that my firm’s president – in addition to bid rigging – may have been lobbying without being properly registered. The national office appeared to be OK with this clarification.

I returned home at about 9:00 pm, and the day was done.

10 MARCH

I opened my emails this morning to learn that the website staffed by the CPC for me as a candidate is now open for business. I am now officially linked to national policy issues and to the images of the Prime Minister and others. It will become more and more difficult to remove me as candidate in Ottawa-Vanier without embarrassing the party brass.

I was also pleased to hear from Dr. Balaka, who said he has commitments from seven people to buy a ticket to the March 31 event. I will pick up the money for the tickets next Monday. By this time Somal had become an important supporter and possibly even a friend.

In the early afternoon I went to a Graphic Design firm down in the market area of Ottawa to learn what they propose regarding my central message (the seat thing). I was disappointed that they really had nothing to suggest, except that I bring the project further forward myself before engaging them in its finalization. I was pleased, however, to learn that the owners of the firm are Portuguese.

The Portuguese relation is especially interesting because I was invited in the course of the day to join their community at a celebration on Saturday. It will be a supper, and I will have a chance to speak about politics. We had thought to go to Montreal to visit Kees, but it appears a visit with him on Sunday is just as good so I made the commitment to have supper with the Portuguese community on Saturday night.

The last thing to report today was an email from my brother. He again summarized the state of play and he made perfectly valid comments about our next steps. He is now almost always saying things that resonate with my own thinking. In truth, my own thinking has been greatly influenced by what my brother has advised as well.

I ended the day with an email in which I asked Gerald to think seriously about accepting the campaign manager position if indeed the election only happens next year. I am certain Guy would like me to get him off the hook. I look forward to learning my brother’s decision, knowing that – one way or another (Official Agent or campaign manager) – I hope to count on his support.

11 MARCH

On this day I returned the ongoing favor being provided by my brother: I attended the launching ceremony for a Ride for Dads campaign that will begin in August. Ride for Dads is now an international (Canada and US) motorcycle event that calls upon all motorcycle riders to get on the road and raise money for prostate cancer research and for other good causes.

In August of this year the beneficiaries of money raised for the prostate cancer charity will include the Military Families Fund. Gerald has been a part of this organization from its inception (10 years ago) and I have never given it much of my time.

I undertook to make a contribution in the order of $300.

On my way home I stopped by the printer down the street (UPS) and handed over the disc and mock-ups for the four ads I have been developing. I asked for a number of copies of the ads, with the intention of showing them to the campaign team next Tuesday, after which the ads go onto the shelf – for use when an election happens – unless the association wants to use them to make some waves in the pre-writ period. I will be picking up the finished products next Monday.

I also stopped by the garage run by Tony (Portuguese community) on Mariner Street. He is the person I had met at the Café Caco. My intent was simply to say hello. In the course of a short visit I watched the successful ignition of a 100-year old engine. I also was pleased to see that Tony had a flyer on hand that advertises the event Marie and I will attend on Saturday. My being at the event was mentioned in the flyer.

The highlight of the afternoon was a meeting with Nancy K who had been recommended by Marie’s sister Elizabeth, who is herself in public relations and has worked closely with graphic design business. I had turned to Elizabeth, then to Nancy, when the printers in the market said I must do the design work myself.

Nancy cottoned on very quickly to the ideas I wanted to convey with the chair imagery, picked up the mock-up I had developed, and said she would be back with her ideas in about two weeks time. We agreed upon a project price of $500. This unfolded in the exact way I had hoped it might…and it helped a great deal that Nancy is a very attractive young woman. I still see myself as an attractive young male! [But, Marie, you are at no risk at all! There is only one girl for me…and you are it!!]

In the evening I followed up upon my undertaking to meet with Tom L a voter who lives in the Beacon Hill North area. I was received with pleasure and appreciation and we had a great hour or so of discussion. It pleased me that Tom observed on more than one occasion that “you are the first politician who has ever taken the time to stop by!” I am a politician now.

We covered many of the issues that, in his view, are key in the riding. On the bridge issue I was happy to hear a reasonable person elaborate upon why the results of the Phase 1 study of alternative sites had been correct in its conclusion that the Kettle Island location would be the best for the riding and for the city.

My point in open forums, however, will not be to conclude upon a preferred location: my point will be that Mauril was asleep at the switch during the Phase 1 review.

12 MARCH 2010

My challenge today will be to learn where the Ottawa University students will be meeting later in the day. I have been invited to a 5:30 pm gathering…but I do not know where it will be happening. As is so often the case in this business, no one returns my emails and I am stuck at the moment trying to learn where to present myself.

But now it is time to vacuum the house, after which I will take an hour or so to keep up my exercise regime. So I will be shutting down my political life for at least two hours. See you in the early afternoon.

My effort in the afternoon was to bring a copy of the brochure linking CPC and riding issues to a printing firm in town (Eurocopy Inc.) and have them commit to developing mock-ups with a professional look and feel. This is the same firm to which I had, unsuccessfully, brought a mock-up of the “Chair” brochure that is now in Nancy’s hands.

Unfortunately their interest in the task was again minimal. In fact, by the time I had dealt with about 30 minutes of confusion about what I could possibly mean by a political brochure, I left with my material in hand and said I would be back with a sample or two. I was pretty sure I would never be going back to those guys.

On my way home I stopped by UPS down the street and asked what their approach might be. From the fellow who runs the UPS shop I received what I wanted: he told me to bring my proposals to him on Monday and he will respond with some ideas for the development of a small pamphlet. Thank goodness.

He also had ready for me a print of the ads I had left with him earlier (the “Where is Mauril?” photos). I now have the mock-ups I need for when the time comes to move advertisements into local and regional newspapers…and also onto the internet.

Shortly after returning home…I was off again.

This time I headed to Ottawa University to attend the first half of the University’s student Conservative association. I was welcomed by a group of about 40 students who listened to my 30 minute presentation and concluded with a few questions.

My presentation was the usual: I remembered with them how and why I got involved in the political process (my reading of Kershaw), and I used the opportunity to observe upon the importance of our being engaged in political discussion and political organization.

I gave the students my slant on what conservatism means (“I can do it myself”…but within a context of history, tradition, laws and policies that empower all of us to the greatest extent possible). I also used examples of what conservatism does not mean. I elaborated in particular upon the child care example: the conservative empowers parents to decide what to do for their child; the Liberals and NDP set up child care programs and direct most kids to those programs…or else the offending parents must expect to pay a premium if they keep their kids at home.

The students were having their Annual General Meeting. They were heavily into amendments to their constitution, well led by an animated fellow who knew Robert’s Rules of Orders backwards, when I slipped out of the room and headed home.

13 MARCH

Today is a fairly quiet day.

I had been asked by the national office to deliver mail-in forms to two riding residents who are willing to contribute $200 to the March 31 event but who do not have the computer capacity at home to download the forms. This I did. As always, I enjoyed the few minutes of dialogue with each of the residents. It always gives me a sense that I may be making a difference.

I took a couple of hours in the afternoon to prepare some words for our attendance at the Portuguese festival this evening.

I had been planning a lecture-format, using my 30 minutes or so to enlighten those attending about Canadian politics and the democratic process.

Fortunately a little bird told me to check the internet about Portugal. I now know that the Portuguese have contacts with Canada going as far back as the Dutch contacts with New York. In Canada the Portuguese have sent about as many of their descendants to Parliament Hill as have the Dutch. I therefore re-cast my approach to become a more focused appeal for members of the Ottawa-Vanier Portuguese community to consider joining me in the campaign for a seat in the House of Commons.

They have the background. They have the talent. They may have the numbers living in our riding which can make a difference.

The event in the evening went reasonably well…

By my estimate there were about 300 people in attendance, all of them either Portuguese, of Portuguese descent, or citizens of countries that were once under Portuguese control (hence Portuguese speaking). Marie and I sat with Tony, his wife and their friends, and their son – 29 years old.

The dinner was a “traditional” Portuguese meal…which means pretty bland apparently. I was particularly taken by one of the women serving the meats who separated the chicken, the beef, and the pork with her hands rather than with knife or spoon, and certainly not with sanitary gloves. She had grease up to her elbows. She used her hands and even the odd nudge from her elbows to move meat from her pots onto our plates.

My opportunity to speak came after most of those present had had three or four glasses of wine (really very good stuff!) which meant that the interest or the capacity to listen was minimal. I fairly shouted to get myself heard by the 60% or so of the crowd who were listening. My prepared speech had to go. Only eye contact and energetic movement kept the attentive ones focused upon me and my words.

My message was pretty simple: As in my own case, I said, immigrant parents who worked hard to get their children good educations now had to begin encouraging those “kids” to become active in politics. The welcoming, stable, and sustaining political regime that we immigrant families had come into will remain stable and welcoming only if Canadian citizens become active in the political process and help to keep democracy alive.

I had a much more elaborate speech prepared, beginning with the Portuguese presence way back in the 1600s. During the dinner, in response to suggestions from Marie, I had adjusted the speech to include observations about the Portuguese traditions, family values, work ethic, and so on that was clearly in evidence all about us: those are conservative traits. As I said in the speech: “You may not know it yet, but I think you guys are already on my side of the argument – at least philosophically.”

Towards the end of the evening I was approached by one of the members of the company who shared information on another Portuguese event coming up later in March. I was invited to join them again, this time for a higher fee ($45 as opposed to $20), in return for am opportunity to spread my name among members of the community. I suspect I will be accepting…but my speech will be much shorter and I will look for a time which precedes the impact that three or more glasses of wine can have on mind and body.

14 MARCH

Today we traveled to Montreal, where Marie stepped out of the car to help Kees prepare meals for the next few weeks. I went on to Knowlton to have lunch with Mom.

My sister, who has been the mayor of her small community for decades, joined my mother and me at lunch. As a general rule I greatly enjoy my sister’s company. Today, however, Joan shared the story that she had been invited herself to stand for a federal political party (the Liberals). She turned them down flat, she said, when she learned the normal selection process would not be followed. It was beneath her dignity to accept an acclamation…which, of course, is what I had accepted. It is also by acclamation, I might add, that she has frequently been taken on as mayor.

Any rational person, if truly interested in winning a seat in the House of Commons, would want as little resistance during the nomination process as possible. It happened to me! Just lucky I guess.

I should spend just a few seconds reflecting upon my mother’s perspective about this run for a seat in Parliament. Basically, she is thrilled.

Mom is not one whose emotions are worn on her sleeve, at least not usually. Her attitude about my running is essentially one of pride. Her satisfaction with this initiative is clearly taken over the top by the fact that Gerald is a key part of my approach. My brother and I had not had much contact for many years so the fact of our working together for a common cause (paid office for both of us to boot!) pleased my mother no end.

I often hear, and heard again during this visit, about how proud my father would be if he were still alive. I know that, without any reservation. He would be proud of me, proud of my brother and I working together, proud of Gerald. I have no doubt that dad is involved in this in some way. I often offer my thanks to the passing breezes and to the skies above.

Upon our return home both Marie and I received an email from Gerald essentially affirming two things: he is prepared to become my campaign manager; but, his doing so will leave me with a problem that I will have to solve. If Gerald is no longer Official Agent I must find a replacement. A person can be a candidate in a federal election without having a campaign manager but without an Official Agent the way is blocked.

When my brother joins me tomorrow I will be asking him – as a condition for his becoming campaign manager – that he join me in my search for his replacement and for other campaign staff. I will tell him that I would rather he remain Official Agent – so that I can legally run – than set myself up with an even greater problem than I currently have.

15 MARCH

The meeting with my brother went well.

He arrived with a stack of sheets of paper. We never discussed what was in those sheets. He left them behind when he returned to his home. I brought them down to my office in the basement with the intention of returning the pile to Gerald at some point. [As an aside, some weeks later I discovered why he had all that material with him. He was already intending to quit. He had left me with all of his working papers.]

We began talking about the future of a campaign team such as ours, in a context where the election might be delayed for many months to come. My brother’s advice was to stand-pat, wait for either the election or a full-scale change of the association’s line up (whichever comes first), and only then talk meaningfully about a new campaign manager. As Gerald observed: “If your association really gets its act together your campaign team for a fall election could well come from the association’s new executive line-up.”

Marie and I were in full agreement. The meeting was essentially over.

We talked some more about this and that, perhaps most particularly about the DVC programs. Gerald is a fan of those programs. I said again that I am not opposed but that my reading tells me those programs will not make a great deal of difference in a riding such as ours. More to the point, I do not think those programs can be effective if they only start to be implemented after a writ is dropped. The association is not doing anything to advance DVC programs at all. I said it will take years of prodigious effort and money for our association to make its Voter ID records meaningful.

In the afternoon I brought another draft brochure down to the UPS store at the bottom of the hill. The owner, Evan, undertook to pull the best possible package together and share his results with me tomorrow. I think I am going to enjoy my working relationship with him. Even though he is remarkably taciturn, he produces!

In the evening my emails included a summary of where things stand, which I shared with the core campaign team and with Colin McSweeney. I observed, as Gerald, Marie and I had agreed, that the core campaign team should stay in place until the summer recess of the House. At the team meeting tomorrow I will salute our achievements to this point and then put everything basically onto the shelf.

Regarding the future, I observed that the renewal of the association could be key.

In this last regard, through Guy and copy to all the others, I again encouraged the current board of the association to commit themselves to winning a future campaign by agreeing to some minimum outputs. One of these would be to always maintain a minimum $30K bank account – one way or another – so that a candidate can count upon a minimum $30K transfer at the start of a campaign. With a transfer in this order of magnitude and with the Elections Canada repayment of 60% of expenditures, we can plan a fully funded campaign and leave the association with some money in the bank after it is all over.

In a telephone call subsequently to Guy, who wrote back to say he is trying his best, I observed that a simple response to my email would be to have the association board agree to begin transferring money into the “dead” account that we learned the association already holds but does not use. That account already has about $2K in it.

“Why not consider the so-called dead account an Association Savings Account,” I asked, “and begin building it up a few thousand dollars at a time?” I observed that a transfer of only $3K into the dead account (for a total of $5K) would leave the association with over $25K in their operating budget. Indeed, since Gene had said that the association only needs $5K to be operational, why not transfer $15K into the Savings Account and begin a round of fund raising to restore the balance in the operating account?

Guy said he would try.

[Readers of this diary should note that my efforts to date have helped to increase the association’s bank account from a zero balance to about $30K. There is still a long way to go but what a difference from the debts last October.]

16 MARCH

I certainly sense within myself a growing inclination to slow down. There will be no spring election. Because I am ready for one, and will keep all the materials and thoughts action-ready from here on, I will never be more than a few short steps away from staging a reasonably good campaign. Even if the next federal election is as much as a year away I will be ready. None of my material has a shelf life of less than twelve months.

In the morning the only important development was news regarding how the March 31 event will unfold. At that event I will say a few words about myself and then introduce either Mrs. Harper or Minister Baird. My mind is already working overtime to play through a number of speech options. I plan to enjoy this.

The campaign team met in the evening.

I did not do my usual prodding of team members to try to achieve a respectable turnout. Because of that, I suppose, we only had seven attendees. But it was a good meeting even so.

My purpose was mostly self-directed: I shared a couple of short papers which did the following:

1. provided a wrap-up of the campaign preparations, which will serve as my own record of what I now have ready if ever a campaign is called at short notice.

2. outlined in 12 points what I will be doing between now and when we get close to a writ drop again. In short, I plan to be responsive and reactive to the association. On my own lead I will focus upon monthly gatherings with members of the campaign team and upon the Facebook launch.

When checking emails at the close of the day I saw that my invitation to the Portuguese community dinner on March 27 has been confirmed.

17 MARCH

I spent the day at the cottage, completing the preparations required before a new floor can be laid. It was wonderfully warm at Sharbot Lake. I spent a bit of time out of doors, just walking around and sitting, in order to enjoy the weather. I also gazed upwards at the sun from time to time: a politician with a bit of a tan always looks a little better than the next guy.

On my way past the UPS Store down the street I picked up the samples Evan has been working on. They need a little work (a few word adjustments and picture layout) but all are quite OK. Tomorrow I will ask for a final mock-up and then order 500 copies of the center piece, the brochure which links CPC national priorities to my position on riding issues. I will, of course, pay for them myself. I will bill the association when the way is finally cleared to spend association money.

18 MARCH

Today was another relatively quiet day…but it ended with a bit of a bang.

The morning began with my stopping by CRG Consulting to pick up the next-to-last of the cheques still owing to me. While there I talked at some length with a colleague at the firm about my political journey. At one point, while outlining why I think I have a chance to actually win in this riding, I caught myself. “Of course, Randy,” I said, “ when I stop to think of it…all candidates believe they can win, don’t they?”

I recalled the observation I had frequently made regarding minister Pierre DeBane when I was his executive assistant. Political people usually have family, friends, and staff all around them who bounce back the words he or she needs to hear in order to be upbeat and positive. All political people think they have a good shot at winning whatever race they are in. Almost all the feedback they get from those around them is supportive or, if nuanced, still constructive (“If you do it this way, however…”).

Perhaps I am already far enough into the political game to be kidding myself without even knowing it.

On my return home I stopped by Amy’s place to visit, see my grandson, and check out her interest in assuming a lead role for the Facebook effort. Jason seems to have gotten caught on other things.

In the course of our discussion I learned from Amy that the “creator” of the Facebook group should ideally be an entity (Team Westland?) which has a clean page of its own. That way, folk who stroll from the group page to the creator’s page will not be disconcerted because of stumbling onto a creator’s Facebook profile that advertises inappropriately for the candidate.

I checked with William B a neighbour of ours at Sharbot Lake who asked to be part of my political effort, who has a deep background in the computer business. He confirmed that Amy’s advice was good, suggested an easy way out of the Jason situation. I sent an email to Jason and to Amy advising that we needed to shift to a different creator…and Jason agreed. Now, all I need to learn is how to accomplish this.

I went home via the UPS Store and shared some of the changes required for the brochure. Evan said he will have a new edition for me to consider tomorrow. Payment for all this, by the way, is still coming only from my pocket.

In the evening the fun began again.

The March 31 evening seems to be coming together fairly well…which prompted me to suggest to Guy that a flyer about the 400 Club might be useful to obtain new members. He baldly stated that this was not a good idea: “I need to have a HOT event to advertise first!”

While I had sworn off immersing myself in the detail work of the association I, as usual, could not sit still. I jumped. I observed to Guy (all of this by email) that his preference to have a hot event planned (and paid for) before he knew who his Club members might be was to almost guarantee another loss. This, I said, is what the March 31 evening is all about: we are covering ground already paid for by the association because a Dance had been booked but no one had turned up.

I observed to him, as I have on numerous other occasions, that he should proceed in a different order. First he needs to know who among the association’s members may be interested in signing up for 400 Club membership; then, he canvasses the potential members to confirm their interest in – and attendance at – future events. The events get booked only after success is assured.

I so well recall Carol going ape shit because Guy worked backwards and here he was, about to do it again. He had done the same by renting the campaign team meeting room for four separate meetings before even knowing what the numbers were and what the need for a meeting would be from one week to the next. At our last meeting earlier this week we had seven people sitting around a table set up for 30. We could easily have had the meeting in my home or around a table at a coffee shop or tavern.

I drafted what I saw the possible contents of a 400 Club flyer to be. And, now I await Guy’s reaction.

OTTAWA-VANIER CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION

400 CLUB

WHAT IS THE 400 CLUB?

WE ARE MEMBERS OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA AND RESIDENTS OF OTTAWA-VANIER WHO HAVE MADE A COMMITMENT TO SUPPORT THE EFFORTS OF THE OTTAWA-VANIER CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION TO GET A CONSERVATIVE PARTY CANDIDATE ELECTED IN OUR RIDING.

OUR COMMITMENT IS TO MAKE A MINIMUM CONTRIBUTION TO THE ASSOCIATION, IN THE COURSE OF A CALENDAR YEAR, OF $400.00 IN ADDITION TO OUR COST FOR PARTICIPATING IN REGULARLY SCHEDULED ASSOCIATION EVENTS.

WHAT DOES MEMBERSHIP IN THE CLUB PROVIDE?

MEMBERSHIP IN THE 4OO CLUB ENSURES A PERSONAL INVITATION TO ATTEND REGULARLY SCHEDULED ASSOCIATION EVENTS SUCH AS CHRISTMAS PARTIES AND COFFEE HOURS.

AS MANY AS FOUR SPECIAL EVENTS WILL BE HELD IN THE COURSE OF THE YEAR TO WHICH MEMBERS WILL BE INVITED AND FOR WHICH THERE WILL BE NO COST TO MEMBERS.

THE ASSOCIATION’S OFFICIAL CANDIDATE WILL BE PLEASED TO ATTEND PRIVATE FUNCTIONS THAT MEMBERS MAY WISH TO ARRANGE. HE WILL ALSO BE THE LEAD CONTACT FOR CLUB MEMBERS WHO WISH TO MEET WITH SENIOR REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CPC (INCLUDING MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT).

THE ASSOCIATION WILL ENSURE THAT CLUB MEMBERS RECEIVE REGULAR UPDATES ON ASSOCIATION PLANS AND STRATEGIES, AND WILL BE PLEASED TO MEET WITH CLUB MEMBERS TO DISCUSS THESE IF REQUESTED.

WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?

SINCE BEING A 400 CLUB MEMBER IS A COMMITMENT THAT LASTS OVER THE ENTIRE CALENDAR YEAR ALL THAT IS REQUIRED IS FOR YOU TO INDICATE YOUR DESIRE TO BE INCLUDED AMONG OTHERS WHO HAVE ALREADY JOINED THE CLUB.

WE WELCOME ANY INTERESTED MEMBERS OF THE PARTY AND RESIDENTS OF THE RIDING WHO WOULD LIKE TO BE 400 CLUB MEMBERS TO SIGN BELOW.

_____________________________________ ___________________________

Name Contact (email and telephone)

19 MARCH

Guy’s reaction to the proposed 400 Club piece I sent yesterday was to ask that we have lunch next Monday (March 22), which we will do at the Army Officers’ Mess.

My day today was limited to tinkering with the material I have prepared to this point. The most important contribution of the day was to finalize a 2-Pager on riding politics, adding my input and re-structuring text Colin Lindley had sent back (which itself adjusted what I had sent to him in the first place). The final version now proposed would present most of the policy elaboration in terms of “what we would expect Rem to do once elected is…” This approach helps to mark a clear distinction between what the Facebook contains in the way of policy statements and elaborations from the CPC official positions as expressed by the national office of the party or by the government.

I also, with Amy, achieved the transition I wanted from Jason’s leadership of Facebook development. In effect, there is now a common view among us that the “creator” of the group page should not be a generic person rather than a real live individual whose own Facebook content might be inappropriate for me or the CPC. Facebook is at once a distant and an intimate site which is difficult to control. The creator should be a clean “Team Westland” profile page, the content of which is sparse and totally harmless in terms of where this political journey might lead.

We bantered about among us via emails during the day. With Amy now engaged I am confident that the Facebook enterprise will soon be headed in the right direction.

20 MARCH

I find it a bit distressing that my brother has shown no signs of life since the time last week (prior to the campaign team meeting) when I invited him to join Marie and me at the Portuguese community dinner on 27 March. Oh, well. Keep watching this site for more information about how I will deal with this little problem. My underlying worry is always that Gerald may withdraw from his position as Official Agent…which would leave me in a bit of a pickle.

Today was a very rare day…without any email traffic at all.

On the politics side the only event was a short visit with Amy where the future of the Facebook site was once again discussed among us. Marie was with me when I dropped by Amy’s place in Ottawa South.

In the evening Marie and I went to watch a film at the Empire Theatre (Leap Year) and found we enjoyed it very much. It was a pretty simple film, with a “boy meets girl” message, but it was gently done and the happy ending appeared warranted.

On the way home, at about 9:30 pm, I turned off the Vanier Expressway onto Montreal Road and advised Marie that we were stopping for a coffee or a beer at the Café Caco. Marie protested at this turn of events but felt compelled to adjust her attitude and be part of the inevitable. I had already made the turn anyway, and I was stopping the car.

And we had a good time.

There was almost no one at the Café Caco but I recognized the woman who was serving the customers (about 8 of us altogether) and she recognized me from the time I had sat with Emilio and Tony. Marie felt comfortable in the Café. I know we will be back. Indeed, I already foresee the possibility of the Café Caco becoming one of my meeting places for riding residents and party members interested in talking politics with the conservative candidate. There is a small stage, a sound system, and a very comfortable layout.

21 MARCH

Today the only new business was agreement between Amy and me regarding how to set up the new profile that will be the “creator” of the group Facebook page.

I have decided to give up upon my idea that our dog be shown running around in Liberal party colors and then having his dump. My intended voice-over words were “even a dog can produce results”.

Amy and Marie find my idea too unflattering for a serious candidate. In this they join pretty well everyone. In the alternative I proposed that I should wear my new (when will it finally be done?) “Team Westland” jacket, be photographed from the back so that the slogan appears at the center of the image, and be holding a set of skis…to make the point that I am physically active.

As I have said before, the incumbent MP is most definitely not physically active!

In the afternoon, for about 3 hours of driving about, Marie took me to the addresses of 17 CPC members in the Vanier district. As before, I found I enjoyed the quick visits with like-minded people who, without exception, reflected satisfaction – even joy – with the initiative I have taken to stop by and say “hello”. Note, however, that it consumed three hours of our time and a whole lot of gas.

I finished the day by catching up with this diary (I am two days overdue), then I will walk the dog, and then – if Marie is in the mood – I will again watch the film Precious on the Rogers on Demand channel.

22 MARCH

Today I had lunch with Guy at the Officers’ Mess.

I always enjoy showing off the Mess. There was a time, when I was in uniform and for many years thereafter, that I found attendance at the Mess to be stressful. There was a requirement to behave in certain ways (it was a lot more strict back then, regarding clothing and deportment) and at any point a junior officer was at risk of being disciplined for being out of dress or out of order.

My return to DND at the level of director general, however, moved me to the rank equivalent of Brigadier or Major General. The Mess became a setting in which I could enjoy the perks of rank which included no longer having to risk a dressing-down by someone senior to me. At DND I had volunteered to be secretary of the General Officers’ Mess, which held its meetings and had its events in the Army Officers’ Mess on Somerset Street. And this is where Guy and I had lunch.

Our discussion over lunch was mainly about the status and future of the 400 Club. We ended up saying similar things but I know we do not see the role or potential of the “Club” in the same way. Indeed, as I have observed before, for Guy and the others the “Club” is really only a payment category into which people go whether they know of the Club’s existence or not. For me it should be, or become, a political discussion group.

As a payment category I observed, as I had before, upon the very high overhead the Club has incurred to date. With revenue in the order of $7,200 since its creation (we are now up to 18 members) the Club has already incurred costs in the order of $3,700. “Guy,” I said, “if Club members do not have to pay anything more to attend the 31 March event, at $200 per person it means that the cost of the Club will increase by another $3,600 without any change in revenues.”

To now lock-in a second formal event for the Club without having any idea as to how many might show up would be to risk a repeat of the Hampton Inn experience. In that case a room and food were purchased by Guy for an event to number about 100 guests. The association has had to worry ever since about how to cover the costs involved because only 5 people had signed up by the deadline date.

I undertook nevertheless to check into the cost of renting a room for 25 people at the Mess, plus the cost of finger foods, for sometime in May. I do not like the idea very much. I do not think Guy has a well-thought-out plan. I think it odd that I must do almost everything myself.

We also talked about the upcoming Annual General Meeting of the association, scheduled for 28 April. An issue that arose between us was: is Patrick Glemaud still an executive member of the board of the association? And, am I?

We tossed about what little we respectively knew about the association’s constitution, even though I have now read it a number of times. We concluded that Patrick is still a voting member of the executive because he is still the candidate-of-record. The books have not yet been closed on his campaign of almost two years ago. My own status, we agreed, is murky. I will not be a candidate for the next federal election until the PM appoints me after the writ is dropped. I am not the candidate of record…because Patrick holds that spot.

I observed, in passing, that if the Haiti disaster had happened at the front-end of an election call the PM would have been very tempted to reinstall Patrick in the official candidate position because of the Haiti profile. Guy acknowledged this with a smile. He was not able to say that the thought was a foolish one.

I left the discussion and the Mess with some ongoing worry about my true status with the association and with the CPC. Especially in light of the breathing period between now and the next election the opportunity for the association and/or the national office to replace me is clear.

23 MARCH

In the course of the day there were a number of emails exchanged between Guy and me on the subject of my status. I added my brother to the list. Marie - and even Colin McSweeney - got in on it.

The subject of the emails was the status of Patrick and of me relative to the association’s board and the CPC. Among us we cleared the air:

- The words “candidate” and “candidate of record” have legal meaning for Elections Canada. A person becomes a candidate if approved by a national party leader after the writ drops. A person is a candidate-of-record until the books on the election campaign are closed.

- Our EDA constitution presumes its candidate of record is a voting member of the board when it says “the candidate of record ceases to be a member of the board when a nomination convention has replaced that person”. So Patrick should have ceased being a member of the board last October when I was acclaimed.

- The constitution says a board member must resign from the board if the member is running in a nomination convention to become the designated candidate for the next election. So Patrick and I are both blocked from being board members.

- I think I will affirm to the association that I will no longer attend board meetings. I am getting a headache from these twists and turns.

I found time during the day to undertake daily chores and also to stop by the Sugar Shack in Vanier to buy a couple of 1 liter bottles of maple syrup. This is further to a discussion among us about what to give to Mrs. Harper and to John Baird in the way of presents when they join us on March 31. I do not expect to be reimbursed for my purchases.

In the afternoon I began to read, dissect, and digest a welter of information gathered by Marie about the Ottawa-Vanier “neighborhoods”.

One of the bits of information was a pretty concise summary of election results in this riding since its creation in 1935. Pretty dismal stuff. It will take me a while to get past that information: on the face of it, I indeed appear to be wasting my time.

Except for the fact that I enjoy this experience and will get a thrill out of saying (for the rest of my life) that this experience had happened to me, my competitive edge has been dulled, at least for now, by the length of the odds against me. The riding has always been Liberal. No conservative candidate has ever done better than 28% of the vote. Mauril has always been over 50% of the vote and was once as high as 64%.

The day closed with confirmation from Marie that Gerald and Francine will be joining us for supper with the Portuguese community on March 27. It took my brother more than a week to get back to us but I am pleased he will be coming.

24 MARCH

\

I went to Sharbot Lake today to work on the bathroom upgrade that I began a few months ago. I want to get the job done before it is time to turn the water back on. I did not expect to be doing any politicking at all.

In the drive to the cottage, however, I found myself reflecting upon what I might say at the March 31 event. I will have only a few minutes to introduce Mrs. Harper but this will be my first exposure to senior members of the party. I intend to represent myself well at this event.

I became highly charged, about half way to Perth, by the idea of describing the riding of Ottawa-Vanier as a neighborhood. Rather than work separately in pockets of luxury and pockets of poverty and grief, I spoke to myself in the car about working as a federal level politician to knit the different parts of the riding into a single piece. I would help to bring the consumers in the residential areas to the store keepers in the commercial areas. I would help community leaders in one part of the riding meet and greet with leaders in other parts of the riding. I would become an example of the Conservative principle that “we can do it ourselves”. We do not need to wait for government programs to address the problems and challenges faced by neighbors.

Marie thought the idea was foolish.

Over the cell phone we had a tense time over this. In a follow-up call after I got to Sharbot Lake we came to points of agreement. I am now onto a different wave length again.

When I returned home in the evening I learned that the Demon Dialer had called to advise me, as a member of the CPC, about the 28 April Annual General Meeting. I also learned that we now have over 60 paying guests for the event on March 31.

I glanced again at the data on Ottawa-Vanier neighborhoods. I was disturbed anew by the record of failure by Conservative candidates. I took note that my campaign material observing upon 65 years of unbroken Liberal rule in this riding should be changed to read 75 years.

25 MARCH

Today I vowed to stay focused upon the neighborhood data until those data tell me something.

After about five hours, in the course of which my activities included walking the dog, doing the laundry, cleaning the stove, and undertaking a round of exercises, the data began to speak to me.

I learned that we are living in a riding which, when a number of the categories of information are brought together, reflects unhappiness. I think this will become my theme for the March 31 event.

The unhappiness is suggested in data related to condition of houses, property crime, sense of belonging, and political engagement. At very high ratios relative to other areas of the city, the neighborhoods in this riding do worse than Ottawa averages. I can see an argument forming in my mind that the incumbent MP has allowed the riding to become a number of isolated areas. There has been no encouragement for folk in one area to appreciate the character and potential of lives being lived literally around the corners. There has not been a lot of effort put into building the social and economic infrastructure which might bring people together.

I have parked these thoughts for now and will get back to it tomorrow. I suspect there may be changes coming.

The evening ended on a sour note. Marie has been wanting to visit her father in Fredericton for some time. April 1 will be his birthday. Our agreement to drive to Fredericton on that day (immediately following the March 31 event) is now being further complicated by my desire to meet with Robin (her birthday is April 3) while I am in the Maritimes (Robin studies in Wolfville, Nova Scotia) and by Marie’s desire to have one or both of the boys join us.

It begins to look like we will have a very tight schedule between 1 April and 4 April. When under pressure, unfortunately, Marie and I tackle one another rather than tackle the problem. After over 20 years we have not gotten a whole lot better at this kind of thing.

My next step is to venture into the closed bedroom where Marie is pretending to be asleep to take stock of how bad things may be. I cannot tell you what happened because Marie has been very clear that activities behind closed doors are no one’s business but our own. I will end by shutting down this diary for the night. See you tomorrow.

26 MARCH

This was a quiet day on the politics front and all was good again between us.

Continuing debate regarding the trip to Fredericton had me charge out of the house and go once again to the cottage rather than risk a return to tension. My departure was taken in stride (good move by Marie!) so I was able to do my work at Sharbot Lake in a peaceful state of mind.

I am providing entries for this day in a reflective mode (today is actually 30 March) and can recall nothing else of consequence to report. Besides, my email system with CRG Consulting was “down” on this day.

The fact that I am still using my CRG email address is becoming an issue in my mind. I suspect that a thorough audit of my activities as a candidate for public office would confirm that CRG is in effect making a political contribution and should be recording the cost of my ongoing use of their email system. I am still being paid by CRG for work done a few months ago, I remain on the executive of the firm, and the firm allows executive members to make private use of their server. But I will have to change my email support system to the party’s server as soon as I can.

27 MARCH

The most salient part of this day is easy to recall. We attended another Portuguese community dinner in a church located just outside the borders of Ottawa-Vanier.

The church hall was packed. Tony’s information was that 650 paid members of the community were attending the sit-down dinner, a number which seemed right to me.

My brother and his wife, and my son Gerrit, were able to attend with Marie and me so our discussion at our table was mostly about contemporary events and family. I was pleased to have them with me because the Portuguese community – from what I have seen – have a pretty strong commitment to family values. As a local politician attending the event I was able to demonstrate from personal example that they and I are on the same page.

When it came time for me to say a few words my first step was to introduce those at my table. Marie was the one who had reminded me to start this way. I then reiterated the imperative for all of us to take the political process seriously and I challenged those in the hall to think about who in their families or among their neighbors should be the next to carry the flag for a political party in the Ottawa-Vanier area.

Upon rejoining our table I sat briefly beside Tony’s son Henry and asked him to follow up with me if his own reflections on what I said have him think that perhaps he, Henry, could become one of the future politicians among those of Portuguese descent in our riding.

After arriving home in the early evening I poured through the Saturday Citizen and took particular note of an editorial which criticized the federal government’s focus upon law enforcement and crime. I quickly drafted a letter to the Citizen in which I made my point that prevention and intervention fall into provincial jurisdiction. “Surely,” I ask, “it would not be expected – if the provinces and municipalities do poorly in their jurisdictional areas – that the federal government should choose to do poorly in their jurisdictional area as well?” If it is true that proper law enforcement will cause the prisons of this country “to quickly fill up with people” surely the avoidance strategy of simply not enforcing the law is the wrong one?

28 MARCH

I made a commitment to myself to take this Sunday “off”, and I mostly kept it.

Now that the urgency of a spring election is dependably off the table I want to slow down some more. I want to retain a sense of realism about all this. The competitive streak in me requires a “can do” attitude but I know full well that the odds against winning are very long. It makes no sense to run full bore towards an outcome which is somewhat pre-ordained. I want to enjoy the journey.

I took the time to draft a couple of motions that I will ask the association’s executive committee to table and vote upon at the next association meeting (the last one before the AGM). One has to wonder how they have made decisions in the past without my ghostwriting! The two motions are displayed below.

_________________________________________________________________

MOTION 1

OTTAWA-VANIER CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION (THE “ASSOCIATION”)

WHEREAS THE FIRST OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSOCIATION (S. 3.1.1 OF THE CONSTITUTION) IS “SUPPORTING AND PROMOTING THE PRINCIPLES, OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES OF THE PARTY…”;

WHEREAS A BROCHURE HAS BEEN PREPARED THAT HIGHLIGHTS FOUR KEY OBJECTIVES AND POLICIES OF THE PARTY AND FEATURES THE DESIGNATED CANDIDATE FOR THE NEXT FEDERAL ELECTION;

WHEREAS THE ASSOCIATION HAS PAID OFF ITS DEBT AND NOW HAS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING AVAILABLE IN THE ORDER OF $10,000, AFTER SETTING ASIDE $15,000 FOR CAMPAIGN PREPARATIONS:

THEREFORE THE ASSOCIATION – WITHIN A BUDGETTED MAXIMUM OF $10,000 – COMMITS ITSELF TO A “DIRECT MAIL” OF THE BROCHURE TO ALL RIDING RESIDENTS TO ADVANCE THE GOAL OF “NAME RECOGNITION” FOR OUR NEW CANDIDATE.

MOTION 2

OTTAWA-VANIER CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION (THE “ASSOCIATION”)

WHEREAS THE SECOND OBJECTIVE OF THE ASSOCIATION (SECTION 3.1.2 OF THE CONSTITUTION) IS “PROVIDING FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO THE PARTY’S CANDIDATE”;

WHEREAS THE CANDIDATE AND CORE MEMBERS OF THE CAMPAIGN TEAM AGREED UPON A “BARE BONES” CAMPAIGN PLAN THAT ENVISIONS A MINIMUM OF $5,000 BEING TRANSFERRED FROM THE ASSOCIATION TO THE CAMPAIGN (IN ADDITION TO ARTERIAL AND PROPERTY SIGNAGE);

WHEREAS THE ASSOCIATION MAINTAINS A BANK ACCOUNT WHICH IS ENTIRELY SEPARATE FROM THE ACCOUNT USED TO SUPPORT ONGOING OPERATIONS:

THEREFORE THE ASSOCIATION WILL TRANSFER FUNDS FROM ITS OPERATING ACCOUNT TO ITS SEPARATE BANK ACCOUNT (HENCEFORTH TO BE KNOWN AS THE “ASSOCIATION SAVINGS ACCOUNT”) SO THAT THE INITIAL AMOUNT HELD IN THE SAVINGS ACCOUNT IS $5000.

AND ALSO:

THE ASSOCIATION UNDERTAKES TO AUGMENT THE FUNDS IN THE SAVINGS ACCOUNT TO A TARGET AMOUNT OF $35,000, WHICH IS THE BASE AMOUNT REQUIRED TO PLAN A FULLY FUNDED CAMPAIGN WITHIN THE LIMITS OF ELECTIONS CANADA REGULATIONS.

THE ASSOCIATION SAVINGS ACCOUNT WILL ALWAYS BE ACCESSIBLE TO THE ASSOCIATION FOR NORMAL BUSINESS (IF THERE ARE SHORTFALLS IN THE OPERATING ACCOUNT) BUT THE GOAL IS TO TRANSFER THE FULL AMOUNT IN THE SAVINGS ACCOUNT TO THE CAMPAIGN WHEN AN ELECTION IS CALLED.

29 MARCH

I brought our car to the Volvo dealer to prepare it for the journey this week to Fredericton. At home I attended to a few chores until late in the morning when it was time to pick the car up again. One of the things I had done was replace the winter tires with the all-seasons that I leave stored with the dealer every year: I did not tell Marie because I fear she will begin to worry about our safety on the 1500 km drive.

Much of the afternoon was devoted to completing a bit of research and drafting a few words to say at the 31 March event where it has been confirmed that my main task will be to introduce the wife of the Prime Minister. The text must be short but the words must be carefully chosen. Rumors in Ottawa are swirling that the Prime Minister and his wife are no longer a solid couple. I personally have no time for those rumors, but I want to recognize her relationship to Mr. Harper without causing any discomfort.

My short speech will begin with a recognition of those present, who will include senior representatives of the government (ministers and ministers of state) and at least one of the area Members of Parliament. From there I intend to describe our riding, observe that the riding is not a “happy” place, and call for conservatives to roll back the riding’s tradition of voting Liberal but to do this in a way that reflects fun, joy, enthusiasm, energy, grace, and style.

Those last words will set the stage for my introduction of Mrs. Harper because, as I will say, the descriptions of her almost always use those exact same words. I will say that she is a wonderful example of what this riding will need to elect a Conservative to the House of Commons. I hope to make a good enough impression on her, and on other senior Conservatives present, so that the party will decide to throw some big names and special opportunities at this riding when an election is underway.

I spoke out the short speech a number of times, and will repeat this learning approach again and again over the next couple of days.

In the course of the day, by the way, I stopped by the shop at which I had ordered my “Team Westland” jacket. I now have a three-season jacket with my name on it, the CPC logo, and the slogan “Team/Equipe” on the back. When the occasion warrants I will be able to travel with a fair amount of profile. Also, for the rest of my life, I now have a pretty interesting souvenir of this amazing journey – whichever way it ultimately ends.

[While the notion was that a great many “Team Westland” jackets would become visible on the streets of our riding the only one ever purchased was my own, at my own expense.]

30 MARCH

The main event today will be my attendance in the afternoon, from 4:00 pm to as late as 9:00 pm, at hearings on the future of new bridge construction over the Ottawa River. I intend to keep a low profile. And I learned, after I got to the City Hall, that keeping a low profile would not be a problem.

The “event” was only a large display of the plans which the NCC, the City, and their consultants were drawing up for proceeding with the work that will one day lead to a new bridge construction. There was no focus upon any one individual. There were no questions from the floor. There was no political opportunity. I completed the tour of the various information stalls, asked a few questions, and recorded my attendance on the list of visitors to the display.

In the course of my tour and my subsequent reflections I determined to approach the “new bridge” issue in the following ways:

1. The current situation, where politicians and community leaders are bouncing from option to option, reflects the failure of “Phase 1” of the bridge study. Phase 1 had been intended to review all of the options then on the table and zero in upon the option or two (or three) that scored the highest among a long list of criteria.

2. What is now being called “Phase 2” is really a return to Phase 1, but with the list of options reduced from some 10 options to 4. The criteria for this second review are largely similar to – but not the same as – the criteria for Phase 1.

3. By rights, all the options should be reviewed with the adjusted criteria in hand. By limiting the second review only to the options now being kicked about is to stay with a process that has become broken.

In my view the process broke down because political and community leaders had not been vigilant enough during Phase 1 to ensure maximum consensus around the criteria, how they would be weighted, and how the options would be measured. People do not like the outcome…but the failure should really be attached to the process rather than to the short list of options.

When my time comes to speak publicly about this you have a sense of what my words to Mauril Belanger will be.

31 MARCH

This was the evening of the Meet-and-Greet where Laureen Harper and the Honorable John Baird were hosted by me and by the association. Carol, who had gone missing since her attempt to shut down the event, did not attend…

The event went very well. There were about 80 people attending, all of whom seemed to have a pretty good time. Mrs. Harper and John Baird were remarkably cooperative about giving of themselves and their time so that attendees could have pictures taken with those two special guests. The party’s photographer was very busy taking pictures throughout the evening.

My own role was to introduce Mrs. Harper, who in turn introduced John Baird. The event was summarized for our new Facebook page as follows.

______________________________________________________________

REFLECTIONS ON A POLITICAL EVENT

In the late afternoon of 31 March the Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association and its candidate hosted an event for Conservative Party of Canada members that featured two special guests: Mrs. Laureen Harper and the Honorable Mr. John Baird.

Attendance at the event included the Honorable Ms. Lisa Raitt, M. Royal Galipeau (M.P.), and a number of representatives of the national office of the party. Over 75 members of the party used the occasion of this event to contribute financially to the work of the association.

Our new candidate welcomed all those attending. He observed that the cause which brought everyone together on that Wednesday afternoon is an especially important one: to stand for Canada, our traditions, principles, and our values, at a time when too many political leaders dare only to whisper what Canada is all about…and some seem downright opposed!

To win the next election, he said, will require energy, enthusiasm, a sense of fun and fair play, optimism, grace and style. All those characteristics, he observed, are the ones which people use to describe the wife of the Prime Minister and he was pleased to ask her to say a few words and introduce John Baird.

Mrs. Laureen Harper recalled the various achievements of John Baird as a politician. She also shared some personal stories, one of which included the Honorable Minister sitting down on her cat!

John then spoke about the encouraging state of Canada’s economy, he reaffirmed the determination of the federal government to continue reflecting Canadian Conservative principles and values in its development and implementation of policies and laws, and he closed by encouraging everyone present to work hard in support of increasing the representation of Conservatives in the House of Commons and, in particular, by helping to elect our new Ottawa-Vanier candidate in the next federal election.

After the event telephone calls and emails were buzzing. It is clear that all those attending enjoyed themselves. The Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association is off to a good start in the early months of this year.

I was very encouraged by the enthusiasm shown by all of those attending. It was a pretty classy affair, the finger foods and sandwiches were excellent, the staff support provided by the Hampton Inn was very good. In short, I felt the event stood for a kind of ‘coming of age” party for me as candidate for the CPC. The endorsement I received from Laureen Harper and from John Baird, a senior Minister of the Government, was resounding.

Colin McSweeney, the guy who had made this happen, was revved up and pumped his fists into the air as I scored one political point after another. He was pleased with the event and he was pleased with me. Colin loves this stuff.

I was very happy to see in the audience members of my own family (they now will know that I was once a serious candidate for public office at the federal level) and two of the Portuguese community members whom Marie and I have come to know: Tony and Henry.

Marie and I left soon after the event closed down (about 8:30 in the evening) and drove about half the distance from Ottawa to Fredericton. We spent the night at Montmagny, then on to New Brunswick in the morning. We spent the next five days in the Maritimes with Marie’s father and Maritime-based members of Marie’s family.

1 APRIL TO 5 APRIL

I have very little to report.

After the first day among Marie’s family members the welcome extended towards me began to warm. By the end of the five days I felt comfortable in their collective company. Marie’s family has a proven capacity to shun what they wish to avoid. I know it bothers them that I have so publicly aligned myself with the Conservative Party of Canada. There is also a very strong competitive streak throughout the family. My run at public office is therefore doubly troubling.

Notwithstanding Marie’s father top-flight success in the legal profession he had often shared with me that he once was poised to stand for the Liberals in the Grand Falls area of New Brunswick (his home town). He decided against it when he assessed that he would almost certainly lose, but I think he will always wonder “what might have been”. We never talk about that near-thing, his own possible run for public office, anymore.

While I felt comfortable and welcome by the end of these five days not at any point was a question asked about my political journey. When the time came that the wearing of a blazer was appropriate (Easter dinner, and Church) Marie asked me to remove the CPC lapel pin so that I would not cause offense.

Marie and I took a break on April 3 to drive to Sackville and have lunch with my daughter Robin. Robin is attending Acadia University in Wolfville, meaning we each had to drive for about 3 hours to meet where we did. Sackville is halfway between Fredericton and Wolfville.

Lunch was fun and the discussion was more substantive than I had been enjoying to that point in Fredericton. Robin, now aged 30 (it was her birthday), seems headed to a successful career in the natural resources sector. She has just won a major award in her field and will soon be headed to Queen’s University in Kingston to complete a Master’s Degree in Science. Well done, my girl!

During our drive back from Fredericton to Ottawa, by the way, we stopped for lunch and I read an article in the paper about the federal government’s proposed legislation regarding the refugee system in Canada. The purpose of the legislation is to tighten things up because far too may people come to Canada claiming refugee status, then shift their claim to landed immigrant status after they are securely in the country. This modus operandi is overloading the refugee system. It causes “true” refugee cases to suffer in consequence. One of the national groups most at fault for abusing the system are immigrants from Hungary.

This story was interesting because one of the claims to fame of Mauril Belanger is an award from the Government of Hungary. I will have to research what he did to win that award. I see that his wife is a director with the Canadian Hungarian Educational Foundation. Marie tells me she is Hungarian by birth.

This connection and other affiliations suggest the Belangers have become a “family business” in the politics of our riding. Marie and I will not be able to compete on those terms. As the year went on I would learn that the Liberal presence has acquired deep roots all over the place, at all three levels of government (municipal, provincial, federal).

6 APRIL

Today was spent mostly in a review of emails.

I learned that one of the attendees at the 31 March event, who had handed me a cheque just after arriving, had also made a donation of $400 to the association. This is a significant amount for the Ottawa-Vanier EDA.

I therefore telephoned Roger W to thank him personally and to affirm my availability if, at any time, he or his associates might be interested in having me over to “talk politics”. I have already learned that a “good supporter” is priceless when it comes to the morale boost that each contributed dollar gives to a candidate.

Before the end of the day I completed a draft of the Beechwood Cemetery article I had been working on. At the March 31 event there was a person attending who happens to work for the Cemetery Board. I wanted to send the draft article to her, for her to review with General Maurice Baril, prior to my seeking an audience through the print medium (perhaps Perspectives Vanier?).

The draft article is included below.

THE

NATIONAL MILITARY CEMETERY

OF THE

CANADIAN FORCES

My purpose with this article is to share a piece of the history of this Cemetery, which lay behind its dedication on June 28, 2001. I call it a “piece” of the history because my involvement at the time was not exclusive. Others were also integrally involved, some of whom I will name in this article. Their perspectives will certainly add to, and perhaps adjust, my own.

It is a history that is already largely lost.

It is lost to the minds of many because the story of subsequent events – such as the creation of the RCMP cemetery in 2006 and the honorary recognition of Beechwood as Canada’s National Cemetery in 2009 – have overtaken our seminal achievement in 2001. Also, a number of individuals have been pleased to become identified with subsequent events and it has suited them to overlook the true origins of this story.

While readers of this article will know me to be a candidate for the next federal election, representing the Conservative Party of Canada, this article is not about politics. The article is about responding to the words of Ms. Grete Hale – shared with me on Remembrance Day, 11 November 2009. She said to me: “Mr. Westland, almost no one knows how close we came to none of this every happening.”

If the Beechwood cemetery had not been recognized by the Canadian Forces as its national cemetery in 2001 I greatly doubt the RCMP could have added a section of their own and I am sure the 2009 legislation recognizing the National Cemetery would not have happened.

In the 2009 legislation the second of the opening clauses states “whereas Beechwood Cemetery is recognized by the Canadian Forces as its national military cemetery”. This simple fact – that national recognition at Beechwood was initiated by the Canadian Forces - made it possible for the RCMP to follow suit and made it possible for the legislation to be proclaimed in 2009.

In the Beginning

Back in 1998 I was named Acting Assistant Deputy Minister at National Defence responsible for real property (land, buildings, public works, environment). I had been Director General for property prior to my acting appointment and I returned to the DG position in late 1999.

General Maurice Baril was Chief of the Defence Staff in those years.

I recall being summoned to the General’s office in early 1999 to be told that he wanted the Department of National Defence to open up a National Military Cemetery…and he wanted it to be at Beechwood. He was not going to take “no” for an answer.

The General pointed out that most military members move all about the country and internationally in the course of their work and duties. Many have left home towns so far behind, and have been in one place for such short periods, that the option of a final resting place “back home” is not realistic. He shared with me his own career trajectory, and he said he would be buried at the Beechwood site secure in the knowledge that it will be the national cemetery for the Canadian Forces.

But the only answer I could think of at the time was: “No, General, this is not going to happen.” But I kept my answer to myself.

While I may have reflected uncertainty in the eyes of the General my own background includes time in the military. I was now a senior civil servant working for the Department of National Defence but I had never said “no” to a senior General and I was not about to start!

The General said he had had preliminary discussions with members of the Board of the Beechwood Cemetery. For the Cemetery, of course, designation as a national cemetery for the Canadian Forces would be good for branding (name recognition) and also for business. I had already concluded from articles in the local papers at around that time that Beechwood was under financial stress owing to competition in the business and also because of legal problems which had hit Beechwood’s bank account pretty hard.

I had been in the real property business long enough to know two fundamental rules about DND involvement in the acquisition and management of federal real property:

1. All assets administered and controlled by the Canadian Forces or Department of National Defence (purchased or rented) must serve ongoing program purposes.

2. No federal department, agency, or organization can manage its real property in ways that compete with the private sector or – except on a competitive basis – that provides business to one private sector operator in preference to another.

The General and the Board of the Cemetery were together proposing that the Department of National Defence (which is responsible for all real property used by the military) acquire space for which there was manifestly no program purpose (burial of the dead rather than support for operations); and, enter into a relationship with one particular cemetery operator without considering the options elsewhere in Ottawa or, indeed, elsewhere in Canada.

I was also keenly aware that DND at that point already had in its inventory two dozen or so grave sites at various Bases and Stations across the country; and, that there already were corners for military internment at various private sector cemeteries in Canada and also overseas. My organization had learned, when we looked into the condition of some burial sites reserved for Canadian dead in cemeteries across Europe, that the Federal Government of the day had absolutely no interest in adding to the number of cemetery sites in which the Government had a direct or indirect interest.

The fact is that the Federal Government of the day had very little interest in the well being of the military for any purpose whatsoever, other than the military’s capacity to support foreign policy objectives (even if very badly equipped for the purpose!).

During General Baril’s time as Chief of the Defence Staff the Canadian Forces were still very much in the “dark ages” described by General Hillier in his book A Soldier First. The reception I had when I shared the General’s wishes with colleagues at the Treasury Board was entirely negative. “Forget it,” I was told by federal officials in other departments. I was told the same thing by my own Deputy Minister.

But, since saying “no” to a senior General was not an option in my book, I asked one or two of my own team to help us find a way.

Getting the Job Done

Together with Mr. Len Borer, a senior lawyer who advised my organization on property matters, we visited with the Board of the Cemetery and received a tour of the area that would be dedicated to use only by Canadian Forces members. Ms. Grete Hale led our tour and was extremely passionate about the goal we were together trying to achieve.

Around the Cemetery’s boardroom table Len and I elaborated upon the limitations in federal real property policies. We affirmed that the senior bureaucrats and Minister of our department had no interest in the venture at all. If this idea was going to work we would have to consider options which would not fit into the usual ways of doing business by our respective organizations.

Our elaboration on the limitations in DND’s capacity to act almost brought discussions to an immediate end.

In effect, Len and I were saying that the Department of National Defence was not going to buy into the Cemetery business. We were not yet ready to commit to the purchase of burial plots; we would not be making any undertakings with regard to ongoing management of the property reserved for deceased members of the Forces; we would not undertake to spend public funds on monuments to grace property set aside by the Cemetery Board for exclusive military use.

We could see that the Board members, among themselves, wondered whether it would be worth their while to continue with the venture. All the business risks and all the costs would fall only upon the Cemetery itself.

Yet we found a way.

Accepting that the business risk would be entirely upon themselves, the Beechwood Cemetery Board – after only a few days of reflection – proposed to dedicate a large and mostly undeveloped area of their property for exclusive use by deceased members of the Canadian Forces. The Board accepted that there would be no shared administration and control by the Department of National Defence. There would be no financial commitment by the department of any kind. There would be no official recognition from the Federal Government.

In return, DND was asked what we could undertake to do on an informal and “best efforts” basis. And here is where the General stepped firmly into the picture.

The Chief of the Defence Staff affirmed that he would be clear with all his senior colleagues and with any Forces members who might ask that the Beechwood Cemetery – at the site soon to be set apart – will be his own final resting place. He affirmed his confidence that business for the Cemetery would pick up over the coming years because of his own personal commitment and his capacity to persuade others through his own leadership. He was confident that members of the Forces would react very positively to this initiative.

The General’s personal affirmations were good enough for the Cemetery Board.

For my part, we explored options within the federal system and determined that the Canadian Forces could enter into a Memorandum of Understanding which would capture the essence of the General’s personal affirmations. The Memorandum would leave no doubt that the selection of Beechwood as a final resting place would be entirely voluntary for Canadian Forces members. The Memorandum would not have any legal force or effect but it would create the background needed for the Canadian Forces to publicize in its own rules and orders the existence of a preferred final resting place.

Whether or not the Canadian Forces would one day be in a position to purchase grave sites at the Beechwood Cemetery or expend money in support of the operation of the special site was still unclear at that time. But the Cemetery Board felt they had enough in the personal endorsement from the Chief of the Defence Staff and in the “best efforts” content of the Memorandum of Understanding to proceed with their own investment of time and money.

The National Military Cemetery was born out of a cooperative relationship between the Cemetery Board and the Canadian Forces leadership of the day. The “creation” of the National Military Cemetery had no reflection in Federal Government law or policies. As we said among us bureaucrats at the time, the National Military Cemetery happened “below the radar” of formal review and approval procedures.

The Opening Ceremony

I was pleased to be invited, along with Len Borer, to the ceremonies which formally dedicated the new National Military Cemetery of the Canadian Forces on 28 June 2001.

We knew as we stood there, overlooking a site still very much under development, that the “official” ceremony masked a relationship with was far from official in the usual sense of the word.

The National Military Cemetery began its existence on a best-of-intentions basis, with all the business risk being carried by the Cemetery itself. The Federal Government carried no risks at all.

But we now know how things turned out.

Congratulations to the Beechwood Cemetery for its business acumen and for its ability to understand and respond to the sensitivities of Canadian Forces members within a context of laws and regulations which almost prevented the National Military Cemetery from happening at all.

Hats off as well to General Baril who, I understand, remains affiliated with the administration of the Cemetery to this day.

For my part – as a former member of the Canadian Forces, a former senior official at DND, and now a candidate for public office in Ottawa-Vanier – I am pleased to have had a role to play in this first step towards the creation of a National Cemetery at Beechwood.

My concluding emails for the day focused upon the EDA board meeting scheduled for tomorrow evening.

I sent to everyone a copy of the motions I want the board to consider (you have seen them earlier) and I had a few exchanges with Guy about the remarkable decision of Carol to again miss a board meeting. She has announced that she will not be attending tomorrow. Carol appears definitely on the way out, by her own volition. Unfortunately she seems intent to take Eleanor with her…

The email from Carol announcing her absence from the meeting tomorrow included her saying that Eleanor will be too busy as well. I fear that Eleanor will not be able to separate herself from Carol’s desire to control the world around her. I fear I will not be able to count upon Eleanor to become a meaningful member of my personal support team.

7 APRIL

Today I spent much of the morning drafting another of my “talking politics” series (this time on the subject of “a strong economy”). This article, as others like it, is captured in my constantly evolving “stump speech”. It will also, once adjusted, become part of the link on our Facebook page to a review of substantive issues. The text of the article is on this page. Let me know what you think of it!

A Member of Parliament for any particular riding, such as I will be for Ottawa-Vanier if elected in the next federal election, cannot pull economic levers which have an impact upon local revenue producing activities unless the Member is also a member of the governing party. My goal will be, once elected, to sit with the Government’s finance minister and senior officials and seek to influence the decisions made by others. To be relevant for Ottawa-Vanier my responsibility will be to accurately know what makes this riding tick and to create the best possible conditions to keep things humming along.

Ottawa-Vanier economic activity and employment

With an eye to head and branch offices of large organizations such as the RCMP, DND, and departments of the Federal Government, there are about 18,000 positions located in our riding that provide salaried employment for federal public servants. Many of those holding the positions, of course, do not live in Ottawa-Vanier. Our assessment is that there are between 8,000 and 10,000 residents living in our riding who work directly for the federal public service. As Member of Parliament I will have to take their concerns very seriously. More will be said about this a little later.

Second to the Federal Government, the biggest employer in our riding is Ottawa University. The University provides about 8,000 jobs (half academic, half support), though once again many of those working for the University will not be full time residents. Nevertheless, the well-being of Ottawa University and of its student body is a matter about which I will be always concerned.

With paid positions ranging in number from 500 to 2,000, the other major employers are La Cite Collegiale, CMHC, the Montfort Hospital, the Bruyere Hospital, and the National Research Council. Altogether those employers provide work to about 7,000 people.

The types of work done by those who hold salaried positions within large organizations (500 employees and up) in Ottawa-Vanier range from finance and administration (12,000 positions) to management (6,000 positions) to a long list of more specialized tasks in such fields as health, sciences, and art and culture.

Ottawa-Vanier is dotted in a number of its neighborhoods with small retail stores and service providers (“traditional” store-front operations). Its large residential areas are fringed by shopping malls of various sizes (strip, small, and large). Altogether these small and medium sized engines of economic activity and growth provide approximately 40,000 jobs. Most of these are in services (20,000), retail (5,000), and construction/manufacturing (4,000).

Federal Government employment of its own staffs will be of major interest to me. I will also keep a close eye on the tax structure, business incentives, labor programs (especially for new Canadians), and other matters falling within federal jurisdiction that impact upon the private sector.

Ottawa-Vanier economic performance

In overall numbers our riding appears to rate fairly close to the City’s averages. Our average family income, at $92,457, is actually higher than the City average ($86,848). Our unemployment averages 6.8% compared to the City average of 5.9%.

Those data, however, mask a considerable variation in the numbers from one neighborhood to another. Our family income ranges from a low of $47,544 to a high of $160,565. Unemployment ranges from 3.2% to 10%.

Making improvements

With an eye to improving the economic performance of the riding overall it is clear that a “one size fits all” solution will not work.

The profile of the riding suggests, however, that there may be some linkages which – if better made – could begin to make a difference.

For example, by working within the Federal Government so that public servants (currently serving and retired) are confident in their own individual futures and by directing more and more of their business to the retail and service providing sectors within the riding, a reassurance that is targeted at one of the revenue producing activities (public sector employment) can have a spill-over benefit for the private sector.

There are also direct interventions that can be made by the Federal Government which provide work.

The ongoing implementation of Canada’s Action Plan for example will – by the time all planned projects are fully implemented – have stimulated some $600 million in expenditures on the back of a federal investment of about $128 million. Many of the jobs involved fall into the construction and manufacturing (provision of parts and supplies) sectors, both of which are very important within our riding.

The record shows that the Federal Government took our major employers into account when making its expenditure decisions. The University of Ottawa was a major recipient of federal funds ($114 million) followed by Le Cite Collegiale ($27 million) and by integrated road, water, sewer, and transit way improvements ($8 million). Given the relatively high representation of Aboriginal people in our riding (over 3% in some areas) a $7 million commitment to the building of the Wabano Cultural Center will make an important and long term contribution.

Conclusions

As the new Member of Parliament of Ottawa-Vanier I will want to promote a sense of belonging among riding residents that goes beyond individual neighborhoods and extends to the riding as a whole: why are more of us not shopping locally and participating in neighborhood events that are open to the general public?

The sense of belonging in our riding, in fact, falls below that of the City as a whole (60% vs. 62%). It is especially troubling, however, to note that the majority of our neighborhoods fall far short of the City and riding averages, falling as low as 49% in one of our more populated districts.

Working within the Federal Government my goal will be to help provide the level of confidence salaried employees need in order to spend money for the kind of goods and services that our riding businesses were set up to provide. I will want to consult with Ministers and senior officials to ensure that the laws and regulations applicable to small and medium sized businesses are fair for the type of work our business leaders and groups provide. I will want to have influence over the federal programs and incentives that help to create work, to develop skilled employees, and that provide courage to innovators who look for opportunities in the high tech fields and in the new “green” industry areas of specialty.

At the end of the day I attended the board meeting of the association. As forecasted, neither Carol nor Eleanor were there.

For the most part the meeting was uneventful. The usual ground was covered (finance report, ground operations, fundraising, and so on). There was a shared sense of achievement owing to the success of the 31 March event.

When my turn came to speak the sparks began to fly. I presented the two motions I had sent around to Guy and other board members prior to the meeting.

On the first of these (commitment to a direct-mail of the brochure) Gene observed that a better time might to consider the motion might be the early fall. He also undertook to improve the overall presentation of the brochure and bring its contents more into line with CPC formatting imperatives. When the product is ready to go, he concluded, it may yet be better to distribute it neighborhood by neighborhood – followed by door knocking – rather that by way of a single blanketing of the whole riding. I was disappointed but said I did not have a problem with any of that.

My second motion led to tension among those attending. This was the motion that a separate bank account be set up that is earmarked for transfer to the campaign when the writ drops. My motion was that the separate account be funded to the tune of $5K right from the start. The amount would grow as the association begins to realize its fundraising goals.

In answer to those at the meeting who either believed the separate account is unnecessary or that the idea should await the first board meeting after the end-April AGM, I said:

“Look: let’s agree that after 75 years of failure the time has come to do something different. This association has not had a winning attitude for quite some time. I am proposing a structural innovation in how the books are set up which will serve as a permanent reminder of the reason for the association’s existence.”

My point is to put pressure upon the association. The association should not simply transfer to the candidate all worries about money.

The discussions that followed led to a vote. The motion was adopted by a vote of 6 to 4. Now Ross wants precise instructions on how to achieve the desired result. I forecast that the decision of the board in this matter will never be implemented. [And it never was.]

After the meeting we reaffirmed our shared goals and friendship. Explanations of our respective and – in some cases – different views were stated in comfortable tones. The beat goes on.

When I summarized all this for Marie upon arriving home at the end of the day I said again what I had said after the meeting to some of the board members: “The fact that Carol is no longer a part of these discussions and is no longer around to throw a wrench into anything and everything that we collectively decide to do makes events such as this board meeting much more tolerable…even enjoyable.”

8 APRIL

Today I added a lot of text to my evolving “stump speech”. I fear that the stump speech is becoming far too long. To have a full compendium of my thoughts and phrases in a single context, however, will ultimately serve me well. I will be able to draw from that text, in the form of speaking bullets, whatever I may need at short notice and for whichever audience I may be headed to. I will not be adding the stump speech to this record of my year in politics, but may attach it when the year is over.

In a number of emails exchanged during the day we approved the Minutes from the board meeting last night. I used the opportunity to propose what Ross should do regarding setting up of a “savings” account intended solely for use in future campaigns. Ross is clearly very reluctant to proceed with this but I do not plan to let him off the hook.

I also agreed to become part of the Nominating Committee that will try to rope in a new executive for the association (for confirmation at the 28 April AGM). The national office representative for this purpose (Alex Bednar) asked me to be a part of that Committee. I am not sure my association colleagues agree.

In answer to Alex I used the opportunity to elaborate upon the kind of long-term plan I think our association should develop now that the pre-writ period will last a few months longer. For the campaign itself, I said, I believe I have proposed a campaign plan which is affordable, do-able, and can be managed even if the number of volunteers is low. I am aiming far lower than Gordon Peters did a few months ago.

Among the email exchanges was a short discussion with my brother in which he reaffirmed his interest (at least, I think he did) in becoming the campaign manager on our next round. Upon reflection, I remain comfortable with this as long as I begin to see real initiative on his side. The national office and the association may not like him (he is not a known commodity for the CPC), but Gerald learns quickly. As campaign manager he will have the advantage of already knowing what a financial agent for a campaign is supposed to do. But our challenge will be to find a new financial agent and he must help me with this.

There was only one point in this day when I felt a little “rise” within me.

I realized that I did not like proposals bandied about yesterday about the 28 April AGM, regarding the invited participation of area MPs or ministers. I observed to Guy and to

Gene that I suspect I am a better speaker and presenter than anyone else they can bring to the AGM. If others are better than me we do not want them: they will show me up and make people realize why we deserve to lose. If I am better than the others…we do not need them.

I made the point that we have to be darn good in our own right. I believe myself to be a very good fit for the kind of opportunity now looming before us. I believe we can win but we need to begin strutting our stuff!

As of this writing, which is about 8 hours after I made my observations, there has been no answer from my team to my message of self-confidence. Oh, well…

9 APRIL

Today added some tension to the journey…

I raised over coffee with Marie an unease I felt regarding the association’s financial statement, circulated at the Wednesday evening board meeting. The numbers do not add up. When the morning’s basic chores were done I retrieved the financial statement from January and compared it to the one from April. The numbers do not add up at all.

I sent a long email to Guy, and called him, observing upon the problems.

In short, there are a number of expenditure categories within which there are numbers which no one has seen before and for which there are no breakdowns. Also, there are expenditures we all know about (Carol’s purchase of the unsuccessful newsletter content) but which have not been recorded as paid or owing. Finally, there are three computers which Gene says were purchased but which seem to have disappeared.

I concluded the email by observing that we appear to have had revenue in the order of $15,000 between January and April (thanks largely to my efforts) yet the numbers in the financial statement show that we have gone down $2,000 in our bank account. Somewhere in the muddle there should be $17,000 in expenses.

I did not, of course, hear back from Guy or Gene. From my brother, though, I received a pretty strident cry of alarm. One of the categories, within which undocumented expenses total some $8,000, is labeled “campaign expenses”. In fact, there are three categories which line themselves up with the campaign and a forecast of $27,000 in campaign expenses for the association by the end of the year. Gerald advised that, since there is no campaign, those costs need to be captured differently. And I agreed.

I brought this matter to Ross’ attention in an email (no reply) and forwarded the additional concern raised by Gerald to Guy and Gene (no reply). I also called the national office (no reply). I am beginning to smell a rat.

It dawned on me that our association may be allocating dollars against campaign costs so that we can get those costs repaid to the association by my campaign after the next election. If the association is in a position to say that $27,000 and more were spent by the EDA for material used by the candidate during the election then the money could be included in the 60% that Elections Canada repays to candidates who attract at least 10% of the vote.

I look forward to learning whether I ever hear back about this from anyone. I will leave the next step to others. I have said my piece and it is recorded in my emails. When I next meet with association representatives I will not be in a hurry to raise the subject.

I suspect I am a little wiser today than I was yesterday, however, and I will begin to take greater care to ensure that I am not used by the association or the national office as a conduit for public funds into the association bank account immediately after the next federal election (when the subsidy is paid).

I intended to use this day to follow up upon a request from the wife of Wilfrid Champagne in this riding (Vanier resident and former Mayor) to call and stop by when Mr. Champagne is home. He is a 90+ year old fellow with a long conservative history who, his wife told me, would love for me to say “hello”.

I know this kind of reaching out is important but, after some five months, I still find it hard to do. Furthermore, at this moment I lack the resolve to stay on my journey (I feel like quitting) let alone to visit with anyone. The funding and administrative stuff related to the association and the total lack of responses is getting me down again today.

As an aside, it is interesting to note that the tensions around the emails and telephone calls impacted upon my body. My heartbeat grew suddenly irregular, which I fixed by getting up and walking around. I also had the sensation of near-panic that I associate with hypoglycemia, owing to a surfeit of insulin responding to a shot of sugar from the liver. I think I understand the dynamics within my body better than I ever did before…and things are now back to normal.

Amy, by the way, sent me an email asking whether she should take the initiative and call the Facebook group together. I get so little coming to me that is initiated by others that I haven’t yet determined how to respond. I think I will ask her to host a group meeting, with me attending as an invitee.

Oh yes, one more thing: I read the Friday EMC (the local paper) and wrote another letter to that paper.

When attending public consultations sponsored by the National Capital Commission at Ottawa’s Jean Pigott Hall on March 30 I was asked, as a “new face on the block”, what I would do differently about the new bridge process. As readers of this newspaper will know I will be the Conservative Party of Canada candidate for Ottawa-Vanier in the next federal election.

My observations were:

No one is saying loudly enough that the Phase 1 study was a failure. Phase 1 environmental, cost and impact studies are meant to look at the fundamentals of the problem and at all the options available. Phase 1 then includes zeroing in upon a choice or two. Hopping now from option to option does not reflect well upon our collective decision-making process. I also note that the fundamental question of where the traffic comes from and where it is headed (why a new bridge in the first place?) has been overlooked.

The Phase 2 study is basically a return to Phase 1. This is because some of the criteria for selection have changed. In principle all the options should be back on the table. This should at least be said!

My advice to the political and process leaders who remain in the game is the following:

First, be very sure on your own behalf and on behalf of those you represent that you agree with the changed criteria (content and weightings) and the list of options that will be assessed in the Phase 2 study.

Second, make an up-front commitment that, unless you learn the hired consultants and bureaucrats do a poor job in their implementation of Phase 2, you will solidly support the outcome. Public confidence in the political process requires nothing less.

Studies about how to improve center town congestion, particularly on King Edward Avenue, began in 1966 and active consideration of new bridge construction began in 1994. Sixteen years without results is too long!

10 APRIL TO 11 APRIL

This has been perhaps the toughest time for me since the Year of Politics began. On Saturday at Happy Hour (a scotch or two, every evening at about 6:00 pm) I was pretty well ready to call it quits again.

It really bothered me that electoral district associations may be “using” candidates to recover as much of their ongoing operating budget from Elections Canada as possible. While doing almost nothing to help me make progress during this pre-writ period – I have had to press for members’ meetings, develop materials, design and print the doorknocker, organize a coffee or two, and so on, entirely on my own – our association appears to be setting up the books so that it appears most of its finances are expended in direct support of my campaign. If those pre-writ operating costs are transferred into the books of my campaign, and if Elections Canada eventually agrees, the rules require Elections Canada to repay to our association 60% of the amount expended by my campaign. It also means there will be the appearance of my having received quite a bit of money from my association when the writ drops, when in fact most of it will already been expended on products I developed and used before the election was even called.

But surely this approach is wrong. Nothing being done by my association is supportive of my campaign. As my brother pointed out in an email to me: “Remember, there is no campaign!” The writ has not dropped, nor will it for quite some time to come.

Yet the association’s books forecast that by the end of the year up to $27,000 will have been spent on my campaign. If the association’s executive committee will say that I am being confused by terminology I would answer: “I have only been allocated $6K to date, and even that small amount has had to be cobbled together in bits and pieces. What does the $27K relate to?”

During the last board meeting there was a point of stress between Ross and me when I observed that Patrick’s campaign had cost only $35,000. It was way under budget. Ross did his “I am really pissed” number in reply and hissed that the amount spent by Patrick was almost $60,000. “And I should know,” said Ross, “because I was his Official Agent!”

Now that I see better how the game is being played I think I understand. The association likely charged some $25,000 of pre-writ regular business (pre-writ candidate recognition, branding) to Patrick’s campaign. Patrick may have generated an additional $35,000 during the campaign itself. The 60% repayment by Elections Canada (on the $60,000) would have returned $36,000 to the campaign to cover outstanding campaign debts and to repay to the association.

I know that the books on Patrick’s campaign are still not closed and that a full repayment from Elections Canada to our association has not yet happened. I wonder if cash flow and accounting concerns explain the delay (almost two years, at this point).

I called Guy and I called Colin McSweeney to again share my angst about the numbers. I wait to see what they will do about this…if anything.

As I said to Marie over the weekend, if I learn that the national office is supportive of what the association appears to be doing I may find myself with little option but to quit.

On Saturday, by the way, we went to a Pancake Breakfast in Vanier (at the Sugar Shack).

We sat with Bruce Poulin and, as luck would have it, the chief reporter for the Perspectives Vanier sat at the next table over from us. I mentioned to Christian Marcoux that my article on the Military Cemetery is progressing quite well and that I plan to share it with him when done. He said his paper might well be interested in publishing the article if the board of the cemetery endorses the contents.

After coming home on Sunday evening, after a day at the cottage working on the bathroom renovation, I felt a bit better about the financing stuff. When the campaign happens (after the writ drops) I will become an independent operation and we can reject inclusions in our financial accounts that we believe do not belong. It will be too late, after I am endorsed by the Prime Minister, for the association or the national office to kick me out at that stage in the process.

I still resent feeling used in the way I believe the association intends and I resent the fact that neither Gene nor Guy appear ready to do anything about it (no answer to emails). I have not heard anything from Ross or Colin McSweeney either. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

There is an interesting story brewing, by the way, that may implicate Patrick Glemaud and this riding.

The story is that a minister of the Government (Helena Geurgis) has been fired by the Prime Minister because of improprieties now being investigated by the RCMP. Her husband (Raheem Jaffer, a former Member of Parliament from Alberta) was recently before the law on drunk driving, reckless driving, and cocaine possession. The interesting part about this for Ottawa-Vanier is that Jaffer’s business associate is none other than Patrick Glemaud. Jaffer’s home riding was a major funder for Patrick’s campaign. And Patrick had the ear of the Prime Minister on Haiti issues.

My last move today (Sunday) was to propose a very simple budget to my colleagues on the executive of the association. The point of the simple budget, using figures drawn from Ross’ own reports on the last two years of association operations, is that the association should have no problem setting up to $25,000 – in cold hard cash – aside for an eventual transfer to my campaign. Even if the association does nothing at all but protect and transfer $25K in cash to my campaign I will know on what to base my campaign expenditure planning.

I sent the following draft budget to board members who had attended last Wednesday’s meeting.

ASSOCIATION BUDGET

Revenues

Revenue Sharing (from national office) $10,000

Revenue Sharing Memberships $3,000

Donations (unsolicited) $4,000

400 Club (candidate fund raising) $12,000

Additional candidate Fund Raisers (solicited) $8,000

Hampton Inn Fund Raiser $8,000

Total this year $45,000

Amount carried forward from Previous Year zero

Funds available for current year operations $45,000

Expenses

If operational expenses are comparable to previous years $10,000

Surplus/(Deficit)

Funds remaining at the end of this year $35,000

Preferred operating minimum for next year $10,000

(similar to previous years’ operating costs)

Funds available for transfer to Campaign

(if election called late this year) $25,000

____________________________________________________________

12 APRIL

The main event today happened in the evening when I attended a town hall meeting of the Overbrook Community Association. The subject was a contemplated re-acquisition by the city of laneways which run down the middle of properties along a number of parallel main streets. The effect will be to reduce backyard sizes of, initially, about a dozen homes and – over the long term – potentially a few hundred. The purpose would be to accommodate a planned in-fill of one property, where one house becomes three and parking can be in the back of the redeveloped property (rather than on the street).

You can imagine the opposition. There were about 500 people in the hall, all of whom were strongly opposed for reasons related to crime (public access to back of homes), loss of backyard and enjoyment, danger to laneway users, inconvenience, unfair imposition of a century-old title claim, and so on (more or less in that order).

The city Councilor hosting the town hall meeting had an amazing attitude of “I and the city planners know best!” In the face of solid opposition based upon tradition, lifestyle, fair play, and other factors familiar to conservative voters, the Councilor’s message was that the people were simply short sighted and will see the wisdom of the city plan one day in the future. The Councilor, in a word, was either Liberal or NDP. He is certainly not a Conservative.

To look at a problem and fix it by re-ordering the world – rather than by tinkering – is the typical Liberal/NDP approach. During the open forum debates that will happen during the next election I will know what to say when I reflect upon this event.

On leaving, by the way, I had the good fortune of meeting with the president of the community association. This is something I have been trying to do for some time and had almost given up. She now knows I was there.

A number of little things drew my attention during the day as well.

We received the latest edition of the Rockcliffe News, and once again I saw that my note to the editor was not included. I sent to Julia Beatty (wife of a former Conservative Minister) an email in which I noted this fact, observed that the paper clearly does not want to give a leg up to a CPC candidate, and thanked her for the kind reception Gene and I received a few months ago when door knocking in my home area.

I find the lack of follow through by my neighborhood paper a bit disappointing, to tell the truth. But I have come to expect this. The paper carried its regular column by Mauril Belanger in which he observed upon – for the umpteenth time – on events in the riding that were happening on his watch but without any required input from him or his office.

I also received a disappointing note from the Beechwood Cemetery. My contact, a Conservative supporter who had attended the 31 March event, had always been very friendly with me, and had asked that I send my article her way, emailed me a very correct and cold note observing that the Cemetery had received all party support when it was created and that my views are entirely my own. No appreciation was expressed for the facts I had shared. No thanks for the effort. No word of compliment from a colleague Conservative Party member. Again, I found the reaction disappointing. I will have to decide what to do with the article.

There is no denying that I intended the article to gain me some political points. I am well aware that I wanted to have the people named in the article stand by my reporting of the background facts. I perhaps will never know what the former General and Ms. Hale personally thought about my recounting of the history of the cemetery’s creation.

There was an email today from Peter K, a 400 Club member, telling me that I should try to become known to the Knights of Columbus. In his view the members of that service club are very influential in our area. I will see what I can do, but I will likely do this without anyone’s support. Peter affirmed that he knows no one who belongs to that club and he does not belong himself.

The media, by the way, are filled with speculation about the links among the fired cabinet minister (Helena Geurgis), her husband (Raheem Jaffer) and Patrick Glemaud. Marie is watching this closely with a sense that a big blow-up is going to happen and poor Patrick will be in the middle of it. I must say Patrick’s effort this evening on the national news to defuse the story did not appear to help anyone, least of all himself.

Knowing how the consulting business works I suspect a close investigation of Patrick’s affairs by the media will expose business deals that are questionable on all kinds of grounds. I know that my own firm works almost always at the edge of business ethics and regulations. All the other consulting firms do as well. Now that the light is shining upon him I suspect Patrick is headed into trouble.

Whether the fortunes of Patrick will impact back upon the riding or upon me and my chances will be interesting to learn. It is far too early to make an assessment at this stage.

13 APRIL

I met with Guy over coffee this morning.

My first goal was to get off my chest the discouragement I felt after the testy exchanges with Ross last Wednesday and after my analysis of the financial statements.

Guy shared some of the stories he had heard about other EDAs in eastern Ontario and their state of readiness prior to recent elections. He also reflected upon his own experiences as a two-time candidate. In his view – something that I unfortunately can now agree upon – our association ranks about average. It is remarkable that the political system in Canada remains reasonably healthy when contenders for political office – the ones who keep the myth of political participation and dialogue alive – must work under circumstances such as those I am experiencing. It is amazing that there is not a crescendo of complaints coming from the candidates themselves.

As we concluded our discussion, which was essentially a tour d’horizon of all we have come through to this point, I said to Guy that I would strongly endorse him to become president of a reformed board. I felt that Guy understood me clearly. At this point I have begun hoping for more distance between Guy and me. I think Guy feels the same way. In French they say: “J’ai eu mon voyage.” It means: “I have gone the distance…I have had enough.”

At the end of the day I received a call from Gene asking me my views about a number of people he intends to call regarding board membership. At the Annual General Meeting of the association all board positions will be open for election by the membership. Gene’s call reflected, to my mind, a wish to have me play a substantive role in the future of the association. But I suspect he and Guy do not agree upon what my role should be. I have told them both that I want to sit on the sidelines of the association and focus instead upon the work of my shadow campaign team.

I used the opportunity of our call to poke at Gene a little by referencing Patrick’s troubles. Gene thinks very highly of Patrick (as do I) and views the unfolding of events to reflect positively upon Patrick’s loyalty to his friends. I said: “Whether Patrick’s stepping into this will prove to be a good thing or not, one outcome is already certain. He is achieving a great deal more name recognition through these events than he ever achieved during the last election!” Gene laughed at that comment…which is one of the rare times I have heard him laugh.

14 AND 15 APRIL

I took these two days off.

I have temporarily (I hope) lost my enthusiasm for the diary so today is actually the 21st of April. I will be doing a bit of reconstruction for the days between now and then…

In the afternoon of 14 April, from 5:00 pm to about 8:00 pm, I and Marie attended a “Soup Splash” at the community centre in Vanier. As always, there is fun and there are political points in every public event. On this occasion a dozen restaurants had agreed to feature maple syrup-based soups and the paying guests were asked to enjoy the soup and score the best among the selections.

I worked my way through ten of the twelve soups (not bad!), all of them being very sweet and doubtlessly bad for my health.

We sat with Bruce Poulin, the provincial Progressive Conservative candidate for this riding in the last provincial election, and I had an opportunity to demonstrate my presence once again to Georges Bedard (the city Counselor for Vanier) and Christian Marcoux, the reporter for Perspectives Vanier. I once again forewarned Christian that an article may be coming his way that records the history of the National Military Cemetery…though I have no idea what he will do with it now that the Cemetery Board will not endorse what I say.

I do not think a whole lot was achieved at the Soup Splash to advance my campaign…but one never knows.

On the 15 of April I received a very rare call from Colin McSweeney of the national office. He asked me (finally) to elaborate upon my upset regarding association financial reporting. I made light of my concern because of my conclusion a few days ago that I could keep my own nose clean when the next campaign begins. I observed that ongoing expenses appear to be attributed to my future campaign which should in fact be association operating costs. Elections Canada may have a problem with this if a day of reckoning comes after my brother steps in as Official Agent. Colin’s observation was that the Treasurer “has got to go” and he hoped that the Annual General Meeting on April 28 will be the time to achieve this. I personally believe the problem, if I am right about it, is structural not personal. The problem is not Ross.

Colin asked me to follow up with Alex Bednar of the national office and, while talking to Alex about the financing issues, also share my evaluation of other current association board members who perhaps should get the hook. Colin believes a “scorched earth” approach is needed. “All sitting EDA executive members should be replaced.”

16 APRIL

After a number of failed attempts through voice mail to get a hold of Alex I spoke to him over the telephone today.

My list of current board members who, in my view, were not up for the work seemed to reflect his own. He asked me a few pointed questions about two members whose contribution I continue to value and we discussed our different perspectives. Regarding Colin’s comment about Ross, Alex’s worry is that a replacement financial agent may be hard to find. My answer was that the association’s books have become so distorted that we would be far better off even paying a professional to do the job. After the same person has been in a volunteer job for as long as Ross has, I said, the time has come to re-base the data.

I spent a fair amount of time at the computer reviewing pictures I received from the national office that were taken at the March 31 event. I sent out emails to about two dozen people whom I recognized in the photographs (this took about 3 hours) which gave me an opportunity to again thank them for their attendance.

Without skipping a beat (I do not think too deeply about these things) I sent an email to Desmond Devoy, reporter with the EMC Vanier who announced in his paper that he was leaving his position. Desmond had overseen the printing of my two letters, both of which I am sure caused great upset within the camp that supports the sitting Liberal MP. I suspect he was let go because the paper – which is run by known Liberals, including a former provincial member of the provincial Legislative Assembly – had angered Mr. Belanger’s people by printing my letter.

My email regretted Desmond’s departure…and then I asked him to consider becoming part of my campaign. I outlined why I think we can win the next election and drafted my text with the thought that perhaps a supporter of Mauril Belanger would get a hold of the message (perhaps from Demond himself). I did not hear back.

17 APRIL

There was a bit of a dust-up today regarding the agenda for the Annual General Meeting on 28 April. In an email to all, Gene proposed an agenda which has me be the concluding attraction for those attending the event.

My view, which I shared with the board, was that I should precede the nomination and election of board members. I observed that I am a pretty good speaker and I will use this opportunity to drum up enthusiasm for the cause. To leave me to the end, with only 20 minutes remaining, reduces me to an afterthought…which is pretty reflective of the problem which the association has had to date. I am their primary product. I should be featured above almost everything else.

I was pleased to get support from a number of the board members who sent in words of agreement. I also called Gene to explain to him that I can be counted upon to do a good job. In my vanity I dared to say that I could hold an audience’s attention for a full hour or even longer: “I am good at what I do, Gene. Have confidence in my ability to be a good candidate!”

Gene remained non-committal and, now four days later, I still have not seen a revised agenda. Oh, well… . I will play ball with whatever those folk want.

In the morning I took Marie with me to the closing brunch at the Sugar Fest in Vanier. Again, we saw the same old gang. This time the recently declared candidate for Mayor (Jim Watson) was in attendance, as was the provincial level member of the Provincial Parliament, Madeleine Meilleure. I exchanged a few pleasant words with Mr. Watson but had no cross-overs with Madeleine. I would have told her that I have voted for her in every provincial election since she first ran in my riding.

18 APRIL

Today is Monday, and I attended a Victims of Crime seminar for most of the day.

The event was educative and meaningful for me. The Prime Minister was there to open the event, attended by the Minister of Justice and by John Baird. I had no opportunity to signal my presence to those guys, but an opportunity to impress came later in the day that I will share with you.

The Prime Minister used his opening words to speak about the government’s strong-on-crime agenda. He observed that the legal system in Canada, including the judicial system, has slowly drifted towards a focused attention upon the perpetrators of crimes rather than upon their victims. He highlighted a number of programs the government has launched and managed since 2006 and he concluded that the Conservatives have been trying to bring improved balance to the system. He regretted that this takes time: sex offenders will continue to be pardoned, Carla Homolka may even be pardoned one day, and no one will think deeply upon those who suffered at their hands.

After the Prime Minister left the building the next speaker, a judge from Saskatchewan of Aboriginal descent, demonstrated the exact problem that the Prime Minister wants to have Canadians think about. In one example after another the Judge made the point that perpetrators are almost always victims themselves…and by the time he was done the Judge had so colored the distinction between offender and victim that one really did not know which of the two deserved the greater sympathy. In the particular example of an Aboriginal man killing a police officer the judge was unambiguous. The perpetrator deserved the greater sympathy. The police officer was only a symbol, one that the killer had very good reasons to hate.

I stood up when the time came for questions. I criticized what the judge had said and I asked victims’ families at the seminar to share with us where on the continuum between offender and victim they believe a government should be positioned.

After the session a woman came to me, said she was with the Prime Minister’s Office, and asked for my business card. She observed that the Prime Minister will be pleased to learn that a party member, and a candidate for election besides, stood up to reiterate the concerns the federal government has about the judiciary.

It was extremely unsettling, yet educative, to listen to the families of high-profile victims of crime like Reena Virk (murdered by bullies from her school) and Tim McLean (killed and beheaded while traveling peacefully on a Greyhound Bus). I was also moved by the father of a Muslim boy who was killed by some colleagues: the father observed that his being Arab by birth and culture seems to have had many Canadians back away on the assumption that terrorism and extremism – perhaps engaged in by the boy himself – lay behind the crime.

I came away with two thoughts that I will want to develop over the next few months:

1. The CPC is not doing a good enough job explaining that its “tough on crime” agenda is not to be confused with the priority that even the party itself places upon prevention and intervention. As I have observed above, prevention and intervention fall into provincial jurisdiction: if the province is not doing a good enough job in its areas of jurisdiction, does this mean the Federal Government should be light on law enforcement and remedies as well? I think not.

2. When a person commits a crime there should be a notion of accountability that applies even if mental incompetence rules out responsibility. Accountability should be life-long for crimes where reparation to victims and their families is impossible (such as murder). Accountability should outlast pardons and possibly should outlast life itself (taxing of estates). It could mean that criminals with unresolved accountability will find themselves permanently listed on accountability lists, which could serve as a kind of continuing admonishment which will require the accountable ones to always have to demonstrate their restored value to their fellow human beings.

19 APRIL

I learned today from Marie that the Rockcliffe Community Association had gone ahead with a supper gala (dinners at a number of Embassies in the village) about which I had first heard some two months ago. I had entered my name and number on the list of those interested and had forgotten along the way. I had never been contacted.

But Mauril Belanger was a part of it. The event was featured in the Ottawa Citizen. I had not been provided an opportunity to buy tickets for Marie and me.

It took me a little while to understand this seeming slight in the right light. In effect, the establishment in Rockcliffe invited Mauril who – after 15 years – is a part of the establishment himself. I suspect I was not invited because I am a newcomer and, in addition, I represent political debate and tension. I am not wanted at establishment functions.

This occurrence had me reflect upon my long standing plan to visit with community associations across the riding. I realize that for each and every association my presence is viewed as a kind of political contamination: better the devil you know! I should not take offense and I should stop believing that I can make politics work differently between now and the next election.

I have therefore decided to draft a letter to community association presidents, include copies of the door knocker and the brochure, and say that I welcome invitations to join them at meetings or events but that I will not impose myself uninvited. I will attend open forums. I will not attend regular meetings, even in the case of my own neighborhood.

I will take some care in drafting the letter. With the right content my subsequent absence from any and all community meetings can become a kind of back-handed reminder that I am really out there, lurking around corners. By drafting the letter correctly, Mauril’s very attendance will remind everyone that there are political competitors lying in wait for the next election.

20 APRIL

My daughter Miriam needed a hand today to get around town because she and Jason do not have a car. She has made her first major purchase, a large painting of poppies in bloom. She did this on a planned financing basis and she is – rightly – very proud of the painting that will grace her walls from now on.

I used the opportunity of a coffee together to learn whether Jason still has an interest in being a “player” on the campaign team. I know that they need a computer and I know I have promised them one. But I also know that we have had an extra computer placed in the basement of our house on the assumption that Jason and others might want to make their contribution out of our home (a kind of office, let’s say). Jason has never stopped by. I have wondered about his initiative.

In reply over our coffee and soon after over the emails, Miriam reconfirmed the interest of both she and Jason to play a lead role for the Facebook Team. She affirmed that her artistic background and interest could lend itself very well to the bit of creative work I would like to see done. Without using the words, her message was: “get us a computer and we will be there!” So now I want to get them that computer.

I have two obstacles in front of me.

First, I need the money. I am in the process of pulling my tax data together. If the tax calculations show that I can pay what I owe and still have enough left over to buy myself a new laptop then the machine I am using this minute can be cleaned up and handed over to my daughter and Jason. It will immediately test their resolve. In the event of non-performance, I will nonetheless have a new laptop and I will have helped Miriam and Jason out a bit.

My second challenge is Marie who while supportive (sort of/sometimes) of my political journey is never happy when this means shelling out yet again more money. Marie knows that my money situation is starting to get tight. For my part, I am prepared to take the risk and drop another $2,000 or so on campaign preparations. I now have to find the right way to confirm this to Marie.

At the end of the day I placed a call to Gerald to review the state of play and discuss the next rounds of campaign preparation. I learned that Gerald’s involvement in my campaign may have shone a light upon him in other quarters. He is a fellow who clearly knows a thing or two about the political process. Through contacts he has long had with friends in Jamaica, I learned that he has been offered a contract to advise on ways to help the bureaucracy in that country strengthen their links to their political structures. He is becoming an “expert” on participation in the political process.

Our main topic, however, was “where to from here”. I summarize what we discussed in the box below. I wanted to align different campaign options with the possibility that the EDA might be strengthened after the upcoming Annual General Meeting.

THE WAY AHEAD

1. “Bare Bones” Campaign Plan and Weak EDA (the most likely scenario)

a. Campaign manager becomes a coordinating position and point of contact for national office. Campaign manager oversees implementation of Statements of Duties held by different core team members. Statements of Duties will already have been negotiated between me and each team member. No fundraising position needed, though contacts will be made and money will almost certainly flow in. No communications officer needed. PR would be achieved by maximum participation in public forums and events.

b. Official Agent – my brother Gerald

c. Budget – Likely in the range of $50 to $60K, inclusive of signs.

d. EDA contribution – Likely limited to signs, a $5K cash infusion, and leaseholder of a two or three month low-cost office lease.

e. Core team positions: candidate; official agent; campaign manager/implementation coordinator; office manager; volunteer coordinator (likely appointed when volunteers begin signing on); ground operations (focused upon signs and door-to-door canvassing, to the extent volunteers and funding permit).

2. Fully Funded Campaign Plan and Weak EDA

a. Campaign manager named by Candidate.

b. Campaign manager, a paid professional (Fraser M?), appoints staff to all key positions including fundraiser and communications. Official Agent is Gerald Westland.

c. Budget – Likely to be $85K or so (depends upon number of voters confirmed by Elections Canada).

d. EDA transfer – to be confirmed in a Letter of Intent (or equivalent document). Cash shortfalls will be covered by loans from the candidate.

3. Fully Funded Campaign Plan and Strong EDA

a. Candidate selects fully staffed campaign team from the ranks of the EDA.

b. Budget – Fully funded.

c. EDA transfer – as set out in Letter of Intent (or equivalent document).

d. Campaign plan – to be pulled together by campaign manager, working with EDA and team members. Candidate has veto over how he is presented and what he is asked to say.

21 APRIL

Today I worked on my income taxes. What an effort this is for me!

At lunch I had to rush out the door to meet with Pricilla who is expecting to be office manager in a future campaign.

Pricilla has a remarkably diverse background. She is most definitely a solid Conservative. She is more a Reformer than a Progressive Conservative, that’s for sure. I have to be somewhat careful when I talk to her so that I do not disappoint with words that are too left-leaning for her taste.

We established between us that she will be quite happy to work with the campaign team if its operation is limited by what I have called a “bare bones” plan. She and I will work out a Statement of Duties that she finds do-able and that I can live with – which is to say, that I have confidence can be delivered within the restrictions of a basic plan which assumes a weak association. I will begin working on her Statement of Duties soon.

We also had a tour d’horizon regarding people we now both know in the business of local politics. I sensed that we judge peoples’ strengths and weaknesses rather similarly. While her sharp edge can unsettle me, I am coming to like Priscilla quite a bit. Above all else, I feel I can trust her.

Priscilla agreed to be part of my garbage day team, to pick up garbage at a community park. Which park it will be has yet to be identified by the Vanier Community Association. Lynda who also seems to live in Guy’s apartment building (who knew it was so big?) also agreed in the course of the day to be a member of Team Westland for the occasion. Eleanor, with whom I have had limited contact recently, is also on board. Marie has no choice. So I am up to 5 people – which is the minimum number expected by the Vanier organizers. I will be calling some others over the next few days and I will use the event on 28 April to try and get more to join us still.

It seems to me that a standing team of folk, with me as the featured head, who contribute to cleanups wherever they may be scheduled across the riding is a pretty fun way to get some publicity without making a political stink.

22 APRIL 2010

It strikes me that I have not updated you on the problems being faced by my predecessor as candidate for Ottawa-Vanier, Patrick Glemaud.

The Prime Minister has removed the offending minister from his cabinet and from the Conservative caucus (Helena Georgis, former minister of state responsible for women) whose husband is a partner with Patrick in a firm that seeks to bring money and “green” industries together. The Prime Minister’s reasons were cryptic. We are told, however, that the RCMP have been called in to investigate.

As the story rolled out it seems that a large part of the former minister’s problem lies in the conduct of her husband (a former Member of Parliament for the CPC) and his partner (Patrick). The two fared very badly before a Parliamentary Committee meeting yesterday.

My assessment of the issues is that Patrick and Raheem Jaffer were hoping to use their knowledge of government, their influence, and their racial minority status (Haitian and Ugandan Indian respectively) to secure promises of work for a number of companies engaged in the development and operation of green industries. With a few hundreds of millions of dollars of “guaranteed work” in hand, the company run by Patrick and Raheem planned (my guess, anyway) to go public, sell their company for millions of dollars, and get rich quick.

But that dream is over now for Patrick.

I suspect the former minister is caught in the socializing that helped to facilitate all this. I am sure her hand was not in the till. But what a mess for her and for them all! Patrick’s business dreams are almost certainly over.

I wonder from time to time whether I owe Patrick a call to provide words of encouragement but I guess the better strategy is to keep my distance. He has never reached out to me and now is not the time to get drawn into his needs.

I did, however, provide words of encouragement to a Nortel pensioner with whom I had coffee in the morning. Nortel is a firm that went bankrupt even prior to the economic melt down that began in 2008. After the melt down the chances of Nortel finding its feet again were zero. The impact upon Nortel pensioners has been devastating.

There are a number of former Nortel employees living in this riding. When the opportunity came to meet with one of them I seized it. The outcome of our meeting was an idea about how to proceed that may or may not hold water. I decided to call name the proposal after Greg C. and me, and have him forward it to his colleague pensioners if he wished.

NORTEL PENSION DILEMMA

Statement of the Problem

For the purpose of this proposal (our suggestions still fall far short of a solution) we understand the Nortel Pension problem to be composed of the following parts:

Jurisdiction – The Nortel pension plan is registered in Ontario and subject to the Ontario Pension Benefits Act. Nortel was not a federally regulated industry and its pension plan is not covered by the federal Pension Benefits Standard Act, 1985. Help will not come directly from the Federal Government.

Capacity – The Government of Ontario has undertaken to top-up the first $1000 per month of Nortel pensioners and plan members’ pension benefits if the Nortel plans are wound up with insufficient assets. This is not nearly enough to make a significant difference. Ontario does not have the fiscal capacity, however, to do much more on its own.

Structure – For the purpose of this Response we understand the structure of the problem to be the following:

- Dental and medical benefits are funded through Sun Life, but when Nortel is fully wound up the contract with Sun Life will be terminated and these benefits will stop.

- Pension amounts are paid out of an account managed by Northern Trust, the value of which is significantly less than required to honor the reasonable expectations of Nortel employees when they retired. The account was underfunded by Nortel, a situation that was accepted by the provincial government for political and economic policy reasons. The serious downturn in the economy that began in 2008 has not helped either.

Power – We find it particularly troubling that Nortel pensioners are almost powerless with regard to steps being contemplated by governments, investment banks, and private sector companies on behalf of Canadian citizens in our situation.

In the response to the problem we accept the current situation with regard to points #1, 2, and 3. We cannot accept our powerlessness (point #4).

The Westland Response

We believe the following initiatives should be considered:

1. Instruct Northern Trust to write to each pensioner and forecast for that person what his or her share of the pension account is likely to be.

We need to know what our futures hold for us. We believe this is an instruction that the Provincial Government has the authority to make.

2. Develop a policy that will empower pensioners to make a choice about their futures. For example:

- A pensioner could have the option to withdraw his or her full share in the pension account, for separate and personal investment in a savings plan, RRSP, or business. This would end the pensioner’s relationship to the account.

- A pensioner’s share could be withdrawn in fixed amounts as decided by the pensioner himself/herself. Amounts not yet taken out would increase or decrease in value depending upon performance of the account. After the last withdrawal the pensioner would have no continuing relationship to the account.

- A pensioner could elect to receive monthly payments from the account, knowing that the monthly payment could increase or decrease depending upon performance of the account. Under this option the pensioner remains tied to the future of the account for life.

3. Obtain a commitment from the federal and provincial government to – as a priority in future budgets – top up orphaned pension accounts until monthly payments to pensioners return to levels expected at the time of retirement.

This commitment would be an inducement for pensioners to choose the third of the options just described (“elect to receive monthly payments”) because there is the potential for full recovery. We think full recovery should include a sum that takes into account the dental and medical benefits that will be lost at the end of this calendar year.

We view this commitment as one that both levels of government can make.

The Federal Government could negotiate an agreement with the province under which annual transfer/equalization payments include a line which transfers an amount for the sole and dedicated purpose of pension account top-ups. When Ontario returns to “have” status this responsibility would fall only upon the province.

We think governments should agree upon priority categories for addressing some orphaned accounts before others, and we think the Nortel account should be at the top of the list.

I look forward to learning what Nortel pensioners’ response will be to this proposal, if any.

In the afternoon I met with Nancy K, the young woman who had accepted to develop the “chair” imagery I have spoken about earlier. She showed me the design she and her brother-in-law had worked upon…and I laughed.

Since the express purpose of the “chair” is to poke a bit of fun and thereby unsettle the opposition my reflex to laugh was exactly right. When I showed the proposed design to Marie she laughed. Gerrit laughed. I know I have exactly what I want!

23 TO 25 APRIL 2010

We went to Knowlton (Mom) and stayed overnight with my sister (South Bolton) in the Eastern Townships this weekend. Political business was kept to a minimum though I had to bear with quite a few comments from Joan and her husband James regarding the nefarious ways of the Conservative party and especially of its leader, the Prime Minister of Canada. I offer a balancing perspective from time to time but mostly keep my answers to myself. I am the guest after all.

A few things crossed my mind, however, as I reflected on the week just past.

The political profile given to Patrick Glemaud’s issues over the last week mean that our mention of him at the Annual General Meeting, as having been the previous candidate, presents an interesting set of questions. He was well known, and well supported, by the Electoral District Association for a period of almost two years. Will he be recognized for the role that he played or will it be assumed that a fellow with so many skeletons coming out of his closet risks dragging the association out into the open as well?

I have very little information on how Patrick came to be a candidate in Ottawa-Vanier. I do not have an accurate idea about whether his candidacy and his campaign will look “clean” if subjected to scrutiny by an interested media. If there are media representatives attending the AGM – which I do not think will happen – the less said about Patrick, likely the better. To ignore totally his time with us, however, would reflect badly on our organization as well. I will take my cue from what Gene and others advise as we head towards the AGM later this week.

When returning from the Eastern Townships I provided my input to email exchanges regarding a proposal from Georges Lavoie that the AGM begin with an opening prayer. This was rejected by the executive committee…but I took the time to write to Georges that I appreciated his thought on the matter. Georges is a francophone Canadian of Haitian descent, well connected within the Haitian community in our riding, who would prove to be an invaluable ally in my determination to become known in all parts of the riding. He and I always spoke French to each other when knocking on doors together.

My observation was that Canada is not really a Christian country, but a country whose principles, values and traditions – and indeed whose legal and political system – are based upon the beliefs and the culture of Christian people. We have incorporated (if late in the day) the history and beliefs of Aboriginal people to some extent, and we are an open and dynamic society meaning that our system will continue to change. So it is no longer appropriate to expect Canadians to all sign up to prayers to the Christian God.

Someone else proposed that we should sing Oh Canada at the start of the finish of the AGM. I am prepared to go along with this, but as I advised Guy I will need a copy of the words.

On Sunday I talked to my brother over the phone. We learned that my sister Joan had suffered a fainting spell of some kind and had been taken to the hospital shortly after Marie and I left Knowlton. We then learned soon after that she was OK and back home. Gerald told me not to worry, all is OK again.

My talk to Gerald gave me a chance to refer to the “chair” flyer and to confirm whether he will be prepared to allow the line “approved by Official Agent” to appear on that flyer when an election is called. He would not be able to say “yes”, he told me, without getting sign-off from the national office first.

Isn’t that an interesting, and troublesome response? He is technically correct, but he knows that I have already spent over $500 on that wonderful little project. I have shared it every step of the way with everyone on the team.

Finally, I learned today that Henry and Tony will be pleased to join me in the Vanier clean-up effort. I now have a “Team” of about 7 people…more than enough to make a good showing for those who might be looking.

26 APRIL

I will be in a hurry to get to the 28 of April in this diary because of the significant event that happens on that day. The Annual General Meeting on that day will result, as you will see, in a fundamental change to how we – and I – expect to do business between now and the next election. I am reconstructing today’s diary entry, and tomorrow’s, because I have been delinquent as usual.

On this day I was still calmly preparing myself for that 28 April meeting. My focus was upon the speech I will be making. I followed the written text of my speech pretty closely.

SPEECH TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

of the

OTTAWA-VANIER CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION

WE CAN WIN THIS RIDING

- THOSE WHO WILL VOTE FOR US IN THE NEXT ELECTION ARE CITZENS WHO:

o BELIEVE THEY CAN MAKE A SUCCESS OF THEIR LIVES AS LONG AS THE RULES ARE CLEAR AND ARE FAIRLY APPLIED

o REJECT THE ASSUMPTION THAT THOSE WHO GOVERN ARE SMARTER THAN THOSE WHO ARE GOVERNED

o WANT GOVERNMENTS TO ENSURE THAT THE LAWS GOVERNING OUR SOCIETY ARE APPROPRIATE FOR OUR TIMES AND ARE ENFORCED BY OUR COURTS, BUT OTHERWISE LEAVE US ALONE

o WANT GOVERNMENTS TO RESPOND TO INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC PRESSURES BY MAINTAINING A BALANCE BETWEEN OUR TRADITIONS AS A COUNTRY AND THE PRESSURES FOR CHANGE.

- CANADIAN CONSERVATIVES BELIEVE THAT YOU CANNOT GET TO A BETTER PLACE IN THE FUTURE WITHOUT KNOWING WHERE YOU COME FROM.

- IN THE COMPLEX WORLD OF TODAY IT TAKES COURAGE TO STAND UP FOR CANADA. THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA HAS THAT COURAGE, AND SO DO WE.

- MY MEETINGS OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS WITH RESIDENTS AND BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS IN OUR RIDING, INCLUDING REPRESENTATIVES OF NEW CANADIANS, CONFIRM TO ME THAT SUPPORT FOR CANADIAN CONSERVATIVISM IS STRONG.

- THE DISTRICT PROFILES DONE AND MAINTAINED BY OUR ASSOCIATION CONFIRM THAT OUR SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES LINE UP WITH MAJORITY SUPPORT FOR THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA.

- LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: THE STAGE FOR OUR VICTORY IS WELL SET.

- BUT THERE IS ONE TRADITION IN THIS RIDING WE CONSERVATIVES CANNOT SUPPORT.

- THE TRADITION AMONG TOO MANY OF US TO VOTE LIBERAL

- EVEN THOUGH THE LIBERAL PARTY HAS LONG AGO CEASED TO REPRESENT OUR VALUES AND PRINCIPLES THIS TRADITION HAS NOT YET BEEN OVERTURNED!

- TO OVERTURN THIS TRADITION WILL BE THE MAIN JOB OF THE EDA, AND ME, BETWEEN NOW AND THE NEXT ELECTION!!

PART 2

BEATING THE LIBERAL INCUMBENT

FRENCH-ENGLISH RELATIONS

[French text to be corrected…]

- AVANT TOUT, JE VAIS DEMONTRER QUE NOTRE CIR-CON-SCRIPTION N’EST PLUS AXEE AUTOUR LA DIVISION ENTRE LES CANADIENS FRANCOPHONE ET ANGLOPHONE.

- C’ETAIT UN PEUX CA DANS L’EPOQUE DE MONSIEUR TREADEAU, JEAN PIERRE GAUTIER, JEAN LUC PEPIN, AND LES LIBERAUX D’AUPARAVANT.

- JE VAIS DEMONTRER QUE L’EPOQUE DE MAURIL BELANGER N’EST PLUS LA REALITE D’AUJOURD’HUI.

- NOUS AVONS SURMONTER LA DIVISION ENTRE NOS DEUX GROUPS LINGUISTIQUES. NOUS AURONS MEME UN JOURNEE SPECIALE POUR CELEBRER LE FAIT FRANCO-ONTARIEN DANS NOTRE PROVINCE AND NOTRE REGION.

- NOUS SOMMES MAINTENANT UNE CIR-CON-SCIPTION DANS LAQUELLE LE NOMBRE DE GROUPS IMMIGRANTS EST GRANDISSANT. MOI, JE SUIS D’ORIGINE HOLLANDAISE.

- NOUS SOMMES UNE CIRCONSCRIPTION DANS LAQUELLE LES GROUPS AUTOCHTONES TOUCH LES MEMES POURCENTAGES, ET ENCORES PLUS, Q’AILLEUR AU CANADA.

- MOI, J’AI VECU PARMI LES INUIT ET J’AI TRAVAILLER BEAUCOUP DANS LA DOMAINE AUTOCHTONES – ET COMME FONCTIONNAIR FEDERAL, ET DANS LE SECTEUR PRIVE.

- LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I WILL BE MAKING THE POINT THAT THE LIBERAL PARTY OF CANADA TRULY IS THE PARTY OF YESTERDAY

- MY MAIN OPPONENT IN THE NEXT ELECTION IS YESTERDAY’S MAN!

FEW RESULTS AFTER 15 YEARS

- THE INCUMBENT MP IS VERY VULNERABLE ON HIS RECORD

CFB ROCKCLIFFE

- FIFTEEN YEARS AGO, WHEN MR. BELANGER WAS FIRST ELECTED, THE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT OF THE DAY ORDERED THE CANADIAN FORCES TO CLOSE CFB ROCKCLIFFE.

- I WAS A SENIOR OFFICIAL IN THE DEPARTMENT OF NATIONAL DEFENCE AT THAT TIME, WITH RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DISPOSITION OF ROCKCLIFFE.

- I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE CANADIAN FORCES DID NOT WANT OR PLAN FOR THE CLOSURE OF ROCKCLIFFE. I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE CLOSURE OF THE BASE COST THE FORCES A LOT OF MONEY, AND STILL COSTS A LOT OF MONEY IN ANNUAL HOLDING COSTS.

- I CAN TELL YOU THAT ONE OF OUR OBSTACLES IN GETTING ROCKCLIFFE OUT OF THE FORCES INVENTORY BACK THEN WAS THE ATTITUDE OF THE LOCAL MP TOWARDS FUTURE USE OF THE BASE.

- AFTER 15 YEARS WITHOUT RESULTS, I SAY TO MR. BELANGER THAT HIS CONTRIBUTION HAS NOT BEEN GOOD ENOUGH!

NEW BRIDGE

- FIFTEEN YEARS AGO THE STUDIES ON TRAFFIC CONGESTION IN THE CENTER OF OUR RIDING LED TO THE CONCLUSION THAT AT LEAST ONE MORE BRIDGE IS NEEDED TO CROSS THE OTTAWA RIVER FROM QUEBEC TO ONTARIO.

- THOSE STUDIES, BY THE WAY, NEVER ADDRESSED WHERE THE TRAFFIC CAME FROM, AND THEREFORE NEVER ASKED WHY THE TRUCKS NEED TO BE IN THE MIDDLE OF OUR RIDING IN THE FIRST PLACE.

- OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS THERE HAS BEEN A STUDY LED BY THE NCC, THE CITY, AND THE PROVINCE.

- THE STUDY YIELDED A RESULT UNACCEPTABLE TO RESIDENTS OF OUR RIDING, AND MR. BELANGER HAS BEEN MAKING SUGGESTIONS ABOUT DIFFERENT BRIDGE LOCATIONS EVER SINCE.

- BUT SO MANY YEARS LATER THERE IS STILL NO BRIDGE.

- IT IS NOT FOR POLITICIANS AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL TO SAY WHERE A NEW BRIDGE SHOULD BE LOCATED: THIS IS FOR THE CITIZENS AND RESIDENTS TO DECIDE.

- THE JOB OF A POLITICIAN IS TO ENSURE THAT THE PROCESSES WHICH ENGAGE CITIZENS IN CONSULTATION ARE THE RIGHT ONES.

- IT IS THE JOB OF POLITICIANS TO ENSURE THAT THE PROCESSES LEADING TO A DECISION ARE IMPLEMENTED CORRECTLY.

- MR. BELANGER, THE PROCESSES WHICH HAVE TAKEN US THIS FAR WERE NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

- MR. BELANGER, FIFTEEN YEARS WITHOUT RESULTS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

KING EDWARD TRAFFIC

- THE MESSAGE HERE IS THE SAME AS FOR THE BRIDGE, SINCE THE ISSUES ARE RELATED

- MR. BELANGER, FIFTEEN YEARS WITHOUT RESULTS IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

MONTFORT HOSPITAL

- IN HIS BOOKLET LISTING 15 YEARS OF ACCOMPLISHMENTS MR. BELANGER POINTS TO THE MONTFORT HOSPITAL AVOIDING CLOSURE.

- I WOULD POINT OUT THAT THE MAJOR ISSUES INVOLVED WERE PROVINCIAL NOT FEDERAL.

- I WOULD POINT OUT THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT INTERVENTION FROM THE FEDERAL LEVEL CAME NOT FROM THE SITTING MP BUT FROM HIS PREDECESSOR.

- I WOULD POINT OUT THAT I, WHILE WITH DND, WORKED CLOSELY WITH OUR MEDICAL SERVICES STAFF TO ENSURE A MOVE OF MEDICAL SERVICES FROM THE NATIONAL DEFENCE MEDICAL CENTER ON ALTA VISTA DRIVE TO THE MONTFORT.

- I WOULD POINT OUT THAT THE SITTING MP RODE THE WAVE ON THE MONTFORT HOSPITAL BUT WAS NOT A LEADER IN THIS SUCCESS STORY AT ALL.

BEECHWOOD CEMETERY

- ALSO IN HIS LITTLE BOOKLET OF ACHIEVEMENTS I NOTE THAT MR. BELANGER CLOSES HIS SHORT ACCOUNT WITH REFERENCE TO THE BEECHWOOD CEMETERY.

- I LOOK FORWARD TO PUBLIC DEBATES WITH MR. BELANGER BECAUSE I CAN TELL YOU THAT OFFICIAL RECOGNITION OF THE NATIONAL MILITARY CEMETERY AT BEECHWOOD WAS THE FIRST STEP TOWARDS NATIONAL CEMETERY RECOGNITION IN 2009.

- AND MR. BELANGER HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH RECOGNITION OF THE NATIONAL MILITARY CEMETERY.

- IN FACT THE LIBERAL GOVERNMENT OF THE DAY, BACK IN 2000 (FIVE YEARS AFTER MR. BELANGER WAS FIRST ELECTED), DID NOT WANT THE JOURNEY TOWARDS NATIONAL CEMETERY RECOGNITION TO BEGIN.

- WE IN DND HAD TO WORK VERY CAREFULLY BELOW THE RADAR TO ACHIEVE THE FIRST STEP BACK IN 2001 WHEN THE MILITARY CEMETERY WAS RECOGNIZED.

- OUR SITTING MP WAS NOT AT ALL A LEADER ON THIS FILE AND I WILL BE VERY PLEASED TO TELL HIM SO.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

- MY OVERALL ASSESSMENT IS THAT OUR SITTING MP HAS CERTAINLY BEEN SUPPORTIVE OF ACHIEVEMENTS WHICH HAVE BENEFITTED THIS RIDING OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS.

- BUT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, HE HAS NOT BEEN A LEADER IN ANY OF THESE ACHIEVEMENTS. HE HAS RIDDEN ON THE COAT TAILS OF OTHERS, AND WE ARE GOING TO BRING HIS RIDE TO AN END!

- OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS IT WILL BE THE JOB OF THIS ASSOCIATION TO BRING THE LATENT CANADIAN CONSERVATIVISM THROUGHOUT THIS RIDING TO THE FOREFRONT.

- OVER THE LAST 15 YEARS WE HAVE HAD A SITTING MP WHO HAS BEEN MOSTLY SITTING.

- IT WILL BE OUR JOB IN THE NEXT ELECTION TO GET THE SITTING MP TO STAND UP AND MOVE ON.

- IT IS TIME.

- OUR TIME IS NOW!

PART 3

ISSUES FOR THE RIDING

SAFE COMMUNITIES

- IT IS IMPORTANT FOR US TO RECOGNIZE THE WORK BEING DONE BY COMMUNITY GROUPS IN OUR RIDING TO MAKE THE STREETS AND PUBLIC SPACES MORE SAFE.

- IN OVERBROOK, VANIER AND LOWERTOWN THE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATIONS, THE COMMUNITY LEADERS, AND THE POLICE ARE WORKING TOGETHER AND ARE ACHIEVING REMARKABLE SUCCESSES.

- FOR MOST OF THE CRIME INDICATORS THE DATA SHOW THAT CRIMINAL ACTIVITY IN OTTAWA-VANIER HAS DECREASED SINCE THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY FORMED A GOVERNMENT IN 2006.

- LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, THIS GOVERNMENT’S DETERMINATION TO COMBAT SERIOUS AND VIOLENT CRIMES HAS HAD ITS IMPACT IN OUR RIDING AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

- FOR THOSE WHO SAY THAT OUR GOVERNMENT IS OVERLY CONCERNED WITH ENFORCEMENT MY ANSWER IS:

- PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION RANK ABOVE ENFORCEMENT IN OUR PARTY’S 2008 PLATFORM.

- BUT, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION REQUIRE PROGRAMS SUCH AS COUNSELLING, SHELTERS, AND EDUCATION THAT FALL MOSTLY INTO PROVINCIAL AND MUNICIPAL JURISDICTION.

- TO THOSE WHO SAY WE CONSERVATIVES ARE TOO TOUGH ON CRIME MY ANSWER IS:

- IF THE PROVINCE AND THE CITY DO NOT DO ENOUGH TO HELP PREVENT CRIME AND ON INTERVENTION, DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO LESS TO ENFORCE THE LAWS AS WELL?

- I THINK THE ANSWER IS MOST DEFINITELY “NO!”.

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

- I WILL BE ATTENDING AN URBAN FORUM TOMORROW AND FRIDAY AT WHICH THE FUTURE EVOLUTION OF URBAN AREAS WILL BE DISCUSSED.

- THIS FOLLOWS UP UPON COMMUNITY MEETINGS I HAVE ATTENDED IN THE OVERBROOK AREA AT WHICH REPRESENTATIVES OF THE CITY PUT FORWARD THE IDEA OF RECREATING LANEWAYS DOWN THROUGH THE BACK YARDS OF RESIDENTS.

- LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IN MY VIEW THIS ISSUE – LIKE JUST ABOUT ALL OTHERS – CAN BE USED TO SHOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CANADIAN CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLES AND VALUES, AND THE POLITICAL ORIENTATION OF THE LIBERALS AND THE NDP.

- WE CONSERVATIVES DO NOT THINK GOVERNMENT IS SMARTER THAN WE ARE. WE CONSERVATIVES PLACE HIGH VALUE ON PAST DECISIONS WHICH HAVE BROUGHT US TO THE POINT WHERE WE NOW ARE. WE CONSERVATIVES VIEW IT AS A FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE THAT WE GET TO CHOOSE WHAT HAPPENS IN OUR LIVES.

- AT THE OVERBROOK MEETINGS I ATTENDED THE CITY AND THE CITY COUNCILLOR FACED 100% OPPOSITION TO THE CITY PROPOSAL. THERE WERE ABOUT 300 PEOPLE IN THE HALL, PERHAPS MORE. THE OPPOSITION WAS NOT 95% OR 99%. IT WAS 100%.

- THE RESIDENTS OBSERVED THAT DECISIONS MADE OR NOT MADE OVER THE LAST 100 YEARS HAVE RESULTED IN BACKYARDS THAT ARE JOINED TOGETHER. NEIGHBOURS AND FAMILIES HAVE DEVELOPED RELATIONSHIPS OVER THE GENERATIONS THAT PRESUMED EASY MOVEMENT AMONG HOMES.

- RESIDENTS OBSERVED THAT ISOLATED LANEWAYS QUICKLY BECOME PREFERRED AREAS FOR ISOLATED GROUPS TO INDULGE IN ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUS.

- RESIDENTS OBSERVED THAT THE FIRST FEW HUNDRED METERS OF THE PROPOSED LANEWAYS WOULD REQUIRE 63 MATURE TREES TO BE CUT DOWN.

- YET THE MEETING WENT ON. THE CITY AND THE COUNCILLOR DID NOT WITHDRAW THE PROPOSAL. THE PRESSURE CONTINUES AND IS IN FACT SPREADING TO OTHER PARTS OF THE CITY.

- LADIES AND GENTLEMENT, THE CITY AND THE COUNCILLOR DID NOT, AND DO NOT, REFLECT CANADIAN CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLES AS I UNDERSTAND THEM.

- THE MORE “BLUE” WE CAN PAINT THIS RIDING, AT ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT, THE LESS LIKELY IT WILL BE THAT THOSE WHO BELIEVE THEY KNOW THE FUTURE BETTER THAN THE REST OF US…WILL SUCCEED!

PENSION REFORM

- I WANT TO RAISE THIS ISSUE BECAUSE I HAVE MET WITH A NUMBER OF NORTEL PENSIONERS DURING GENE AND MY DOOR KNOCKING, AND SUBSEQUENTLY.

- I AM VERY CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT A NUMBER OF OUR FELLOW CITIZENS HAVE BEEN CAUGHT, AND TERRIBLY SO, BY THE IMPACTS OF THE RECENT ECONOMIC DOWNTURN AND THE IMPLOSION OF SOME COMPANIES SUCH AS NORTEL.

- I HAVE LEARNED THAT THE LAWS, SOME OF WHICH ARE FEDERAL, THAT APPLY TO BANKRUPTCY AND INSOLVENCY OF COMPANIES TREAT RETIRED AND DISABLED FORMER WORKERS AS IF THEY WERE INVESTORS, AND OFFER A LOWER LEVEL OF PROTECTION TO THEIR PENSION ASSETS THAN TO OTHER ASSETS STILL HELD BY A COMPANY.

- MY VIEW, WHICH I HAVE SHARED WITH SOME OF YOU, IS THAT THIS IS A TIME FOR US CONSERVATIVES TO REVIEW THE RULES OF THE GAME.

- REMEMBER: WE CONSERVATIVES WANT OUR LAWS TO BE APPROPRIATE FOR OUR TIMES, AND WITHIN THOSE LAWS WE ARE HAPPY TO FIND OUR OWN WAYS.

- I HOPE THAT OUR GOVERNMENT WILL TAKE A CLOSE LOOK AT THE LAWS THAT GOVERN SITUATIONS SUCH AS NORTEL AND WILL ASK WHETHER AND HOW LAWS SHOULD BE ADJUSTED IN LIGHT OF WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE MARKET OVER THE LAST YEAR OR TWO.

A STRONG ECONOMY

- THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND PREDICTS THAT CANADA WILL LEAD THE G-7 AND ALL MAJOR ADVANCED ECONOMIES, THIS YEAR AND NEXT.

- THIS ECHOES THE OECD VIEW.

- I LOOK FORWARD TO RUNNING ON THE RECORD OF OUR CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT

- THOUGH I KNOW TIMES WILL GET TOUGHER AHEAD, OUR GOVERNMENT ENABLED CANADA TO ENTER INTO THE GLOBAL CRISIS IN GOOD SHAPE AND OUR EXIT STRATEGY WILL BE LESS PAINFUL THAN WHAT WE WILL SEE IN MOST OTHER DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.

- IN OTTAWA VANIER MY REVIEW OF THE DATA AFFIRMS THAT ABOUT $128 MILLION OF FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS WAS SPENT ON PROJECTS IN OTTAWA-VANIER, WHICH – WHEN TIED TO RELATED EXPENDITURES OF THE PROVINCE AND THE CITY – CREATED ALMOST $350 MILLION IN BUSINESS.

- BETWEEN NOW AND THE ELECTION I WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW THAT VOLUME OF BUSINESS TRANSLATED INTO REVENUES FOR CONSTRUCTION AND SERVICE PROVIDERS BASED IN OUR RIDING.

- IF ANY OF YOU HAVE PARTICULAR SKILLS IN THIS RESEARCH AREA, PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH ME!

CONCLUSION

I WANT TO CONCLUDE BY LEAVING YOU WITH THREE OR FOUR KEY MESSAGES:

1. THIS RIDING IS WINNABLE FOR THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA IN THE NEXT FEDERAL ELECTION!

2. TO WIN WE NEED AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH THAT DE-STABILIZES THE TRADITION TO VOTE LIBERAL.

3. THE BEST WAY TO DE-STABILIZE, IN MY VIEW, IS FOR US TO HAVE SOME FUN AND TO SHOW ENTHUSIASM FOR OUR CAUSE. TO HAVE FUN AND TO BE ENTHUSIASTIC IS WHAT I AM ALL ABOUT!

4. BUT I NEED YOUR SUPPORT. I NEED A STRONG AND ENTHUSIASTIC ASSOCIATION. I NEED MEMBERS OF THIS PARTY, TODAY AND OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS AND MONTHS, TO STEP FORWARD AND BECOME PART OF A WINNING TEAM.

THANKS AGAIN TO THE BOARD MEMBERS AND NATIONAL PARTY REPRESENTATIVES WHO HAVE HELPED BRING US CONSERVATIVES AND ME PERSONALLY THIS FAR TOWARDS OUR EVENTUAL VICTORY IN THE NEXT ELECTION.

AND A SPECIAL THANK-YOU TO THOSE BOARD MEMBERS WHO WILL BE PART OF THE JOURNEY OVER THE COMING YEAR.

THE DAY WILL COME WHEN YOU ARE STANDING BESIDE ME ACKNOWLEDGING A RESULT IN THIS RIDING THAT OUR MAIN OPPONENTS CANNOT EVEN YET CONCEIVE!

27 APRIL 2010

This was another quiet day, in the course of which I finalized content for the speech to the AGM, revised the “2-pager” on “Safe Communities”, and confirmed the colors that will be used by Nancy K on the draft “chair” flyer.

I had discussions over the phone and email exchanges with Amy to agree between us on how to handle the Facebook page. Amy’s involvement gives me confidence that, once we start to roll, the Facebook will become an attractive site for residents in Ottawa-Vanier to visit and to talk about.

On the national political scene there are two major stories, the second of which could lead to a vote of confidence in the House. The possibility of a snap election before the summer break can still not be ruled out.

The first of these stories is the ongoing unfolding of the Glemaud/Jaffer/Geurgis relationship among each other, with private sector businesses seeking access to public funds, and with the federal government. It is becoming more clear that Glemaud and Jaffer hoped to profit from their combined knowledge of the federal administration and political system, with Jaffer leading on the political front, by building a credible business line and selling the business before any work is actually done. The area of potential work would be in the environmental sector. The dollars involved would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. And now they have nothing.

I think this story is highly unlikely to lead to a vote of confidence. If anything is being hidden it is certainly not being hidden by the Crown. From the exchanges already made public via the House committee process I doubt that any important secrets remain to be discovered.

The second story is the Afghan detainee matter. The Speaker of the House of Commons has ruled that the executive branch of the government cannot hide information from the whole of the Parliament. Laws regarding secrecy, however, do need to be respected. The Speaker called for all four parties in the House to come up with a compromise way to see all of the documents related to this matter, without risking that individuals (likely all soldiers on the ground) or the government itself will be compromised.

This matter threatens to become a stand-off in which the government insists that the relevant laws support the holding back of information and the opposition insists that the information being held back should be released. The Speaker could call for a vote on the matter which, if it goes against the government’s position, could be seen as a Vote of Confidence and an election would follow.

I assess the chances of this happening at somewhere around 40%.

28 APRIL 2010

In the morning I took the time to visit a computer shop to buy a new computer so that Jason and Miriam can receive my old one and can get started with their ideas for an internet presence, primarily on Youtube. I also fit in time to do my exercises.

In the evening the fun began.

When I arrived at the Annual General Meeting I was taken aback by the number of national office and Parliament Hill staffers in attendance. I had certainly expected a number of conscripts to be driven to the meeting by Colin McSweeney. I had expected Alex to drive out some Ottawa University students as well. But I had not expected to see 30 or so young people already sitting in their chairs when I got there at 6:30 pm. Together they constituted half of the total in attendance. The meeting began at 7:00 pm.

The opening presentation came from Pierre Poilievre, Member of Parliament in an adjacent riding. His presence was not expected either.

The “Report from the President” was delivered by Colin himself. He ad-libbed a bit owing to content (drafted by Carol) that was clearly intended to throw barbs at some individuals. Ross read the “Report from the Treasurer”, in the course of which I sat on my hands and tried hard to remain calm.

Next it was my turn to deliver a speech. I spoke along the lines of what I had drafted. I could see that the speech went over very well. I began and ended my presentation by inviting people to step forward and join the board, to help me win.

When the time came to select board members a slate of candidates was presented from the floor by one of our long-term members. The slate held 11 names, most of whom were known to be by now.

And then…one of the national office people read out a separate and additional list of 23 attendees, all of whom were voted to the board by a single move and seconded. The board, with me listed as ex officio, was now going to be 25 people strong!

The selection of executive members followed immediately afterwards.

By the end of the nominations and the voting, most of it by private ballot, the association had been almost totally taken over by young political aides working for the national party on Parliament Hill. Only Gene and Guy remained on the executive but those two occupy Member-at-Large positions and have limited voting rights.

After just 7 months as candidate I have seen the association I signed up with be changed almost completely. Only Gene remains of the core team which called me in for an interview last October, and Gene himself now holds a minor position on the board. Among those now gone away are Carol, Gordon, Bruce, Ross, Wendy, Mark, Heather, Patrick, Georges, Francis, Eleanor (though still hopefully on the campaign team), and others.

The new board president is a member of the Prime Minister’s Office. The new treasurer works on the Hill for a Member of Parliament. I think all of the board members, except for Gene and Guy, are staffers either of the national office or on the Hill serving with MPs, ministers, or senators. All of them, like Colin and indeed like our illustrious member for Ottawa-Vanier are careerists in politics. Politics is their profession. Period. Odd.

In our review of all this when we came home at the end of the day Marie and I could not decide whether this hijacking of a weak EDA by young politicos should be understood as a compliment to me or as a bold statement from the national office that the Ottawa-Vanier Association is broken and that perhaps its candidate is suspect as well. I wondered whether my own position as designated candidate for the next federal election has become uncertain. Perhaps I will be the next to go.

[We learned over time that the hijacking was simply that: a takeover by ambitious young staff who were looking to pad their resumes. The national office had less to do with it than I initially thought. But one thing was certain: because a new team was in place that was trusted by the national office, the national office would become much less interested in what was happening in Ottawa-Vanier.]

29 APRIL

Upon further reflection in the early morning I concluded that, whatever was the reason for the total take-over than happened last night, I will be much better positioned for the rest of my year in politics and for the rest of my journey – assuming I am not ordered to step down. This order could be easily given. I can hear the words already: “After the writ drops the Prime Minister has no intention to endorse you so you may as well quit right now.”

The new board will be a group that plays by the book. Since how I perform will now have instant profile at the national level – all the way into the Prime Minister’s Office – I intend to do almost exactly as I am told. I will take my guidance from the new board and I will act on my own instincts only after sharing my intentions and receiving confirmation. I will even allow my “chair” flyer to be subject to board review and direction. At least, I think I will.

At the same time…because I like to retain autonomy when the time of an election rolls around…I called Guy to ask that he remain “interim campaign manager”. I said nothing to dispel the logical assumption that he would become campaign manager when an election is called. I know I am being dishonest with Guy. I know that I have also placed my brother on stand-by.

I do not want, however, for either Guy or my brother to back away. I have no options. I know there have been so many times when I felt I could not count upon either of them to deliver the basic campaign plan I am comfortable with. I could one day be faced with an almost impossible decision: Gerald (and have to find a replacement Official Agent) or Guy (and possibly lose Gerald anyway).

I want to have a bit of time to assess where the new board may be taking us and who the new people are. Who knows? As Gerald said a few weeks ago, maybe among them I will have an entirely new set of people to draw from when the election is called. Perhaps I have in them the makings of a new, or improved, campaign team.

If national office foresees my campaign being totally managed from the centre I do not expect to object too strongly. In that case neither Guy nor Gerald would be my manager and I would have had nothing to do with it.

I am on this journey mostly to see what happens, not primarily with a winning result in mind.

I will, of course, continue developing a trajectory towards the next election which is parallel to, but separate from, what the new association may try to achieve. Via Jason, Amy and the Facebook I will always be prepared at any time to step away and run things myself. But, right now anyway, I will try to have trust in the new board executive and let them carry me along. I can shut down my parallel approach at any time.

In the early afternoon I pulled my preliminary thoughts together for a Facebook policy. I sent these to family members and friends who might be interested in contributing to my campaign via the internet…and now I await the response.

FACEBOOK POLICY AND CONTENT

STATEMENT OF POLICY

The manager(s) of the site will enter material (text and images) that are relevant only from the time Rem Westland became the designated Candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada in Ottawa-Vanier.

Any text placed on the site by the manager(s) or linked to it which purports to reflect his personal views will not quote the candidate unless the quote is approved by Rem personally.

The content of any pictures or video placed by the manager(s) on the site, or linked to it, will demonstrate an acceptable level of dignity in how the issues, the candidate, or other politicians are displayed or communicated.

Content placed on the site by “friends” or others who access the site will be removed if it offends the manager(s)’ sense of dignity that the site will aim to maintain.

FACEBOOK SITE CONTENT

The content of the site will initially be limited to the following:

1. Written summaries on the candidate’s position on various national, regional, and riding issues. These summaries can be provided by whomever chooses to contribute, subject to editing by the manager(s) as may be needed in view of Facebook policy.

2. Reproduction of speeches given by the candidate and, if permitted, any interesting content that may also appear on the candidate’s official website.

3. Pictures of the candidate at work and at play, subject to consideration by the manager(s) in light of Facebook policy.

4. Video of the candidate at work and at play, or video which takes creative license to communicate the message that Rem Westland is the right choice for Ottawa-Vanier.

VIDEO VIGNETTES

A number of vignettes have been discussed among supporters of “Rem Westland for Ottawa-Vanier”. These are described in the attachment.

VIDEO VIGNETTES

CFB ROCKCLIFFE

A small group of excited people gather in a hall somewhere and learn that CFB Rockcliffe was closed by the Liberal Government in 1995.

The undertaking of the newly elected representative for Ottawa-Vanier (1995 election) to make Rockcliffe redevelopment his priority receives loud exclamations of enthusiastic support.

The group of excited people rushes off, darting through thick and thin, to get to the CFB Rockcliffe site in order to see first hand what all has been achieved.

A very disappointed group of people is stopped at the gates of Rockcliffe. They look with worry and concern through the wire fence.

They wail about nothing at all having happened.

A NEW BRIDGE ACROSS THE OTTAWA RIVER

A small group of excited people gather in a hall somewhere and learn that City of Ottawa studies affirmed in 1996 that at least one new bridge is needed to reduce congestion – especially of trucks – in the middle of Ottawa-Vanier.

The undertaking of the newly elected representative for Ottawa-Vanier (1995 election) to make a new bridge his priority receives loud exclamations of enthusiastic support.

The group of excited people rushes off, darting through thick and thin, to get to one of the sites where a new bridge was going to be built. They look eagerly forward to seeing the beautiful new structure and perhaps running gleefully across it.

A very disappointed group of people is stopped at the river. They look with worry and concern etched in their faces.

They wail that nothing at all has happened.

CONGESTION ON KING EDWARD

A small group of excited people gather in a hall somewhere and learn that the elected federal representative for Ottawa-Vanier has made it his personal priority to reduce traffic congestion on King Edward, especially of heavy trucks.

The group of excited people rushes off to see the renewed splendor of King Edward Avenue, expecting that once again it will have become the beautiful boulevard that it used to be before the MacDonald-Cartier Bridge was built.

A very disappointed group of people get caught in the heavy traffic on King Edward Avenue, perhaps some of whom even appear to be at personal risk.

They wail that nothing at all has happened.

INTEVIEW WITH THE CANDIDATE

An excited interviewer meets with his/her camera team and announces that the candidate has agreed to meet and be interviewed on important area issues. The interview will be in the stately Chateau Laurier.

The eager two-some make their way, carrying their heavy equipment to the Chateau Laurier and, upon entry, advise a person in the foyer that they have come to interview Rem Westland.

The eager two-some are directed to the fitness facilities and, from there, into the pool. The camera shows the candidate to be swimming vigorously, and lingers on the physical activity for a few seconds.

At some point the candidate notices the eager two-some, stops the swim, and stands waist-high in the water to take a few questions. The questions deal with fitness and the record of the Conservative Government of Canada in promoting fitness among children, youth, and adults.

The camera zooms in on the interviewer, who says that he/she expects the candidate to be available for future interviews. Upon leaving, the camera pans the area and zeros in upon the candidate, now vigorously doing pushups at the side of the pool.

INTERVIEWS WITH THE CANDIDATE

From time to time new videos can be created in which the candidate is asked a question which is contemporary for riding politics. For these interviews there is a standard format, standard dress for the candidate, and a very mature and thoughtful attitude throughout.

[By the time the campaign began we had four Youtube videos ready to go. They were different from what I had mused about in the text just above but they were each of them excellent.]

30 APRIL

In the morning, starting at about 8:00 a.m. (early for me as you know), I attended a presentation featured by Ottawa’s “Urban Forum”. It was awful.

The featured speaker looked a bit like a failed Elton John, with 60-year old hair flared out all over the place, large glasses, and wearing a polka dot suit. His message was very simple: urban spaces serve people the best if they provide the framework within which people take the time to allow for spontaneous exchanges among them. Roads and laneways which move people quickly from one place to the next, not allowing time for people to risk living a real life along the way, are ultimately alienating and unsatisfying.

The presentation lasted 4 hours. At various times we had to engage in conversation with our neighbors pretending to be drivers, then residents, then strangers. I hate that kind of thing. Four hours is a long time. I was sitting where it would have been impolite to leave…but I determined most certainly not to attend the session scheduled for the next day.

In the afternoon I reflected some more upon the extraordinary developments within the association. In emails to my daughter Amy and to my sister I observed (with some pride) that the association will now be managed out of the Prime Minister’s Office. I sent them both the outline of my speech to the AGM. I guess I am getting a bit excited and am looking for an audience.

Also in the afternoon I had a telephone exchange with Guy. I asked him if he is prepared to remain with me as interim campaign manager with the possibility that he will become the designated campaign manager when the writ drops. We may even agree to make the designation happen sooner. He was clearly very pleased with this vote of confidence. For my part, my duplicity concerned me.

I was currying favor because I harbor a sense of desperation. One day I might look awfully silly in the eyes of Guy, Gerald, Marie, and others.

Guy is a great guy…and I like his wife even better! As between Guy – who has run in a federal election before – and my brother, I am certain the CPC would prefer to see Guy in the campaign manager position. My brother might be quitting anyway. And my confidence in either one of them has not been steadfast.

But now that we appear to have a competent association Guy will no longer be working in a vacuum. If, during an election, he is in need of hand-holding by folk who know what to do he now will have the contact with the experienced politicos in our own EDA . This means that Guy presents less of a risk than before.

For my part, I said to Guy that I will provide him with a further elaboration of my “bare bones” approach to a campaign but I said I will defer to his direction after an election is called. My condition will be that any initiatives remain securely based upon the bare-bones plan I hand over to him when the writ drops. If he deviates from the bare-bones plan he will have to have secured the resources (people and money) to do this in advance.

Guy and I talked about Gene. I asked Guy to confirm with Gene his continuing interest to handle grounds operations for an eventual campaign team. Again, Guy was pleased to do this.

In a note to my brother I telegraphed my intentions towards Guy (already acted upon) with the underlying message that Gerald would (I hope) remain Official Agent for the campaign team. My brother reacted quickly and very positively. So the confusion I was sowing regarding key positions – by offering them to all and sundry – seems to have resolved itself. I no longer need to be worried that I had been headed towards a future with two campaign managers and no Official Agent.

Finally, when Marie came home, her reactions were positive as well. She suggested, and I agreed, that we host Guy, Gene, and Gerald for a supper at our place in the relatively near future to cement the new working relationships into place.

By the end of this day I find myself with what appears to be a competent EDA, the beginnings of a campaign team with the key positions filled, and a close link between my two supporting organizations and the national office.

The day closed with an email from me to Brock Stephenson, the new president of the association, proposing that we meet for lunch at the Chateau Laurier on Monday.

For my part, I want to confirm with him what my intentions are regarding the campaign team. While I will not be asking for approvals I will certainly be clear that my priority is to retain a high level of confidence between my campaign team leaders and the new EDA executive.

On his side, my hope is that his purpose for the lunch is not to order me to quit.

1 MAY

Today was the day for the Vanier Clean-Up, and Team Westland had to be on location (Janeville Park, on Iberville Street) by 10:00 am.

When the working hour arrived I was at the Park with Marie, Eleanor, Tony and Henry, Priscilla, and Lynda. At the barbeque after the clean up we were joined by my daughter Robin who arrived in town from Halifax that morning.

We collected only two full bags of garbage…but 10 large bags of garden waste. We worked pretty hard for the two hours. I was pleased that some of the Vanier Community Association members came by to see us doing our work and, at the Barbeque, I was pleased that the size of Team Westland clearly impressed the Vanier Community Association members. I also, as luck continues to happen, met with the local Councilor, the MPP for the area and with the new lead reporter (replacing Desmond DeVoy) for the Vanier EMC newspaper.

As political events go…or, more accurately, community events which I have infused with a political purpose…the Vanier clean up was a success.

2 MAY

The afternoon of yesterday and all of today was spent away from politics. I worked around the house, watched TV, worked in the yard, and so on. I am feeling pretty good about my political journey.

There was only one event of note. While working in the side yard my neighbor from across the street stopped by to exchange greetings. He observed that I was running…which I took to mean that he noted I am in pretty good physical shape. So I answered that I am more of a swimmer than a runner.

And then he corrected himself: he meant, of course, running for Parliament.

Andrew Cohen is a well known writer in the Ottawa papers and also nationally. He is most definitely Liberal with his vote (the Mauril Belanger signs were up on his lawn in the last two federal elections) and he is luke-warm about the governing Conservatives in his regular columns and articles. He nonetheless observed that national politics needs people like me to run. I was pleased to hear that.

Andrew asked me if this is costing me a lot of money.

My answer was “no”. Upon reflection, however, I realize that a “no” from me may not be an accurate representation of the true cost of a journey such as this.

I can say “no” because I am nearing the end of my desire – and possibly my opportunity – to make good money with CRG Consulting. The timing of this run for office matched perfectly the ending of my last two contracts with CRG. My run for public office gave me an opportunity to step easily from my contracting as a consultant into a different kind of life.

The only cost to me, because I know that I was leaving paid employment anyway, is the contributions I have made and will be making to my local organization and to my own campaign between now and the election. I would estimate these costs to be in the order of $500 per month.

The fact that my journey would have cost me at least $10,000 per month if I had continued to work on contracts at the same pace as I had averaged over the last 7 years does not reckon in my calculations. For someone younger than I, less well supported (Marie’s income and my pension) and therefore more in need of income, the personal cost of running for public office would be at least $10,000 per month if it is a full time activity and if the person has achieved my level of income.

If we do not have an election until next spring the minimum cost of running from start to finish will have been in the order of $200,000. This is too much for most Canadians to bear.

3 MAY 2010

I met with Brock Stephenson today, for lunch, at Wilfrid’s in the Chateau Laurier. His purpose was not to fire me.

Brock, by the way, is a likeable fellow hailing from British Columbia. He almost always has a serious look about him. His round face is topped with short black hair, his brown eyes are decorated with dark-framed glasses. At five and a half feet he is shorter than I by almost four inches but he weighs at least as much as I do. I am very fit; Brock is overweight. He dresses well and always carries a satchel with him wherever he goes. He fits right in among the political assistants on the Hill.

Our discussion revealed nothing I did not otherwise expect. Brock is unsure why he agreed to take on the EDA president role but he said he wants to do “right” by it. His goal is to run a credible organization and he wants me to be satisfied with the result.

We discussed a number of subjects, beginning with the intensity of his work in the Prime Minister’s Office, but focused upon our respective expectations from the relationship we are about to embark upon.

I said my hope is to be – as much as possible – in a reactive posture with regard to initiatives and proposals that come to me from the EDA throughout the pre-writ period that is left to us. This could be even twelve more months.

I took the opportunity to share my intention to name Guy as my campaign manager. I then watched Brock’s eyes and body language to learn if there is a negative reaction to this at the national level. There is not. I added that Gene will be part of the campaign team, Priscilla, my brother, and others.

Brock showed me a draft brochure that the national office wants candidates to consider and, if they like it, to buy and distribute in their respective ridings. Because of my undertaking to be reactive and supportive of the new EDA management I agreed to the brochure without even really looking at it…even though I already have a fully developed brochure, doorknocker, “chair” flyer, and other such products on the shelf and ready to go. I intend to go along for the ride, or at least pretend to do so, where at all possible. If this means one more brochure, so be it. I trust that my instincts will tell me to step off the ride and rely only on my own material if and when I must (to retain my integrity perhaps?).

We parted on very good terms and we will meet again on Wednesday at the first regular board meeting.

In the evening, when reviewing my emails, I noted a message from Tim McLean’s mother Carol. Tim is the poor man who was killed and partially beheaded on a Greyhound bus by a man judged mentally incompetent. She expressed an interest in my continuing to provide input to help her influence the federal justice system. So I will be doing this over the weeks to come.

I said that I will draft a paper in which her experiences are summarized. I also undertook to propose some options regarding “accountability” in situations such as her son’s murder. I will draft the paper, I told her, so that she can send it to her contacts in the government if she agrees with the contents.

4 MAY

Marie this morning reminded me that we planned to have a supper at our place hosting Guy, Gene, Gerald and their wives. This will, in effect, be a meeting of my core campaign team. Guy is now campaign manager – with a link to the national office via our EDA, Gerald will be Official Agent, Gene is likely to be operations director, and Marie will (informally) be candidate manager and contact point. In addition to this core group I have a number of others on stand-by who can be counted upon to join the effort.

Those others include Colin Lindley, my three daughters, Gerrit, Kees(not so sure), Vio (a new Canadian hailing from Hungary), Lynda C, Tony and Henry, Priscilla, Raquel, and still others. I now have a campaign team that is separate from the EDA executive, except for Guy and Gene whose roles on the executive are minor ones. I have the bases mostly covered. I keep hoping that Eleanor will one day be free of Carol’s clutches.

Guy and I met for lunch today expecting to have Colin McSweeney attend as well. In the wash, Colin missed the lunch. But Guy and I had plenty to talk about.

At the end of the day I checked my messages. It looks like I will be attending a presentation at the West Block on Parliament Hill tomorrow on human rights in China. In the evening will be the board meeting of the new EDA. It will be an interesting day.

5 MAY

The presentation at the West Block was on the subject of Chinese “courts” and legal system.

The presenters began by condemning how the Chinese legal system has been used to justify the prosecution and the persecution of high-profile human rights activists. Torture and death are well known components of their justice system. In ever greater numbers (10,000 executions in a year) the Chinese legal system also appears to select its victims to respond to a growing international market for human organs. Apparently the capital punishment schedule is adjudicated by committees not only of judges but of doctors as well, with some executions happening in the surgical wings of hospitals to reduce the risk of organ deterioration.

While I was certainly upset about what we were hearing regarding the Chinese legal system, I was upset even more to see how easily the presenters shifted gears to take shots at the legal system in Canada.

I was confused, and then became argumentative, about the perspective of many speakers that the Canadian justice system is no better than the one in China.

Upon my return to my home I sent an email to one of the main presenters (David Kilgour) and shared my concern about the ease with which presenters shifted from a critique of the Chinese system to an equally forceful critique of Canada. Indeed, one of the presenters made it clear that Canada was directly complicit in the apparent death of a woman who had dared give testimony – in China – in support of a Chinese businessman accused of white collar crimes.

I struggled for a more positive way to assess the system in China.

To do this I shifted from an individual to a collective orientation. Whereas the Canadian justice system is probably right 90% of the time in its response to individual transgressions, the Chinese system is probably right 90% of the time in what it takes to preserve the stability of their collectivity. The political systems are different. To critique a justice system from an outsider’s perspective and then with a focus upon of its failures would likely find all the justice systems in the world equally condemned.

As of this moment (I am writing this on the day that is tomorrow) I have not heard back from David…but I would soon learn that he was very upset about my interpretation of what I saw and heard.

In the evening we had our first EDA board meeting with the new board. The change is astonishing.

Brock ran the board meeting with an iron hand. While his words and his style are almost humble, his capacity to step past irritating commentary that might delay progress of a meeting is quite amazing…almost amusing.

We went through all of the agenda items within the allotted two hours, including a fifteen minute round for me where I summarized what the campaign preparations had delivered to date (text and format for ads, brochure, and flyer). I was invited to move that these materials be considered by the EDA for paid printing (already done at my own cost of course) and, possibly, for paid publication in the local papers. The motion was accepted. It looks like I will be getting some of my money back.

By the end of the meeting some five committees had been struck to look into different aspects of “branding” and candidate-recognition. I expect, as those committees settle into a pattern of work, a number of instructions will be going my way, via Guy, that will help to achieve the goal: election of Rem Westland for Ottawa-Vanier!

A final note: Brock proposed, and a number of those present agreed, that we set up a clean-up Team Westland to participate in the New Edinburgh community clean up planned for next Saturday. I hope this will actually happen. This will be the first test of the new board’s ability to deliver.

[In the end, I regret to say, none of this happened. To my knowledge none of the five committees ever met. I continued to plan and pay my own way – though repayment upon presentation of bills began to happen – and I remained on my own for pulling teams of supporters together.]

6 MAY

I spent today at the cottage.

In the late afternoon Marie and I attended the Vanier Awards ceremony being held in the dining hall of Asbury College right up the street from us. I had purchased tickets about a month ago.

We mingled with a few people I recognized from my Vanier door knocking and public events but I seriously wondered what this kind of participation was really doing for my chances to win the next election. I felt I was begging for recognition and I felt rather silly. Future events of this kind will be on my schedule only if the EDA has taken steps to ensure that I am welcome…and only if someone from the EDA comes along.

Marie and I snuck out on the early side to have supper at home.

Between then and now (it is 11:00 pm) I have been trying to learn the ropes on my new desktop computer. At this point I greatly prefer my old one…but that is what Conservatives always say, isn’t it? The old one has been handed over to Miriam and Jason.

7 MAY

I took the day off.

A review of emails towards the end of the day saw me read a note from Alex Bednar saying that I must take steps to raise an additional $10,000 (on my own, without asking anything of the association) so that he can convince the national office that I and our riding should be taken seriously. The problem, he said, is that the national will not assign paid students to help with canvassing for Voter ID unless we are credible.

On the one hand I was set back on my heels a little. I had hoped that an early item of business for the new association would have them take action on my behalf…not me again taking action on theirs. Oh, well… At this point the association is already $30,000 richer because of my efforts.

I said I would take this additional challenge on. I observed, however, that the association should take the lead in fundraising during the pre-writ period. I suspect my point will be lost to Alex and the others on the new executive. I coped all of them on my email of reply to Alex..

At least Alex appears poised to do something (Voter ID) that is believed to be relevant for politics in Ottawa-Vanier. I bet national office has told him he needs $10,000 if he wants national office support. I bet our EDA said he has to raise the money himself.

8 MAY

This morning was the clean up in New Edinburgh.

Brock had confirmed to the new board that the clean up would be happening and provided the time and place. In a “send-all” reply I said I would be there and would bring a couple of rakes, gloves, extra garbage bags, and so on.

When I got to the field house in New Edinburgh where volunteers were told to gather…there was only one other person. Micheline K, a teacher I had met at a couple of the PC Ontario functions and now a member of our board. None of the new board members, notwithstanding their enthusiasm over the emails, showed up.

The day was cold and wet but Micheline and I did a pretty good job working along our assigned part of the Rideau River. We picked up only one syringe…which we displayed at the end of our clean up to make the point that the Conservative Party of Canada is against drugs! Our comic point was well taken and our presence was appreciated much more than it otherwise may have been because the weather had kept the numbers down across the board.

In the afternoon I went to Sharbot Lake with my son Kees. He is home for only a few days and wanted to visit the cottage. I always have something to do there so I was pleased to oblige.

9 AND 10 MAY

I revised my bare bones budget for an eventual campaign and will be sending it to Guy as soon as I am sure in my own mind that the adjusted plan it funds is still the right one for me. I invite Guy in the text to step beyond the bare bones approach…but only if he personally will plan and deliver the additional resourcing requirements.

I want everyone to know what my comfort zone is. I will welcome others moving beyond it but not if I must do all the work and not if I must secure the required resources (people and money) myself. I can do only so much on my own. My limit is expressed in the contents of the bare bones approach (budget and plan).

17 MAY

OK, OK. So I have slipped up a bit.

But let’s be honest: my enthusiasm for the journey is wavering again. I have absolutely no intention to step off the political train but, with the advent of a new executive team, I have moved into “receive” mode. The fact remains that very few of the people around me – including the new association executive unfortunately – are ever in the “send” mode. So when I slow down, things slow down for everyone.

Let’s begin catching up on the last seven days with a playout of the revised bare bones approach that I sent to Guy last Friday. I copied Gerald and Marie and was pleased to receive no comments from either of them – yet. I see Guy tomorrow for coffee where “bare bones” will be our subject of discussion and I meet tonight with my Facebook team led by Amy.

I have shared the bare bones budget with you previously and I see no need to reproduce it every time I make adjustments. Each new dollar raised for the association motivates me to add more capacity into the basic plan but the adjustments are truly minor each time. The number of dollars raised by the association, above the cost of fundraising events, is never very high so there is no reason for me to get too ambitious.

The week which slipped by included innumerable discussions about politics with Marie, my daughters, my sons, and with … surprise, surprise … Marie’s father.

He was with us for the weekend. We have avoided any acknowledgement of my journey to date but, over lunch last Sunday, I used a quiet moment between us to outline some of the process issues I confront. I distanced myself from the policies of the Conservative Government, but placed myself squarely within the Canadian conservative orientation (small government, support for traditions, fairness under appropriate rules, and so on).

Within this frame of reference we were able to talk about the “tough on crime” agenda (overlooks provincial jurisdiction for prevention and intervention), the detainee issue in Afghanistan, the political and financial matters associated with the Helena/Rahiim/Glemaud affair, and so on. We covered all that ground and we did this without any hint of tension – or even disagreement – between us.

The outputs for the week began with my receipt from Nancy of the “chair” flyer. She has rendered it almost action-ready. We can now set this one aside until the writ drops and make it a major piece of the election campaign. I really like the final product…but the broken down version of the chair actually looks less impressive in red than in blue. We are now certain to have a high quality final product ready for distribution when the time comes.

Before going on I should say something about Nancy. She is an attractive 30-something woman who comes from a background different from mine and Marie’s. Her intelligence is clear but her use of the English language reflects less reading and less education than anyone in my immediate circle.

That said, I find her extremely attractive. As a 61-year old fellow (wow, that seems old!) who loves his wife and family I will be doing absolutely nothing about this but I find the attraction interesting. I suspect the attraction reflects above all the safety and security her presence represents. From Nancy I have received the first output that I truly believe can make a difference. While the content of the flyer comes almost entirely from me and those who have commented upon previous versions of the “chair”, it is Nancy who has held up the mirror that the finished product represents. I could not be more thankful.

I reflected further on how vulnerable politicians must be. It is an enterprise where the candidate must always be remarkably alone. When attractive people step forward and seem capable of ending that alone-ness, the candidate wants to close the gap with a sudden and intense friendship or … who knows? One needs high principles, a strong family, a loving wife, and good morals to avoid becoming a May-September joke in this business.

Other output during the week included additional follow up with the mother of Tim McLean. I proposed contents for a submission to the government which she may or may not choose to make:

RESPONSIBILITY AND/OR ACCOUNTABILITY

PURPOSE

The purpose of this submission is to propose a change to Canada’s justice system to better reflect the experience of victims of serious and violent crimes. This submission builds upon, or can be built into, the government’s recent initiative to eliminate pardons for serious crimes.

CONSIDERATIONS

Victims of serious crime and especially their families have only recently become part of the justice system in Canada. We are now invited to submit impact statements to the court prior to sentencing, we are supported in our tracking of what happens during the time a sentence is being served, and we benefit from a fund into which offenders can be ordered to make payments.

As the mother of a son who was brutally attacked and murdered I have had the additional misfortune to experience the criminal justice system in the case of an offender judged not responsible because of being mentally unfit. I have learned from my experience that the steps taken by our Federal Government are still not enough.

What I propose with this paper is a standard of fairness that responds to the feeling of powerlessness we victims of crime so often feel.

RESPONSIBILITY ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH

I believe personal responsibility is a very important element in our civil society. In my view it should be extremely difficult for an offender to dodge a life-long burden of responsibility. An offender judged not responsible for reasons of insanity, as in my son’s case, is effectively excused the burden of responsibility altogether.

Many of us were extremely pleased by the government’s proposal that “record suspensions” replace the concept of pardons. As Minister Toews said: “it is not the government’s place to offer forgiveness.” Forgiveness can only come from the victims.

For those of us who cannot forgive, the lifelong responsibility of an offender for what he or she did is all we have.

ADDING THE BURDEN OF ACCOUNTABILITY

I am proposing with this submission that the federal Department of Justice and Parliament, when reviewing the proposed legislation to eliminate pardons, study the possibility of requiring Canada’s courts to assign, in addition to responsibility, a level of accountability as well. The assignment of accountability would happen whether or not an offender was unfit at the time of a crime.

Accountability would be separate and apart from the concept of responsibility.

Accountable to Whom?

An offender would be held accountable to victims and their families, perhaps exercised through the National Parole Board if a victim so decides.

Accountable for What?

In the case of serious white collar crimes the accountability would be to investors for the theft of money, resources, means of livelihood, pension benefits, or whatever the offender was found responsible for having done.

In the case of injury the accountability would be to the living victim for having caused the injury.

In the case of murder the accountability would be to the family for the loss of a life and for the life-long anguish caused.

Accountable for How Long?

The period over which accountability lasts would be decided by the party to whom the offender is accountable (the victim or a designated family member or representative). The power to decide this question would therefore lie with the victims or their families.

In the case of white collar crime it is logical that the accountability will come to an end when there has been full repayment.

In the case of injury the victim (or his or her guardian) may agree to have the accountability lapse when enough time has passed, the offender’s life has turned around, the injury has fully healed, or the offender has been instrumental in improving the life of the victim in some way.

In the case of murder it is logical to expect that the family of some victims will never agree that accountability should lapse. There will be others (the Virk family may be one of these) where an offender has tried so hard to make amends that the family agrees to waive accountability only a few years after a murder.

There will be other cases where a family will remove accountability from the record of an offender in return for nothing more than a formal admission of the crime.

Accountability is recorded How?

My suggestion is pretty simple:

When a court finds a person responsible for a serious or violent crime or – in the case of those not criminally responsible – finds that a person has nonetheless committed the crime, the words “remains accountable” would become part of the offender’s personal history and record. Those words would run parallel with the words “record suspension” after pardons are no longer possible.

A person’s record would continue to show “remains accountable” until such time that the victim or the victim’s family has advised the Parole Board that the accountability can come to an end.

NEXT STEPS

This proposal is submitted for your consideration. I would also be pleased to become part of a study group looking further into this proposal as the bill to eliminate pardons works its way through the House.

Tim’s mother thanked me in a return email and said she would take things from here.

In the course of the week the Crime Agenda of the government became topical from time to time in the local media, especially in the Citizen. I tracked the articles for a while and then got fed up. I drafted another letter to the editor (third time on this subject I think), tied my thoughts to the Conservative Party of Canada, and asked the association to approve my sending in the letter.

Needless to say, the association and the national office did not approve. “Why raise tensions with the Province?” I was asked. In response I observed that while the Crime Agenda may work well in Alberta without any qualifications regarding jurisdiction, in our riding it will win me no support at all if I have to say “Lock them up!”

The next day, of course, I send in the letter to the Citizen notwithstanding the association and national office position on it. I removed the direct references to the CPC but the points were unchanged.

LETTER TO THE OTTAWA CITIZEN

FROM: Rem Westland, Rockcliffe

Re: Costing of Conservative Crime Bills

THE PRIORITY SHOULD BE PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION

The high cost of Conservative government law enforcement legislation is a subject that has come up a number of times in recent weeks, including editorial columns, and is especially topical given the release of the Budget Officer’s report.

I believe the provinces have lead responsibility under Canada’s Constitution for the programs and funding which can prevent crime or intervene before anti-social activities result in criminal laws being broken. Education, women’s shelters, family counseling, drug intervention, policing, and so on are all in provincial jurisdiction.

When I see the province and the city doing a less than adequate job at prevention and intervention I am amazed, quite frankly, to hear from critics that the Federal Government should do a less than adequate job at enforcement as well!

The best way to keep down the bill for proper enforcement of Canada’s criminal laws is to work harder at preventing crimes by supporting youth and families and by improving police presence. These initiatives are all in provincial jurisdiction. The City has an important role to play as well, with programs such as Crime Prevention Ottawa.

Is crime so rampant in Canada that proper enforcement of our criminal laws means the jails will quickly fill up? That seems to be the assumption of Parliament’s Budget Officer and is implied in most of the Citizen stories I read.

We in Ottawa-Vanier do not agree that this is necessarily the case. Our community leaders and community groups are working hard to ensure the Budget Officer’s forecasts will be wrong.

The Citizen did not publish the letter because I was not home when they called to verify the source…but I was pleased to get it off my chest and I will find another place to document my point of view (likely Facebook).

Also in the week just past I drafted letters to three different audiences (Quebec High School alumni, RMC Classmates, CRG Consulting associates) and asked a lead person for each audience to send my letter around. My persons of choice were my sister (QHS), Lorne McCartney (RMC) and Brian Card (CRG). Asking people to step forward and speak for me is never easy: the reactions are never as positive as one might have expected. There was followup by Joan and Brian. I still wait to see what the RMC group decides.

The letters to each of the groups were essentially the same. I present the one to the RMC group below because of the reference to Marc Garneau. I plan to use the words regarding Marc whenever appropriate during an election campaign:

LETTER TO CLASSMATES

FROM: REM WESTLAND, College Number 8475

As some of you already know, almost 40 years after obtaining a Political Science degree from the Royal Military College I was presented with my second opportunity to step into active politics. When asked to represent the Conservative Party of Canada in the next federal election my answers were: “If not me, then whom?” and “If not now, then when?”

If you go to votewestland.ca you will get the latest information about this. The Facebook link is only now beginning to build, so check it out from time to time over the next few months…but do not judge it by its current state!

What we all know, and what was confirmed to me right from the outset, is that running for politics involves money. This is especially true in the riding where I will be running in the next federal election.

It will take quite an effort to achieve “name recognition” in Ottawa-Vanier. In my riding the Liberals have been the incumbents for 75 years since the riding was created and – when this riding was part of the larger riding of Russell – there had been a Liberal incumbent since 1887. I have lived in the riding for 20 years and we have over 60,000 voters.

In discussion with Lorne and also with Mike Darch I compared my situation to that of our classmate Marc Garneau who is already a Member of Parliament and is likely to run again in Westmount/Mount Royal.

Marc and I have a lot in common. We are both from Quebec City, we are (as most of us!) the same age, we were both Cadet Wing Officers in our fourth year, we were both members of the water polo team, and we both decided to run in safe Liberal ridings.

Because of my being Conservative, of course, I need financial support much more than Marc does.

So the purpose of this letter is to ask you, in support of a fellow ex-cadet and class of ’70 graduate, to consider sending some support my way in the form of a cheque payable to:

Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association

234-27 Beechwood Avenue

Ottawa, Ontario

K1M 1M2

There are a number of reasons, aside from our links via RMC, why I hope the reaction from many of you will be positive.

First, the political process itself requires change from time to time. We need to promote a marketplace for the debate and exchange of ideas, and we need to do this locally. To have the same party in the House in any riding for over 120 years is to dull the political process. My information is that when the incumbent MP in Ottawa-Vanier offers a meet-and-greet over coffee he rarely attracts more than 10 people into the room. I already do better than that and will do much, much better after I am elected.

Second, my assessment of the political scene in Canada tells me that the Conservative Party is pretty certain to be returned as the Government in the next election. The more the Party attracts candidates such as I, the more the positions of the Party will reflect the “big tent” approach that Prime Minister Harper has called for. My own background is Quebec; my wife’s background is New Brunswick; our families of origin and our own families now represent a wide spectrum of individuals, orientations, jobs, hopes, and dreams. I will bring all of that with me into the Conservative Party of Canada and into the House of Commons.

Third, my background now includes military, public service, private sector, and voluntary sector of work and engagement. While I was actively involved in politics for a short period just after Carleton University (executive assistant for a Minister in the Trudeau government) I reflect the background and experience that I think we need more of in politics and in the House of Commons. I also bring with me the bilingualism I grew into when in Quebec City…and this will help greatly in a riding that is 30% Francophone.

Fourth, your support will help to add a Conservative Party member to the size of the Conservative Party caucus in the House and thereby to move Canada closer to a majority government. When it comes to support for the military in Canada there is no question which political party is the more on side.

I ended my career as a public servant at DND where I was Director General (Real Property) and also Acting Assistant Deputy Minister: I saw first hand how lukewarm, even negative, the Liberal Government of the day was towards the Armed Forces in general and, at the senior administrative level, towards our colleges in particular.

My responsibilities immediately upon joining DND in 1995 included helping with the closures of CMR and Royal Roads. Many of us feared that the closure of RMC, or certainly a profound change in its character, would not be far behind. When I was A/ADM I recall a meeting with the Deputy Minister at the time – who did not yet know my own background – expressing very negative views about our college and our networks, closing with the words “Who do they think they are anyway?”

Well, we think we’re pretty good at what we do and I think that one more RMC graduate in the House of Commons will help to confirm this!

For those of you considering sending a cheque to the Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association at the address above, know that the tax return for political contributions is very attractive. For a contribution of $400 the actual cost after taxes is only $100. For $100 the actual cost after taxes is $25. For a $50 contribution the after-tax cost is only $13.00.

Thanks,

Rem Westland

PS: I have asked Lorne to circulate this letter. Lorne and I meet from time to time over coffee down the hill from my place, across the street from where he works. Lorne knows from those discussions that my orientation to politics is conservative, but certainly empathetic and open-minded as well.

There is one other matter I should record before concluding this morning’s typing.

I learned from my brother last night that his hope to get a contract advising the Government of Jamaica on public administration matters (the Management Accountability Framework, as we call it within the federal system) may yet be realized. He is back after a week in Jamaica and he felt the meetings went well.

I must begin to plan for the possibility that my Official Agent will not be available when an election is called. Even if he is available he may lack the focus needed to do a good job if he is also engaged elsewhere. I mentioned to Gerald that Colin Lindley seemed sincere in his offer to back him up in the finance role and I asked my brother to follow up with Colin. I like Colin Lindley a whole lot and trust him totally.

Oh, and one other thing…

I finally went ahead and cancelled my RRSP (it held $37K) so that I can carry on until the fall – or longer – without income from CRG Consulting contracts. I used the after-tax distribution to pay back $15K in outstanding line of credit, some bills, and – when the bill comes in – I will pay about $2K to visa. I will have about $7K left over to get through the next four months, which is not a lot of money these days.

I therefore sent an email to the head of a recently established negotiating team mandated by the federal government to settle claims in eastern Ontario by the Algonquin First Nations. I was made aware of this opportunity by the president of CRG Consulting. The minister of Public Works wants to launch a trial project to learn whether members of those First Nations may have the capacity to engage in Public Works contracts. I had been advising on precisely this kind of matter, engaged by Public Works, before my political journey had begun.

I told Marie that the initiative came from CRG Consulting because I know Marie does not expect me to re-engage contractually. I agued that the contractual engagement I foresee – if it happens – would be entirely consistent with and supportive of my campaign effort. The trial project, which aims to engage Algonquin people in real property projects in the Ottawa Valley, would help give me profile in the Ottawa-Vanier area. Marie agreed. She knows that I need the money.

And now I am back from the Facebook meeting (17 May). It went very well.

I was pleased to see William B at the meeting, and Colin Lindley. Guy handled himself as a campaign manager should (with words of direction); Gerald was correct and clear in his advice regarding pre-writ and post-writ requirements and approach; Amy spoke for my objectives always in a supportive way even when critical of what I may have said; Marie was the sober and reflective one; my son Gerrit offered helpful advice on what we might want to feature in locations for our videos; and, Jason confirmed that he and Miriam will create and produce the Youtube content we want.

My own conduct during the meeting was at times overly forceful. I do not want to lose the “chair” flyer; I want to have some videos out there that poke fun at the incumbent; and, I want minimal resistance from the CPC. Guy was bothered to hear my words about the CPC so I will try to soften what I say (if not my position) when he and I meet over coffee tomorrow. After all Guy is the association when it comes to campaign preparations. His being a member of the board might yet prove to be useful over the next few months.

Regarding Facebook content we agreed it will be sober and meaningful, it will advance name recognition and what I stand for, and it will be blessed by the CPC and EDA – though likely by default (no objections registered). The Youtube content will be fun and irreverent; it will shift towards name recognition and then to electioneering as we learn how to do things. Before we spend money on either of these approaches we will get confirmation from the association buy-in or, in the alternative, we will ramp up these initiatives after the election is called. We will then be an independent operation.

I was pleased to see how everyone was tolerant of my rants. I left the meeting satisfied that all those attending remain solid members and supporters of “Team Westland”.

PS: I forget to document a discussion between Marie and me over the weekend that was relevant as well. I confirmed to Marie that I really do not want to win the next election. I really do not need the hassle of being a Member of Parliament. I do not need to return to a fulltime “job”. My trajectory has made it easy to reduce CRG Consulting work to almost nil. My political journey has given me an honorable way to shut down contract engagements through CRG Consulting. I had not heard back on the submission of my name for a negotiating contract on Canada’s Algonquin file and no longer expected I would.

But if, against all odds, my future includes an intense engagement in politics owing to an unplanned win in an unplanned campaign for an unplanned run at election to the House of Commons…I will have stepped from a frying pan into a fire. Shit happens. And I will quickly learn how to make the best of it.

18 MAY

As I move back into a daily record of events I need still to back up a step or two. Why did my enthusiasm dropped off so precipitously over the last week?

I think I meant what I said a few days ago. Now that I have a new association that purports in its members and its connections to know what it is doing, I want to be in a reactive/responsive/supportive role. I want to stop being the one who makes things happen.

I will continue to hold the reins for setting up the internet dimension of my work and my campaign, but once the lead has truly been assumed by Amy (Facebook) and Jason/Miriam (Youtube) I will be pleased to move into a responsive role on those two areas of activity as well.

To move into a reactive and responsive position is not really natural to me. It requires a lot of confidence on my part. I am not used to hanging back and letting things unfold as they might. I am letting this happen for the time being…but I suspect I will jump quickly back into a dominant (and domineering?) role the moment I suspect things are going off the rails.

Today’s opening round was at the Sconewitch with Guy. Our purpose was to discuss the bare bones plan and related funding. We had a good discussion, Guy and I. Guy advised me that he will be thinking about campaign plan content of his own, to add to what I have in the bare-bones version.

I do not expect Guy to be innovative in his role as campaign manager. I want him to stick to the basic campaign plan and be responsive to the national office without necessarily doing what they ask. I despair when, after the third or fourth repetition of an idea, it is clear that Guy still does not “get it”…but for all I know he thinks the same about my responses to views he expresses in answer to mine!

I think we have a shared understanding that Guy’s campaign plan, to the extent it deviates from my bare bones approach, must be a funded plan (people and money). He hopes to build much more Voter ID and traditional media stuff into his version of the campaign plan…but he affirmed orally that he will have to secure the people and the money before I and Gerald agree. Mind you we are only about $20K apart between the bare bones plan and a fully funded approach. There is no reason why a campaign cannot raise $20K in the duration of the campaign.

On the other hand, there is no reason why a campaign should have to do Voter ID. As far as I am concerned this program should run during the pre-writ period, not after the election is called. In the five short weeks of an election it is too late to correct the record on tens of thousands of eligible voters in our riding.

There are a few additional observations falling out of our discussion that I want to highlight.

First, Guy is not oriented towards making the association earn its keep, no matter how many times have observed upon the importance of this. Guy expects to step into the pre-writ EDA functions of media relations, canvassing, volunteer coordination, and so on without calling upon the new association board members to be there with him. In effect, he wants to lead what the association should do from within the campaign team that I have pulled together.

I have so often told him I will not accept this approach (too much work, too little support, risk of Elections Canada confusion); but, hey, not my problem. At least that is what I am saying to myself today. I want to stay calm and stay on track towards a reactive and responsive role. The first time I see Guy using campaign volunteers to run Voter ID teams around the riding, however, I fear I may lose my cool. Voter ID cannot be successfully done during a campaign (no time, far too many residents to contact, resented by many, and so on) and is not being done at all by the association during this pre-writ period. Guy should not be doing the work of the association with people who have volunteered only for the campaign. Those people should be on stand-by until the writ is dropped.

Guy also shared with me that Ross’ concluding numbers (he is being replaced as finance officer by Shaun Webb) will show the separate account with Canada Trust to be a “campaign expenses” account.

I said to Guy that the account should be owned entirely by the association and accessible to the association to meet operating expenses if funds in the association’s operating account run dry. If the association only requires $10K to keep its operations going, I said, then the savings account should already have some $17K deposited.

We discussed briefly the requirement for a communications team. Guy observed that this is a campaign team imperative. I observed that it is really an association imperative (pre-writ) and that the association communications team should be the group – in theory anyway – from which we draw the expertise we need when an election is called. Again, Guy does not make a distinction between the association and the campaign team. But, hey, not my problem.

I stressed a number of times that, while I might get worked up about all kinds of things, my only imperative is to get the “chair” imagery circulated after an election is called. I will achieve this one way or another. If the CPC does not agree and if Guy and Gerald cannot approve the flyer, I will find a way to get it printed and distributed off-line so that the “chair” finds its way into the hands of as many voters as possible. I think the “time for a change” message, while trite, is the only way we can shake up those who traditionally vote Liberal in our riding but who are otherwise quite comfortable with Canadian conservative principles and values.

On a separate and more personal note, I am a little bit discouraged by signs of growing tension felt by Amy towards Marie. Amy is reluctant about my request that substantive input to Facebook be cleared in advance with Marie. Her words of resistance to this have an unkind edge to them.

I have some ideas about why this tension arises but this is not the time or place for me to engage overly much in pop-psychology. Amy is the first of my three daughters from my first marriage. Kees and Gerrit are sons of Marie and me. We have kept the lid on tensions for over 20 years but there are, as in the case of most blended families, understandable rivalries and resentments that percolate beneath the surface. I hope we will continue to manage relations among us effectively for the next 40 years or more (god willing, of course).

This evening the political business requires Marie and me to participate in a bowling round with members of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives. As always, we will enjoy ourselves. But as always, neither Marie nor I look forward to it. I have four tickets…but could not bring myself to extend an invitation to anyone else. If Gerrit is free tonight maybe he will be able to pick up one of the two tickets still available.

And, as it turned out, Gerrit was available. So we went with three.

Gerrit is very good at sports, with a natural flow in his body which I never had to his degree. He was good company for the team he was put on; Marie was awarded the “most enthusiastic” award; and, I did passably well. I grew worse as the games dragged on. I have a real problem seeing myself in my physical space and cannot learn how to improve from one round of bowling to the next. I just get tired and sore. Oh, well…

The federal Member of Parliament from Orleans, the next riding over from ours, showed up. This is the same Royal Galipeau who had me stand beside John Baird when he spoke at the 31 March event. I find him a bit of a ham and a bit foolish…but when he spoke to me privately a different impression began to dawn. I guess I am some ways away from forming a lasting impression of the man. I suspect I will be seeing more of him in the coming months.

19 MAY

Early this afternoon I stopped by Amy to learn more about her plans regarding a Facebook page. She has clearly thought a lot about it. It was fun, and endearing, to see her pour through the notes she has made to herself to be sure she touches on all her points. She appears efficient, clear thinking, and determined. I am lucky to have a daughter like she (and Robin and Miriam too of course!).

We agreed that Amy will send me a list of questions, the answers to which will give the information to be posted on the Facebook about me. For my part, I will use the next couple of weeks to send Amy a number of think-pieces that will become notes or letters on the Facebook. Also, we will send to Amy a number of pictures that will round things out. When we have a Facebook that is in good shape I will ask Phil Trinh at the national office to redirect their Facebook link on the website to the Facebook page controlled by Amy.

And yet again there were words coming from Amy about her wish to operate independently from Marie. I really do need to do something about that. We have all functioned well together for so long. We have done better than most other families like ours have managed to do. I would hate to see my run for public office become the break point in good relations among us. There are tensions growing below the surface.

One matter I did not talk about previously was a discussion between Kees and me, this time about “Liberal Fascism”. Kees took great umbrage at a book by that name in my office. When I asked him about his upset he let me know in no uncertain terms that he finds all people who might even touch such a book to be beneath his dignity. I happened to be holding the book at the time… Again, there are tensions growing among us. I must be more wary.

In my own reading of the book I determined that its arguments may be excessive, the theory is spotty, and the logic is often forced. But a few messages ring true, such as the point that fascism is socialism with an enforcement arm. The greater the socialism and the greater the enforcement of socialist principles (to the full extent of the bayonet), the more fascist the regime.

The key point in the book is that fascism is an extreme form of socialism. Fascism, the writer observes, is not the extreme of conservativism. My argument to Kees – which he had little time for – was that the extreme of conservativism is really anarchism. This is because one moves from a belief in less government to a credo which calls for no government at all.

The evening’s entertainment will be the dinner Marie and I have planned for Guy and Gene and their wives. Gerald and Francine bowed out at the last minute because he had other business to attend to. Marie has, as always, gone far out of her way: the six Cornish hens waiting to be cooked promise to be very tasty. My job is to deal with some of the trimmings, such as the cheese plate, and to serve the drinks when the time comes.

The dinner was great. We had some wide-ranging discussions, including an exchange about anarchy or fascism as best representative of the extreme end of the conservative approach. I shared the key messages in the book that had been so contentious between Kees and me.

Guy summed up the meeting very well when he observed that, after so many years involved in the political process, he had never spent an evening talking politics. Yet that was why he got into the process in the first place, way back in the Mulroney years. His words put a cap on the intentions I had had when I responded to an invitation to join the 400 Club over six months ago.

The evening was broken up by a call from my mother looking for my sister (mom had forgotten Joan’s visit of the day before and worried why she had not seen her daughter for so long); and, by a call from the Ottawa Citizen seeking confirmation of my name and place of residence for that article on the crime agenda of the government.

As on too many occasions recently, we missed the call from the Citizen. I had to leave the confirmation of my existence and my intentions with the paper over the phone, on a voice mail line, but I know this will not be good enough for my letter on prevention and intervention to be printed. Oh, well… On the plus side it means that I will have one less thing to fight about with Colin McSweeney.

20 MAY

I spent most of the morning drafting or redrafting text on about a dozen subject areas that will become part of the Facebook page managed by Amy. Many of these pieces are revised versions (shortened, more pointed) of what has already been recorded in the pages above.

An issue arose late in the morning that, I suspect, will not be solved for a few days or even weeks.

The national party has proposed business cards for all candidates that would bring standardization to each campaign. The cards clearly feature campaign titles and campaign coordinates…yet there is no writ.

My understanding continues to be that pre-writ material can be used to advance the brand but not to advance the candidate for election purposes. The candidate can be used as part of brand marketing, but not as a product in his or her own right. Brock Stephenson, the new president of the association, appears to disagree with me.

Having expressed my views on these matters I have opted to back out of the debate. I shared my perspectives with Gerald, Brock, Guy, and Gene and I will do whatever they say.

In a sidebar discussion with Marie I observed that the election process is certainly different from what I imagined, including this latest possible twist. The approach seems to be that of a national franchise (CPC) working through its franchised outlets (the associations). The notion that over 95% of election outcomes locally are explained by momentum created centrally becomes self-fulfilling. The national party, in effect, is working to standardize approaches by its affiliates across the country. Over time, the initiative and the intelligence required to develop local strategies and tactics will dwindle still more.

One of these days a proportional representation system may yet emerge. Perhaps we are unwittingly getting the stage set for it. When that day comes some candidates may no longer need to campaign at all. Associations will help to deliver campaign literature, the local candidate may be a part of this, but a person’s move into Parliament will depend upon the person’s ranking within the party and whether the proportion of the vote achieved nationally was enough to have that person included among the number who are sent to the Hill.

It is now the early afternoon and I plan to shut down for the day.

But first, I called Anne D and left a message. Anne, a handsome lady in her late seventies, is a well connected party supporter who regularly contributes significant amounts of money to the national office. She has taken me on as a “good candidate” and has begun to redirect her sizeable contributions to the association. I want to talk to her about what works and does not work when soliciting funds from people known to have the discretionary income needed to make big donations.

21 MAY TO 25 MAY

This was the Victoria Day weekend. We spent it at the cottage.

My politicking was, again, fairly light. I truly think this change of pace will continue until early fall. It will pick up even then only if an election in late fall is in the wind.

Communications among everyone involved with me over these few days, up until the end of day Tuesday (25 May) has left me with only a few points to register and reflect upon.

First, the discussion with Anne D happened and we agreed that I need a meeting at which a number of deep-pocket supporters are in attendance. I subsequently emailed Nanci W and Nancy C, and I will call them tomorrow or the day after.

I then watched Jean Chrétien on television, at the hanging of his official portrait in the House of Commons. He observed in his speech that a lot of his time was spent raising money and that most people give money “because they believe in democracy” not because they want to buy favors. My goal is to be positioned for the money chase in a way that reflects the former Prime Minister’s view. I definitely want to agree with him.

A troublesome matter arose regarding Facebook development: Amy again observed that she is uncomfortable working with Marie.

I can understand this, but I regret it. Marie tries very hard to be cooperative but my girls sometimes give her very little room to maneuver. A slip somewhere, for some reason, is enough to set back their relations with Marie by many months and years. We have been at this for over 20 years but these days it begins to feel like the experiment of our blended family began only yesterday.

I think I have negotiated an approach with Amy, agreed to by Marie (and largely suggested by her actually), by which I relate directly to Amy for Facebook content and Marie plays a research and a reviewing role. So Marie does not come between Amy and me…which is likely a big part of the problem.

I suspect another part of the problem is Amy being a new mother. Our participation in bringing up Connor pales significantly when compared to the role being played by Marty’s (her husband’s) parents. They have moved to Ottawa for a year to assume daily care of Connor while Amy and Marty go to work. I hope I can keep the lid on things.

In a short email from Gerald, now returned from Jamaica, I learn that – contrary to his cry of alarm when the association’s financial statements were the issue before us – he is now OK with the association doing work that is intended primarily if not exclusively for an eventual campaign. “In the end, the association can prepare what it wants,” he said. OK, I answered, but each dollar the association spends could mean a dollar less for me if we do not like what those guys are buying.

The association executive committee meets this evening (25 May). I wonder when…or even if…I will be informed on what the committee concluded regarding three key points on its agenda: canvassing, voter ID, events, and fundraising.

26 MAY

This morning I learned that Guy had called last night and left a message regarding the association executive meeting. So there will be follow up!

Indeed, at around 9:00 am Guy called again and asked me to meet him at the Sconewitch for a debrief.

I learned that the meeting had gone very well. The association recommitted itself to the purchase of signs featuring my name before the writ drops. They will also take charge of finding me appropriate office space and signing the lease. Brock made it clear that the duty of the association is to transfer all of its remaining money, save only minimal operating expenses, to the campaign team when an election is called. The accounts of the association are currently over $35K and there is a commitment to make at least $45K more. Of the total amount ($80K) the association expects to expend up to $35K pre-writ, meaning that the campaign team can begin to plan on the basis of a $40K cash transfer. Wow!

Brock will personally assume responsibility for fundraising and will stay focused upon an event in late June to attract as many people as possible before the Summer recess of the House. The canvassing of area districts was confirmed. There will be a pre-canvass lit-drop or mail out. Voter ID will be one of the objectives of this effort as well as candidate name recognition. Again…wow!

It certainly looks like we are in business.

I exchanged a flurry of emails with Amy in the early afternoon to agree upon the content of about a dozen Facebook entries and, along the way, I was able to help Amy settle her mind about Marie and Marie’s role. I sense that peace has been restored.

At the end of the day my handiwork resolving Marie-Amy tension was threatened when Marie, in all innocence, responded to a number of those emails copied her way which contained text agreed upon between Amy and me. Marie was putting herself back into the drafting exercise. Her adjusted role is to do the last once-over review and delete/adjust from the perspective of a wider audience. I had a long talk with Marie about her role, got things back on track, and reconfirmed all this to Amy in the morning. All is again well…I hope.

Gene stopped by after our supper with a copy of the brochure I had developed in preparation for a spring election. He had a few comments about style and presentation that Marie and I quickly agreed with, and he was on his way. He will handle printing himself and he will coordinate with the association for payment.

The system seems to be working.

I am especially pleased by how well Guy is now accepting the campaign manager mantel. He is beginning to do things on his own initiative but always with reference to the basic plan. He appears to be making decisions. Gene is happy to work with Guy. Gerald seems content as well and is no longer talking about Jamaica.

I asked my brother, by email, to contact the association’s new finance officer and will repeat this request fairly soon. The time has come for my Official Agent-designate to build good relations with Shaun, the new finance officer of the association. I expect Gerald will not act on my request unless I keep pressing him…

27 MAY

We now have a campaign team meeting scheduled for 9 June 2010, called by Guy on his own initiative. He has asked that association executive members also attend if they can. I like the idea, I like the agenda, I like seeing others step forward.

My own business was fairly limited. I finalized a few exchanges with Amy; I received pictures of the Vanier clean up from Gerrit (who scanned photos taken by Lynda); and, I added text to those photos which I proposed to Phil and Guy be entered onto the CPC website.

I was pleased to receive a piece from Colin Lindley that elaborated upon the history of Canada since the Ottawa-East riding was created, the purpose of which is to emphasize the point that 75 years of one-party representation is a very long time in the history of a country. I will factor this information into a video that may one day appear on Youtube.

And I went to bed early because tomorrow we are headed to the cottage for the weekend (Friday included!).

31 MAY

A busy day…

Without strict regard to the order of events, an early surprise was an incoming email from Robert Sampson. Five months ago Robert decided that my standing for the Conservative Party meant our friendship of some 55 years could no longer be sustained. All communication ceased when I shared the government’s position on the Insite safe injection program of British Columbia.

Well, now I have heard from Robert again.

In his email he tells me that his life took a turn for the worst early this year. The agency for which he works was under investigation and it seems Rob has gotten caught in that investigation. The bottom line is that he is no longer with the agency and has been required to retire about five years earlier than he had planned.

His communication to me made light of the five-month gap in communication. My return email stated my hunch for the reason behind the break (wrong political leanings) but nonetheless affirmed our continuing friendship. I will keep him informed on future developments. It is highly unlikely, however, that there will ever be an open invitation to Rob for him to become a part of my life in the years ahead. Marie, for one, says she would not hear of it. She tends to take on my hurts with more intensity than I do. She will really need to toughen up if she becomes the wife of a politician.

While at Sharbot Lake I read an article in the local paper which chastised the paper’s editor. Jeff Green observed that the claim being negotiated by the Algonquins of Ontario has aspects to it which risk dividing residents into Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal camps. The editor was admonished for his disregard of history and told to watch it from now on. I, of course, could not let this pass. I will be writing another letter…

We had watched a recent movie at the cottage called Invictus in which the message (based on a story from South Africa) was that the unity of people is more important than divisions based upon race, history, or even previous interpersonal conduct. I was inspired by the movie and wanted to weave its theme into the ongoing discussion between Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals in the Frontenacs (where our cottage is located). The result, on which I labored off and on for about 8 hours, was this:

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

From: Rem Westland (Past President, Sharbot Lake Property Owners’ Association)

Re: Response to “Of cigarettes and land claims”

I am commenting upon an article that appeared in the May 27 edition of the Frontenac News, submitted by the Chief and Council, Shabot Obaadjiwan First Nation.

I begin by citing the Chief and Council’s suggestion that a May 13, 2010 editorial shared a perspective which is “potentially dangerous when it serves as a catalyst for racism” because the May 13 perspective did not take full account of Canada’s history regarding European and Aboriginal relations back in 1763 and before. The review of history which followed placed the Algonquin, and only the Algonquin, in this part of Ontario when the French and English established themselves in Canada.

I recall commentary in the Frontenac News from a person of Mohawk descent who moved to Sharbot Lake a few years ago (I think she has since moved away again). She believed the dominant Aboriginal presence in the Frontenacs from the early 1600s until the 1800s was the Six Nations. She supported her position with historical information on the fur trade and early European data on First Nation populations. It is unfortunate that the history of Aboriginal peoples in the Frontenacs remains unclear.

Whatever may have been the movement of peoples and the joys and the sorrows over the last 400 years, however, in one very important respect the air has cleared. There is only one comprehensive claim being negotiated in our area of the province and it is with the Algonquin First Nation of Ontario.

I regret that our words often seem to endorse a divide between First Nations and “Settlers”, or claimants and non-claimants, or rights-holders and non-rights holders. I think the history of this area suggests there has not been a clear division between peoples in this part of the world for many generations.

While there are risks of increased division associated with the federal and provincial claims process (who is eligible? who benefits?) I nonetheless strongly support the ongoing negotiations. I agree with the suggestion in your May 13 editorial that a successful claim settlement could overcome the risks and unite all area residents around a common goal. The common goal you identified is the economic development of our whole area.

The Chief and Council observed that Canada could not have become the wealthy and enviable country we are today without First Nations sharing their knowledge and their skills at various times in our history. I am sure we all agree.

It may be expecting a lot but I think your May 13 editorial asks the Algonquins to share – yet again – benefits that will come to the Frontenacs owing entirely to First Nation leadership and First Nation determination. I look forward to hearing from the Algonquin what they will ask from the rest of us in return!

To work towards a common goal will require, at some point, that all those pulling in the same direction work with the same information. Let’s begin to earn a full sharing of information by being steadfast in our support for the claim negotiations and by confirming our willingness to lend a hand in any way we can.

I expect the editor will publish this letter [he did], and I expect the Aboriginal group’s reaction will be negative [it was]. I wanted to say my piece, however, because it will help set the stage for public discussions during the next federal election. I want to be seen as a person who is fair but not foolish. The facts of our collective background must be stated. We cannot stand for Canada if we dare not speak the truth!

Other business today included my filling in, for Amy, a list of questions about my background and character that will appear on the Facebook page. I enjoyed doing this. Rather than reproduce the contents in this diary I work on the assumption that Facebook content will remain accessible to anyone who may be interested.

1 JUNE

This was not an easy day.

The major hurdle was an intense and hurtful exchange with Marie that lasted for much of the day. It began with my sensing a malaise on her part likely owing to her ongoing internal debate about whether to quit her work in the federal government. Her malaise turned against me when I grew impatient over her input to work Amy is doing for the Facebook. The confusion and unnecessary tension about Marie’s role in that enterprise has had her now express total disinterest in what is happening online which, while perhaps understandable, is in my view decidedly unhelpful. The spark was a simple question: “Are we available to visit Amy on Wednesday or Friday of this week and check out the progress she is making?”

Before the tension was over between Marie and me I had observed (unkindly, wrongly, and unfairly) that Marie’s input to my journey is less valuable than the Facebook content, and Marie had proposed in return to abandon my political project altogether. We had also used the opportunity to hurl all the slings and arrows we have each used in the past to undercut the other.

I am writing this report later in the week and now know that it would take about two days for us to fully recover. But recover we did…

I believe Marie is now determined to leave her job in late June. Our journey into more political engagement (if we win the election) or into a more serious commitment to retirement will soon begin.

My political contribution for the day was to submit my article to the Frontenac News regarding the Algonquin claim. I sent the letter to the Frontenac News without any more discussion with Marie because, frankly, I did not trust that she would support my views and I knew that neither one of us wanted a renewed debate.

2 JUNE

We had Amy over for lunch with my grandson Connor and we discussed the Facebook content and approach in detail. Unfortunately the Facebook page could not be called up on my computer for some reason so the elaborations by Amy remained somewhat abstract for most of the day. We endorsed what she was doing, then later in the day we could link to Facebook and were truly impressed by the work she had done.

I contemplated a couple of articles in another local paper, the New Edinburgh News (more on this below) but for most of the afternoon we went to Sharbot Lake so I could continue with the renovations I am making to the main bathroom. Marie and I needed the time away to continue our recovery from yesterday. The afternoon was very pleasant, thank goodness.

The New Edinburgh News articles were of concern to me for two reasons.

First, there was a report in the June edition of the paper on the clean up I had participated in. All of the groups participating were listed…but not me and not my team (of two). Because I had made a point of talking to the organizers and of displaying my CPC colors (my new ski jacket) I know that the organizers had recorded my presence.

Second, Mauril had his regular article in the paper in which he summarized his views on where a new bridge should be. In his summary he picked up the themes I had presented to the EMC Vanier (the local newspaper).

In the course of the day I drafted and re-drafted a letter to the New Edinburgh News. I shared the letter with Amy and Marie when I was satisfied with it. They both had good advice to offer: Amy wanted me to be more positive in my tone; Marie wanted me to be more challenging of the community association. The final version of the input to the paper was this:

THE IMPORTANCE OF POLITICAL ENGAGEMENT IN A DEMOCRACY

I was pleased in a previous edition of your paper to be introduced to the New Edinburgh community as the newly-appointed representative for the federal Conservative Party of Canada.

My background for this important role includes academia (PhD studies and sessional lecturer), military (RMC and officer), political office (Executive Assistant to Trudeau-era Minister), public service (Director General and Acting Assistant Deputy Minister), private sector (Vice President, CRG Consulting), and voluntary sector (former President/Real Property Institute of Canada, former President/Property Owners’ Association). I have lived in Ottawa-Vanier and have been an active community member for over 20 years. These facts are important in view of the commentary that follows.

My purpose when stepping into active politics was to help promote political dialogue among us and to re-introduce an element of competition into a riding which has been represented by the same federal party for 75 years (since Ottawa-Vanier was created) and since 1887 (previous riding boundaries). I believe our democracy depends upon intelligent debate about the issues. I believe our democracy requires meaningful choices when elections are held.

I believe those of us with appropriate backgrounds and with an opportunity to do so should be prepared to step into the political process and help make politics work better in our riding and across the country. I believe my own background meets the test of what one should expect from candidates for public office.

One of my representatives offered to have me be formally introduced to the New Edinburgh community at a community association meeting. My team was advised to wait until an election is called.

I and my team were pleased to participate in your Winter Carnival and we contributed to your May clean up. In your report on both events mention was made of most contributors…but not of us.

In your paper you allow space for sitting members of Parliament (federal and provincial) and City Council but there is no invitation to those with different political backgrounds or perspectives to respond or debate.

The disinclination of your paper and your community to welcome political engagement and political exchange is not unique to New Edinburgh. I have noted the same disinclination in my own community of Rockcliffe and my former neighborhood of Lindenlea; I have offered to meet with community groups in other parts of the riding and been advised to wait until election time.

Except during the four to six weeks of an election there is no support for candidates who want to make politics a meaningful and competitive process in Ottawa-Vanier.

Through letters to editors and by interventions I have made in public forums I am nonetheless pleased to already have had some impact. In his observations on “An Eastern Bridge” in your June 2010 paper, for example, the sitting Member of Parliament now echoes advice I gave at an open house on the subject in March: the way to get to the best choice is to focus upon the selection process itself, not to hop from option to option as Mr. Belanger has been doing for 15 years.

We candidates for public office can certainly find ways to be heard (votewestland.ca) but it appears the leaderships of community associations would prefer we stay out of sight and keep silent. It is ironic that groups which can be the grassroots for social and economic change object to involvement in the political process, even though most of your goals (economic opportunity, transportation, new bridge) can only be met through decisions made at the political level.

One day we may collectively lament the decay of democracy because political dialogue has stopped. One day we may regret the current situation where a sitting holder of high public office invites voters to a free coffee and is lucky if even a dozen people (in a riding of 80,000 voters) show up.

Rather than wait for that day to come I propose that the New Edinburgh Community Association become a force for political engagement in the Ottawa-Vanier area. Community associations can do this by hosting debates where candidates for public office appear in person or in print (in the New Edinburgh News, for example). Between elections you can ask the Electoral District Association of the different political parties in our area to make presentations to your editorial board or at public meetings. When a political party motivates its members to make a hands-on contribution to community events you can highlight our contribution and challenge other political groups to do the same or better.

Before this day was over I had an opportunity to update Bruce Poulin, the provincial Progressive Conservative Association president, on progress within my association and on the 16 June event. I was surprised to learn that he did not already know there had been a sea change of personnel within my association. I would have expected the new president of my association to have reached out to his provincial counterpart on Day One.

4 JUNE

I spent the first few hours of this day (I closed up shop yesterday) calling a number of supporters to thank them for their support to date and asked that they consider joining us for a political event on June 16. The ticket price will be $75. I have bought two tickets already and will likely be buying two more to help bring the numbers up to the 50 person target the association had spoken about a few weeks ago.

I also committed Marie to be part of a canvassing we will be doing tomorrow in the New Edinburgh area. Marie will be the driver, carrying me to the doors of those who want to say hello to the candidate in person. I wonder how this walk about will turn out?

Today I had a lot of work to do around the house (lawn maintenance mostly), which gave me plenty of time to think about this political journey.

As I may have mentioned before, while I am keen about this journey because it is a learning experience for me and valuable for our society, I am also well aware that my decision to take this on has required me to stop my contract work (which I was ready to stop anyway... at least for a while). I am also incurring expenses which I would not otherwise have incurred. The cost of this journey, if it lasts a year or more, is easily in the neighborhood of $200K in foregone contract income and actual expenses. Today, for parts of the day, I wondered if we can really afford this.

I dismissed those thoughts from my mind, however, and resolved to deal with money impacts and money problems only when they arise as real and right before me. If I win the election, after all, there will be no money problems. I will be back earning a salary…in addition to my and Marie’s pensions.

If I lose the election we will likely be smart to spend a year or so to wrap things up in Ottawa and then move to Fredericton to enjoy a high quality but lower intensity, lifestyle. The Fredericton option includes our keeping the cottage which is something that I know will make our adult children very happy…at least for the next few years.

5 JUNE

Today is my sister’s 60th birthday. I called and left a voice mail to confirm that I remembered the event. I so well remember comforting her when she felt, as a newly arrived little girl in Quebec City, that she had no friends. She was about 4 at the time and I was 6. Time goes by but parts of it will always be permanent in our minds.

The main event of the day was a Voter ID/door-to-door canvassing round organized by the new association executive (!) and it happened in the afternoon.

The main outcome, for me, was that I enjoyed the event. I have a fundamental reluctance about imposing myself upon people. Once I get over this hurdle and engage, however, I throw myself into the effort and have some fun.

We were in teams of two, one team on each side of the street, with me hanging back. My role was to run up to individual homes whenever residents said they would like to see the candidate. But this did not happen very much. It seemed that all I would be doing was walking idly on the sidewalks, waiting for the calls that rarely came.

So I lost patience within a half hour and began going door-to-door on my own. When one of the two teams knocked on doors in their turn they would sometimes be told: “But Mr. Westland has already been here!”

One of the main things I learned from this exercise is the great importance – for the candidate if not for the overall process – of meeting as many potential voters as possible. I find I have a pretty good “way” with people when I engage in a simple meet-and-greet. I am able to consider observations they may make and relate their observations to my own orientation as a conservative. I know the party positions well enough to bring CPC positions into a discussion as well.

I also learned that my goal to promote political discussion is a good one. At one home the man of the house was clearly uninterested in hearing what I might have to say. I found a way to kid him a bit, however, and his son happened to be sitting on the doorstep. So I “sold” my line to the son.

The father then told his son that he – the son – will vote as father tells him to…which was intended as a joke and received as one. But as I was leaving the property I overheard the son asking his Dad: “Dad, who is the MP for this area and why do you prefer him to that guy?” I suspect the political discussion that followed was the first round of political exchange those two ever had. The time I had spent in discussion, of course, would at best have netted me one vote in the upcoming election. I need about 20,000 votes to win.

Marie drove the jeep so that we might have a car to ferry me from one home to another if the teams got too far apart. Plastered along the sides of the jeep were the coordinates for my website…a stand-out feature which Marie did not enjoy very much. I realized, however, that there could be great merit in my walking down Ottawa-Vanier streets with nothing more than the jeep before me, the signs on the doors, and loud music blaring from the radio. We could revert our style back to that of the political band wagons of John A Macdonald days.

The discipline of campaigning door to door was lacking among us. Not only did I strike out to freelance on my own but I began to realize that the others (the Voter ID enthusiasts) really did not enjoy knocking on doors unless I was alongside. I think I do this stuff pretty well. My team felt more confident asking their stupid questions when I was with them at the doors and if I led the discussions.

One of the fun moments came when I stopped by the home of the head of Canada’s Parliamentary Library, who has known my sister Joan forever and whom I have met a number of times over the years. Bill was pleased to receive me and my message. He then shared Mauril Belanger’s “confusion” over why a person with my background would want to run in a riding which I am guaranteed to lose. My support team at the door had a laugh over that.

At the end of the campaigning, about three hours later, we canvassers and driver had a beer and a meal at a local restaurant. I picked up the tab of course. Marie and I then headed off to the cottage where I will return to my renovations on the morning of 6 June.

6 JUNE

Because I was at the cottage for most of the day there was very little politicking for me to add to this record of events.

I learned upon our return, however, that Amy’s Facebook Page has gone live. I sent this news out to Phil Trinh in the national office and asked that the national website be linked to this new and different Page. Jason’s fledgling effort (it never went anywhere anyway) will be taken off the network.

I also received a note from Amy expressing worry and displeasure about the degree of control the national office of the CPC appears to have over all of its elected members and candidates.

I assured her, in return, that I will retain my independence of action and I reiterated my commitment to speaking freely and honestly. In the alternative, if I am strong armed by the party to stop doing this I will resign and this diary will come to an early end.

In our discussion of this I observed that I see a number of indicators, all running together, which are pushing meaningful politics in Canada to the background. The desire of national parties to control what their representatives say is one of these indicators. It is a trend that affects not only the CPC candidates.

Another indicator, of course, is the relatively new “science” of elections which – between Voter ID and GOTV – are predicated for their success upon low voter turnout. The goal is to identify those who will vote Conservative regardless of who the candidate is, and get more of our people out to vote on voting day than the other national parties can drive to the polls themselves. The fewer who turn out to vote Liberal or NDP, the better for the CPC if our Voter ID data are accurate and if the GOTV program actually works.

A third indicator, which I addressed in the letter to the New Edinburgh News, is the disinclination of the public to entertain discussions of politics at public or private events between elections. Everyone laments the apparent end of political debate in Canada and regrets the relatively poor quality (background, experience) of candidates for public office. But few do anything about this.

I, for one, am doing what I can.

7 JUNE

Most of my time today was spent re-casting the campaign plan I had pulled together a few months ago. Guy wants me to present the “bare-bones” plan at our team meeting planned for 9 June.

I adjusted the contents a bit, I made the numbers more meaningful, and I showed to Guy why the difference between my plan and a fully funded plan relates primarily to the cost of Voter ID and GOTV. I will refuse to give my time or money to the “scientific” aspect of the political process. I do not like what it says about politics if one makes those activities the priority expenditure of a campaign team.

The highlights of the Plan are unchanged from what you have seen before.

Later today I will be meeting with Idee K, the campaign manager of Patrick Glemaud’s campaign, for a beer at the New Edinburgh Pub down the street. I look forward to the meeting and will share what was discussed when I get back to this report. Idee’s call to me stands as one of the few times that folk who engaged in previous campaigns in Ottawa-Vanier for the CPC have reached out to me. I hope he will say he wants to get involved.

PS: While doing my exercises downstairs I reflected on the question: “for whom am I writing this diary anyway?” I think the answer is: “for anyone in my position”. It may be helpful for other potential candidates – novices like me – to have a record they can turn to if they want a realistic appreciation of the process. How things are different, and how the same, are always interesting as we make our ways individually through life.

I realize, by the way, that I have completely dropped Carol and Will from this journey. The fact is, of course, Carol was replaced at the April annual general meeting. Communications from Carol to me have come to a total end. I have had a few links to Eleanor over the last couple of months but I fear that is coming to an end as well. Carol has taken her ball and her team and she has gone home…and good luck to her.

My day ended, as planned, with my meeting with Idee. He is a new Canadian from Nigeria. After coming to Canada (while in the diplomatic service I understand) he went to school in St. John, New Brunswick where he was very active in student politics. A few years ago he ran in the riding of St. John Harbour, representing the Conservative Party of Canada. He came to Ottawa to work in the office of the Honorable Helena Geurgis (now removed from Cabinet and the caucus)…so he is now out of a job and trying to start a consulting business.

This is a far different background from what I expected. I had been led to expect Idee to be Haitian, like Patrick, and I had expected that his entry into politics was occasioned by Patrick’s desire to have friends and family about him. In fact, Patrick and Idee had never met before Idee stepped up and volunteered to be Patrick’s campaign manager. The Helena Geurgis connection to Patrick now explains itself, through both her husband and now also through Idee. I suspect Idee’s introduction to Patrick would have been via Raheem Jaffer, Helena’s husband (and now also a disgraced former member of the caucus).

I was struck by Idee’s enthusiasm for politics and his energetic way. His offer of support seems very sincere. I am certainly inclined to accept his open hand. We talked about him becoming a strategic advisor to me with his role focused upon community outreach. This is a position, in fact, which is still vacant on the campaign team.

Idee was very strong on my gaining entry into retirement homes. His proposed strategy – to offer team support to the retirees to clean hallways and rooms – may not work for security and liability reasons in the homes. But there are a great many ways to approach a goal once you know what the goal is!

Our discussion covered a wide range of subjects. Suffice it to say that we agreed about most things. The only points of difference about which I remain uncertain are: Idee would have me ignore public forum debates (“you get more name recognition by being absent”); and, he suspects my “chair” flyer could solicit a backlash. During an election folk will be saying that the party which has been in for too long is the CPC, he said, so the message might backfire. Idee believes the “chair” should be used pre-writ. When the writ drops he believes I should follow the national party script to the letter.

When I got home I summarized our meeting in an email to Idee and will await his concurrence that I have recorded our discussion correctly. I will then update Guy and ask Guy to check Idee’s credibility with the national office. Idee knows all the people who are now a part of the association.

[As an aside, I want to note that I never heard from Idee again. I wonder whether he was a “plant” sent by the Party to check me out?]

8 JUNE

I had a difficult night last night. I hardly slept.

The reason for this is concern over content in the Facebook. I reread all of the articles and, upon reflection, I worried that direct references to Mauril Belanger could solicit commentary from him and his team challenging the correctness of what I say or – worse – asking whether I have the authority to share information I have acquired from my time as a public servant. I woke up worrying about law suits.

I am sure my worry is uncalled for given how hostile politics have become in Canada. Mauril has likely experienced much worse than anything I may have to offer. But I do not know Mauril and his team very well. Marie would not be able to stomach a law suit. We would not be able to afford the cost of a legal pursuit that Mauril, on his side, would likely fund from public funds available to sitting MPs.

I need to know my facts better when I attach them to a person. I need to avoid attacks which have the loud smack of electioneering about them. I need to take care when I use information that may have a security classification within the government.

I went back to my computer late in the evening and asked Amy to remove passages in four of my two dozen articles in which the language zeros in upon Mauril. I am now impatient, at about 0930 hrs on this Tuesday morning, to learn that the changes have been made. Whether Mauril’s team will read my Facebook Page or not…I want to stay on the safe side of the competitive game for a while yet.

Later today Marie and I will be traveling to Montreal and Knowlton to see Kees and to see my mother. We will be back on time for a campaign team meeting – jointly with the association executive committee – on Wednesday in the late afternoon.

But before we left I checked with my emails and was asked to write a “thank-you” to a couple of people who said they supported our party and might consider a donation if they heard from the candidate. I banged out a couple of letters pretty quickly, copied them onto special paper I had had printed some weeks ago which features my name, and stuck the letters in the mail along with my brochure.

9 JUNE

The trip to Montreal and Knowlton went well. Kees was in good shape and my mother – at ninety-four – seems content to hang around for a few years yet. At my mother’s retirement home we sat with four other women in their late 80’s and early 90’s, outside on the patio, to have lunch.

The conversation began with my mother observing proudly that her son is running for politics. The question came back: “For which party?” My reply (“the Conservative Party of Canada!”) caused a hush to fall over the small company. My, my.

I joked a bit about my experiences on the hustings. I observed that my own public background had been Liberal but that I have always been conservative in my political orientation. I shared with one of the ladies my background at RMC given that her husband had been a graduate from the college as well. All of this broke the ice.

Lunch lasted at least an hour and a half, during the course of which politics was discussed every which way to Sunday. The ladies enjoyed themselves. I even overheard one of the women observe to Marie: “He sure looks like a politician, doesn’t he?” So I guess I have come of age!

After we got back to Ottawa there was time for a quick supper (my job to make it, after I had done my job driving the car back from Knowlton and Montreal) and then we were off to a meeting of the campaign team.

At the meeting I was asked to summarize the campaign plan and to say where I had left it, now that a forecasted April election date had come and gone without an election.

Board member Alex Bednar again observed that he hoped my money-raising initiatives are bearing fruit. Marie reacted this with a touch of anger. While she strayed off topic in her reaction, her point was pretty clear: “Before you criticize the campaign team and before you once again press Rem and me for money, the new association should earn its spurs by accomplishing things on its own. How much money have you guys brought in? How much, Alex, have you contributed personally to the association? Rem and I have handed over at least two thousand bucks.” I agree with Marie’s message, though I shrunk away from the tone.

Amy attended the meeting. My brother did not. I will be interested to learn what is going on with Gerald these days.

Another issue that came up was the plan of the association to promote candidate recognition and Voter ID by going door to door in Rothwell Heights on 19 June. I think Gene was the one who raised this intent.

I tried and tried to make the point to Gene that we need an army of volunteers to do the kind of canvassing he and the association envision. I have learned that most people really do not like that kind of activity. To ask all association board members, or even my own campaign team volunteers, to step forward to help on 19 June risks getting back a whole bunch of “no”s. Once people say “no” the first time, future “no’s” are easier to say. Guy and Gene do not seem to understand this aspect of the human experience.

Do not open yourself up for a “no” unless you are happy with that answer!

10 JUNE

Today I sent Guy and Gene proposed text for them to use when inviting people to step forward for the June 19 canvassing. Guy used the text. So the stage is better set than it might have been.

One day I hope to have a list of volunteers on which will be identified the function or functions each listed volunteer would be happy to perform. That kind of list would be much more useful than Guy and Gene’s assumption that they can approach the same group of volunteers again and again for each and every task we need to get done.

I had a telephone call from Anne D in the early morning sharing the names of a couple of people she says I should contact for financial support. I will make those contacts, and many others, over the weeks ahead. In the early Fall, said Anne, she is prepared to host a cocktail for me at the Rideau Club to which my “A List” of supporters – if I have some by then – can be invited. I think that would be a great event if I can help to make it happen. Note again, of course, that making it happen will depend entirely upon me.

I used part of the morning to again summarize what I expect from the campaign team and from Guy. I copied Marie on this as well. As I said to Marie before she went off to work: “I want my campaign objectives to come down to a simple mantra that we can repeat again and again. I want to make it easy for people to distinguish between what I want and what the national office may expect.”

In short, all I want is a campaign that focuses upon a simple slogan (“Fifteen years without results is unacceptable” or “Seventy-five years of one-party representation is too long”), a campaign strategy which uses volunteers to deliver the slogan and the “chair” to every home in the riding, a dedicated effort to get signs around the riding, and a competent performance by me in every and all public appearance opportunities I may have. I assess that this can be done, plus a brochure mail out or a few ads, well within the minimal budget of $64K that I have called for in the past.

I think the association should be wholly in charge between now and the time of an election. While I may not like Voter ID logic and canvassing for that limited purpose, I will play along because there is a return in name recognition that is certain to result. I will expect the association to provide the planning and the volunteers to deliver activities they initiate on my behalf. I also expect the association to hold money-raising events and to prepare the initial run of signs that will be placed around the riding on the first day of an election call.

In the afternoon I met with Wifrid Champagne, the former Mayor of Vanier and a known Conservative. As you know I had been asked by his wife to meet with him but I had put off placing a call and going over: I was too shy, frankly. But the meeting – all in French – went very well. His wife was very pleased by my follow up to her request that I stop by.

Mr. Champagne was clear that he cannot be part of the election effort (he is over 90 years old) but he remains extremely interested and up to date. His health seems very good, though I learned he has been battling cancer and heart disease.

His bottom line advice reflected my own inclinations: have a good slogan ready, spread that slogan widely, and meet with as many people as you can between now and when an election is called. He agreed with my observation that the riding can be won by a Conservative…the time for change in this riding, he said, has come.

After getting back home I called Amy for a short discussion to review yesterday’s meeting. We agree, Amy and I, about the need to advance the goal of political discussion and debate. We agree that the Conservative party – and likely the others as well – are not keen about political discussion (an inherent loss of control). I again affirmed my intention to advance the goal of improving democracy in Canada (!), or quit this run at politics if I assess that I will be denied the opportunity. So far, so good. No one is pulling my chain yet. The Facebook page is up. No one in the national office, I told Amy, is asking us to make any changes.

Tomorrow (Friday) and over the weekend we will be at Sharbot Lake. I do not expect to give too much structured thought to my political journey over the next three days.

14 AND 15 JUNE

You will see that I skipped the three days at the cottage. There was nothing to report.

The two days (14 and 15 June) melded into one: the work of each day is so intermingled with the work of the second that I choose to report on them together, as one.

The major event was a celebration of folk who have contributed to a charity known as SOS Children’s Villages, particularly to that charity’s recent work in Haiti. I was invited by Micheline K, the association board member who had been with me on our garbage pick-up in New Edinburgh. She had said she contributes to the charity and could open the door for me if I agreed to go. The event was hosted by the British Ambassador at his residence at Earnscliffe – a heritage property alongside the Ottawa River located within the Ottawa-Vanier riding.

The event was pleasantly low key. There was a band playing in the background but discussion was easy and the guests were interesting. I managed to have about 15 minutes with the minister of state responsible for international development, the Honorable Peter Kent. Georges B, another member of our association and a Haitian by birth, had his camera with him and took pictures which I expect will soon be displayed on our website.

On the morning of 16 June I prepared a short summary of the event and sent it to Guy and Phil Trinh for consideration.

The most important development, however, was tucked into ongoing emails and a coffee between me and Guy on the subject of association/campaign team division of labor. Both Guy and Gene are of the view that there is no issue. Their advice is that we just let things develop as we roll along.

I, on the other hand, perceive major issues when I see that structural clarity is lacking. By emails, orally, and over coffee I elaborated upon my concerns. Among the concerns I listed:

- In the pre-writ period only the association has authority to act, to raise money, and to spend. For the campaign team to do this is to invite a debate when the writ drops over how much of the association operating expenses should be charged to the campaign team.

- In the pre-writ period the association is responsible for the content of flyers, brochures, ads, and so on; and, the association sets up and manages events meant to reward volunteers or raise money. If the fledgling campaign team does this the association gets to sit back and watch. There is no development of association capacity.

- Associations are a kind of franchisee, working under the lead of the franchiser – the Conservative Party of Canada. Our association is therefore encouraged to purchase goods and services from firms contracted by the national office whether or not those goods and services are attuned to Ottawa-Vanier circumstances. This may be OK for the association. The campaign team cannot be drawn into this kind of relationship, however, because our fortunes will depend on local appeal.

- If the association is not active in the pre-writ period it will not feel the need to attract and retain people to handle tasks such as fund raising, events scheduling and management, media relations, outreach to high rise residents, and so on. The campaign team will have no one to draw from when we staff our own operations during the period of the writ. For the campaign team to staff all those positions itself before an election is to do the work of the association without authority to act, raise money, or spend.

- If the association and campaign team tasks are not distinct we will continue to have door-to-door campaigning which mixes up “meet the candidate” with “are you a Conservative supporter”. The latter is important for Voter ID (a pre-writ activity) but Voter ID questions are impertinent, in my view, and cause those who are not Conservative supporters to be doubly upset about our party. I do not want the campaign team doing Voter ID during the campaign.

I advised Guy to consider leaving his position as member-at-large of the association and join me in simply watching what the association does. In his then-exclusive role as campaign manager he could press the association, through Brock, to have the association achieve goals (attracting and training members, raising funds) that are essential pre-writ activities. “As long as you are also on the executive committee,” I told Guy, “it appears no one will care whether you are acting for me or for the association. We will all be confused.” Guy said he would consider this…

I was pleased to see, in the course of these two days, that Amy continues to improve the Facebook and Anne D continues to think about people I should contact to form a fund-raising A-Team. I will follow up upon Anne’s advice within the next few days.

Today (June 15) in the House of Commons a deal was struck among the Bloc, the Liberals, and the Conservatives regarding Parliamentary management of the Afghan Detainee files. It is now definite that there will not be an election in the summer. The House rises for the Summer tomorrow. I can count upon a low-stress July and August.

Today as well Marie advised her superior at work that she will be leaving the Public Service within the next few weeks. Marie is quite shaken up about this and likely will be for a few weeks, and perhaps months, to come. Marie is not a self-starter. The workplace has given her a reason for rising in the morning and for being tired at night. It will be interesting to see how we handle the transition. (I think by having her join me in this political journey she will have an easier time of it.)

16 JUNE

Today we have a fundraising event down in the Market where I will be saying a few words and the minister of Heritage and Official Languages will be in attendance. Also today I intend to go to City Hall to buy a VIP pass to attend a few Franco-Ontarian events scheduled for the rest of the week in the center of town.

But first…it is time once again for me to exercise on the gym equipment below. I wondered decades ago why I was keeping this up. My answer to myself has always been: “so that I will have the strength and energy to serve if called upon!” In the next federal election I may be called upon. I may be elected. Even though now over 60 years old I will be more fit mentally and physically than most people elected along with me to the House of Commons.

This evening’s event went very well. We had about 40 people attending, most of them friends, colleagues, and co-workers associated with the executive team. The average age was about 30 I suspect. Anne D and Helen T, two regulars and very good supporters, were present as well as a number of folk who were strangers to me but who have become interested in what is going on.

In my speech to the group I emphasized the importance of work being done by political staffs on the Hill and in the national office. I referred to my own time in their jobs and I observed that a stable government, one which manages to keep winning consensus support on its important agenda items even while being in a minority position, can not achieve this result on the back of ministers alone. Political staff keep ministers focused by weeding out the noise and adding meat to the substance. “Good for you guys,” I said. “If I do not win the next election it will not be on your shoulders but entirely upon mine!”

Minister Moore showed up as planned, along with a Member of Parliament from North Vancouver. Both those guys were in their early 30s, though I dealt with them as veterans relative to myself. They both took over ridings that had been with other parties for a very long time (none as long as in Ottawa-Vanier) and the message from both was to get out and meet as many people as possible.

After coming home I received a phone call from Royal Galipeau, the MP who represents a riding next door. What a curious fellow.

His purpose was to share with me some wisdom he has acquired after two victories in what had previously been an unwinnable Ottawa-area riding. Some of his tricks are:

- go to as many church services as possible (No Thanks!)

- pour through church bulletins and link up with those who do volunteer work in support of the churches (No Thanks!)

- attend as many service club meetings as possible, identify the members who are longer term, and send them letters of encouragement and support (No Thanks!)

- attend public events and bring along gifts that you offer as door-prizes…and get called upon to hand over to those whose tickets are selected (No Thanks!)

- be sure to not portray yourself as better than the rest of us (Why Not?).

Bottom line: I will not be doing what Royal did to get into public office. Winning does not matter that much to me. His kind of politics are not inviting to me. But I was nice on the phone, effusively appreciative, and undertook to invite him to future events organized by my association.

PS. Just for the record, I should note that World Cup soccer is being played in South Africa while my journey rambles on. I watch bits of most games on the television and I know that my kids expect me to have a special interest in the fortunes of the Dutch team. So I keep abreast of games that matter to the Dutch and I try to remember when the Dutch are playing. I do find soccer endlessly enjoyable to watch so this is not a burden at all.

PPS: In the House of Commons the Conservatives are doing very well. The House will rise (perhaps now on Tuesday next week) without any further incidents…and along the way the government will have achieved the passage of some 8 pieces of legislation that are reflective of their “safe communities” and “strong economy” orientations.

As a final aside, on this day I was troubled a bit more than usual by the realization that life is short. I am well aware that my dad is gone and my mother is 93. The dog is getting old, Marie’s mom and most of her mom’s family are now passed away. Marie’s dad is 84. When I meet with all the young people, and when the political veterans are almost 30 years younger than I am, I realize how far along the treadmill I have moved.

I deal with this by realizing that we are all in the same boat, all of us who are alive – including the flora and the fauna. For all I know the stones, minerals and metals themselves are part of infinity’s endless evolution and may be headed to a round of consciousness (aided and abetted by us?) that will replace our own self-awareness a few million years from now.

When one tries to grasp the endlessness of time it is oddly comforting to know that one’s physical components are likely permanent, one’s physical reality will always be part of the firmament, and one’s awareness may always shine through the awareness of family…and possibly the awareness of spirit. Nothing can be ruled out. But one’s physical presence is certain to be part of the universe forever.

What I owe to the universe, I think, is to make profitable use of my own time as a self-aware life form. I know I have always tried to do that.

I think my present journey raises the bar. If I do not win the next election though, it may truly be time for me to “retire”. My parting contribution to politics will be to oversee the resolution of financial issues that may remain from my campaign and thereafter to remain active in politics – if at all – only from a distance. My most important job will be to focus upon the remarkable miracle my own life represents.

As Raymond Chrétien said to me at a reception held by his firm in Montreal last Christmas: “Rem, at some point we have to get ready.” He meant that we have to prepare for the world hereafter, and I agree. I think one gets ready by slowly sloughing off the need to be an individual who triumphs over others. I think one begins, if married, by melding more effectively with one other person, then also with the family (kids, grandkids), but also with the community at large. It will be very satisfying if I can lose myself in others long before I lose myself.

17 JUNE

This augurs to be a quiet day. I plan to ride my bike into town to see what the Francophonie Festival looks like, perhaps to get a haircut, and to try a draft or two of letters that will be posted to potential large donors to my campaign. I have mentioned that Anne intends to host cocktails at the Rideau Club for me in the fall…but my job is to line up the high-level donors who earn the right to be invited. I will have made initial contacts by the end of next week with some forty people. I do not feel myself to be in a rush.

I received an email from Alex Bednar advising that I should be careful regarding Royal Galipeau likely for the same reasons that I have myself laid out above. Royal is a bit of a ham but I am starting to like the fellow quite a bit. He is sincere about what he does.

In the early afternoon I rode my bike downtown to make an assessment of the Franco-Ontarien festival, to decide whether I should attend and, if attending, make an effort to be recognized. I concluded “Not!”

I arrived at this conclusion because, when confronted with the imminence of the event (standing up close to the posters and the location) I was reminded that I do not really enjoy the press of the crowd at large gatherings where I have no defined role to play. This will be a music festival, drawing a number of performers whose names I recognize, but whom I would not have gone out of my way to listen to.

On my way home I stopped by the headquarters of the Vanier Business Improvement Association and of the Wabano Native Cultural Center. I met with the executive director of the former, and a receptionist at the latter, and I set the stage for followup.

My follow up consisted of a note to the executive committee of the EDA that we host the Vanier BIA board at a meet-and-greet. This, I said, will attract most of the opinion leaders in the commercial districts of our riding. We could perhaps extend invitations as well to representatives of cultural interest groups and, perhaps, the Vanier police. I left the initiative for this with the association.

[As an aside: it never happened.]

I suggested that we also consider meeting with the board of the Wabano Center. This, I observed, is a bit risky because Aboriginal groups are very politicized and have limited agendas (more money!). They are also very aggressive and very litigious…but not always. I think it would be a good idea to rent space from the Center, provide lunch, and ask to meet with as many board members as may be willing to attend. Again, I left all follow up with the association.

[This did not happen either…]

At the end of the day I went downtown to meet Marie for supper. After supper, the music of the Franco-Ontarien event drew me to the festival front door…and I bought a ticket! The sound was joyful and also familiar to me. Marie was not interested and did not feel well, so I joined the crowd on my own for about three hours and enjoyed my time quite a bit. On my way out I saw Micheline K and said hello…so the goal of being recognized was also met, if to a limited extent.

18 JUNE

Working from my home office (with a round of lawn mowing thrown in) I used today to summarize my ideas regarding association fundraising strategy and I asked for the views of Brock and Guy. My fundraising proposal is to set up four or five categories for donations received so that when I go out soliciting money I can say to people how their contributions will be managed. In short, I propose the following:

- A category for all donations above $20.

- An agreement that I will send a thank you note for all donations and contributions over $100.

- An undertaking by me to call all those who contribute over $200.

- A “President’s Circle” and a “Candidate’s Circle” for contributions over $500 and $1000 respectively, each to benefit from one high profile event a year.

- The 400 Club, for those who contribute $400 to join and who want to be part of my “talking politics” idea. I would treat this Club as my inner circle of personal advisors and reaction team.

I ended the day by sharing with Guy what my schedule for the summer looks like, observing that effective 25 June I intend to be operating out of the cottage instead of our beautiful home here in the most luxurious neighbourhood of Ottawa.

19 JUNE

The main event of the day was a round of Voter ID canvassing in the neighborhood of Rothwell Heights. In addition to Voter ID (which can proceed equally well without my attendance) the plan is to bring me along to meet the residents who want to say “hello”. Gene believes my being there may interest people in contributing funds. I want to do this because I get a chance to persuade people to think Westland when the next election comes around.

The weather was good and the rounds were – as always – interesting. The number of volunteers was small (there were only six of us) and all came from my own campaign team (none from the association).

On this round I was astonished by how positive my reception is at most doors, even where the opening words are: “I will never vote Conservative!”

The short discussion at the door of Conservative supporters is never too challenging. At the door of those who affirm a disinclination to vote Conservative there are sometimes serious issues raised (rarely) and there is usually a smile and a thank you by the time I walk away. There were at least a couple of homes where I felt I achieved “conversion”, which is something that the Voter ID and GOTV logic has no interest in.

It was fun to see Colin Lindley at this round of canvassing. He clearly understands the Voter ID logic and he did the canvassing job well. Gene was very impressed. Consistent with my own views, Colin did not want me around. He said he gets the job done better and faster without me.

After the canvassing round Marie and I went off to Sharbot Lake.

20 JUNE

No business today.

A related development, however, will be important for my journey.

Over this weekend Marie “decided” – I put this in quotes because Marie is very poor at making decisions and sticking to them – that she will not leave her position with the Public Service this summer after all. She will work until the summer of next year and stop on the day that she qualifies for an unreduced pension (30 years service).

While I have always supported Marie’s plan to leave the public service early, and have given her all kinds of arguments for why this makes sense, a decision to stay gainfully employed – with an income in the range of $150K – is certainly the most logical thing to do. I think a reasonable person can predict with 90% certainty that there will be a federal election within the next year. Whether I win or lose, the end of my political journey is the more logical time for the two of us to regroup and conclude upon our way ahead.

21 JUNE

I am feeling a bit lethargic today. My enthusiasm for the chase is somewhat abated. I know I can expect this to happen again and again over the coming months.

On the one hand, I look about me and wonder why I even care.

It is a very large world out there, beginning with the fact of a very large riding in Ottawa-Vanier. To reach out and touch even a small percentage of those who inhabit the riding is a foolhardy exercise. Even with prodigious effort I will not make meaningful contact (ten minutes or so of discussion) with more than a few hundred people by the time some 60,000 people will be lining up to vote (assuming only a 60% turnout).

I looked at some of the internet stories about Mauril and his wife last night (yesterday I happened to be walking down my street when his wife stopped to ask for directions to Ashbury College for some kind of event) and found I quite like the guy. He seems inoffensive.

I wonder if I really care enough about politics to be doing this job? But I know that quitting is not an option. I will not let myself and others down by walking away.

I sat in my easy chair and picked up a 40 year old text I have on the subject of Bakunin and anarchist political theory, and this helped a bit. I want to reread that text more closely. The goal of political theorists and politicians in our western liberal democracies has always been to guide our societies towards futures where life can be enjoyed by and be productive for as many of our fellow human beings as possible.

Productive to what end, of course, is the conundrum. For some (monks in silent retreats) it is OK to promote lifestyles which manifestly cannot be enjoyed until the afterlife. For me, life on earth is a journey (much larger and longer than my current political round) which provides eyes and ears to the God which is eternal. We are all a part of the “forever” and our chance to make a personal contribution while on this earth is a privilege we should make the most of.

So I carry on for reasons of personal motive and ethics and also for reasons of theory and belief. If I win the upcoming election I will serve well and productively. If I lose I will focus upon the wonder of living and make my ongoing contributions from the sidelines.

I look forward to either outcome.

Just before I head downstairs I read in the paper a report on how the financing of political parties in Canada includes a payment of about $1.35 for each vote cast in support of that party. The Bloc Quebecois, which wants to destroy Canada, survives entirely because of this subsidy from all Canadians. The Green party would not exist without this tax payer largesse either.

It is interesting that our association, on the other hand, is more or less on its own. Notwithstanding the money that the Conservative Party of Canada has in its coffers, ridings such as mine must collect our own resources and cannot count upon an extra penny from the national office other than the 10% of what our residents contribute at the national level. One wonders what our parties are doing with their riches. I suspect they use some of the money to throw at ridings which are considered winnable. I am sure no funds and no people will be thrown my way!

When I return after exercises, walking the dog, doing a round of shopping, and cleaning up I hope to close the day by working on the solicitation letters I will send to Rockcliffe residents who may be interested in supporting me at the maximum contribution level. I will be enticing them with the promise of a reception in the fall at the Rideau Club (Anne’s offer).

I am working on an elaborate statement on “why I can win” that, when finalized, will become a part of this record. I plan to send this message to all Rockcliffe residents.

22 JUNE

The House rose last Friday. I expect this report will fall back to entries made weekly and sometimes I may not even make that kind of schedule. Oh, well…no one can shoot me for poor performance over this. I have kept a hand-written record of some key points, and I have my calendar beside me. So let the reconstruction begin!

My brother stopped by at my – fronted by Marie’s – request for lunch. His contract to help guide government departments in Jamaica towards a Management Accountability Framework like the one we have for federal departments in Canada has come through. I want to assess whether I can still count upon Gerald as my Official Agent.

If anything, and perhaps this should be alarming to me, he appears more tolerant of my proposals (ever changing versions of the “bare bones” approach) than he has been on previous occasions. We had a good discussion about where things stand. On my underlying reason for the meeting (to look into the whites of his eyes) I concluded that I should begin to sniff out the possibility of finding a back-up to Gerald. I do not fully trust my brother’s staying power now that other interests are looming for him.

In fact, Gerald affirmed that he will not be in a position to help if there is a fall election…and a fall election is what many pundits still expect. When I suggested that perhaps Gerald himself could find a back-up for his position on my team he declined. He said he had reached out to a couple of people but their comment in return was “your brother does not have a chance”. I smiled through that, but inside I began preparing for a future without my brother in the picture.

Shortly after Gerald left Marie and I jumped into our car and headed to the Lake. I want to cut the grass and complete the bathroom renovations before Amy, Marty, and their little fellow get there on the weekend.

23 JUNE

I was at Sharbot Lake for the day…then raced home on time for Voter ID canvassing with Gene in the late afternoon.

Once again we “hit” Rothwell Heights. Once again most of the expected Voter ID volunteers did not show up. This time there was at least one person whose claim to fame is his being a member of the association. Once again we mixed Voter ID gathering of simple statistics with meet-the-candidate.

Today it took me a little longer to get into the swing of things. As I have said before and will likely say again, I do not like mixing Voter ID and meet-the-candidate. By the time I get to a door the homeowner’s attitude has become decidedly negative because of those crazy and intrusive questions. A few remain somewhat pleased to say “hello”. But for most I am just another irritant who stands between the moment at the door and a soccer game or supper.

The worst of today’s encounters was a fellow – well dressed and peeking out of the door of an expensive house – who advised that my life would be in danger if I stayed longer than a few seconds more on his property. The most enjoyable 5 minutes was at the door of another Liberal supporter who was certain to vote Liberal but who was amused by my effort and pleased to engage in a bit of banter. I liked the guy, and his wife.

Upon my return home the phone rang, with a call from Anne D. She and I will follow up tomorrow regarding the Rockcliffe project.

24 JUNE

I had contemplated attending a St. Jean Baptiste event in Vanier but I elected not to do so. Over the last few days I have asked a number of times via the email whether there are any interested association or even PC Ontario members who could join me at the barbeque and entertainment being offered. But, no, there was no one. I have learned not to go anywhere alone, unless an event is interesting to me personally regardless of political merit.

In my drive around town doing errands, however, I stopped by Anne’s place in a condominium project just off the McKay Pond in Rockcliffe. She invited me in and we had our discussion.

I had with me a proposed letter to Rockcliffe residents, and a copy of the “Why I Can Win” article. I explained my intention to drop these two pieces into the mailbox of each intended recipient and I asked her to reflect upon my strategy and get back to me, which she did do on June 28. The project is a “go”.

The planned letter to Rockcliffe residents follows:

LETTER TO ROCKCLIFFE MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS

My purpose with this letter and the accompanying material is to add to whatever you may already have heard about my candidacy. If you have not heard or read about me before, this material will bring you up to date. My goal is to build a base of supporters within my own neighborhood.

One of my Rockcliffe supporters will be hosting a cocktail party at the Rideau Club in the fall of this year. At that event I will say more about who I am, I will elaborate upon the reasons why I think the Ottawa-Vanier riding can be won for the Conservative Party in the next federal election (see “Why I Can Win” enclosed), and I look forward to questions and answers being exchanged among us that will help me prepare for open-forum discussions.

This letter is my invitation to you, to consider joining me and other Rockcliffe members or supporters at the Rideau Club event.

Success in the political process requires money. The Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association is canvassing in polls across the riding, for example, which is preceded by a distribution of literature and is accomplished by ferrying a team of volunteers through the streets. Each round of canvassing typically costs the Association about $600 in mailing fees alone.

So my invitation to have you join us for a cocktail comes with a hitch: you will be added to the list of supporters to whom I will turn not only for advice and input but for donations as well!

My wife and I are already committed to each make the maximum contribution allowable under the rules of Elections Canada ($1,100 in a year, payable to the Ottawa Vanier Conservative Association); and, we will each contribute that same amount to my campaign when an election is called. A payment to the national office of the Conservative Party (again, up to a maximum of $1,100) is unfortunately “lost” to us at the local level because the Party only pays 10% of donations made nationally to local organizations. A payment made to the Ottawa Vanier Conservative Association stays 100% with our Association and in support of my efforts. As we like to say within the Association: “Think nationally, but donate locally!”

Like you, my wife and I moved to Rockcliffe because we love our house and the area…and we value our privacy.

I will follow up with you, therefore, only if I learn from you that you are interested in joining us at the Rideau Club in the fall (date to be decided later). Let me know if you are interested by sending me a short email a note in the mailbox at 157 Acacia Avenue (faces Ashbury Road).

For more information about me I invite you to check the website votewestland.ca and the Facebook link at that site. There is also a link which confirms the address of the Ottawa Vanier Conservative Association for contributions you may be able to make even before we meet in the fall.

The elaboration on “why I can win” which was included with this letter is a shorter version of the document I have been working on. The longer version will appear on my Facebook page and can be referred to via the internet website. The shorter version is this:

WHY WE CAN WIN

We Conservatives can win in Ottawa-Vanier in the next federal election! The Liberals and their representative in our riding are a carbon copy of their national party – bereft of enthusiasm, leadership, purpose, direction, and good ideas.

But in order to win we need to make ourselves – and our candidate Rem Westland – known across the riding. We need you and our other long term supporters to help us convince friends and neighbors to vote Conservative. We need to reinvigorate the political process.

We need you to check us out at the site votewestland.ca and we need you to follow up by clicking onto the “donations” link and making a contribution!

IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE!

The Liberal record speaks for itself. Aside from voting with his party in the House of Commons and attending a select number of riding events the sitting Member of Parliament (MP), Mr. Mauril Belanger, primarily tracks what the community is doing. He tables petitions or writes letters, and he makes sure he is front and centre when decisions are made by our residents’ associations, business groups, school councils, and community newsletters. He is a follower, not a leader. Like his party, he has run out of energy and ideas.

But we have serious – and longstanding – challenges. The challenges in Ottawa-Vanier include the imperative for the Francophone community to retain its distinctiveness while remaining open and dynamic; the need to keep the Montfort Hospital in the center of the province’s health planning; redevelopment of the vacant Base Rockcliffe property; improvement of traffic on King Edward, and other issues. The Liberals, through Mr. Belanger, have not been able to provide the level of federal support that that our community leaders deserved in the past and will not be in a position to do so after the next election.

Official Bilingualism

Mr. Belanger is a proud representative of the Franco-Ontarian community. But this is not enough. As the federal representative for Ottawa-Vanier Mr. Belanger could do much more than simply voice his support for community-led efforts to protect and promote the French reality in eastern Ontario.

When the Franco-Ontarian festival saluted its founders and chief architects our M.P. was not among those named. When a former Mayor of Vanier shared with me his view that the Francophone community in Vanier is becoming insular and isolated from the rest of the riding, he wondered why this is not being addressed.

I believe the Liberal party in our riding is taking the vitality of the Franco-Ontarian community for granted and is unaware that the number of Francophones is down to about 30% and falling. The percentage of new Canadians is growing and their priority, even in Vanier, is English.

I am a Dutch-born Canadian who grew up in Quebec City. I came to Ottawa in 1970 and have lived with my family for over 20 years in Ottawa-Vanier. I worked hard to become fluently bilingual and to include both the English and French cultures in my life. I did it because I know that incorporating both of our founding cultures and languages is good for individuals. We need to move Vanier-based businesses and cultural events onto centre stage in our riding. I will be able to do this because I and my party do not take the Franco-Ontarian heritage in our riding for granted.

Montfort Hospital

Mr. Belanger has endorsed community efforts to keep the Montfort open and make it a state-of-the-art hospital. But he has been cheering from the sidelines.

For my part I was pleased to have a hands-on opportunity to help the Montfort when I was a senior officer at the Department of National Defence (DND). When I was the acting Assistant Deputy Minister for real property the department began considering whether to move its medical services from the National Defence Medical Center in Alta Vista to the Montfort.

I did not sit back and wait for someone else to get this done. I met with senior leaders of the Canadian Forces medical team and I toured the Montfort facility with them. I made sure my own team of real property professionals understood how to implement the plan within the limits of federal policy and funding authorities. We got it done.

Canadian Forces Base Rockcliffe

Mr. Belanger has always supported some kind of development at the former Canadian Forces Base Rockcliffe (CFB Rockcliffe). But he has not been a leader. After 15 years there are still no results. Even when he was the Associate Minister of National Defence Mr. Belanger could not find a way to move this file forward.

After I am elected I will know what to do! When I was a senior official with DND the closing of CFB Rockcliffe was one of my team’s responsibilities. My colleagues and I worked hard to clear complex bureaucratic and legal hurdles to make it possible for the Canada Lands Company (CLC) to redevelop the site. We had succeeded with the closure of Base Chilliwack in British Columbia and we were on track for succeeding with Rockcliffe as well.

I recall from media reports, however, that Mr. Belanger was opposed to the balanced approach of CLC at Rockcliffe. He preferred a concentration of high-tech industries. In the result, the Liberal government delayed any decision and CLC withdrew. The Canadian Forces remain the owners of an abandoned Base – at high annual cost – and there is now a fence around the property that keeps us all out.

Traffic Congestion

When Mr. Belanger was elected in 1995 he declared that building a new bridge was also one of his priorities. He sat back while a flawed first-round study concluded that a new bridge should cross at Kettle Island. He has subsequently focused debate upon competing options rather than upon the flawed phase 1 study. His current solution – somewhat reminiscent of his CFB Rockcliffe approach – is to endorse a route that has not even been listed and to recommend a study on whether to add a high-cost tunnel option to his untested alternative.

In my letters and in public forums I have argued that the phase 1 study was flawed in its conception that should not - must not - be left standing. We need to start from a common understanding of what factors matter and how the factors should be weighted. We need a new phase 1 study where all the options are back in play and properly assessed.

Even before phase 1 is restarted, however, we need to know where the trucks come from, what they are doing in our city (passing through? headed to an in-town destination?), and what their current travel options are.

Providing effective guidance from the federal level to help resolve traffic congestion in our riding and the related bridge issue requires our federal representative to have two key attributes: an understanding of how governments work and directly related, hands-on experience. As a senior official in the public sector and as a private sector principal consultant I have both.

Aboriginal Issues

CFB Rockcliffe and the bridge issue both raise concerns within the Aboriginal community of our riding. It is clear from draft legislation he has presented to Parliament that Mr. Belanger is tracking Aboriginal issues. But he is not a leader.

For my part, I was leader of a federal claims resolution group when we resolved over 240 claims (1990 to 1995). When a senior official at DND I retained a leadership role on issues like base closures and land sales where Aboriginal interests were in play. As a consultant I advised PWGSC on managing its relations with the Algonquin in the Ottawa area. I was the lead strategist for the design and implementation of a $1 billion settlement with the Crees of Quebec, who are headquartered in our riding and some of whose members run a successful business on Murray Street.

The Economy

The Conservative Party, in its own platform and through its representatives in the House of Commons and the Senate, knew what to do during the recent economic downturn. We will know how to restore balanced budgets within the next five years. When elected in Ottawa-Vanier I will be a member of the government caucus. I will be in a position to ensure that difficult decisions at the federal level take the economic situation of our residents into account.

Between now and the next federal election, and on a regular basis after elected, I will touch base with the commercial sectors in Ottawa-Vanier, learn what I can, and keep our merchants, public servants, pensioners, and others up to date.

The Liberals will not become the governing party in the next election. They and their representatives in the House will have little influence – thank goodness – over what must be done to keep Canada at the top of the list of successful major economies.

Crime in Ottawa-Vanier

Statistics confirm that crime rates in Ottawa-Vanier have fallen since the federal Conservatives came to power. Much of this success is due to the tremendous efforts made by community leaders to develop and implement important local programs - Crime Prevention Ottawa, Vanier Beautification, Lowertown our Home, and so on. Mr. Belanger has supported these efforts. But he has not been a leader.

A federal M.P. is extraordinarily well-placed to influence federal policies and programs in ways that bring down crime … if he or she is part of the government caucus and knows how to make government work!

But the Liberals did not make much of a difference while their party was representing our riding over the last 65 years, including Mr. Belanger’s 15 years in office. It’s been long enough. In this area too we need a leader. We need a change.

THE TIME IS NOW!

This day, like many others during soccer’s World Cup, was broken up by long sessions in front of the television watching the games. Today it was the Netherlands. They won again and are now guaranteed a spot on the next round.

25, 26, AND 27 JUNE

These days were spent at the cottage. Amy, Marty and Connor arrived as planned on Saturday and we had a great weekend. As I said to Marie (who really hopes we will move to Fredericton some day): this is the kind of thing cottages are for!

On Saturday evening Marty, Gerrit (who came late that day and left early the next) and I watched a film about the situation in Iraq.

The film was pretty good. It played on the theme that the United States went to war in Iraq on the back of misinformation (something we now all know to be true) and that the misinformation was planted by an operative in one of America’s secret services who had a personal – and perhaps professional – agenda for telling the lies that excused the war.

The story about the lies was entirely fiction…but there was an undercurrent about politics throughout that had me regret the petty level at which I must play to get elected.

Whereas people die in Afghanistan, nature is destroyed in the oil sands of Alberta, lives are lost in hospital waiting lines in Ontario, and so on, I must write and speak about bridges, redevelopment of closed bases, and crime in the streets of Vanier. Even when I speak about these little things I am unlikely to be heard by very many people. It’s a funny business.

28 JUNE

Today is the day when Anne D confirmed that we are in business regarding the Rideau Club cocktail. And today I received a list from Gene of Rothwell Heights people who, in response to our door-knocking, can be counted upon to vote Conservative. So I drafted a letter that I will send to each one of the 35 households.

I will do the administrative stuff tomorrow. This will require me to buy envelopes and stamps, write addresses on the envelopes, and mail everything out before noon. I will also be delivering the letters I have written to Rockcliffe residents. I will need the better part of a day just to bike around the area and do this. I will be doing this all on my own.

Our plan is to leave tomorrow in the early afternoon for Kingston: we have a show to attend, after which my life will be based out of Sharbot Lake until Labour Day.

One thing I forgot to mention: On July 1 I will – as last year – be part of a panel discussion on local radio regarding Aboriginal issues. Last year I viewed this as a great opportunity to achieve name recognition for the purpose of contract work with my consulting company. On this round I hope that Professor Cammy – host of the program – will say something about my political journey. It means that this time, even more than before, I want to be armed with knowledge about Conservative government initiatives regarding Aboriginal people.

29 JUNE

Life is still pretty uneasy around here. The day began with tears and recriminations, having to do with whatever psychological twists underlay yesterday’s two second exchange regarding Gerrit and his presence at the cottage.

After Marie left for work my own tasks were to pull the material together for a mail-out to Rothwell Heights supporters and for Rockcliffe solicitation. This took me about 5 hours of printing, folding, putting into envelopes, addressing, stamping, and so on. What a business.

I will now stop by the Post Office to be sure that my stamps are correct for the weight of the mailings, and then we get ready for Sharbot Lake and Kingston. If things work as intended, from here on – until Labour Day – I will be operating out of the cottage rather than the Rockcliffe home.

My letter to Rothwell Heights supporters was the following:

_____________________________________________________________

Greetings!

During our canvassing of Rothwell Heights over the last couple of weeks I and my team were pleased to meet with you and talk about why we think we can win the next federal election. I have included an outline of the reasons why I believe we will be successful.

My purpose with this short letter is to thank you for being a supporter, to encourage you to spread the word (and visit our website at votewestland.ca), and to remind you that spreading the word takes money! We need your financial support in order to purchase space in local media, to run our canvassing campaigns, and to get into direct contact with all potential voters. When an election is called we will need money to pay for signs and brochures, some of which can be prepared in advance if you and other supporters help us now by making a payment to the Ottawa Vanier Conservative Association.

Please check out our website for internet or mailing (Canada Post) contribution options! You can also use links at that site to confirm your interest in being a volunteer and in welcoming a sign being placed upon your property when the writ drops.

Above all else, of course, I thank you again for being a party member and for confirming your support for my candidacy. Your vote for me in the next federal election is the most important contribution you can make.

Sincerely,

Rem Westland

30 JUNE TO 9 JULY

Well…summer has begun. My reporting will be less frequent over the next couple of months and is already falling off quite a bit. I am mostly at the cottage these days. The laptop is downstairs in a relatively dark corner. I prefer being outside.

Let me see what I remember about the last few days…

On July 1, I participated on a panel with three others (Chief Whiteduck from the Kitigan-zibi Reserve in Quebec, and a couple of academics) for a one-hour discussion on Aboriginal issues with the CFRA radio host, “professor” Gerry Cammy. I felt the discussions went well. I had an opportunity to make all the points I had prepared myself to make. The others contributed equally to the discussion. My main theme was: let’s begin to focus government-Aboriginal relations upon our achieving partnerships in business and social programs rather than upon rights.

The others were focused upon rights and – to my surprise – upon the assimilation of Indians. The charge of assimilation seems always to get dusted off. On this round it was leveled at child welfare agencies. Now that the residential school system issue (assimilation, alienation, abuse) has been addressed with compensation and an apology from the Prime Minister I suppose it is time for a new target so that again more money can begin to flow.

On July 2, I finished my rounds delivering the letters to Rockcliffe residents asking for their support and an indication of their willingness to join Anne and me at a cocktail party to be held at the Rideau Club in the fall. At the time of this writing (10 July) I have not yet had any feedback…and I am not optimistic.

We have been invited to supper with Guy and Aline next week (I need to reconfirm the date and time). That will be a good opportunity to review where we stand on my evolving campaign plan. I am as convinced as ever that I do not want a CIMS-based strategy unless someone with competence, connections, and money takes over the campaign. CIMS, if I have not explained this before, stands for the Conservative Information Management System. It is the computer-based registry of Voter ID information. The runs my association has made at Voter ID to date do not impress me regarding the data gathered (minimal) and the disruption of peoples’ day (considerable).

We had a Voter ID round on 6 July which played out like our other turns with this. The expected number of canvassers (at least a dozen are needed for this) did not show. There were the usual three people (Guy, Gene, and Micheline) and me…so our door-knocking was more of the meet-and-greet variety than a true round of Voter ID. After the event Gene sent me the list of people who responded positively at the doors and I sent out another round of the thank-you letters that, in passing, asked for a contribution to the cause.

On July 7 and 9 I was at the cottage undertaking various projects. On July 8 I went to see my mother and picked up Kees along the way for a visit with his grandmother.

The visit with Mom was interesting on a couple of counts.

First, we stopped at my sister Joan and met with her and a friend of hers…in Joan’s pool. It was extremely hot. Joan and Pat were already in the pool, up to their necks, and we became part of the company only after we had changed and jumped in. The water temperature was wonderful and the discussions were interesting. Two hours later Kees and I climbed out of the pool (Joan was still there, now on her own) and the two of us headed off to Knowlton.

In Knowlton we encountered a very distraught Oma. Mom had clearly been pressed by Joan to accept an invitation from me to have her 93rd birthday at the cottage. But my mother did not want to go. She is comfortable in her retirement home, she feels safe there, and she thinks she could be dying any day. When I said very clearly that I would not be pressing her to join us at Sharbot Lake, Mom settled down. By the time we were headed home she was looking forward to seeing us again on her birthday…at her residence in Knowlton.

My position on this, I explained to Kees, is that some folk begin to feel handicapped only when they are away from their home base. Mom is not handicapped where she lives. But when in the wider society, even if in a car being driven around, she feels her vulnerabilities and she is unhappy. Joan, like my father, believes people should be pushed to reach always for their greatest potential no matter how old or hurt a person might be. I could tell Joan was disappointed when I called her at the end of the day on Thursday to affirm that Mom will be staying in Knowlton…and therefore in Joan’s charge…on July 19.

I learned in the course of this week, by the way, that Bruce Poulin will be running for a position on City Council in the November municipal elections. I find this a bit surprising. It suggests to me that Bruce simply wants a seat at the table of politics, somewhere, anywhere. His running for the provincial legislature was simply one of the options and he may return to that option if he loses in the municipal round.

I will close by mentioning that the Dutch won their semi-final round in World Cup soccer and Spain won against Germany. A Dutch-Spain final match will therefore take place on Sunday, July 11. My intention is to watch that match at the Café Caco, subject to Emilio confirming that my being in his crowd of soccer aficionados next Sunday will be welcomed. If so, I will ask some of my family and Colin Lindley, to join me.

10 JULY

I write this from home (Rockcliffe) because the association wants me to do a round of Voter ID in the afternoon. I brought the laptop back with me from the cottage because I plan to stay in Ottawa until at least Thursday morning.

First, I recalled when talking to Marie over coffee a part of the conversation I had had with Kees when returning from Knowlton yesterday. I shared with Kees my perspective about politics and the lack of engagement. He agreed that the lack of engagement could harbinger political turmoil down the road…but the explanation in the near term is likely the simple fact that we in Ottawa-Vanier are pretty content with our lot. We are complacent about politics, indeed we may even shun politicians generally because the status quo is OK in most respects. If it were not, the attention paid to political options could grow.

Kees observed that, if our situation were really bad, we would be as likely to go to the polls as were the Iraqis who had to face bullets and bombs in order to give voice to their individual concerns about the future. The Liberal incumbent in our riding benefits from our collective level of contentment. I represent a potential threat and level of stress that many in this riding would rather not even have to consider. I think Kees is right. But if we do not keep politics alive between elections the best we will be able to manage collectively when we are no longer happy will be sterile, and dangerous, public demonstrations.

Second, I learned from Gene that the turnout for our Voter ID round will again be low to nil. Upon reflection I suggested to Gene, and he agreed, that we postpone our door-to-door canvassing. My next round will be a meet-and-greet next Tuesday…though Gene wants me to take along his “walk lists” so that Micheline and I gather data to insert into his files. I will pick up the walk lists…but I will not be gathering data for the files. I’ll just make things up, as I have seen most of the others do as well.

[Note, by the way, the distinction that has emerged between “meet-and-greet” door knocking and “walk sheets”. The former involves me going from house to house or apartment to apartment and talking to whomever opens door. The latter activity includes, before leaving each place, asking the Voter ID questions such as: “how many voters live in this house?” “how many will be voting Conservative in the next election?” “will you pay $10 for a Party membership?” “do you think you will need assistance getting to the voting booth?” and so on. In the latter activity the doors are usually slammed in our faces before the second question can even be asked.]

More and more, I reconfirm to myself that I could care less about the data and the “science” of campaigning. I want to shore up my bare-bones approach, ensure I have the core team always ready (I must begin to think about Gerald, now in Jamaica), and leave the future to look after itself.

I had advised Henry (of the Portuguese community), by the way, that I plan to watch the World Cup final at the Café Caco. Henry, instead, invited me to join him at a Portuguese festival (already underway) which will end with their viewing of the final match at one of the Portuguese community main halls. I think I will take Henry up on his invitation. Now I want only to ensure I have some accompaniment (likely Kees and Marie) so that the Dutch side is more than just one.

Lastly, at the end of yesterday I received an “urgent” call from the national office. Amy had just posted my “Why I Can Win” article and I had called her to observe that it was well placed (first of the line) and looks good. Then Phil Trinh called to ask that I take the article down…

His comments, which pleased me, were that the article reads well, it is a powerful statement about our potential in the riding, but it comes too close to electioneering to pass the test. He observed that the article will serve me well after the writ drops. I agreed, with Amy, to pull it off the Facebook page as requested.

The call from national office pleased me because it confirms that someone is reading what I and Amy post onto the site. This means I can take some comfort in the acceptability of everything else on the Facebook page which, taken altogether, already covers the ground that is summarized in the “Why I Can Win” article.

The quick call from Phil (44 minutes after the article went up) hints at another important implication: I think the party wants to go to an election in the fall but does not want to look too eager about it. My “Why I Can Win” article reflects an eagerness to begin campaigning which, if the article drew wide attention, could be read by others to mean that I have insider information about the imminence of an election.

11 JULY

The main event today was our attendance at the local Portuguese festival to watch the final between Holland and Spain in soccer.

When we arrived at the festival I felt we had made a wrong decision. I had wanted to go to Café Caco but Henry had extended that invitation to see the game at the festival. The festival is a much larger venue but I am lost in this place. But my rule of thumb has become: do not refuse invitations!

During the game Kees and I sat side by side with our orange apparel (my hat, his jersey). We were at the very front of the crowd, so we were definitely noticed. And that was the point! There were only the two of us from the campaign team after all…

When the overtime halves began, however, the festival organizers turned off the television. They shifted us outdoors to watch a trampoline display. So Kees and I raced off to watch the end of the game at home.

Holland lost.

I was pleased that I had not had to bow out of the Portuguese embrace with a sense of loss hanging in the air. I do not want my image to be associated with a losing team.

12 JULY

I spent most of this day sending emails to various folk.

To my brother, now in Jamaica, I sent a message which summed up the current status of things and said I counted upon him remaining Official Agent when an election is called. I will help to identify a back-up capacity but I hope against hope that the buck will stop with Gerald. We are so far along, given his having obtained a bank account, visa card, and paper work from Elections Canada. I would hate to start over again with someone else. I said to Gerald that it will be up to him to decide how he shares with his replacement the $4K I have allotted in remuneration for the Official Agent work. [Gerald never replied.]

To Guy I sent an extended email in which I – once again – highlighted what I expect in the way of a campaign. Bottom lines: I want signs, I want a distribution of the “chair” flyer, and I want to attend every open forum I can.

If there will be Voter ID, GOTV, and canvassing of any kind someone other than I secures the resources (funds and people) to achieve meaningful results. If there will be brochures, advertisements, door knockers – other than what we already have – then, again, someone else will have to tie down the resources and do the work.

I am not interested in a fully-funded campaign, one that would enable implementation of the full range of CPC programs and products, because I sincerely believe much of the “science” of electioneering is bogus and most of the national material will not be relevant in my riding. If someone else comes up with the resources and will manage a fully funded campaign to its conclusion I will be pleased to benefit from that.

In the mail I received a letter from Bryan B, a resident of Rockcliffe whom I also know professionally and who happens also to be a graduate from RMC. He had received one of my “valentines” to Rockcliffe residents. In his letter he enclosed a cheque for $500 and he accepted the offer of lunch at the Rideau Club. I think this is the first positive response I have had to date to a personal appeal…and it feels pretty good. Brian was a Conservative candidate in another riding about ten years ago.

I will finish the day by reviewing material Marie wants me to help turn into a “project proposal” for her work at the Department of Justice. Tit for tat.

But, as I close, let me record one more development: I received an email from Martin M, with whom I had attended doctoral studies at Carleton University and who is a lapsed Conservative supporter now living in Rockcliffe. He also replied positively to my “valentine”. He will be pleased to attend a cocktail party in the early fall…meaning I now have five participants (Marie, me, Anne, Bryan, Martin). I hope as many as 10 others may yet sign on, but I am not optimistic.

13 JULY

I met with Guy over coffee today and learned that – as we have discussed before and as I have encouraged – he will resign from the association’s executive committee. This will enable him to focus upon the campaign and, from my perspective, give me the time and opportunity I need to train (brainwash?) him to deliver the kind of campaign I want. I am hopeful he will be able to come through.

I also met with Tony (father of Henry) at his garage. In our discussion I was struck again by the organizational capacities of the Portuguese community leadership. They even have a phone book of all their members, extending all over eastern Ontario, of which I now have a copy.

Upon reflection and while I walked the dog I thought again that, one of these days, I should learn whether I can bring the Portuguese community into my campaigning. If those folk provide me with a support to Gerald, and if I undertake to staff a riding office with one of their events organizers, we will move much further along towards victory. I will keep my eye on this one. Indeed, Henry just sent me an email asking whether he could get more involved.

In the evening there were two activities for me.

First, I went door-to-door with Micheline K. She is very keen about politics and clearly hopes to be a candidate herself one day. As I was elaborating upon why I was disinclined to use Gene’s “walk sheets” she was steadfast in her view that Voter ID is the way to go. She said she would be disappointed if we did not fill in our Voter ID “walk sheets” during our tour of homes.

So I did what she wished.

For about four hours we went door-to-door in Vanier and met quite a few residents. To my surprise the majority expressed positive views about the Conservative Party and seemed inclined to consider me when an election rolls around. Their issues were crime, prostitution, and dogs (all in provincial or municipal jurisdiction) and they clearly expect little from politicians. But the discussions were pleasant and – as always – I enjoyed the rounds.

Micheline was disappointed when I used the word “dammit” at one of the doors. She is a remarkably uptight young woman (I would say about 35 years old). She was firm about lingering at various homes to ask the leading questions that Voter ID requires, though my “dammit” was directed at one of her scripted questions: “would you be willing to buy a $10 membership in our party?”

“Micheline,” I said, “for many of the people in this area it is obvious that $10 is a whole lot of money. In my view, and especially when someone has already said they do not support the CPC, it is inappropriate to ask that damn question.” But, for the most part, her contribution was extremely positive. She has a very fetching style about her, notwithstanding my impatience to leave the Voter ID stuff off our agenda.

We went from our Voter ID round to a meeting of the association board.

I was again impressed by the efficiency of the new association leadership. A number of those attending as board members are the same folk who had been there when Carol was in the chair but the precision of the points made by the new board executive, and their evident knowledge of the political game, puts the rest of us to shame.

I was also pressured once again to move my campaign towards a standard Voter ID and GOTV venture. My point to Guy subsequently was: “Only if they provide the resources and the management!”

While the association presses us towards the “science” of campaigning, therefore, those who support me on the campaign team will help me to continue with meet-and-greets and in efforts to persuade. We will not be moved unless the association actually accomplishes something meaningful on the Voter ID front. As I have said so often in this diary, to be at all meaningful we should expect Voter ID data to contain accurate records on tens of thousands of voters in our riding. It is a job to be done between elections by the association itself, not at the cost of a campaign that is conducting an election during the period of the writ.

The board meeting dealt with planned fundraising events and expenditures intended to gain me “name recognition”. We learned that over the last three months we had spent almost $7K but earned the same amount in revenues. So all appears quite OK. There was even a readiness to consider marketing tools, such as pens or fridge magnates, to be distributed to volunteers and supporters when we make our pre-writ rounds.

The meeting ended with one board member drawing attention, as he had done before, to the abuse of police power that he felt attended his removal about two years ago to a psychiatric institute. He is seriously wrapped around the axle about this (which I understand!) but is unlikely to ever get much satisfaction. At the meeting I could see that Micheline was taking his lament very seriously. I hope she takes care. If I learn that the board member is following up with her I will have to say something about his background (to the extent I know of it).

14 JULY

I expected to focus today upon work needed by Marie on the subject of Aboriginal Claims – in which I have a deep background – but I began with a telephone call from Priscilla asking me where things stand regarding my Official Agent for the campaign.

In our discussion, which lasted over two hours, I learned that Priscilla is interested in taking over the function from Gerald and would expect to do so by working closely with an accountant she has met who happens also to be a member of the Portuguese community. Priscilla and I seem to be eye to eye about almost everything. The discussion of her possible role was very satisfying and reassuring for me.

I decided, for the first time, to take a close look at material left with me by my brother some weeks ago before he had his Jamaica contract confirmed. It appears to summarize the tasks and the type of work that must be done by an Official Agent. He had set up those papers rather like an instruction manual.

Reading through the material, this was when it dawned on me (naïve person that I am) that Gerald had left me with his entire collection of preparatory work. Already a few weeks ago he suspected he would not be going the distance.

Needless to say, I called Priscilla back right away. I told her that, upon reflection, I would rather she take on the role of Official Agent than my brother. She agreed.

Priscilla said she would expect to use the $4K I will set aside for Official Agent functions to pay for her own time and the accountant, depending upon who does how much. In addition, Priscilla expects that the Official Agent functions will leave her with enough time to oversee the campaign office as she had undertaken to do. I agreed on all points. I also assured her that office management can be reduced to a few very simple tasks. Office management tasks should not compete with the more important functions of the Official Agent position.

As the day progressed there were a few emails to me from the association regarding summer and early fall activities about which I will report when they happen. The next major event will be dinner at Guy’s place for Marie and me.

I have now been at my laptop for 7 uninterrupted hours. Time for a shower, dress, walk the dog, and be ready to go for supper.

See you tomorrow.

15 JULY TO 17 JULY

Well…tomorrow came and went but I didn’t record everything into my diary like I should have done. So, once again, this is a bit of a retrospective.

On the first of these three days I recall a long discussion with Priscilla. I worried that she might have gotten cold feet after the exuberant undertaking of yesterday.

Priscilla remained extremely supportive. My, my, how rare this level of support can be. What a pleasure to talk to someone who appears to be sincerely and totally committed to this cause. Thank you, Priscilla!

Her suggestion was that I give her my brother’s papers outlining what the job of Official Agent requires. She will then take the “job description” to an accountant she and Tony know and ask what level of professional support she might expect if she has some $4000 to throw about. Remember, $4000 is the amount I intend to set aside for the Official Agent functions. Between Priscilla and a professional accountant (who happens also to be a member of the Portuguese community) I may end up having a better, and certainly more reliable, Official Agent than my brother might have been.

In the evening of 15 July Marie and I had dinner at Guy and Aline’s place.

The discussion was wide-ranging, primarily about cottaging, with a smattering of talk about politics thrown in. Very little substantive was exchanged among us. In a word, our evening was a social one. We had fun.

The next day we went to Sharbot Lake and began our cottaging for real. It was very hot, it was cool by the water, and the deer flies were manageable. Our only issue of stress was learning that our neighbor plans to sell two properties totaling about 6 acres, the result of which could see a new cottage, a dock, and those infernal sea-doos being added to our very quiet bay. At a price of $150K or so per property it is unlikely that we will buy one or both, as a defensive strategy. We do not have that kind of money and we do not have that extent of commitment to the cottage: it would mean selling Rockcliffe. This is something we are not yet (if ever) ready to do.

On July 17 we attended the Annual General Meeting of the Sharbot Lake Property Owners’ Association. William B was at that meeting – he is now the past president (following me) – and this is the first time Marie or I have had any dealing with him since he and his wife were at our place for an enjoyable supper a couple of months ago.

I sensed that Will was uncomfortable seeing us. Something has happened that has put a stop to the easy exchange we had come to enjoy over the last seven years or so of my time associated with the SLPOA executive. I suspect my political profile may have become compromising for him personally or professionally. Add another one to that list!

Once home again and preparing for our trip to Montreal and Knowlton tomorrow, I reviewed a number of articles in the papers about the Conservative government’s decision to make the census ‘long form” no longer compulsory. I was motivated to write the following article:

THE CENSUS “LONG FORM”

As one who has studied at the PhD level (political science) and has been a Sessional Lecturer at Carleton University, I know the value of data for the purpose of research and program design. During the many years I was actively involved in academia and in the research of social issues I never knew the luxury of getting data by ordering people to provide it.

The level of concern (the July 18 issue of your paper) about the Federal Government’s decision to have the “long form” no longer be compulsory amazes me.

The perspective which underlies this concern is that citizens of Canada, unless compelled by legal sanction to fill in survey data, will not provide the requested information. Notwithstanding that the information provided can be used for our own betterment we Canadians – in the eyes of those opposed to the Government’s decision – cannot be trusted to cooperate on a voluntary basis. We must be forced.

I find it particularly amusing (concerning, actually) that so many of the experts and politicians who are weighing in on this are firmly of the view that data provided under compulsion is considerably more reliable than data provided willingly.

I happened to be one of the unfortunates who were randomly selected to participate in a “long form” of interview on the renovation program of the Government. I did not use the program, I did not have an interest in spending about 45 minutes answering hundreds of detailed questions, I opted not to answer and hung up the phone.

A week later I received a letter from Statistics Canada in the mail admonishing me for my lack of cooperation. I was advised that I will be called again, and that my cooperation was expected. I was being coerced.

I can assure you that my answers, under coercion, were not always accurate. I am nervous even now when saying this publicly for fear that Statistics Canada will revisit my interview – most certainly taped – and take issue with my replies. I wanted to get past the irritation, indeed the offense, of being asked about my wife, my kids, our ages, our jobs, our income, our number of cars, whether we used bicycles, our attitude towards recycling, and who knows what else. By the time the coerced interview was over I, and my wife who was listening, were very angry.

This is the kind of thing the sitting Member of Parliament in Ottawa-Vanier has no problem with. This is the kind of experience that does not rattle the statisticians and researchers who have been quoted in the media over the last few days.

Well, I have a problem with it. I was rattled by it.

I very strongly support the government’s decision to bring this kind of coercion of citizens to an end. As a former academic who knows the value of good data I will be very pleased, when elected, to work with researchers at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels to find ways to obtain dependable information without threatening people.

I sent this text to the Ottawa Citizen and also to Amy for the Facebook, and then turned to a more thorough reading of the papers.

19 JULY 2010

Today was my mother’s 93rd birthday. It did not go very well.

Mom has hit a point in her life where, while her intellect is still functioning at 90% original and then some, her body moves like that of the other elderly women in her Retirement Home. She is bitter about that.

In consequence, my mother is bitter about all kinds of other things. She misses my dad (though she was not always nice to him in the last few years of his life). She misses her own birth family. She misses lots of things.

Today my mother was bitter because the lunch Joan pulled together was not good enough for a birthday lunch. I suppose, upon reflection, mom was right. But a more attractive spread would certainly have happened if she had been open to the idea. Instead, her refrain before the event had been: “Do not go to any trouble!” So we didn’t. And that is why mom was upset.

We got home late in the day. There was no time for politicking.

20 JULY

This was a busy day for me.

I spent the morning pulling together the package for Priscilla, for her and the accountant to consider between them. I will not duplicate the package in these notes because doing so would add about 200 pages to the text. The cover note to Priscilla below outlines the contents of the package that was attached to the note:

DESCRIPTION OF THE OFFICIAL AGENT REQUIREMENTS AND FUNCTIONS

In this package are the following:

1. A summary of Official Agent functions, qualifications, essential tasks, and other related information (2 pages).

2. A “how to…” booklet that provides detailed information on how an Official Agent does his work, assuming use of internet technology.

3. An information kit on what an Official Agent does, and general information, all in computer disc format (three discs).

4. A copy of the submission which closed Patrick’s campaign.

When you and the Official Accountant consider this material, Priscilla, there are a few overview observations that I would like to make.

First: the plan is to have an agreement signed by me, Guy (as campaign chair) and the Official Agent which affirms that up to $4000 will be paid for the official agent functions. Guy and the Official Agent will discuss and agree upon the terms for this.

Second: we plan to make this a simple campaign.

Third: we foresee a business which requires $65K in expended amounts. We will have four categories of costs: signs (monetary equivalents): printings of the “chair” flyer and the brochure (for lit-drops by volunteers if we lack money for mailing); advertising (to the extent we can afford it); and, office space. The rough estimates of the cost for each category are $15K, $20K, $5K, and $5K. We will set aside $10K for official agent functions ($4K), campaign chair functions ($4K), and audit functions ($2K). This leaves us with about $10K, in a Plan focused upon $65K, for daily events and the campaign-end party.

Fourth: we foresee revenues matching the expenses. The revenue sources will be: EDA transfer ($30K seems possible these days); contributions during the campaign ($15K seems quite realistic given previous election experience in our riding); bank line of credit and/or loan to the campaign from Marie and me (up to $20K). The repayment will be the Elections Canada 60% amount ($39K). The priority will be the line of credit/loan owed to me and Marie. Most of the balance will go back to the EDA (about $20K if all goes well).

Fifth: you and I need as much formal agreement with the EDA pre-writ as possible, regarding their undertaking to transfer funds. I think our EDA should be held to a $30K commitment. If they do not have the money themselves they should work out an inter EDA transfer.

Bottom line: we have a do-able campaign ahead of us. The better our records are, the quicker we get Elections Canada sign-off after the election.

I also spent quite a bit of time in email traffic with Amy (and a telephone call) to debate the issue of the “long form”. Amy, for one, sees nothing wrong with obliging people to fill in lots of data which can subsequently be used by governments in the formulation of their programs. Her example, used frequently in the media, was of a mother interested in day care who could not count upon an effective program unless all mothers – and their intentions – are captured along with their social and personal characteristic, their incomes, etc. In her view all mothers must be obliged to provide the needed information. She was particularly worried that the poor and uneducated people will not fill in the information unless forced.

My answer, of course, was that a society which will oblige the less well-off to perform in order to inform governments for the development of programs to benefit the rest of us is a society that we conservatives do not want to subscribe to. I do not believe coercion is right. Other ways should be found to solicit the required information…or else simply accept that the information used is flawed and make allowances for that in the policy.

What struck me was the intensity with which Amy is opposed to the CPC and our federal government. She clearly views the government as a hard right-wing operation, with a hidden agenda and a secretive approach. She believes the government is more interested in spin than substance. Yet she is one of my best supporters out there. So, thanks to you Amy for your support to me!

I spent almost three hours going door-to-door with Micheline, down in Vanier. As always, I was reluctant at almost every door but was pleased with the discussions and the exchanges of views. I am most impressed by the people I meet, no matter their walks of life and the obvious poverty (material, personal, experiential) of many.

Of the 40 or so residents I met today I would say there are 30 interesting stories to tell. Bottom line: the support for us Conservatives is a whole lot higher than I had been led to expect. Even folk who appeared thoroughly uninterested in life itself – to say nothing about my unexpected presence on their doorstep – often jumped to their feet and came to me with hand held out for a hearty shake. If I met all of Vanier and if the numbers held up, I would win for sure.

Even with best efforts, of course, I cannot possibly meet with more than about 10% of Vanier voters. Achieving that total, or surpassing it via television and public events, will not be possible for another reason: my association does not want me in Vanier because it is an area without “low hanging fruit”. They view all of Vanier (30% of voters) as a lost cause and not worth talking to.

The day closed with my reading some words, researched by Marie, spoken by Mauril in the House back in 1997 when he was first elected. I fully subscribe to what he said at the time: let’s try to keep the level of debate to a high standard even when competing in the electoral process. I will remember those words and try to behave in the months to come…

21 JULY

I spent the day at the cottage. I expressed (too forcefully) to Marie my frustration over her proclivity to second guess most of what I propose to do politically or personally. She was very mature about this, kept calm, and helped me to get past the moment.

On my way to the cottage I brought my laptop to Mike D at CRG Consulting who undertook to remove the CRG address from my system. I now no longer risk compromising the company or me when I use the internet to communicate for a political purpose.

In the evening I checked my emails.

I was pleased to see that Priscilla and I will be meeting (on 23 July). Also, Amy had followed up with the Census article for Facebook. She must have swallowed hard, because she helped to make the article a little better…and I know she disagrees almost totally with my point of view.

22 JULY

This was a very busy day.

A few hours were taken up by my visit back to CRG Consulting to pick up the laptop. This visit included a round of instruction on how to use the new icons and how to understand the instructions Mike has left me with. Those few hours included a discussion with some CRG Consulting associates who were in the offices, about the census flap.

I was candid with them that I would not have handled the matter in the way the government did. I would have opened up a round of public discussion rather than zap Canadians with a solution. I would have placed a very definite goal before the public: namely, to scale back the extent to which the federal government now steps into the private lives of individuals.

In the evening I did another round of door-knocking.

I had a number of occasions at the front doors of residents to elaborate upon my approach to the census issue. It is very topical. I found a lot of support for my approach. There was almost no disagreement with the view that the Long Form must cease being mandatory. The census issue was not an important one in the small part of Vanier we canvassed at the end of our rounds.

There are always so many stories shared with me at the doors. The one I will follow up upon is a proposal from one woman I met, to have her Dad’s now-unused tools (because he has lost the energy to work with them) housed in a public space for use by interested residents. Those residents would see her Dad stopping by from time to time to teach people how to work with the tools he has handed over.

I will share this idea with people I have met over the last few months. I am not too hopeful, of course, because public spaces must be paid for these days…and tools present liability risks. But one never knows: there may be a corresponding idea out there somewhere that can achieve the basic goal: an older man sees the tools of his trade come back to life and sees himself resume a useful and helpful role in society.

Because I devote as much time at each door as the resident wants to take I returned from my round of door-knocking with about ten more votes sewn up. Only 19,990 to go.

Tomorrow I see Priscilla for coffee, and then back to the cottage for a while. I expect I will be summarizing the next month in aggregates of days.

23 JULY TO 29 JULY

These seven days were filled with relevant events. I will try to reflect accurately upon them all, but expect a number of developments will be condensed into single time slots even though they played out over a few days.

For example, Priscilla has formally signed on, with Elections Canada, to be my Official Agent. Gerald has been officially withdrawn. I sent my brother an email advising upon the “change in command” and – for the first time since he left for Jamaica – he answered my message. He said he was relieved by this development.

After reading through all the material now compiled on the functions of Official Agent Priscilla affirmed that she was not cowed by the stuff at all. She finds it all quite easy to follow. She says she looks forward to taking the course of instruction that will be offered by Elections Canada. She believes she can do the job while also being head manager of the office we will have when the writ drops. Her loyalty and support are amazing.

I undertook to share with her and Guy yet another version of the “bare bones” campaign plan, with an eye to making it more and more a usable guide for the planning of events and for the expenditure of moneys. I want to make this as easy as possible for those who will be the “core” members of the Campaign Team.

Towards the end of this seven day period, by the way, we added a new core team member. I sent an email to Colin Lindley asking whether – when the writ drops – he would be prepared to work as my wing-man. By this I mean that he will be the candidate manager, overseeing my schedule and helping me to deliver the kind of campaign presence I want to achieve. I said to Colin that I trust his ability to say “no”; he is a fellow who can learn from what happens at the public forums; and, he will be able to help me reset my thoughts and my arguments as may be needed. He said he would be pleased to walk along with me when we do door-to-door canvassing. During an election, I told him, I will canvass only if asked by volunteers who will then join us on our rounds.

I then followed up to the canvassing we had done on 22 July. For a Mr. Sioui in Vanier I submitted his application for a driving licence from the provincial Ministry of Transport; and, for Ewa I contacted the Vanier Community Association regarding a place to park her father’s tools. I stopped by the home of Mr. Sioui to share with him the news that the Ministry will be writing to him again, and I shared with Ewa over the emails the positive and encouraging words I received from Debbie Aucoin of the Community Centre. I think these two jobs are the first two I have done which are of the nature of the work which MPs must do once elected. Both transactions, however, fall four square into the jurisdiction of the province, not of the federal government.

I learned from Brock Stephenson that on August 5 we will be having a “Breakfast with the Candidate” at the Novotel Hotel. Once again, the time lines are short. Initially I felt surprisingly discouraged about this next fund raising event. I can’t really explain the feeling. Happily, in the course of this week, my resolve grew stronger again. I observed in an email to many of my CPC contacts that a political movement grows one person at a time. “Let’s all try to bring one additional person to the breakfast,” I said, “and let’s continually increase our circle one person at a time.” Much more significant political movements than our own were begun by fewer people than we already have in the association and campaign team line ups.

In the late afternoon of 29 July we had a round of Voter ID canvassing. This time, to my surprise, we had 15 people out. We worked through parts of Rockcliffe in five separate groups and we covered a lot of ground. I still got to do what I like to do, but I knew that in parallel four other groups of CPC interns and association members were covering dozens of homes. Name recognition was being promoted, supporters were being identified, and confidence among CPC members was being nurtured. If Voter ID is done regularly and diligently it has potential notwithstanding the damage that I think that approach to politics does to democracy.

I had met the student canvassers on the Ottawa University campus at the start of our rounds and had been asked to say a few words about myself.

“When I was your age,” I said, “I always wanted to touch as many bases as I could touch. Well, I am now able to say that I have worked in political offices – as you are doing now; I have been in the military; I have been a sessional lecturer at a University; I have been a public servant and reached the ADM level; I am the founding president of the Real Property Institute of Canada and I am currently a vice president with a local consulting firm; and, I am now once again active politics.” I added: “I was never a young man in a hurry, but I always seized opportunities which came my way.”

The canvassing was followed by a round of pizza’s and coke (Perrier, in my case), and additional discussion among us all at a Pizzeria in our riding. The association picked up the tab.

There is one more point to note.

I may have mentioned before that Bruce Poulin has decided to run in municipal politics for a ward seat and that I had sent him $500 in support. I am not sure, however, that I trust Bruce very much. I do not expect he will return any of my favors. To him, given my home in Rockcliffe and our lifestyle (cottage, travel) Marie and I must look like a deep pocket, period.

30 JULY TO 3 AUGUST

Very little to report.

I have been at the cottage over all of these days and have enjoyed the time very much. When I am away like this I lose track of the reasons why I got into this political journey at all. When playing, just playing, most of the time I lose my drive to be relevant in our wider society.

I was visiting with a neighbor two properties over who asked me why I am running…and I lacked a quick response. I really have to work on this lack of a reflex on my part. That neighbor, by the way, works at the Post Office and observed that many blue-collar types at the Post Office live in Vanier. He asked me to provide him with a large number of door-knockers and he will find a way to pass them around.

I head back to Ottawa tomorrow for lunch with Bryan B. My association has not followed up upon the fact that his cheque to us could not be accepted because it had come from his business account. Contributions must come from personal accounts. So I will have to handle this myself over lunch…or soon thereafter. It is tough in this business to tell someone that their contribution must be returned and – then hopefully – renewed.

My association has also not cashed Marie’s cheque for $400, and I do not have the list of contributors I have been asking for since last May. I expect my repeated requests for this information may be viewed as irritating by the association executive…but what the heck. Candidates are meant to be irritating.

I look forward to the lunch tomorrow with Bryan and will prepare myself by having a series of mock-discussions while driving down in the car. I expect to be primed and ready to go by noon, at the Rideau Club.

4 AUGUST TO 9 AUGUST

These 6 days began with lunch at the Rideau Club, with Bryan.

I enjoyed the hour of discussion. I learned that Bryan’s run for Parliament saw him encounter many of the same obstacles as I. While his association seems to have been a happier group than mine his chances depended almost entirely upon his own initiative. He counted upon family and friends to back him up financially and with “feet on the ground”. Without family support, he told me, he would not have been able to get to the end of the race. And he was only in it for six months.

As in my case, he was ready for the run because he had achieved a level of financial independence which allowed him to set aside normal “work”. In my case the timing coincided with the falling off of CRG Consulting contracts and with my being in receipt of a pension. In his case, a sale of the firm he was heading at the time set him up financially and he could draw upon the sale proceeds throughout his six month run.

Six months! I am already 10 months into my journey and will likely keep at it for another six months or so before the election comes. I do not regret that…but it is a costly business and most other things must be set aside.

Before the end of the day I placed a call to a woman who had asked me to contact her, with a promise that she will join the 400 Club if she is satisfied with the kind of candidate I am. Goretti and I spoke for about 10 minutes, at the end of which discussion she said she would try to make it to the Breakfast at 0700 hrs the next morning. I felt quite upbeat about her positive attitude towards me.

The next morning (August 5) the Breakfast took place. I was not too optimistic but I prepared myself with the argument that a core group of even 5 supporters will always be a valid place from which to start. I knew there would be at least 10 people there, counting me, Bryan, Marie, the executive of the EDA, and perhaps a few others.

But I was wrong. By the time we were seriously into the buffet-style breakfast there were over 50 people in attendance, including Goretti. I felt very good about this.

My speech was well received. I spoke off-the-cuff about the intended change by the government of the compulsory “long form” to a voluntary one. I referred to a part of the discussion Bryan and I had had the day before, regarding the one-issue and social action groups seeing reductions in their levels of federal funding. “What has been going on,” I said, “was nothing less than an outsourcing to private sector lobby groups of the leadership that should come from the Parliamentarians themselves. We have been outsourcing the role of Parliament and of political parties. We have been undermining the political process by building a ‘private sector’ alternative that is really not the private sector at all.”

I concluded my talk by saying again why I think Ottawa-Vanier can become a win for the Conservative party. “Except at election time the incumbent MP is largely absent in this riding,” I said, “and he has not been effective. It is a demonstrable fact that the three issues he made his priorities over 15 years ago remain totally unresolved today. Whatever his justifications for this may be, after 15 years of zero results it is fair to say that he has failed.”

Also at the Breakfast was Senator Martin (very supportive), MP Royal Galipeau (somewhat reluctantly I think), and – to my great satisfaction – the Honorable Stockwell Day (minister responsible for security). In his speech Mr. Day reflected a pretty good sense of who I am (he had been well briefed) and he spoke about the government’s undoubted success in managing the Canadian economy through difficult times. He advised me to speak about the economy, above all other issues, when I go door-to-door.

And door-to-door we went, that very evening.

Once again Alex had corralled about a dozen CPC interns, who really had no choice but to help our EDA with the party’s Voter ID efforts. Once again the experience was a positive one for me. I was well received at almost every door and achieved declarations of support even from folk who – according to previous survey work – were not expected to be on my side.

Discussion I had with Alex before the canvassing and with my “walk partner” Rebecca during the two hours or so of our walk-about convinced me again that I really do not trust the Voter ID logic. The activity of it – involving walk papers, pens, lists of questions, teams of young people – can almost be intoxicating, especially in a pre-writ context where politics are mostly dead.

As always, however, I believe Voter ID has the potential to work where associations have built up large data banks of accurate information and then especially in highly polarized settings such as Alberta and other western provinces where people are proud to announce their Conservative party support (rather like supporting the Maple Leafs in Toronto). It might also make a difference in hotly contested ridings where very few votes can decide the outcome. In our riding Conservative party supporters tend to keep quiet about it. Even when I am standing in front of their doors many residents whom we have recorded as “supporters” would rather keep their voting intentions to themselves.

I will always believe that by tapping into the right veins it is possible even for die-hard Liberals to vote Conservative if the candidate is the right one.

But the CPC does not want me on radio or television, we only get 50 or so hits a week on our website, and it takes me three hours or more to make meaningful contact with as few as 50 potential voters. I have learned that my more experienced canvassing supporters get a profound sense of achievement by racing through high rise apartments during everyone else’s working hours so that they come away with a large number of doors knocked upon (no one home) and literature left on the floors.

There were one or two times when the roving interns set aside their papers and watched my turning a sullen and anti-conservative fellow around – at least to the point where we were laughing about his attitude towards politics. He allowed that he might come to our side when the election is called. My witnesses were amazed.

Alex, for his part, will always remain firmly of the view that door knocking in ridings like Vanier and Sandy Hill, where our support has not been high in the past, is a waste of time. The fact that Micheline and I found support for me to be strong in the little stretch of Vanier we visited together made no difference to Alex. And he is the lead Voter ID guy for our part of the province.

In discussion with Marie I reconfirmed my intention to be fully supportive of Voter ID efforts by the association (I will go when called); but, I want to prod Guy and Gene to help set me up for door knocking of the kind I value much, much more. I want to use our volunteers list to identify people who will host me in a walk through one or two streets in their respective neighborhoods. I want to do this without the Voter ID forms and polls. I want to meet some people, a few every other day of the week starting Labour Day, and I want to learn whether my perspective makes sense or not.

In his words at the Breakfast Mr. Day had advised that visiting even 50 people will cause a ripple to spread through the neighborhood. After a short while as many as 500 people will know I was in the area. I agree with his assessment of this. But I believe the multiplication effect works when a resident has come to know the candidate. I believe the effect may actually be negative if a resident shares with neighbours that their lives were disrupted by irritating kids belonging to the Conservative Party of Canada who asked questions that were personal about issues that are private.

On Friday I stopped at Best Buy and picked up a video camera. Let the Youtube filming begin!

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were days at the cottage. We hosted Marie’s dad and her sister Sarah. It amuses me to observe that not one word was said about my run for Parliament. The La Forest side of the family wants to know as little as possible about this venture.

Notwithstanding the disinclination of our guests to know anything about my journey I found the time, with Gerrit and Marie, to get some video tapes of me swimming (for the website) and water skiing (for the Facebook page). A picture is worth a thousand words they say. The sitting MP resembles my brochure picture of the overstuffed falling down “chair”. His image alone raises the question of whether such a man can have the energy to work actively for his constituents.

The weather, by the way, has been cold and windy. On my water ski run – for the first time in about 30 years – the rope caught the waves and I fell over. Gerrit was clearly confused about this: his dad never falls. I went up again, of course, and we finished the taping. We will keep the image of my fall into the water to ourselves.

10 AUGUST AND 11 AUGUST

We will be headed to the Maritimes by the weekend…and it is important for me to wrap up a few things before we go.

Today (11 August) I have been at the emails non-stop in order to correct another mis-direction issued by Guy yesterday.

The way I see it, Guy “wills” unplanned initiatives into action. This time it was a series of fund raisers which I know for certain will never see the light of day. His ideas float in the air some place, occasionally they seem solid enough to cause people to make commitments, but mostly they sow confusion among the rest of us. I have to keep pulling back on Guy. I have to keep him focused upon the upcoming campaign. His job will be to implement and defend the bare bones plan…full stop.

One of my projects today, therefore, was to re-cast the bare bones plan, with the audience of Guy and Priscilla in mind, and also the Official Auditor.

I have observed that to be legal when the writ drops all campaigns need to have a candidate and an Official Agent. There must also be an Official Auditor on board. It is the Auditor’s job after the election to confirm to Elections Canada that the books and the final reports are in order. I will be using the same guy who had played this role for previous Conservative candidates in our riding.

I am including the text below (you have already seen most of it) because there is a harping therein about sticking to the basics that demonstrates how concerned I am becoming about Guy’s disinclination to stay in line. You will note that I have placed Priscilla, as Official Agent, into a controlling role over Guy.

“BARE BONES” CAMPAIGN PLAN

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PLAN

TO BE ADDED TO ONLY IF ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES PROPOSED TO THE CAMPAIGN MANAGER ARE SUPPORTED BY CONFIRMED BY THE OFFICIAL AGENT TO BE FULLY RESOURCED (PEOPLE, MONEY, AND TIME)

EXPECTATIONS FROM THE ASSOCIATION

1. SIGNS PREPARED PRE-WRIT AND READY TO GO ($15K VALUE TO THE CAMPAIGN).

2. CASH TRANSFER AT THE START OF THE CAMPAIGN: $30K

PRE-WRIT FOCUS OF THE CAMPAIGN TEAM

3. PRESS THE ASSOCIATION TO DO VOTER ID, CANDIDATE RECOGNITION (EVENTS, HIGHRISE COFFEES, ADS), AND TO RAISE MONEY

4. ENSURE CANDIDATE CAN MEET LEGAL IMPERATIVES FOR A CAMPAIGN QUICKLY (120 NAMES OF SUPPORTING VOTERS)

CONDUCT OF THE CAMPAIGN (POST-WRIT)

5. WITHIN THE FIRST THREE DAYS, PROVIDE SUPPORT TO CANDIDATE AND OFFICIAL AGENT TO ENSURE THE CAMPAIGN IS LEGAL AND READY FOR FINANCING.

- No cost. Lead is with campaign manager (Guy). This activity will also involve the Official Agent (Priscilla) and the candidate.

6. LOCATE OFFICE SPACE APPROPRIATE FOR BARE-BONES CAMPAIGN PLAN (ADDITIONAL SPACE TO BE LEASED ONLY IF RESOURCES ARE PROVIDED).

- Up to $6K allocated for office, plus up to $7K for outfitting and operations. Lead is with campaign manager and office manager (Priscilla, Lynda, Elias).

7. LOCATE SIGNS ACROSS THE RIDING, OVERSEE SIGNAGE THROUGHOUT CAMPAIGN, AND ADD NEW SIGNS (USE VOLUNTEERS) TO GREATEST EXTENT POSSIBLE.

- Up to $15K in signs (see bullet #1 above). Lead is with ground operations manager (Gene) and Mr. Ron W.

8. DO FINAL PRINTING OF “CHAIR” FLYER AND OF KEY BROCHURE, TO BE DELIVERED BY LIT-DROPS THROUGHOUT CAMPAIGN (USE VOLUNTEERS).

- Up to $15K allocated. Lead is with volunteers coordinator or outreach manager (names to be provided).

- When volunteers come to the Office they are asked to help with signs and/or to help deliver “chair” flyer and Brochure, and/or host candidate on a walk-about in their neighborhoods, and/or act as scrutineers.

9. MAINTAIN LIST OF ALL PUBLIC EVENTS (CANDIDATE DEBATES, MEDIA BOARDS, ETC.), COORDINATE TIMES WITH THE CANDIDATE, AND ACCOMPANY/PREPARE CANDIDATE AS REQUIRED.

- Transport, refreshments, etc. for candidate and the coordinator (Colin Lindley). Up to $500 allocated.

10. DO FINAL PREPARATION OF PREPARED ADS (SELECT FROM THREE ALREADY AVAILABLE) AND SUBMIT TO PRINT MEDIA AS FUNDS MAY ALLOW.

- Up to $5K allocated. Lead is with media supervisor or outreach manager (names to be provided).

11. DO NEIGHBOURHOOD CANVASSING (MEET-THE-CANDIDATE) AS TIME AND VOLUNTEER SUPPORT PERMIT.

- Up to $5K allocated, for refreshments and transport support. Lead is with operations manager (Gene) or volunteer coordinator (name to be provided). See bullet #7 above.

12. PREPARE FOR CLOSING PARTY (DAY OF ELECTION).

- Up to $2K allocated. Lead is with volunteer manager or operations manager.

13. REMUNERATION (CAMPAIGN MANAGER, OFFICIAL AGENT, OFFICIAL AUDITOR)

- $10K allocated.

THE ADDITION OF ANY ACTIVITIES TO THIS PLAN, IF FULLY RESOURCED (A FIRM PRECONDITION) WILL REQUIRE PRIOR AGREEMENT FROM THE OFFICIAL AGENT THAT NO ITEMS ON THE ABOVE LIST MUST BE DISPLACED IN ORDER TO STAY WITHIN THE MAXIMUM EXPENDITURE ALLOWED BY ELECTIONS CANADA FOR THE CAMPAIGN.

FINANCIAL SUMMARY FOR THE “BARE BONES” PLAN*

FORECASTED COST OF THE CAMPAIGN: $65,500.00

In addition to this bit of course-correction, I called Priscilla, Brock, and Guy (voice mails for the latter two) and sent follow-up emails. The focus of these rounds was upon Guy’s direction that “we must have a volunteers’ event of some kind”. Guy has stepped into this with his usual aplomb…meaning that everyone is confused and I am getting angry.

I told Guy that if we stay with this idea we will have to look at two, very different, volunteers’ events. Before he calls for a volunteers’ event he must decide who will be called upon and why.

The first of these is a “thanks to volunteers” to be organized and held by the association. The participants are likely to be board members (past and present), association members, and others who have helped the association over the last year or so. This group can be contacted in the usual ways (Demon Dialer included) and we can expect a turnout of 50 to 100 (20% of those called) depending upon how thorough the contacts are. The contacting would be done by the association, including me, but I would expect to follow the association’s direction.

The second event would be for those who have already confirmed that they will be with us after the writ drops. This would be a campaign team event. This will be a small sub-set of the above, plus additional people like Amy, Marie, Miriam and Jason, Colin Lindley. These will be people whom Guy and I call personally and who are almost certain to respond positively. This would be an event which, by where it is and what it is, confirms how important their commitments are to me personally.

Whereas the turnout for the first event will be the usual 20% of the people called, the turnout for the second should be 100%. I expect we will have the same number of people at both events because of the different rates of response.

I learned that Guy had contacted Priscilla already and she had been asked to work in support of, essentially, the first event. She was confused. I was extremely pleased to learn that she and I see things the same way and that she was headed in my direction even before I talked to her this morning. Priscilla observed to me that she has not volunteered to bring in volunteers and money for the association. She volunteered to be Official Agent for the campaign team. “I have no interest, Rem, in the future of the association.”

12 AUGUST TO 25 AUGUST

For most of this period I was with Marie and Kees, either at the cottage or traveling to and through the Maritimes. We were in New Brunswick and in PEI, with Marie’s family and at her sister’s cottage on the Island.

There is not much to report.

The visits in the Maritimes went well, for the most part, but we certainly had our troubles too. My frustration reached crescendo proportions from time to time owing to the disciplined capacity of Marie’s family to totally ignore what I am up to.

My politics during this period were, as I say, quite minimal.

I was on the telephone from time to time with Anne D to coordinate things for a “thank you” event on 29 September. It will now be at her place rather than the Rideau Club and we will invite past and potential major donors. I obtained agreement from Brock Stephenson that the association will pay for the event, subsequent to which I, Anne, and Marie will make donations to the association which match the amount expended. That way the event can be free for participants.

I followed domestic politics fairly closely through the print media and Marie and I discussed the campaign from time to time when on our own. For the most part, however, right now it feels like my political journey is more of a dream than a reality. I look forward to coming back down to earth in early September.

For the evening of 25 August, when back from the Maritimes, I planned a round of canvassing with Rebecca P over the telephone. She had been my “walk partner” on a previous round and had asked for an opportunity to do this again. She said she likes my determination to meet, greet, and persuade rather than to take notes at peoples’ doors for CIMS. I look forward to the round.

Over the telephone to Robin, who now lived in Kingston, Ontario, we had a discussion about politics. I had gone upstairs at my father-in-law’s house to avoid causing trouble by being overheard. Robin asked me whom she should vote for and she asked me for my views on a couple of political issues.

“Robin,” I said, “your commitment should be to get informed about the issues and, above all else, to get out and vote when the time comes. Vote for the party and the candidate in your area (Kingston) who most impresses you. Do not worry about my standing for the Conservatives in Ottawa-Vanier.”

When Robin asked why the Federal Government does not make smoking illegal my advice was:

“Speaking as a conservative, Robin, my attention will always be upon the structures within which we as citizens live our lives and do our business. Within this country’s structures of laws and regulations we conservatives believe we should be as free from government interference as possible.

“Regarding smoking of tobacco, the first point is that health is a provincial jurisdiction. The only way the federal government could legislate with regard to cigarettes would be to make smoking of tobacco illegal.

“That said, in my view smoking – foul as it is – is not a habit that threatens the social structures of our society. Whereas the use of drugs like heroin and coke compromise an individual’s ability to function adequately in their jobs, as parents, or as family or friends, tobacco is simply foul.

“Consequently, while I can understand making use of heroin and coke illegal, to make tobacco illegal would be a political statement about individual habits that – in my view – governments should not make. A government which makes tobacco illegal would want to make too much cake and cookies illegal, or obesity illegal, or limit access of abusers of most anything that impacts upon Canada’s health system.

“A government which would make tobacco illegal would be a government that begins to infringe upon other freedoms, including what we can read and what kind of events we can attend. Such a government is worried about personal habits that are not known to impact directly upon the structures (family, friends, jobs) of our society. Such as government is getting too close to the individual, in my view.”

My door knocking when we got back to Ottawa with Rebecca was interesting. In a part of the riding (Sandy Hill) where the Voter ID people tell me not to waste my time we knocked on about 40 doors. We had a couple of very positive responses and only five or so rejections. All the rest said they will be open minded about their vote when the time comes. As minister Day had said, and I agree, there is a multiplier effect associated with these discussions. There is surely no multiplier for the Voter ID rounds.

I did not learn anything new from my round in Sandy Hill other than to be better prepared for my meetings with Nortel pensioners. I spent almost a half hour at the door of one whose pension will be drastically cut effective December of this year.

Over beer and a sandwich with Rebecca after our two hours on the street I learned that her attitudes about politics reflect mine very closely. I see confirmation in this, and in so many other ways, that I belong with the political party I now represent. Good thing too!

26 AUGUST TO 29 AUGUST

Very little happened that bears upon the campaign…other than that my mind and enthusiasm are once again turning away from politics as I focus more and more upon leisure at the cottage.

Just in case I did not cover this above I should mention that I had a discussion with Guy during which we came to a solid agreement (we keep trying!) about his role.

In short, I reiterated that I want him to help me prod the association to do the maximum possible during the pre-writ period and I want him to defend the bare-bones plan after the writ is dropped. I do not want us to do the association’s work. I do not want him to develop a more elaborate campaign plan unless someone advising him to do so also produces the management, people, and the money for the expanded ideas.

I had a short email exchange with Priscilla, confirming to me that she is still very much on side. My comfort level on that side is growing all the time.

I received an email from my brother’s bank contact who advised that her bank will not shift the work already done from my brother to Priscilla and me. My brother’s bank contact said that what they had done for Gerald was based upon “your brother’s credit with this bank”, implying that my own credit or that of my fledgling campaign would not qualify separately from Gerald’s. I was bemused by the bank’s comment. I think the bank was simply glad to get out of this business. My brother’s parting of the ways provided his bank with a good excuse to abandon ship as well.

The most interesting development over these few days was an unexpected call from Robert Sampson and his stopping by at the cottage for a visit. He ended up staying for the night. We had a wonderful time.

Rob, Marie and I talked politics until almost 2:00 am in the morning on the first day of his visit. When we were all once again awake the next day and having coffee the discussions continued until he had to hit the road at about noon.

In our exchanges we learned that Robert is most definitely not a Conservative party supporter. He may be conservative in many of his ways but he does not categorize himself that way politically. He is a private sector consultant (since being asked to leave his salaried position) who believes that the business of government is most successfully accomplished if public servants and ministers are closely advised by experts. Marie believes the lead should be with the government’s public service. I stood for the view that Parliament should assume more control over the business of governance, call the experts and listen to the public servants, but retain the leadership role in all things.

We agreed to disagree on most of what we each said about how solutions to Canada’s problems should be designed and delivered but we agreed upon the outcomes that seem the most desirable. The issues discussed among us included addiction, aboriginal affairs, immigration, refugee policy, Islamism in Europe and in Canada, Afghanistan, drug development and sale, and so on.

30 AUGUST TO 6 SEPTEMBER

Well…the summer is coming to a close!

We moved back to Rockcliffe today (6 September). Tomorrow I meet with Guy over coffee and I will follow up with Anne regarding the event planned for 29 September.

To help focus Guy’s energy and his desire to help I will be listing some of the things I want him to do over the next few months. I have appended the list below. You will see that I want to curtail his exercise of personal initiative regarding both pre-writ and election period events. I want him to be the prod which prompts the association to perform a little better and I want him to be the defender of the bare-bones campaign plan. If he can do those things (and I believe he can) he will more than earn the remuneration I have established for him in the draft plan.

Just in case I forgot to mention this I want to record that I have sent the bare-bones plan to the Official Auditor for his information. To be legal, as I have said, a campaign must have a Candidate, an Official Agent (finance) and an Official Auditor. I have called upon the services of a fellow who has been the auditor for previous election campaigns for our party in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier. His name is Chris Climo.

I want to be sure that the remuneration of both the Official Agent and the campaign manager has legitimacy in Chris’ eye. I am told that not all campaigns include payment to volunteers.

Chris operates out of a community in southern Ontario but he told me over the emails that he will be able to do everything he needs to do from where he is.

As I reflect upon this past summer, during which very little politicking was done, I realize yet again that I am very pleased to be on this journey. From time to time I felt I was losing my bearings (why am I doing this anyway?); but, for the most part, I was more often ready to fall on my knees in appreciation of this opportunity to think meaningfully about politics in Canada…and politics in general…at the end of a productive career. I have a few books on the go, three of them on the political process in Canada.

Except for the intensity of this journey of mine, I doubt that I would have turned to any of those three books or the many others I have read in the last 10 months and will be reading over the coming year. Win or lose, this journey makes me feel very relevant.

At this point the expectation seems to be that the next election will not be until the spring of next year, which would suit me fine. I continue to learn. I continue to line up the ducks. My confidence in being able to do a good job during the election itself is growing steadily. I must stay on the ball, however, because some columnists in regional and national newspapers still write about a fall election.

My list to Guy, by the way, now follows:

CAMPAIGN TEAM PREPARATION FOR THE NEXT FEDERAL ELECTION

Pre-writ Tasks: Association in the lead

(Remember, Guy: the campaign manager keeps the pressure on the association but the campaign team does none of the work involved.)

The following tasks can only be implemented by the Electoral District Association (EDA). The job of the campaign team, led by the campaign manager, is to maintain pressure upon the Executive Committee of the EDA so that the tasks are achieved – to the greatest extent possible – prior to the writ being dropped.

1. Maintain an account(s) balance of at least $35K, so that the campaign team can count upon a cash transfer of at least $30K when the writ is dropped. The candidate will do everything asked of him by the EDA, and more, to help raise the money needed to fund EDA operations without compromising the goal of a $30K transfer to the campaign.

- Campaign manager responsibility: maintain a close eye on the state of the EDA budget, and ring the alarm bells if the account balance dips below $35K.

2. Maintain an up-to-date list of those who have made contributions to the EDA. This list must be shared with the campaign manager so that he, and the candidate, can be sure to thank all donors who have contributed $200 or more.

- Campaign manager responsibility: keep badgering the EDA (Shaun and Brock) to produce this list.

3. Issue receipts to donors as quickly as possible or, in the alternative, issue thank-you notes which record the amount of a contribution and which observe that tax receipts will be issued for the total of all contributions by the end of the tax year.

- Campaign manager responsibility: keep badgering the EDA to implement this task. Marie made a payment of $400 about three months ago and still has not received anything. Every other organization we deal with, including the National Party, issues receipts within a few weeks of the donation. Our EDA should not be permitted to “sit” on received donations without response to donors because we will lose support and this may hurt us when the campaign begins.

4. Organize “coffees” in the high-rises in our riding.

- Campaign manager responsibility: keep pressure upon the EDA to get these coffees going. If there is no person yet identified to handle this task…keep pressuring the Executive Committee to name someone. We must not do this job ourselves.

5. Plan and implement the Voter ID canvassing required to maintain and update CIMS. This is a task where the candidate will participate to the extent required, realizing that the candidate’s participation is not essential. Voter ID is not about persuading, it is just about the numbers and the data. The Constitution of the EDA makes this task an ongoing priority of the EDA.

- Campaign manager responsibility: keep the pressure on the EDA to get on with this task. I think Gene is the lead Executive Committee member for this, but Alex seems to be the one who controls the resources needed for the job. Voter ID is not something the campaign team expects to do during the campaign: if we do not have meaningful content in CIMS by the time of the election we will not do GOTV either (because it will waste time and money).

6. Organize meet-the-candidate and fundraising events.

- Campaign manager responsibility: keep the pressure on the EDA to develop and implement a fundraising program.

7. Plan and implement a public awareness strategy. This could involve an update to the existing brochure (for a mail out, funding permitting) and advertisements in neighborhood and regional newspapers (including The Citizen).

- Campaign manager responsibility: keep the pressure on the EDA to develop and implement a plan…always with an eye to the first task above (but we cannot allow the EDA budget balance to fall much below $35K).

8. Help the national office maintain the website votewestland.ca. This means that the EDA should help to ensure that fundraising events are properly recorded (including a picture or two). The departure of Phil Trinh means that our breakfast of 5 August does not yet have a picture of me with Minister Day.

- Candidate manager responsibility: keep the pressure on the EDA.

If the EDA is falling short on any of the tasks listed above it may become necessary for the campaign manager and the candidate to meet with the president of the EDA. After that, the next step will be for the campaign manager to meet with the national office.

Pre-writ Tasks: Campaign manager in the lead

(EDA is kept informed but does none of the work)

1. Maintain a state-of-readiness regarding the upcoming campaign.

- We are in good shape. We have the “bare bones” plan, we have a campaign manager, an Official Agent, an Official Auditor, a candidate manager, a draft brochure (needs minor update), a flyer (the “Chair” image and message), signs administration and personnel (led by Gene and Ron), office support (Priscilla, Elias, Lynda), and so on.

- The “bare bones” plan will not change unless anyone pressuring for changes also brings along the required resources (funding and volunteers).

.

2. Develop and maintain a list of campaign team volunteers.

- List the volunteers who can be counted upon for each of the important campaign functions, by category of function: office support, accept signs, canvassing and literature drop support.

- When the list is up to date, schedule a cocktail for interested volunteers, at the home of Rem and Marie, which will be without charge to the volunteers (donations accepted of course).

3. Build the list of names (120 target) of Ottawa-Vanier residents who endorse the candidacy of Rem Westland.

- We can use the opportunity of coffees, fundraising events, etc. to take down names.

4. Undertake “meet the candidate” canvassing evenings and afternoons.

- This only requires one person to support me on my “rounds”. We need to identify people and times when I can count upon folk helping me in this work. I hope to do this at least twice a week, for about two hours a time.

This will be separate from, and in addition to, Voter ID work done by the EDA (if any). On our own rounds we will not bother with CIMS unless the EDA has sent one or more of their people along to gather data from residents.

7 SEPTEMBER

Day “one” after the summer holidays began with a coffee with Guy.

I used the opportunity to share the outline just presented above and remonstrated with increasing frustration each time he observed upon innovations to the bare-bones plan and to his own role which, to my mind, risked loss of control. I want to have Guy very firmly placed into the bare-bones box. Within that box his role will primarily – if not exclusively – be to help implement and to defend the plan.

We had a good discussion on a wide range of concerns and issues. As always, I find Guy to be affable and positive…though I doubt I will ever trust his ability to exercise initiative in a balanced and effective way. He elaborated upon a number of ideas which appeared on the surface to have merit; but, when I pondered with him how to deliver results he had no answers. Guy works on the assumption that his notions, once out there, will be chased by other people. He trusts that other people will find the solutions.

One idea that I left with Guy to consider and to implement if he can is to set up “meet the candidate” nights at selected pubs and restaurants in town. Whether we draw five people or fifty, my long-ago proposal to launch a “let’s talk politics” series may have life in it yet! Nothing came of this when the association was in the lead.

Guy shared with me the name of Jonathan R, a young Conservative who he said is interested in lending his support to the cause but wants first to meet with me and confirm what others have said about my candidacy. I called JR this afternoon and we will meet on Monday next week.

After returning home I placed a couple of calls to Anne D and will follow up with her tomorrow. She is not yet back from her cottage but we have plenty of time before we need to nail down the 29 September event at her place.

When talking to Guy, by the way, I once again beat my drum regarding Voter ID. In the process I also eschewed the need for drivers to pick up people on Voting Day to bring them to the polling stations. “What the heck, Guy,” I said. “At best, if we can imagine delivering as many as 50 people to the voting booths, the result will make little or no difference. If we had really good CIMS data and trusted that those calling for delivery to the polls were actually intending to vote Conservative I might be persuaded. But for me this is an activity that does not qualify for inclusion in the bare-bones plan.”

The association has not done any of the work required to make Voter ID and CIMS data meaningful in our riding.

Guy’s comment was: “Rem, we must expect to some extent to do what everyone else does even if it does not translate into votes.” I disagreed on the spot. But I wonder whether he isn’t more right than wrong? Perhaps appearances matter a whole lot more than substance in this business, even with regard to the physical activity of driving people in rented vans to a nearby voting booth.

I will now step out to walk the dog. Tomorrow the plan is to do filing of the campaign material I gather every day from newspapers, emails, and other sources. I will also talk to Anne. After I talk to Anne I will have what I need in order to do the first round of affirmations regarding the 29 September event.

The next event on my agenda, however, appears now to be a Vanier neighborhood gathering to which Lynda (association member) has asked me to go. I work on the assumption Lynda will be there or else I will be giving this event a pass. After almost a year in this business I am losing my stomach for just walking around aimlessly, hoping that the voters – none of whom could possibly notice me – will notice me.

It is now 5:30 pm…and it appears Lynda is advising my participation at an event that she herself will not attend. Whether I go or not now becomes a matter for discussion with Marie and with the association.

A few hours ago I received an invitation from the office of Senator Martin to accompany her to a reception at the Chateau Laurier to honor mental health workers and contributors. I decided to accept the invitation and will advise Marie this evening. I suspect Marie will be jealous (only a little bit). Senator Martin was at the Breakfast on 5 August. She is an attractive woman of South Korean descent, but married (thank goodness) and appears very stable to me. Politics is a kind of aphrodisiac for men and I wonder what happens to the libido of the women in this business. More importantly, I am not yet ready to establish alliances within the political world. Whether this invitation and this event (if it comes to pass) will move me a step towards interpersonal relations with other politicians is the question. Perhaps the time for me to engage in some networking will come sooner than expected.

Oh, and Anne called. I will see her tomorrow at 11:00 am to talk about the 29 September event. The material I prepared for the purpose of our discussion is displayed below. I set it up so that Anne can use the notes for speaking points.

COCKTAILS ON 29 SEPTEMBER

Purpose of the event

Our purpose with this event is two-fold:

1. Thank a number of CPC supporters who have become dependable backers of the Conservative Party of Canada, particularly as donors to the Party and to the Ottawa-Vanier Association.

2. Provide an opportunity for those supporters to meet with, and get to know, Rem Westland who will be the Party’s candidate in the next federal election.

At around 7:00 pm Rem will take the floor and share with us what his approach will be in the next federal election. He will explain why he believes we have a good opportunity to win the riding on the next round. Rem will be seeking reactions, comments, and advice from the rest of us. Above all else, Rem wants to make a personal connection to those of us who have been strong supporters of the Party for many years.

In my view Rem – who has been a member of the Party since 1978 – is a very good candidate and I believe that, with our help and advice he will have a good shot at becoming the next Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Vanier.

While the main purpose of this event is to thank supporters and to meet with Rem, the Electoral District Association is checking to see whether a senior member of the Party (House or Senate) may be free to join us. We will let you know by telephone or by email if this becomes the case.”

Names of top level supporters (donations or commitment to the eventual campaign) for follow up:

There were 65 names, addresses and telephone numbers on the list that followed. I have deleted them because the contact points are too precise.

The day closed with a major surprise: a telephone call from my brother from Jamaica. He was “checking in”, likely to make up for his cutting out on me and the campaign team. We discussed his contract in Jamaica and concluded with the observation that if he is back in Ottawa when the election is called he may yet be called upon to play a role in support of our campaign. But I do not really think so. I used this opportunity to ask him the name of the Elections Canada official he had had contact with because I needed to replace his name with that of Priscilla. He said he had forgotten and had no way to retrieve the name from his “sent” mail, which likely means he did not have the energy to check. Thank goodness none of this happened at the front end of a campaign or before Priscilla came on board.

8 SEPTEMBER

In the morning, as agreed between us, I stopped by Anne’s place to review our approach regarding the cocktail party on 29 September. We had the list of potential guests in front of us. I had drawn the names from a study I had done of contributions to the CPC (national and local levels) over the past five years.

To my great appreciation she quickly volunteered to call all the names on the list of people whom I do not already know personally.

Early in the afternoon Anne called me at home. She sounded remarkably upbeat and I quickly learned why. She was getting enthusiastic and positive responses.

I suspect that conservatives in our area, including well connected people like Anne, have not had an easy time over the last few years. To instill a level of optimism and to demonstrate competence are my two most important tasks when I meet with people who are inclined to support the conservative cause. Supporters in our riding have almost lost the courage to “stand for Canada” even though that is the slogan which the CPC is trying to market for itself.

I recently read a book written by Lloyd Mackey on Stephen Harper in which the writer made a strong link between the religious affiliation of top Conservative Party members and the party’s platform. He implied a causal connection. My view, however, is that conservatism has its own parallel logic. To have the courage to stand up for something is as hard in religion as it is in politics. Religious people have the guts to stand for something and to persuade others to at least listen to what you believe in. There is not a causal connection, there is a parallelism. In social science we called this a specious correlation.

Religious people have their church behind them. In Ottawa-Vanier my challenge is to do the pumping up myself. I am not a strongly religious person but I certainly do have discipline to keep at it.

In the evening I attended the launching of the Mayor of Ottawa’s campaign for re-election. Mayor O’Brien had undertaken to have a sign of mine hang in the window of his centrally located condo for a week or so before the next election. I went to the launching of his campaign to remind him of this undertaking and to offer his sign a spot on our front lawn in Rockcliffe in return. I wait to see what happens.

After I returned home I addressed the list of names which I had undertaken to call for the reception at Anne’s place. To my surprise and satisfaction I received positive responses from 19 of the 24 names listed. We are now certain to have a party on the night of September 29.

9 SEPTEMBER

Today I received confirmation that I will be accompanying Senator Martin to the mental health event at the Chateau Laurier on the evening of 4 October. I have begun to gather material on mental health in the Ottawa Vanier riding. I will be ready.

I compared notes later in the day with Anne. Between us we now have a list of 45 confirmed attendees. That’s awfully good as a percentage of the 65 we have called to date. All of these people know that our goal from each of them is a minimum of $400.

One of the things I will have to remember is for Priscilla or Guy to bring along the lists for people to sign to endorse me as a candidate. When the writ drops I will need to have on hand a list of at least 100 eligible voters in the riding who affirm that they view me as a credible candidate for public office…whether they intend to actually vote for me or not.

The association, by the way, says to me: “Do not worry about that list. After the writ drops we will station some people at the outlet of liquor stores or churches and get all the names and signatures we need.” Can you imagine that? What a cynical perspective to have on the electoral process.

I spent a couple of hours at noon attending the swearing in of a friend who had been appointed to the Federal Court of Appeal.

I was very impressed by Geoffrey’s speech to friends and associates at the ceremony, which was held at the Supreme Court of Canada. In short, he observed upon the political, social, economic, religious, and other types of movement across the globe these days. In this environment, he said, the courts have a responsibility to secure the bedrock upon which the Canadian state has been built. There were strong hints of an active judiciary in what he said.

I wondered in this context whether he was confusing legal and political bedrocks.

By the way, this was a heck of a day. The car needed service in the morning, followed by Geoffrey’s swearing in. Once home again there were dishes needed to be stacked, the dishwasher to be filled, beds to be made, my exercises to be held, the dog to be walked, and so on. A life fully lived!

10 TO 12 SEPTEMBER

We went back to the cottage today to continue with our closing down operations. Politics loomed only on Sunday, 12 September.

On this day, in the early afternoon, I met with Georges Lavoie. He is a long-term member of the Electoral District Association…if a somewhat disaffected one. He confirmed during our three hour talk that he has felt unappreciated for some time.

As I have mentioned before, Georges is Haitian born and therefore primarily French speaking. Our discussions were entirely in French. I work very easily in that language. While sometimes I struggle for a word or two my fluency is such that I confidently express my thoughts, feelings and analyses. I rarely miss my point on account of French no longer being used regularly around me. I could see that Georges’ confidence grew exponentially when he appreciated that our whole time together could be in his mother-tongue.

To set down the full range of topics and ideas Georges and I focused upon would fill yet another book, so let me get to a few concluding highlights.

First, I directed Georges to Guy and to the campaign team. I outlined the difference in types of work and expectations. Essentially, as already said above a number of times, I want members of the campaign team to use their energies to try to make the association perform supportively during the pre-writ period. “If you have a good idea, Georges, the goal is to get the association to pick it up and implement it. We on the campaign team will take charge only after an election is called.”

Georges understood me well enough. I shared with him my concern that Guy likely as not will continue to do the work of the association. I said to Georges that if he joins the campaign team he may be able to help Guy keep more pressure on association volunteers. The turn of campaign team volunteers will come soon enough.

Georges proposed that he and I meet in different places within his area of the riding to host discussions about politics. I said this reflects Guy’s support for “meet the candidate” evenings. I said to Georges that he should work with Guy on this. I would see it as an activity which relates more to the eventual campaign than to the “branding” duties of an association. But we do not need to await association approval and association money to get this kind of thing rolling. Marie and I can afford the cost of coffees ourselves and if we meet at a bar people can buy their own drinks.

In the evening I followed up with a few more phone calls regarding the 29 September event. Anne has agreed that we should invite a previous Ottawa-Vanier candidate (Paul Benoit) even though he no longer is active in our association. He retains a certain luster in our riding that will reflect well on me if he shows. Paul Benoit may be able to convince a few others to attend the 29 September event who were once his supporters but are not on my list. If Paul can do that he will have earned his free passage.

I have just learned that next week I will have a barbeque to attend in Edwards, Ontario (about 25 km away) where the Prime Minister will be in attendance. This happens on Tuesday, a day which will begin by my attending a presentation put on by the organization Crime Prevention Ottawa.

But tomorrow morning I need to get our two cars registered at the license bureau. And, in passing, we bought a motor boat (inboard/outboard) on the way home from the cottage on Saturday.

13 SEPTEMBER

I am feeling pretty stressed these days. I suspect it is because I am back in business. The “time away” is over.

One of my stress points is the fact that Guy has taken the initiative to meet with Brock to consider the way ahead between the campaign team and the association. The resulting summary of agreements between them suggests to me that Guy continues to wander far outside the limits within which I feel comfortable to have us play. Last night I had some trouble sleeping. I kept Marie awake with the thought that I need – sooner rather than later – to find a replacement for Guy. Oh, well… Let’s see what happens.

On this particular day things began with a telephone call to Anne. I confirmed that Paul Benoit has signed on for 29 September, as has Michael D. We are now at 55 people attending…which is a lot. Anne and I will meet on 15 September (my birthday) to confirm where things stand.

Our discussion over the phone drew attention to a potentially embarrassing issue, one that could arise in the course of the end-September event: it appears the association’s finance officer is not acknowledging the receipt of contributions. I knew that in my own case and that of Marie there had been no receipts coming in for income tax purposes. Now I learned that Anne that she and her circle of friends were not receiving receipts either. Marie reminded me that one of our cheques, in the amount of $500, had been found by the finance officer after it had gone missing during a move from one office on the Hill to another. I asked Marie to intercede on my behalf with Colin McSweeney. I was pressing hard to get people to contribute to the association rather than to the national office. The national office always provided receipts within weeks. People will begin to wonder what we on the association are doing with their money.

Lunch was with Jonathan R, the fellow of about 25 who seems interested in becoming part of the campaign team. He and I had a full and frank discussion over a two hour period. Upon parting I asked him to consider whether he wants to get to work immediately (join the association) or if he prefers to help get our ducks lined up so that the campaign gets off to a good start when the writ drops (join the campaign team).

Jonathan chose to join the campaign team.

I spent much of the later afternoon catching up on housework and trying to confirm my registration of the remwestland.ca domain name. I certainly am feeling frustrated about things.

14 SEPTEMBER

Again today I would stop this journey if I could.

To regain momentum seems an almost insurmountable task, even though a key activity (the 29 September event) seems to be coming together very well. Also, my reflections upon the campaign plan in light of Guy’s initiative to have a meeting on 21 September of the campaign team reconfirm to me that I am on the right track. All I need is to be sure, really sure, that the backing I need will still be in place when the writ drops. I have seen too many volunteers drop by the wayside.

I attended a presentation by Crime Prevention Ottawa in the morning. At this presentation I saw again a growing problem: police and community services groups are using the internet and Google more and more to solicit input from the public on crime and other community concerns yet the physical capacity to respond remains what it was before the internet came into being. As I observed at the presentation: if formerly only two “tips” would come in (by telephone) and each could be responded to, what happens to public confidence if 200 tips can now come in (through the internet, twitter, etc.) yet still only two can be responded to? Even if there is a reduction in crime in our riding (which seems to be the case) there will be an increase in the public level of dissatisfaction.

When I got back home I had a couple of hours to attend to a large back-log of emails and notes. Oh, and I forgot to say that on Sunday evening I finally managed to bring my filing up to date! So at least a part of the underbrush that concerns me has been cleared.

Later this afternoon I will be attending the barbeque in Edwards. I plan to leave early, book in tow, and sit somewhere in that village to do a couple of hours of reading prior to the event taking place. I want to avoid the traffic. I will report tomorrow on how the event played out.

But now it is late in the evening and I am back before the laptop.

Wow!

As these things go, the barbeque was a special event for me.

First, I was pleased to be taken to the Prime Minister’s private suite (overlooking a crowd of about 900 people) and hosted there until the PM arrived. He was briefed well enough to know my name. His wife, whom I had met at the end-March fundraiser, was pleased to confirm my identity. We shook hands, exchanged a few words, and had some pictures taken.

When folk ask: “What was the Prime Minister’s approach with you?” My answer is: “I had a sense of commiseration.” His first words to me were: “It’s not easy doing this, is it?” He asked me for an update on how things were unfolding in Ottawa-Vanier. Since his time was very limited I said: “At some point, Prime Minister, I hope to share with you a full report on what I have experienced.” I did not say that I was already keeping a diary on my experience. If I had, I expect someone in his office would have come by to insist I stop.

Later in the evening first one MP and then another from the Ottawa area welcomed me publicly to the “team”. And then, at a break point in his own presentation, the Prime Minister singled me out to thank me for running and welcomed me as the next Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Vanier. That is one heck of an endorsement, likely arranged by one of the many CPC staffers who have crossed paths with me over the last 11 months.

When Marie asked me, upon returning home, how it went I had a sober reply: “This is getting serious, Marie!” The PM and the political group in the Ottawa area have endorsed my candidacy very publicly. If I felt I could not let people down before…I feel it much more today. It gets harder to quit at every turn.

An interesting side-line development was that, also attending the Edwards barbeque, was a CPC supporter who had worked closely with me when I was still in the public service. He had no idea I was part of the crowd but began looking for me when the MPs and the PM singled me out. It was a rather lustrous way for me to get re-introduced.

15 AND 16 SEPTEMBER

I pull these two days together because they are a bit of a mush in my mind.

The 15th of September is my birthday (62!) so a bit of the time was spent relaxing. I drove up and down to the cottage to retrieve a trailer hitch so that we can pick up our new boat on Saturday coming. But first I had a meeting at Anne’s place at which we compared lists and notes and agreed that we have more than enough for a party.

I will update my list of guests over the weekend.

I also updated the campaign plan and sent it to Brock, Guy, and Priscilla. Our success in drawing folk to Anne’s party persuaded me to add a few thousand dollars to the plan.

Guy commented that he was comfortable with the updated plan – especially with the increase in the forecasted budget amount – but said nothing about the fact that the task of developing and updating a campaign plan should properly fall to the campaign manager rather than to the candidate. Oh, well… My hands-on approach likely leaves me with no option but to stay in charge all the way to the end.

On the 16th I met Priscilla for lunch. We spent about 3 hours together, in the course of which I again summarized how I see the campaign unfolding and what I see her role to be.

Priscilla and I stopped by the bank after our lunch and, to my surprise, we ran into a bank officer who seemed fully aware of campaign financing rules and lingo. He was more than pleased to help us set up a campaign bank account. Because he already knew the ropes he quickly took us through the administrative requirements. By this time next week we will have our account ready to go.

[When my brother appeared to have this task in hand I had thought it was too arcane for me. This is one of the reasons I was so appreciative of his initiative and so determined to keep him on the team. We have now fully recovered from Gerald’s departure.]

Along the way over these last two days I secured the support of two additional young men who appear keen and enthusiastic about becoming a part of my campaign efforts. There is a snowball slowly growing. Even Eleanor (from Carol fame) sent Guy an email saying she would like to come back on board.

On my way home from lunch with Priscilla and the bank I stopped by the municipal election office of Georges Bedard, who is running in the ongoing municipal election for City Council. He is the incumbent, but faces a number of challengers.

I know Georges is a Liberal (if not an NDP) but I want to send him a cheque because he is a friend…and I now know how tough this business can be. At the office door, however, his support person took issue with my being a Conservative and a hot debate ensued between the two of us. I kept my cool but my interest in making a contribution to Georges was fading fast. It had just about faded to nil when Georges came in and the tensions eased. His staffer could see that Georges and I were once good friends and remain good associates.

The debate in Georges’ office was tiring (I only had a few hours sleep last night) but a good test. I feel I did well but I also appreciated that my control over the facts about this government’s performance is inadequate. When the administrative stuff settles down some more I will have to turn my mind to a study of all the material I have gathered in my files.

PS: I almost forgot to note that the PM was very clear about one thing in his (very good) speech at the barbeque: the next election has to be a majority for the Conservatives or else a Liberal/NDP/Bloc coalition is a virtual certainty. So we will be running for a majority in the next election…and that makes sense to me.

17 SEPTEMBER

I greatly hope that this will be a quiet day on the political front. I want to go up onto the roof of our house and upgrade some of the shingles over the TV room. Too many of them are lifted at the edges. Tomorrow is supposed to be a sunny and warm day. We will not be having too many more of those in the months to come.

In the nation’s business, by the way, the debates about political issues like the long-gun registry, the long form census, crime law, and so on are intensifying. Parliament resumes next week and it promises to be a raucous affair.

As it turned out this was indeed a quiet day. I spent about one hour contemplating the impossibility of my re-shingling the large piece of roof that clearly needs the work. And then, later in the afternoon than planned, I got the heck up on the roof anyway and got to work. After about two hours I was entirely comfortable with the height and I was making good progress. I finished the job on Sunday, 19 September.

18 AND 19 SEPTEMBER

On Saturday Marie and I drove out to Carleton Place to pick up our “new” second-hand boat. We had to first get over a debate between us about how Gerrit should behave now that he is a near-adult living still at our cost: the 5:00 am returns home are distressing Marie while mostly unnoticed by me (because I wear earplugs).

The boat appears to be a good one. Except for some sun spots on three of the seven seats, it looks almost new. It ran well. My only concern – which I have kept to myself – was a pulling to the left while we drove at high speed. I hope there is no political forecast written into that possible flaw.

I am reading, by the way, John Boyko’s book on Bennet, Canada’s Conservative Prime Minister during the depression era. It is an interesting read and instructive for one in my position. The lesson is that conservatives will do almost anything to level the playing field so that the slogan – “I can do it myself” – is meaningful for as many citizens as possible.

20 SEPTEMBER

Not much to report. I was meaning to get the invitation list for Anne’s event brought up to date and to draft a reminder letter for everyone attending. Perhaps I will do this tonight, or certainly tomorrow. I meet Anne again on Wednesday and this will be the first thing she asks me about. I will need to be very sure to put reminders in the mailboxes of those whom she has most frequent contact with.

I stopped by the Bank of Montreal to sign the various papers which Luke Callon, the very supportive administration fellow, was supposed to have ready…but he was not in. He called me shortly after I got home (he did not go to the office today) and we will meet again tomorrow.

A number of people have told me that Bruce Poulin, whom I continue to support personally and financially, is not the nicest guy in the world. He has accepted my money but I have already noted that he does not reciprocate. On his website, where he displays his qualifications to run for municipal office, he makes no reference at all to conservatism. I am named as a person providing a strong endorsement for him, but my status as candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada is not mentioned.

Priscilla shared with me some news about a Maurice Lamirande who is also running for municipal office. Contrary to Bruce, Maurice loudly trumpets his conservative orientation. I expect to attend an event being hosted for him in the Rockcliffe Community Centre on 23 September. It looks like I may be contributing yet another $100 or so to the municipal cause. Oh, well…

I learned in the early afternoon, by the way, that my mother has “lost interest” in life and has stopped eating. If this is true then I suspect her time remaining will be very short. My mother has always been very purposeful. If she has decided that the time has come to die, then she will soon die. If she has decided she cannot wait to see what may happen to me on this political journey…then she will not wait.

On this last point I do not blame her. While I had expected an election last summer or this fall, it begins to look as if next spring will be the earliest time. The government, indeed, has just proposed that civil service salary talks should begin now rather than next June as scheduled. I think this is because the government does not want civil service strife to be part of the next election if indeed it happens in May or June of next year.

I had a short run of conscience over the last two days. It dawned upon me that Jacques Legendre (the Rideau-Rockcliffe city councilor) will not be running in the November Municipal elections. He is well liked, experienced, and well known in most of Ottawa-Vanier. He would make a very good candidate for the Conservative party in our riding.

I found myself wondering whether I should have a talk with him to learn whether he would be interested in stepping into my place. It would likely have to be done by way of my stepping aside (there may be options of course, such as a PM appointment) but one way or another he would cover a lot of ground on name-recognition that I will never cover myself.

On balance, I decided to keep this idea to myself. I want to finish this journey for reasons of ego, experience, bragging rights, and so many other reasons. To please my father and my mother is no longer one of those reasons, though that had also inspired me when I started (pleasing my dad through my mother’s eyes). My kids are now paying attention as are a number of my associates and friends. And, do not forget, the Prime Minister has called out his endorsement at the barbeque of last week.

Also…I am ready. I would hate to set aside all the work we have done to date.

21 SEPTEMBER

The next two days were interesting ones.

On this day, 21 September, I met with Guy, Priscilla, Gene, and with Brock and Shaun of the Electoral District Association. The meeting went very well but was not without hints of difficulties ahead.

Prior to the meeting I had pulled together the full package of material I now have ready for the election. I prepared a folder which contained the snap shot of the campaign plan, the door knocker and brochure, the “chair” flyer, the ads which ask “Where is Mauril?”, and other prepared material. As you know all the contents of the folder were also captured on a disc by my son, Gerrit. Finally, I summarized our financial situation and observed that the bare bones plan is do-able within a limit of $70K.

At the meeting this evening, at Guy’s place, I circulated the folder and spoke to its contents. Priscilla followed with a summary of the budget…a summary which was often interrupted by Guy and Gene raising tangential issues.

I was pleased to see that Priscilla persevered with her presentation of the budget and was not shy to say to Guy and to Gene that they should let her finish. She has balls…and she will need them.

In the course of the meeting Brock and Shaun protested that they really do want to do the association’s job correctly. They now have $35K in the bank and they will protect that amount. Anything spent for campaign preparation (such as signs) will reduce what is available to be transferred to my campaign, of course, unless more money is raised. But the association plans to retain only $1K or so for itself after the writ drops. “Everything will go to the campaign,” Shaun affirmed.

Also, there was a renewed undertaking to achieve results with Voter ID and fundraising during the pre-writ period. The Voter ID program may have to be delivered with telephoning rather than bloc-walks but everyone seems OK with that. It certainly does not matter to me, one way or another.

Little was said about the type of canvassing I continue to do on my own, but I agreed that the municipal campaign – ongoing until mid-November – may weigh against my going door to door. Folk will not know why I am there if I am competing for space with municipal candidates.

Towards the end of the meeting Guy shared with me that the next meeting of campaign team volunteers should happen soon and that each volunteer will have to pick up a job or two in order to remain part of the group. “We cannot have free loaders,” he observed. I answered that my approach would be a bit softer about this. I’d rather a free loader than no one at all. The numbers alone can make an impression.

Once home again I found time to update the guest list for the party on 29 September, to write the “reminder letters” Anne wanted me to send, and to send the letters. Marie helped me with this and the help was much appreciated. Note that there was no assistance from the association.

22 SEPTEMBER

I was very busy in the morning.

My followup to the meeting last night included a summary note which tried – once again – to clarify for Guy what his job will be.

I again stressed that the Official Agent – not Guy – will be responsible for organizing the money and the budget so that we deliver within each category of expenditure the products or activities funded in that category. The categories include: office management, signs development and location, material finalization and printing, delivery of campaign material to homes, media relations including ads, neighborhood canvassing, and a couple of others. My message, sent by email, was that the Official Agent will ensure we spend money within the categories and transfer money across the budget only if we agree that expenditures will be less in the categories out of which any money is transferred.

Guy called me later in the day to complain that his room to maneuver within the budget will not be adequate. “Priscilla will hold all the cards,” he lamented.

I answered that he will indeed have no room at all, except within each category. To move across categories will require Official Agent approval. To spend within categories will require Official Agent approvals. To do things like Voter ID, GOTV, or print and distribute national material will require additional funds to be raised by Guy himself and to be confirmed as truly available by the Official Agent before we engage.

As I said to Guy: I am in this to win. I am not in this to help the national party deliver a national message which is unlikely to sell in Ottawa-Vanier. What I say will be entirely consistent and supportive of the national messages but our effort will target the vulnerability of the incumbent MP. If the party wants to bring us into the national tent, which I am prepared to let happen, the party will have to provide the leadership and the extra resources this will require.

I am prepared to lose on the party’s terms. On my own terms, however, I want to win!

At least…I want to make every effort. My hope remains that Mauril will win the election so that I can get on with life and engage with politics on a hobby-like basis.

Today is also the day when Anne D took me and Marie to the Rideau Club to listen to Harry Swain, former Deputy Minister at Indian Affairs, make a presentation on the subject of the Oka crisis in 1990. He has written a book on the subject and I am mentioned in it. You may recall that the Indians residing around the Oka township protested the development of a golf course where they said ancestors were buried. The resulting blockades and confrontation included the killing of a police officer and the calling out of the Army to restore order.

I will not discuss the Oka crisis…but I will say that I rose to ask a question at the conclusion of the event. I used this opportunity to say publicly that I am running for the Conservatives in the next federal election. Harry had made fun of the Harper government a number of times during his presentation. The people in the room who know what I am all about, I suspect, wanted me to say something in return.

My next projects are to draft a letter to the Official Auditor which formally designates Priscilla as Official Agent; to draft words that invite people to a campaign team meeting at our place; and, to prepare for the campaign team meeting by elaborating upon the functions of all the campaign team positions. I do not expect Guy to help with this…

As I said to Priscilla at some point in the day: “I worry that Guy may step down because his role is so limited. Yet I still hope he does not. We will not be running an ordinary campaign. We need someone who is wholly credible to defend our approach at the national level once we start rolling. Because he has run for the Conservatives in a federal election and is bilingual Guy is wholly credible…even if we risk his running out of our control.”

If I were Guy I would have quit by now.

23 SEPTEMBER

This was another busy day. It is no joke to say that I am busy with life itself during most of the hours in every day. Today, as always, there were rooms to straighten, dishes to wash, dog to feed and walk, exercises to do, shirts to press.

And there was work to do in support of the eventual campaign.

[But let me say, in passing, that I chanced upon the Prime Minister speaking to the UN…and his message was excellent. Media types subsequently criticized his performance, which affirms that not everyone shares the Conservative bent. But it is certainly the bent of me.]

My main effort today was devoted to documenting the tasks of the campaign team.

Candidate: Rem Westland

- Approve all words and text attributed to the candidate

- Represent the party at all election events

- Participate in all public forums

- Canvass neighborhoods as advised by the Canvasser

- Respond to all “earned” media opportunities

- Win the election

Official Agent: Priscilla

- Implement all Official Agent tasks as required by Elections Canada

- Regularly update campaign plan budget by category of activities/expenditures

- Oversee expenditures to ensure cost categories, and overall budget forecasts are not exceeded

- Alert candidate and campaign manager if budget implementation appears off the rails

- Oversee office management

- Maintain confidential record of candidate activities and events (for sharing with campaign manager and for use, if required, in support of an audit).

Official Auditor: Chris Climo

- Receive campaign plan and budget summary, for information and – if needed – advice to Official Agent

- Implement all Official Auditor tasks as required by Elections Canada

Campaign Manager: Guy

- Plan and implement official opening of campaign

- Oversee implementation of the campaign’s basic plan, as approved by the candidate and the campaign team

- Provide direction to all campaign team leaders as required

- Defend/explain basic plan to national office, media, etc. as may be required

- Plan, implement, and manage additions to the basic plan subject to:

o Availability of funds being confirmed to satisfaction of Official Agent

o Availability of resources being confirmed subject to satisfaction of volunteers manager

- Plan and implement mini-fundraisers/morale boosters (pizza nights) for volunteers and friends

- Plan and implement end-of-campaign party

Office Team: names to be confirmed by Priscilla

- Ensure office is managed between 0900 hrs and 1800 hrs of each day of the writ

- Receive incoming calls and messages, direct these to addressees and place copies in office messages book

- Receive volunteers as they come in and direct them to the support options, via volunteer manager if present in the office

- Maintain record of signs production and location via signs manager if present in the office

- Ensure materials for administration of campaign (paper, pins, pens, etc.) are always available

- Receive direction from Official Agent and campaign manager when provided

- Maintain a confidential record of candidate activities and events

Candidate Manager: Colin Lindley

- Accompany the candidate, at times to be decided between them, on every day of the campaign

- Advise campaign manager of daily candidate activities and receive direction from campaign manager as required

- Advise office team of candidate activities on a regular basis, every day

- Be the constant contact to the candidate for the campaign team

Signs: Gene and Ron

- Retain close contact with signs production company (to be determined) and our delivery agent (Rob), and order new signs subject to campaign manager confirmation of requirement and Official Agent confirmation of funds available

- Maintain office record of signs location and requests

- Ensure signs maintenance is done regularly, including tours through neighborhoods on random basis or in response to observations

Media: name to be provided

- Oversee production of final version of pre-planned material (doorknocker, brochure, “chair” flyer, ads) and delivery of copies to the office

- Oversee delivery of campaign material, under direction of campaign manager and volunteers manager (for lit-drops)

- Respond to media requests for “earned” media opportunities

- Develop and implement media out-reach plan subject to availability of funds (requires Official Agent confirmation) and under direction of campaign manager

Facebook Management: Amy

- Oversee evolving content of the Facebook Page at the candidate’s website

- Respond to commentary to the Facebook Page as may be required, including reference of questions to the candidate as may be required

- Keep campaign manager up to date on developments

- Note: these functions will not be performed at the campaign office

Canvassing/Scrutineers: Gene

- Continue to implement Voter ID/CIMS updates throughout the campaign depending upon availability of resources (volunteers and petty cash for refreshments)

- Advise upon candidate canvassing opportunities as may be offered by volunteers and supporters

- Advise upon lit-drops (to volunteers manager) if coordination is possible with canvassing requirements or opportunities

- Prepare team(s) of scrutineers for their work on election day

Volunteers Management: Elanor (to be confirmed)

- Maintain and staff receiving-desk for volunteers who arrive at the office in the course of the campaign

- Help volunteers decide upon the support area of their choice and/or direct volunteers to campaign team leaders in areas where help is particularly needed:

o Direct to office team to provide office/telephone/email reception support

o Direct to signs manager to obtain sign for volunteer’s property

o Direct to Gene for lit-drop of campaign material in volunteer’s neighborhood

o Direct to Gene if volunteer proposes to accompany candidate on a round of neighborhood canvassing

o Direct to Gene to help with Voter ID and GOTV (depends upon availability of funds)

o Direct to Gene if volunteer will serve as scrutineer.

- Maintain list of volunteers and ensure calls are made to invite all volunteers to the end-of-campaign party.

I checked the contents of this with Priscilla, who added a few thoughts (now incorporated) and agreed. I then sent it to Guy and await his response. If Guy signs off on this breakdown of functions my effort to move him into a well-defined corner will be almost complete.

In the evening I attend receptions held by two men who are running for municipal government positions: Bruce Poulin and Maurice Lamirande, both in the Rideau-Rockcliffe ward.

Bruce’s event was held in his office. It is a rather run down space on Beechwood. Well located, but reflective of poverty in the campaign. Maurice’s event was held in the Rockcliffe community centre. It was very classy and reflective of a campaign with money.

Bruce’s crowd was blue collar. Jeans, poor suits, high body-mass indexes were the norm. Maurice’s gathering was more numerous, well presented, older but more fit.

Bruce’s record of community service does not match that of Maurice Lamirande. Also, Bruce featured articles in The Citizen on the walls of his office space which championed him as a whistle blower at a time when I was a senior official at DND. He targeted some senior generals whom I know well and hold in high regard. I am sure Bruce did what he felt to be the right thing at the time, but for me whistle blowing is not an action which one touts as a mark of achievement. It should be marked with regret.

I had the misfortune of being a whistle blower myself, shortly after I had joined the Canadian Forces Grievance Board as Secretary General. Rather than seek credit for the effort I quit the position and threw myself on the mercy of the Public Service Commission.

Bruce’s event drew Anne and a couple of other strong supporters of my cause. Also, MP Royal Galipeau stopped by. Maurice’s event drew Priscilla and a number of her friends.

Bottom line: I will vote for Maurice. That said, I could not leave Bruce’s reception without agreeing to have a lawn sign put in the yard. I left Maurice’s event with an agreement to have his sign placed on our lawn as well. As the municipal campaign wore on we also sported lawn signs for two other candidates, both very left-leaning.

As an important and personal aside I should record that my mother has had a “turn”. At the age of 93 any kind of “turn” could quickly become a turn for the worst, but the jury is still out. Her anxiety has reached a very high level though the immediate problem seems to be limited to an inability to void her bladder. The stone-age medicine we mostly practice in our modern world should be able to address the bladder problem. To be overly anxious in a retirement home, however, is to risk having staff find quick solutions. Drugs can quiet anyone down, and then – at 93 – it is game over very quickly. That was our unhappy experience with dad.

24 SEPTEMBER

My plan for today is to do very little. I need a break! I may even sneak a run to the cottage and back but that will depend upon the weather.

As it turns out I did not get to the cottage. I did, however, spend about three hours on the roof of our house in Rockcliffe and managed to complete the roof repairs and upgrades I wanted to do before the winter. I hope next to re-do a small deck at the side of the house that I rigged up in a hurry six years ago in order to deflect water and reduce/stop leaking into the basement at that point. My water deflection goal was met…but the rush-job done on the deck-like structure is starting to bother me.

Only two political events to report:

First, I stopped by the office of Maurice Lamirande to hand over a cheque for $200. It is not a lot of money, so I will stop by again and add a couple of hundred. But right now, being near the end of the month, my accounts are getting very low. I am soon going to have to say something to Marie about this.

The second event was a happy one.

Guy stopped by to pick up the discs I have of the pictures taken of me for brochures and the ones taken so long ago by John (the photographer from Calgary) for the ads. Guy and I compared notes, seemed to agree on all things, and off he went with the material. He allowed that perhaps he will keep the media manager job for himself…which I think would be a great idea. That said, he has not returned commentary on the description of tasks. I hope I get it soon. I will then convene the first real meeting of the campaign team since we broke up after learning for sure that a fall election was not going to happen.

Tomorrow I go to the Lowertown Community House open house. I will stay for a short while then hit the road for Montreal and Knowlton. I have not heard anything from my mother or sister in the last few days but I understand Mom is at her residence rather than at the hospital. I will have to brace myself I fear…

25 SEPTEMBER

Before heading off to Knowlton and Montreal for the day to check up on my mother and visit with Joan I had that stop-off in Lowertown.

As almost always I arrived and felt deep in my stomach the aching question: “what the heck am I doing here?” When one has entered the political sphere one presents oneself as a representative of the political process and of the party of one’s affiliation. There is no secret that I would not have darkened the door of the Community House except for my political journey, and there is no question that the welcome would not have been so warm if I was just a man off the street.

But a warm welcome it was!

One person at a time, I slowly made the rounds and ended up introducing myself to about a dozen people. Georges Bedard was there and, likely to his regret, found himself in a picture with me. I say with regret because he stands for a different political orientation than I and he will not like to find his picture in my promotional material. I will be sure to leave it out…

I was impressed by the good will and commitment of all the people I met, and perhaps especially by the determined effort on the part of those with significant mental and physical challenges to rise to the occasion and to represent well what the House is all about.

What the House is about, by the way, is the provision of social services and the organization of community events in that part of Lowertown. They are doing a good job.

The stop over inspires me to do my best…though with a bit more of a sense than before that I should not win. I do not have the background of social and political activism to have marked me out for being a potential Member of Parliament.

Yet…I know I will keep on putting my best foot forward. If I win I will have the right kind of background within a year of my being in the job. I will become an excellent Member of Parliament.

26 SEPTEMBER

This, then, was entirely a family day.

When we arrived yesterday (at about 8:00 pm) mom was very agitated. She was convinced that she was headed back to the hospital where she would be certain to “go crazy”. We reassured her as well as we could, then Marie and I went on to Joan.

The next morning, now today by this report, mom was doing a lot better. She had had a bad night according to the staff and she was headed downstairs to a one-room place closer to the nursing station. But she could be convinced that this was not a return to the hospital and that she would have more company and more care in her changed locale. My own guess is that mom will not be returning to her apartment on the 3rd floor. She has been content at various stages in her life to restrict her activities and her surroundings: I think this is the last of the restrictions.

27 SEPTEMBER

I stopped by the Sconewich down the street this afternoon to pick up from Nancy the “final” printing of the “chair” image in the form of two posters. The result is very pleasing to the eye, very artistic in my view. I was heartened by what I obtained…at the price of about $300.00, which I intend to bill to the association.

I also took the time to read a research paper Robert Sampson had sent me a few days ago and I prepared a reply. The paper is extremely dense. The writer made the point that crime – with a focus upon drunk driving offenses – can often be explained by personality and bio-chemical factors that “tough on crime” sentencing cannot address. Indeed, sentences for crimes committed could aggravate the underlying personality or physical disorders and drive the perpetrator to reoffend.

I replied that, in the end, laws at the federal level need to be accessible in black-and-white and need to have meaning. In a law at the federal level one of necessity must roll up all the individual characteristics, at the risk of oversimplifying the challenges faced by judges. But for laws to have no meaning is to offend the victims.

I therefore challenged Robert, and the writer of the paper, to say what kind of legal wording they might use to instruct judges so that sentences for drunk driving charges can be understood and have meaning. I added that, if laws are indeed tough, the pressure upon lower orders of governance – all the way down to family structures – to prevent crimes and intervene should grow. Only the family, not the federal government, can insist that a drunk 18 year old not get the keys to the family car.

I spoke to Anne earlier in the day about the event on Wednesday this week and I contacted Guy and others to be sure that the props desired by Anne (lapel pins, brochures, name tags, and so on) will be available prior to the cocktail party beginning at 6:00 pm.

I learned that Jean T has been to the hospital (now back home) and I was asked to follow up with her because she nonetheless wants to give me a cheque to help the cause. I will call her tomorrow.

28 SEPTEMBER

And now…tomorrow is at hand. And what a day this has been.

The day began with my purring pleasurably about the fact that my campaign is ready to go. For all the reasons I have summarized before, the event tomorrow evening will be the last of the pieces falling into place. After about a year as the candidate I have covered just about all of the ground I hoped to cover when I began. At some point during this journey of mine those words “everything is going well” became a bit of a sorry joke between Marie and me. It seemed that no sooner did I state this happy thought, but then all hell would break loose immediately afterwards.

And then, in came the email from Guy.

Guy spent a few hours with Brock, the result of which has been a proposed campaign budget – to replace mine – which does not line up with our basic plan at all. Guy has fooled me again. He is not yet in any corner. He is responding to incoming ideas wherever they come from. He is running loose as ever before.

Guy’s proposed budget would back up a fully-funded plan ($20K more than we currently can foresee) in which a whole bunch of money is earmarked for brochures we do not have and for ads we have not developed, the ads would be displayed on radio and TV for which we have no expertise. He would deliver an enhanced voter out-reach program with volunteers we do not have and purchase promotional material which does not yet exist or get it developed and purchased with money we will never have.

My first reaction was a dark anger. My blood pressure went up, that’s for sure.

I drafted a hasty reply which, for all intents and purposes, asked Guy to resign. I sent the email to Marie and I talked to Priscilla, not to Guy, and I settled down. Priscilla knows what I am shooting for and is certain to keep us on a funded track. Marie got back to me with a few words to soften my email but it took some time to soften me in the bargain.

The additional time I had was all I needed.

I took the Brock/Guy budget and used its component parts to recast what we have undertaken to do to deliver the basic plan. I annotated the re-cast budget with commentary to Guy and Priscilla. And then I called Guy to thank him and Brock for having engaged with us on funding issues. I said: “Guy, this is the first time we are talking the same language. I will get back to you with my reaction to the Brock/Guy proposal so that the basic plan’s imperatives can be clearly seen within the context of your more ambitious version.” That was quite a turn-around from my initial reaction (shameless, really).

It is now 4:30 pm and I have had enough. I want to go to the bank to arrange for a transfer (to cover costs for the boat) and then I will turn to a book and to preparations for supper. Also, it is unusually warm out and suddenly sunny. I want to take advantage of the rest of the day. This evening I will spend a bit of time preparing for tomorrow’s event.

PS: I just learned that my evening with Senator Martin has been cancelled. I am very pleased about that. She has been called away to an international event in South Korea. I, for my part, will not have think any longer about an event where my reason for attending was unclear. The profile in my riding would have been zero. The network I was beginning to build would have no future unless I first get elected.

29 SEPTEMBER

The next few days proved to be quite eventful…and now I am reconstructing them from written notes.

To begin, the party at Anne’s place went very well. At total of 65 people attended, my presentation was well received, and I left the event with a pretty good sense that most of those attending will be willing to contribute between $500 and $1000 apiece when an election is called. Even if I am wrong about the amount, the support I believe I can count upon will infuse quite a lot of money into the campaign only days after it begins.

Prior to the event I stopped by the home of Jean T, the supporter who was unable to make it to the event. I took forty five minutes to share with her my intended presentation and we discussed the political process and my chances of winning. Upon leaving she handed me an envelope…one which I did not open right away. When back home I counted ten $100 bills, for a total contribution of $1000.00. I turned this over to Brock and Shaun, who had to return to Jean and obtain the same amount in the form of a cheque instead of cash.

My presentation to the group at Anne’s place was along the lines shown below.

PROUD TO BE A MEMBER OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA

THANK YOU

- THERE ARE A NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS AMONG US WHO HAVE RUN FOR PARLIAMENT BEFORE, AND A NUMBER WHO HAVE BEEN LEADERS OF THE OTTAWA-VANIER CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION IN THE PAST.

- ESPECIALLY THOSE OF YOU HAVE “BEEN THERE, DONE THAT” WILL KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO HAVE STRONG AND CONSISTENT SUPPORT. I SALUT YOU, GARY, GUY AND PAUL.

- AS YOU KNOW ALL TOO WELL, IN THIS BUSINESS YOU SOMETIMES GET DESPERATE WITH THE NEED TO KNOW WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE.

- WELL…ALL OF YOU HAVE CONFIRMED YOUR SUPPORT AND YOUR FRIENDSHIP BY BEING HERE THIS EARLY EVENING.

- THANKS SO VERY MUCH.

- I WANT TO MENTION IN PARTICULAR, OF COURSE, ANNE – OUR HOST.

PURPOSE

- IN A WAY MY PURPOSE HAS ALREADY BEEN MET: THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF INVITING YOU TO BE HERE IS TO SAY “THANK YOU” FOR BEING A SUPPORTER AND FOR BEING A PART OF THE POLITICAL PROCESS IN OUR RIDING.

- BUT I HAVE TWO OTHER OBJECTIVES:

- TO SPEAK BRIEFLY ABOUT WHY I AM RUNNING; AND

- TO SHARE WITH YOU THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE APPROACH I AND MY TEAM EXPECT TO ADOPT.

- ON THIS LATTER COUNT MY PURPOSE IS TO DEMONSTRATE WHY I BELIEVE OUR CAMPAIGN IN OTTAWA VANIER IS A WORTHWHILE INVESTMENT FOR YOU, AND OTHERS YOU MAY TALK TO, TO MAKE.

- THE RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT IS CERTAIN TO BE A HARD-FOUGHT CAMPAIGN…

- BUT I DARE TO GO FURTHER: THE RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT WILL BE A VICTORY FOR OUR CONSERVATIVE ORIENTATION IN THIS RIDING IN THE NEXT FEDERAL ELECTION.

WHY I AM RUNNING

- ABOUT A MONTH AGO A NUMBER OF US IN THIS ROOM WERE INVITED TO ATTEND THE SWEARING IN OF A NEW FEDERAL COURT JUDGE WHO IS A GOOD FRIEND OF US ALL.

- IN HIS WORDS TO COLLEAGUE JUDGES, LAWYERS, AND GUESTS HE SHARED HIS PERSPECTIVE THAT

o IN AN INCREASINGLY GLOBAL, MESSY, AND SOMETIMES DANGEROUS WORLD A ROLE OF THE COURT IS TO ENSURE THAT LEGAL PRINCIPLES WHICH UNDERPIN CANADIAN SOCIETY ARE PROTECTED

o HE MENTIONED PRINCIPLES SUCH AS EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW, INNOCENCE UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY, ENFORCEMENT OF THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

- HIS WORDS REFLECTED ONE OF MY KEY REASONS FOR RUNNING

- IN THE SAME WAY THAT A NEWLY MINTED JUDGE WORRIES ABOUT PROTECTION OF LEGAL PRINCIPLES WHICH UNDERPIN CANADIAN SOCIETY…

- AS A NEWLY MINTED CANDIDATE FOR POLITICAL OFFICE I WORRY ABOUT PROTECTING POLITICAL AND SOCIAL PRINCIPLES WHICH – WITHOUT A STRONG CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN CANADA AND IN THE GOVERNMENT, ARE AT RISK OF LACKING THEIR BEST POSSIBLE DEFENCE.

- I, LIKE ALL OF YOU, HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A STUDENT OF POLITICS

- I AM ALSO HIGHLY COMPETITIVE…THOUGH I TRY TO KEEP THIS COMPETITIVE URGE UNDER WRAPS

- IT BOTHERS ME, AS A SUPPORTER OF THE POLITICAL PROCESS AND AS A COMPETITIVE PERSON THAT THE INCUMBENT MP PRESUMES OTTAWA-VANIER IS A LIBERAL SEAT BY DIVINE RIGHT.

- STEPHEN WOOLCOMB DID NOT BELIEVE THIS, KEVIN FRIDAY DID NOT BELIEVE THIS, PAUL BENOIT DID NOT BELIEVE THIS, PATRICK GLEMAUD DID NOT BELIEVE THIS. THEY HAVE EACH RUN FOR THE CONSERVATIVES IN THIS RIDING IN PREVIOUS ELECTIONS. I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS EITHER.

- BUILDING ON THE EFFORTS OF ALL MY PREDECESSORS I INTEND ON THE NEXT ROUND TO TAKE US OVER THE TOP!

At this point I referred to a flip chart I brought with me that displayed the “chair” image and that took me through the stages of military campaign planning:

I observed that our campaign would focus at the tactical level, leaving strategy to the national office. At the tactical level the “centre of gravity” of our main opponent Mr. Belanger will be his lack of results (especially on the three key issues) and the fact that he has been in his spot for a very long time. Our material, I said, is aimed at the themes of Too-Long, and No-Results. I concluded with the comment that those present could consider their donations to my campaign as an investment and that the return on their investment will be our victory in the next federal election.

Later that evening I opened up an email from Guy. Once again he seemed to be stepping way outside the noose I believed I had successfully wrapped about him. He is reaching out to campaign team volunteers, proposing a number of pre-writ activities, and calling a meeting at a time in the near future when I know we will still not be ready. I want the leadership group (Guy, Priscilla, and me) to present a united front…and we still do not have one.

30 SEPTEMBER

On this day we headed to Kingston for the 40th reunion of my RMC graduating class. I will also attend the “Legacy Dinner” this evening, as I have done every year for about the last 15 years.

Before leaving I called Anne to again thank her for the party, and I called Jean to thank her for the donation.

For Guy I took some time to play out, once again, how the campaign plan will unfold so that implemented activities are launched only as funds become available. I returned to this matter a number of times over the next few days.

The Legacy Dinner, for me, was a bust.

We ex-cadets were squeezed into small spaces on one side of a large hall. We had to listen to presenters and award winners who were not themselves ex-cadets but who were being feted as part of our apparent desire to show appreciation of a wide circle outside of ourselves. Chris Alexander, a CPC candidate for a riding outside Toronto who has high profile owing to his ambassador role in Afghanistan received an award and spoke to the rest of us. To me, it looked like we are in the process of giving up upon the special-ness of the RMC program with regard to the cadet “red coats”. I would rather keep RMC events to us graduates of the Colleges.

To me it looks like there is a growing sense among managers of the Military College system that the red coat cadets are an anachronism. We sat among strangers, we were talked to by strangers, we were squeezed together like sardines. Two very elderly ex-cadets at my table were unable to rise up and down for toasts and cheers because, frankly, their chairs could not move far back enough to enable them to stand.

I think the Dinner was a disgrace. I wonder if I will be back next year…

1 OCTOBER

Our “time away” continued on this Friday. We toured the College and we partied with my former classmates. I met with Robin and, along the way, I had to bring the Volvo to a dealer to repair the sunroof because of funny noises that sounded a lot like a short circuit.

The evening with classmates went very well. I really do love those guys and the camaraderie they afford to me. I do not link up with them at any other time. But when I am among them I feel totally welcome and completely whole. It really is like family, with me being a family member who perpetually doubts the dependability of his welcome. I did not attend the dinner among us tomorrow because I had not dared to assume my feelings would be this positive and now I regret that it is time to go.

The day had not ended before I took a few minutes to call Gene to welcome him to the leadership group. I promised I will be flexible. I promised that his orientation towards Voter ID and GOTV will get a respectful response from me in the course of the campaign. I know I am not being altogether honest about that. I also know that I am ambivalent about Gene. Between him and Guy I may have doubled my problems rather than have found a solution.

2 OCTOBER

Today we went to the cottage and moved forward with our shutting the place down for the Winter. A day that began well shifted into high drama and tension when my proposal to rebuild the base of the wood stove in the living room of the cottage was received with (what I took to be) derision from Marie. We hardly spoke for the rest of the day and were happy to be on our way the next morning. Too bad…because it spoiled an interesting and otherwise satisfying weekend.

3 OCTOBER

This, again, was a day mostly away from the emails and telephones. I picked up, however, an email from Guy in which he proposed adjusted contents for an advertisement to appear in the print media after the writ drops. I did not wholly like the adjustments but I was pleased with the effort. I approved the changes.

While I did not have the time to deal with it, by the way, I was also pleased to receive from Robert Sampson an extensive reply to my email regarding “tough on crime” in the domain of drinking and driving. There is plenty of grist there for me to work with.

4 OCTOBER

This morning, with only a few caveats, I again approved Guy’s efforts regarding the advertisement. I suspect we will be returning to it often enough…and I cannot help wondering where he is getting the money to do this. Nevertheless it is great to have someone else take the lead for a change.

As the day rolled out I contacted Priscilla, Guy, and Gene to confirm a meeting among us tomorrow at our place. For the purpose of this meeting I will update the budget forecasts, the description of campaign team functions, and the list of campaign team members.

I called, by the way, to Ray P. He had been pretty rough on me over the phone prior to the 29 September affair because he resented the apparent intention of the government to engage with Quebec in the construction of a new arena in Quebec City. Since my last contract with CRG Consulting had been on this very project I was able to take him through the details of what the government intends.

Ray then shared with me a wonderful article on what conservatism means in Canada these days and, during our call, he apologized for being so severe. He continues to be a strong supporter.

5 OCTOBER

This is the 12 month anniversary of my first meeting with association members when I was asked to stop by Gene’s place to meet with the Selection Committee.

The meeting with Guy, Gene, and Priscilla, now one year further on, went very well. We tackled all the items on the agenda, spending most of our time on the budget. In the course of our discussion I believe I was able to confirm the full support of Gene to the enterprise as I want to see it unfold. His understanding, I forecast, will prove to be much more permanent and dependable than Guy’s on-again-off-again perspective on things. I dare to hope that the Guy/Gene combination is going to work.

I laid out a few simple ground rules:

1. We play to the basic plan unless more resources (volunteers and money) come in.

2. Priscilla must approve expenditures above basic plan amounts before they happen, and she must view and review all things which she “approves” for Elections Canada purposes.

3. Guy will have freedom to decide expenditures within categories but needs Priscilla’s approval to move money across categories of costs as the campaign rolls out. If he is challenged by the national office to play to their tune rather than ours, I said I count on him to fight for our plan. We will add the national dimension to our made-in-Ottawa/Vanier plan if national office provides the resources.

4. Gene will support Guy and become interchangeable with him for the purpose of team decisions.

I want to leave with you my bottom line requests of each of the leadership group members:

1. I asked Priscilla to handle my becoming “legal” for Elections Canada purposes.

2. I challenged Guy to do whatever he can to help the association prepare for the writ…but at all times to keep his eye on the EDA bank account. We want to see at least $35K (up from $30K) in there at all times.

3. I asked Gene to please work with the EDA volunteers during the pre-writ period to advance Voter ID to the greatest extent possible. As a separate venture, I asked him to help me line up campaign team members to do some strategic “meet and greet” door knocking starting when the Municipal election is over.

4. For my part, I promised to attend any and all events I am invited to (as long as someone else goes along) and to be available for meet the candidate opportunities. I will be promoting the idea of strategic canvassing when the campaign team meets at our place, likely on 19 October.

When the campaign team next meets my intention is to make it (once again) the last meeting where I am in charge. I will trust the collective pressures of the Leadership Group and the team to help keep us on track. I want to move into a receive mode (but I know I have said this before).

I concluded the meeting by observing that, one year ago today, I appeared before the association’s Selection Committee to be considered as a candidate. I had no campaign manager, no team, no funding, no list of Conservative party supporters to endorse me, no plan, and so on. At the gathering at our place after my acclamation I had said the association had not made a mistake and I made it one of my priorities to ensure “this does not happen again”. A riding like Ottawa-Vanier should not have to pick a pig-in-a-poke.

Now, exactly a year later, I have everything that a proper candidate should bring with him or her to the nominating convention. I can now be a good and credible candidate. It has taken me a year to get to this point, with only a few loose ends to wrap up.

Win or lose, I said, my commitment stands: I will not allow the blind choice situation to recur. I stepped into the political process and the Conservative Party in order to help make things better…and I will.

[But, after all was said and done, I didn’t. The association fell apart, even to the point of being decertified by Elections Canada, without ever approaching me. I was not asked to step in and help out even though they had seen how effective my organizing skills could be. The CPC’s national office no longer corresponded with me except for the purpose of soliciting funds.]

6 OCTOBER

I did not expect this to be a busy day.

The day began with my updating information relevant to the campaign plan. I had thought to attach it to this report…but I suspect you have grown tired of the repetition. Just know that I believe we have arrived at a point where the budget options are clear, the campaign team is staffed, and the team functions have been laid out. All team members have a full package of material, in return for which they signed their agreement to the terms of engagement I had laid out for each position. We are now into the tinkering.

The budget forecast now separates the basic plan and the fully funded alternative (drawn from what Guy and Brock had developed between them) more clearly.

BUDGET FORECAST

BUDGET ITEMS BASIC PLAN FULLY FUNDED

Office and Overhead

Rent $2,500 $1,500 additional

Utilities $ 500

Tel/Fax/Internet $2,000 $2,000 additional

Equip/Supplies $2,000

Insurance $ 500

Voter Contact/Outreach

Volunteer support and signs

Refreshments/travel/events $ 500 $2,000 additional

(space, phones, etc.)

Lawn and arterial signs $9,000

Van rental $2,000

Printed material

Production of “chair” symbol

(doorknocker, 10,000 copies; two posters) $1,800 $1,500 additional

(more doorknockers/ posters)

Posters (Candidate image) $1,500

Production of brochure #1 $3,500

Production of brochure #2 $3,500

Production of brochure #3 $3,500

Production of three ads $1,000

Lit-drop of printed material

Direct mail of material (postage) $11,000 $11,000

Print media inclusion of ads $6,000 $6,000

TV and radio

Promotional items

Remuneration

Official Auditor $1,000

Official Agent $4,000

Campaign Manager $4,000

Other and Misc

Office Official Opening $500

Campaign Closing Event (EDA charge)

Volunteer Pizzas $500

MPs and PM tour $500

Writ Spending $49,800 $37,500 *

addtional

*The Campaign Plan moves into the additional areas (list B) as funds become available, up to the total of $87,300. We assume that the Elections Canada maximum will be about $88K.

My major event for the day was attendance at the remembrance ceremony for the passing of Vice Admiral Mainguy. He is a fellow whom I only got to know because, in his dotage, he often wandered the streets of Rockcliffe and Marie or I frequently helped to walk him back home. I acquired a very positive sense of who that man is, and who he was. When he passed away I wanted to be a part of it.

I am very happy I went. The Vice-Admiral was an ex-cadet, so the church was filled with military men and ex-cadets. I saw a number of people I knew from DND and from College.

But mostly, the messages about Daniel Mainguy, who he was and how he lived, were inspiring. The messages from the Church and from his friends, and in the music and the readings, were all wonderful. For me the gold nugget was an observation by his daughter: “Dad believed that leadership is about setting the context within which others can be their very best.” I agree totally with that. In my new role as a politician I hope I have done enough to set the context (basic plan, budget forecast, statements of duties, and so on). I must now stand back and let the team leaders and team members do their very best.

I spent the rest of the day following up upon email exchanges with Rob and also (unexpectedly) with a classmate from RMC. In those emails I elaborated upon why I am a conservative. I went on and on, as I am increasingly wont to do, but kept it short when I spoke about leadership. I simply quoted what Mainguy’s daughter had said.

In so many ways I continue to feel that I carry a lot of responsibility on this crazy journey. I am reminded from sources all around me that I must do my duty on this political round and speak for the many who believe what I believe. I may indeed not win, but I must requite myself honorably. I must speak up loudly, forcefully, and repeatedly. And I must be prepared.

I did not hear from Guy or the others today, but that is OK. I have, once again, had quite enough and now I will close down for the night.

7 OCTOBER

I spent a good part of today working on a reply to Robert Sampson’s challenge to say what it is to be a conservative. He had also asked me to say how my sense of this plays into national, regional, and local politics. Robert is perhaps more typical of the average voter than I am. He is a somewhat unstructured thinker with regard to politics, with a focus upon the question: “what can you do for me and why should I vote for you?”

The answer which flowed off my fingers (I just love this stuff) was subsequently adjusted in light of commentary from Guy and some others…and here is the draft of 8 October:

A CONSERVATIVE IN OTTAWA-VANIER

When on the "campaign trail" my message will begin with the situation in Ottawa-Vanier.  While my headspace is up at the regional and national level, my political space has to be local.

 

That said, however, Ottawa-Vanier is a kind of microcosm of Canada itself.  We have a fairly large immigrant community (about 12%), our Francophone population is about 30%, the Aboriginal population is equal to the 3% nationally, and we actually have the largest population of Inuit south of the tree-line.  Our income ranges from the highs in Rockcliffe and Rothwell Heights to the lows in Vanier. Thanks to the work of concerned citizens and community associations our crime rate is about average (though concentrated in Vanier and Overbrooke), and so on.

 

My vision of Canada, based upon solutions for the riding of Ottawa-Vanier, is of a country where meaningful dialogue is greatly increased within communities and across the country.  The tools for this would be traditional media and the welter of contemporary internet links.  The encouragement for this would come from elected officials who use their platforms to ask ten times as many questions as they undertake to answer.  As an elected official, leading by example, I would attend public events in one part of the riding and encourage residents in the other parts to stop by for a visit.  We have farmers' markets, cultural displays, theatre evenings, restaurants, businesses, leisure time opportunities, university and college education options, and so on all within the riding.

 

Ottawa-Vanier is a single electoral district but really a collection of separate and disparate parts linked together for the sole purpose of numbers and polls.  I think elected politicians should begin with the reality of a riding, whatever the bureaucratic reasons for its creation, and work to build a community out of this.  Communities begin with people talking to each other. People then meet other people at community events, by traveling across the area to visit and to shop, by following local news on a riding-wide basis, and so on.  Politicians can help with this.

 

While community building may not improve the distribution of economic surpluses I think increased use of goods and services provided in the business areas of our riding (we have a full range) by people with disposable incomes (Rockcliffe residents shopping in Overbrooke, for example) will help.  Mostly, I think contact among people is a pretty good way to begin the process of people caring about people.  While thoughts like these may seem naive...if we stop thinking along these lines, in my view, we are at ever greater risk of losing our collective confidence. For Canada as a whole the collective confidence that became palpable during the last Winter Olympics will only have been a chimera if federal politicians don't dare to be naive about what it takes to achieve and maintain mutual regard all across the land.

 

You can see in my perspective that I am not a fan of the "flat earth" orientation. I think that the increasing globalization of economies and even of cultures will lead to a breakdown of societies unless we have the energy and the motivation to keep holding hands (physically) and talking (orally) within political units that remain small enough to be "real".  I think Canada is small enough to be real.  I think Ottawa-Vanier is certainly small enough.  Just as the individual is more effective when strong and confident, just as strong and confident individuals are more likely to emerge from loving and supportive structures than from atomized relationships, I believe groups of people are more effective globally if they work well and effectively together locally.

 

I am suspicious of the view that local businesses must become global by tying themselves into longer and longer supply chains which deliver goods and services anywhere on the planet.  My world view remains traditional: I am not prepared to shift to the kind of global view that shows like Star Wars presume our planet will achieve in the fullness of time.

 

A conservative is one who deplores poverty, deplores incapacity, deplores inequality, deplores waste and frivolity, and so on.  Conservatives are like most other thinking and feeling Canadians on these scores and others. We deplore activities and structures that promote or maintain inequality of opportunity.

 

A conservative has an inherent faith in the capacity of other people.  Provide me with a reasonably level playing field and I will do my best.  I will succeed for myself, my family, my friends, my community, and so on outwards.  We conservatives, when in government, want to set the stage (via laws, regulations, policies, government actions, and so on) so that people can compete fairly in the market place of ideas, goods and services and - like Adam Smith? - we believe the result will be more positive than if any one of us, or groups of us, tried to figure things out for others and impose our better answers. 

 

When we look about and see that the system does not work for everyone a conservative government will take action to catch those who are failing...but always with a sense that doing so risks having those folk move into dependency relationships with government that will seal their fate.

 

It is interesting that Conservative governments in Canada introduced measures like unemployment insurance, control over the banking industry (Bennet), women's right to vote, Aboriginal rights to citizenship and to vote, the first Bill of Rights (Diefenbaker), a realistic (standards and enforcement) environment regime (Mulroney, Harper), free trade (Mulroney), and so on.  Conservatives are generally thought of as self interested...and indeed we are!  But my self interest is worth nothing if my family and I become victims of a crime which arises from unfairness in our society that could be fixed.

 

In a discussion I had over the weekend with new Canadians from Poland I was struck by an exchange over which we all agreed. Together we added a consideration I want to share with you. A conservative is remarkable because he or she is prepared to say something is right and something is wrong.  We are often viewed as folk who insist upon "black and white" approaches to life's problems.  But that is not true.

 

What I as a conservative feel I must do (we conservatives are temperamentally oriented this way, let alone politically) is say what is wrong and what is right.  I need others to know, however, that I will do what I think is wrong if the reasons for doing so are compelling.  If a young man and his girlfriend find themselves at a juncture in their lives where abortion is the only way to keep their lives on track, for example, it is their option in Canada to proceed with the abortion: but, if either of them come away from the experience with the view that there is nothing wrong with having abortions I think they would be failing their own humanity.  We conservatives, as everyone knows, believe that abortions are wrong and should never be factored into birth control instructions and advice.

 

I think honor killings are wrong; drunk driving is wrong; stoning is wrong; women's inequality - on whatever religious or cultural grounds - is wrong; structural barriers to the distribution of wealth are wrong; drug use that handicaps a person and impacts negatively upon those around him or her is wrong; and so on.  We conservatives dare to say things are wrong...yet when in government we can shift to a balanced approach which tries to move away from wrong things without forcing others to share our principles and our values.  There is a great difference between conservativism and dogmatism.

 

I think it is wrong for public servants or agents of the Crown to presume that they can force me to reveal details about my life that I want to keep to myself.  I think it is wrong for officers of the law to have ready access to data which lead them directly to me even if I have committed no crime.  I think it is wrong when a judge observes publicly (a true story!) that in the serious assault by an Aboriginal person upon a police officer the real victim was the perpetrator because he had gone to residential school.

 

But enough with the wrongs.

 

I think it is right to believe that individuals grow best within the nurturing environment of healthy families. Good day-care centers must often be an alternative to this, but rather than build more day care centers I think we should collectively accept the challenge of helping to strengthen the capacity of parents to care for their kids.

 

I think it is right to believe that individuals who may have next to nothing today can build up their capacities and rise to opportunities in the course of their lives.  When I see that there are structural barriers preventing this I believe that governments must act, but for the most part I am content to watch people make the choices that may or may not work in their own individual situations.  Governments, like parents, should be there to back-stop the wrong decisions but should not be in a hurry with the helping hand.

 

I think the tar sands are wrong.  While there was a time when oil was seen as the savior for the environment (my parents told me the Netherlands were drowning in horse manure at the turn of the 20th century) I think that time has come and gone.  But I believe in a balanced approach as we head towards a different future: to kill the tar sands would be to put even more pressure on the off-shore rigs and that are even more wrong than the tar sands in my books. So let's do what we can to improve the mining of the tar sands.  Let's speed up the restoration of land and tailing ponds so that flora and fauna in the area are no longer at risk. If the truth is that the tailing ponds will never become safe, let’s admit this and find the right ways to set them aside – forever, like nuclear waste sites, if necessary. 

 

As my time as a candidate for political office runs on I will have many opportunities to add to the wrongs and the rights. I will have many opportunities to say what my perspectives mean in terms of government policies, regulations, laws, and overall conduct.  When confronted with specific questions I will always be asking: "what would a good conservative do?"  This will give me a solid start-position though it is not at all sure that I will stay with that position when the realities of the day become visible to me.

 

In this last regard I will close with the Conservative government's Economic Action Plan that you and I have spoken about.  We conservatives would have kept on struggling to maintain balanced accounts rather than stoop to the expenditure of some $60 billion in public funds over a two year period.  But the global perspective was different. Within Canada the perspective of the Liberal and the NDP parties was different. Within Canada the media were unanimously clamoring for Canada to get with the programs being launched by developed countries around the world.  So a Conservative government did a decidedly un-conservative thing...and now wants to pull back to its preferred position. 

 

We knew the difference between right and wrong and we did what, in a conservative view, was wrong.  But we did this for all the right reasons and, with the next budget and after the next election, we will get back onto a path which is better for all Canadians.  We will move back to the right!

 

As my work on this article and the next one (below) was being played out I also reacted to different versions by Eurocopies Inc. of the King Edward Avenue ad. Guy had helped to bring the ad to a point where only touch ups are required. I had some fun with this.

When the stage for the King Edward Avenue ad was fully set (or almost so) Priscilla got into it herself and made some additional points that in my view were very well taken. To test Guy’s management approach I sent her comments to Guy and I wait to see whether and how he brings the comments forward to Eurocopies Inc. If Guy does not act on Priscilla’s input I will exercise force majeur and impose a compromise of my own.

The second article I worked upon today was a summary of Conservative Party contributions to the fabric of Canada. My purpose is to have all this information in one place. This will make it easy for me to draw down the information when needed for public presentations or other articles I may produce.

The contents of this article were drawn to a significant extent from Bob Plamondon’s book Blue Thunder which reviews the contributions of every Conservative Party leader since Confederation. I sent the article to The Ottawa Citizen but I do not expect it to be taken up. It will most definitely appear on Facebook.

A CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT STORY LINE

In my visits to the homes of riding residents, usually referred to in the political business as “doorknocking”, I am often told that conservatives lack empathy for others and that Conservative governments cannot be counted upon to support all Canadians.

In my answers I observe upon my own commitment to my wife and family, to my extended family, to friends and associates, and – by further extension – to my community as a whole. I have stepped into the political process exactly because of this commitment to the community as whole, but it begins with my commitment to family.

As the Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Vanier my community will begin with the well being of all riding residents, and will extend to my promotion of policies and legislation of benefit to all of Canada.

A conservative, of course, does this with an eye to some basic beliefs. Those beliefs were well stated in the most recent Policy Declarations of the Conservative Party of Canada, in which some of the following were highlighted:

Canadian Unity

- a belief in the democratic process, the institutions of Parliament, and our constitutional monarchy

- a belief in the equality of status, rights and privileges of English and French

Human Rights

- a belief in the freedom and equality of all Canadians, including freedom of speech, worship, and assembly

Level Playing Field

- a belief in the freedom of individuals to pursue their legitimate self interest in a competitive economy and to enjoy the fruits of their labor

- a belief that the purpose of the state and government is to create the context within which individual initiative is rewarded, security and privacy is provided

Helping Others

- a belief in a fiscally prudent government, responsive to those who require assistance and compassion

Economic Opportunity

- a belief in the right to own property and to have that right respected by governments

- a belief in a balanced approach regarding the environment, international assistant, health care, and other important areas.

But what do these beliefs mean in practice? Why do I have confidence that a majority Conservative government, with me as one of its caucus members, will find ways to implement those beliefs? I find my answers, in part, by looking at the history of federal Conservative governments.

Canadian Unity began with the very creation of Canada, an initiative for which all Canadians will be eternally grateful to the Conservative Government of John A. MacDonald. Canada was born under his party’s leadership with a firm commitment to the English/French duality which has been a mark of Canada’s uniqueness from the beginning. Conservatives were also behind such initiatives as the creation of the CBC (Bennet) which began as, and remains, a communications network which has all of Canada as its primary audience.

Human Rights was a dominant concern of the Conservative government led by John Diefenbaker (Bill of Rights). Conservatives were also noted in their stand against apartheid in South Africa (Diefenbaker, Mulroney) and in actions taken to appoint the first female Cabinet minister, the first female senator, the first Aboriginal senator. Conservative governments extended the right to vote to women (Borden) and to Aboriginal people (Diefenbaker).

Level Playing Fields are understood by us conservatives to mean that, while we believe in the obligation of individuals to do their best on their own behalves on the one hand, we believe an important role of governments is to remove social and economic barriers that make this impossible for some segments of society. That is why Conservative governments are lined up with initiatives such as the first formal system of equalization payments (Diefenbaker), set up to address imbalance among provinces; that is why the Bennet government created the Bank of Canada and passed legislation in support of fair trade and against monopolies; also, credit agencies were established for the first time by Conservatives in order to give Canadians without money of their own access to the funds needed to build an economic base for themselves, families, and communities.

Helping Others is a moral and ethical duty that begins within the family and extends to whole communities. It was a Conservative government that first established a minimum wage to deal with the exploitation of workers (Bennet). The credit agencies just mentioned fall into this category of Government initiative as well. Also, it is interesting to note that the Bennet government was the first to move employment insurance through the House of Commons though the initiative was stopped by the courts on grounds of jurisdiction.

Economic Opportunity, its advancement and its protection, is one of the hallmarks of the government of Prime Minister Harper. Canada’s remarkable success in addressing issues arising from the recent economic downturn is a testament to a conservative’s concern about Canada’s economic foundations. Over the decades since Confederation Canadians have seen the efforts of political leaders such as Brian Mulroney (Free Trade Agreement) to ensure that the national and international contexts within which Canadians must compete is fair and as robust as possible. It is in this context that I will close with a word about the environment: the Conservative government of Mr. Mulroney was recently cited as the best for support to environmental protection in recent times. The Conservative government of Mr. Harper has followed up with his insistence that environmental policies must be enforceable and must be reasonable in light of competing priorities such as the economic well being of all Canadians. It took courage to stand up for Canada in the face of international pressure backing the unrealistic Kyoto Accords, yet today we see that almost all countries are on side. It is wrong to make commitments we cannot keep.

All in all, the record shows conservatives mean what we say

______________________________________________________________

Before the day ended I received a call from Paul Benoit. We will be meeting again next week. I plan to invite him to join the last of my campaign team preparation events on 19 October but I forecast he will refuse (if ever so politely). He knows that stepping into this kind of thing cannot be done frivolously and he has a job to do with the consulting firm Hill and Knowlton.

I also stepped out for about an hour to join Georges Bedard for the opening of his campaign at a nightclub on the market in Ottawa. I felt uncomfortable heading in (it would be a Liberal crowd after all) but I was pleased to find some people I could easily talk to. When Georges came in it was clear that our different political orientations is not an issue. Indeed, I learned that his girlfriend is on the staff of a conservative member of the caucus of the Progressive Conservatives of Ontario. She and I had an easy and mutually supportive exchange, and Georges was not at all displeased about that.

Who knows…my background with Georges may cause my star to hover a bit higher in the air over Vanier than might otherwise have been the case.

8 OCTOBER

I hope this will be an easy day.

We are headed into Thanksgiving and I want to get back to the deck I am improving on our side lawn.

Today I was challenged by the printing company to say why I wanted the ads for CFB Rockcliffe and for the vacant spot where Mauril would have us build a bridge. I took their representative through all my reasons for this and asked that he get on with some proposals for how to set this up. I want to make sure that the simple images we have will drive home the message that our local MP has had the same stated goals throughout his 15 year career yet and nothing has been achieved. The images are of the three locations (bridge, traffic, closed military base) with me holding a hand-made sign: Where is Mauril?

Here is the email I sent to the printers:

Bridge Issue

 

My purpose with the ads is to drive home the message that the incumbent has not delivered upon the three priority issues he stated upon being elected 15 years ago, and has restated many times since then.  His issues are: Development of CFB Rockcliffe; Building of new Bridge over the Ottawa River; Improvement of Traffic on King Edward Avenue.  While I agree that the Bridge issue and King Edward are related, the fact is that there are a number of ways to reduce traffic and improve King Edward...including simply posting a "no trucks" sign and obliging the trucks to find other routes.  More reasonable alternatives are light rail to bring in the just-in-time deliveries, tunnel (perhaps just for deliveries, and therefore quite specialized; and so on.

 

The location of my proposed advertisement on the bridge is actually the location now being championed by the incumbent.  I made sure this would be the case.  Just up the rise you see behind me in the photograph is the water treatment plant.

 

The goal of the ad, indeed, is to get people thinking about what I would do.  I will be making the point that a federal level politician should help to design, instruct, and oversee the political process of selecting a bridge (if one is even needed).  I would note that a Liberal typically thinks he or she has the brighter ideas: this is why the incumbent keeps championing "his" solution rather than helping the political system find a consensus solution arrived at through the political process. 

 

CFB Rockcliffe

 

Again, this is one of the incumbent's key goals, still hopelessly unmet after 15 years.  Indeed, the property is even less used now than it was some 4 years ago (now fenced, for security reasons, and all the houses are empty if still standing).  I was the senior official at DND when this issue began and I know exactly why this base did not transfer whereas others (such as Chilliwack, in a much more troublesome Aboriginal claims area) did.  Bases and Stations that were successfully transferred under my watch included Chilliwack, Masset, Nanaimo, Calgary, Downsview, Royal Roads, Selbourne, Greenwood, and a number of others.  Only in Ottawa (the Liberal government was in charge throughout my 8 years at DND) did the process get stopped. It was because the MP for the riding "had a better idea".

 

I have proposed a couple of images for the Rockcliffe story and there may be a better one.  The image will need to have CRB Rockcliffe/Closed 1995 captured on it somewhere.  I had a guy print this onto the chequered sign you see in the photograph...but there may be other ways.

 

Beechwood Cemetery

 

I raise this one only because it currently appears on the Belanger website.  Just for interest (not for an ad) the National Cemetery recognition of Beechwood Cemetery built upon a first step taken when the CF had a part of the Cemetery designated as the national CF cemetery.  This step was strongly resisted by the government of the day (Liberal) and I must assume that the incumbent MP was part of the resistance.  As the senior DND official at the time (I was the Acting Assistant Deputy Minister) I worked with the Treasury Board and the Department of Justice to find a way to achieve the result without raising the initiative to the level of political approvals.  In effect, the Cemetery leadership acted entirely on their own, at their own cost, and simply had to count upon the CF leadership (General Baril at the time) endorsing the Cemetery as a site of choice to CF members.  While we had drums and bugles at the event, and politicians (not the incumbent MP), the opening of the CF national cemetery was decidedly not official in the formal sense of the word.  The fact is that there are cemeteries across the country which already inter military members on a preferred basis (Pinewood, Toronto, Montreal), cemetery oversight is not a DND operational requirement (no authority to spend), and competition among interested cemeteries would ordinarily have been required. 

 

The incumbent MP rode the waves when this one came to shore...and I will be certain to point this out when the time comes.

On Saturday, by the way, I have been asked by Georges B to stop by his church to say hello at the start of their religious marking of Thanksgiving Day. I will have to be quick about it because my five adult children and their families will be home and ready for dinner starting about 6:00 pm.

9 OCTOBER, 10 OCTOBER AND 11 OCTOBER

This was Thanksgiving Weekend. We spent it at home and at the cottage. We had dinner with all the family on Saturday evening and with Hugh Courtney (a friend from Quebec City) on Sunday. Today is Monday…and it is getting late.

I want to record just two things.

First, I joined Georges Lavoie at the church service on Saturday. The church appeared to be evangelical, lots of music, lots of joy and fun. I could only stay for a short while but I was inspired by the uplifted mood and I hoped for an opportunity to speak. Unfortunately the opportunity did not come. Maybe next time.

If asked I would have said:

“I find this service so relevant to my run at politics. Politics, too, is about bringing people together. The purpose is not worship, but the purpose remains one of peace. Politics in Canada are intended to encourage and empower citizens and residents to discuss the issues of the day and to find a compromise that will enable all of us to continue making headway together…forever.”

The great tension of these days, however, was caused by an email exchange among Priscilla, Gene, Guy and me. The exchange was about how to prepare for the distribution of signs on the day of the writ. The tension arose because Priscilla observed that nothing can happen before she is confirmed to be the Official Agent. She has to be in a legal position to formally approve what the content of the signs will be.

In the emails that followed Gene felt it necessary to critique Priscilla’s “overzealous” approach. I felt it appropriate to try to tone things down. Priscilla was offended by Gene on the one hand and felt under supported by me on the other. Her words suggested that she might not be able to carry on if her authority as Official Agent was going to be questioned.

I got on the phone to reassure Priscilla, and Marie played a part too. In the result, after much discussion among us and between Marie and me, I will be very clear with Priscilla tomorrow that the team begins with her and me. If Priscilla is firm about doing things in any particular way, we will do it Priscilla’s way. On balance, as I said to both Priscilla and to Marie, I have no doubt that Priscilla is on my side and has my interests uppermost in mind.

I will have to navigate my way through this dust up as quickly as possible. I hope the tensions among us will be resolved by the time the team comes together on 19 October.

12 OCTOBER

I want to capture this one before I forget…

The day began with coffee, with Priscilla, at the Sconewitch. We reviewed together the state of play and discussed briefly the interpersonal issues (Guy, Gene, Priscilla) that arose over the weekend. We understand each other perfectly: she and I – and the Official Auditor – are the legal core of the team. Everyone else is expendable.

I took Priscilla through, once again, the basic plan and the materials I have prepared to date. It took quite a bit of time but I achieved her buy-in. She will support my putting the “approved by…” words on the “chair” flyer and posters, the doorknocker, and the brochure we already have. In all cases there are a few updates required to render those materials ready for the campaign itself but Priscilla will not be an obstacle. Gerald, you will recall, had said he would obtain clearance with the national office first.

We reviewed the budget and agreed upon how we will work things if there is too little money for the basic plan; exactly the right amount; or, more than enough for the basic plan (and onwards towards a fully funded campaign). I will be recasting the budget to make it clear to Guy and Gene (and then all the others on 19 October) what the unfolding of the campaign will be. The room to maneuver gets less every time. The risk of an election this fall is getting less every day as well.

As we closed off our discussion, about three hours after we began, Priscilla observed: “What are you going to say about the New World Order?” This set me back on my heels a bit.

I began by asking her to elaborate on what she means. “I mean the take over of life on the planet by the Bankers,” she said. So now I had a bit of a challenge in front of me.

I answered by saying that I stand opposed to the “flat earth” argument, which holds that differences between and among us are disappearing into the internet as our industries link up with global supply chains fueling global delivery of goods and services and cultures. I said that industry, in the end, has no care for me as an individual and has no time to worry about my strength or health as a human being.

When elected, I said, you can be sure that I will stand for the importance of national governments speaking for Canadians. I stand for strong provinces, strong regions, strong communities, strong families, within which strong individuals can grow. I will know what to say on the campaign trail on these matters.

This appeared to settle Priscilla’s mind on the matter and our meeting ended.

I now have to find time for my emails, my lunch, raking the leaves, my exercises, and my meeting with Paul Benoit at 4:00 pm this afternoon.

My discussion with Paul was also very useful. He provided suggestions regarding the brochure that I pulled together some 8 months ago: the effect of his suggestions would be a significant change but all within the original intentions. His advice was spot on, and can be implemented without too much effort.

Upon my return home, after supper, dog walking, dishes, and so on, I revisited the emails and was really pleased by what I saw.

From Guy and Eurocopies Inc. I saw content for the CFB Rockcliffe ad and the Bridge ad. Both look extremely good.

From Priscilla I received the copy of a message she sent to Elections Canada asking about the timing of signs and her own official appointment. She is demonstrating that she will go to the source for information rather than rely only upon her own understanding and resistance to change. Her approach is much like mine, in fact.

I regret that I did not have the energy to share with Priscilla the three ads that have now pulled together. I saw that Guy passed on comments from Priscilla to me rather than respond to them himself. I am not up for another round of debate between Priscilla and Guy at this time.

It is now after 2100 hrs. It is time to walk the dog (again!) and Mad Men (the show on AMC).

13 OCTOBER

There were a few important steps taken today.

I will begin with the association meeting that happened this evening. After very brief discussion the board voted in favor of an ambitious “candidate recognition” plan, involving about $10K expenditure for evenings with volunteers, fundraising, and so on. An additional $8 or $9K was voted for the production of signs. It is expected that this entire expenditure will be covered by monies raised between now and early next year.

I was pleased to learn that the association now has a bank account holding $38K. The national office tells us that we have moved into the top tier of Electoral District Associations across the country. There has been a very significant change in our fortunes over the last 12 months! We were at zero…in fact owing $20K to an Alberta EDA (since forgiven)…when I began this journey.

Brock Stephenson, president of the association, was able to say at the meeting today that the association will transfer at least $35K in cash and perhaps more to the campaign team when the writ is dropped. We are at the amount that was targeted some time ago when my brother first grumbled his way into this business.

During the day I prepared a step-by-step play out of how the budget and the campaign plan will roll out together. As always, I intend to leave to Guy and Gene as little room to maneuver as possible. I will include a copy of this roll-out plan tomorrow or the day after, subsequent to any adjustments which come to me from Priscilla.

In the evening I spent about two hours watching CPAC. There was a “debate” among various journalists and pundits regarding the impact of the Conservative government upon Canadians.

I took copious notes and filed them in my downstairs office for reference and incorporation later. The most interesting thing, however, was to note in myself the extent to which I so totally endorsed everything said in favor of the Harper regime. I am definitely becoming a team player!

Oh, and I almost forgot…

I called Senator DeBane, the Liberal minister for whom I was executive assistant back in the 1980s. I had let him know what I was up to when this journey began. I now proposed that we meet over coffee or a lunch to discuss where things stand.

Our discussion was very friendly and mutually supportive. The senator, however, suggested that we get together after the next election. I had begun to suspect, even before my call, that this would be the best outcome. Politics is all about timing and impressions: we both have to worry about what people might say regarding our working together so many years ago.

14 OCTOBER

I worked some more on the step-by-step rolling out of the budget and the campaign plan. Again, I will wait to put it into this record until after I know that Priscilla is on side. Her comfort level is becoming a priority for me.

I also took some time to propose adjustments to my brochure, incorporating what Paul Benoit and others have had to say. The final version will be a matter of public record when it comes out so I do not plan to print my input here.

Tonight I will be attending the “debate” among some 8 people running for the Councilor position at City Hall for Rideau Vanier. I voted in the early afternoon so my mind is already made up. At the door of the voting station I ran into Bruce Poulin and Maurice Lamirande. I told each of them that I am a supporter, I confirmed to each of them that my endorsement can appear on their websites, but I voted for Maurice. On balance, I went for the gentleman rather than the scrapper.

I will share my impressions of the debate later today or tomorrow.

It is now “later today”…so here goes:

The “debate” was interesting, but for me a waste of time and disappointing. It was a waste of time because I had already voted. Any impression a candidate may have made upon me would have been too late anyway. I expect this was true for just about everyone in the audience: we had all made up our minds weeks ago.

Among those running for Mayor I was pleased with the performance of Clive Doucet, the most left-leaning candidate of the bunch. He is the one I voted for so he did not disappoint. My view is that people should lean left at the municipal level (hands-on government), be central at the provincial level, and lean right (minimal interference in day-to-day living) at the national level.

Among others running for Council, by the way, there were at least two very impressive candidates (names of Burke and King). I hope I will cross paths with those two again some day.

Upon leaving the hall I bumped into Eleanor who was working the Bruce Poulin desk. She plans to attend my campaign team meeting on October 19…so I will now certainly be calling her tomorrow or on Saturday.

15 OCTOBER

Today I completed the package of material for the leadership group on the campaign team, for the meeting on October 19. Into a dozen folders (one for everyone at the meeting) I inserted the basic plan, mockups of advertisements and brochures, example of the “chair” flyer, and so on. The importance of that meeting grows in my mind every day: I really do hope to hand over the reins to Guy and turn my own mind back to do research on the riding, to the drafting of speaking points, to develop Facebook input, and to do door knocking. I no longer believe door knocking matters very much for the outcome of an election, but I have begun to appreciate that this function provides me with opportunities to hone my skills and update my understanding of what matters to others.

As my confidence grows regarding my being ready for the 19 October handover, I was pumped up as well by Miriam and Jason showing me the video they had prepared further to undertakings of a few months ago. Their video, to be posted onto Youtube, is excellent.

On a background of classical music which heads towards a crescendo we see the images of the bridge, Rockcliffe, and King Edward traffic, interspaced with the most cherubic face of Mauril Belanger that I have ever seen. At the near-top of the rising crescendo, in the background, we see the words “No Results”. Then, at the top of the screen, one sees my image looking professional and somewhat stern. The impact is to laugh.

I think we now have a Youtube contender. We may also be seeing the first of many such video spots that, in my judgment, have the potential of becoming TV spots as well.

As the evening unfolded I found the time to drop by the home of John V. He is a left-leaning political thinker in our area (PhD student) whose email address I wanted. I want to send him my “A Conservative in Ottawa-Vanier” article to get his assessment of it. I also sent an email to Johanne J, whom I had met at the Harry Swain event in the Rideau Club, and indicated my interest in having a “Let’s Talk Politics” night at the pub she favors in Sandy Hill. I do not put high hopes in follow through by Johanne… [There was none.]

16 OCTOBER

Today is Saturday. Tomorrow will be Sunday. Very little of a political nature is happening today or tomorrow.

17 OCTOBER

I was right! Today we were in Knowlton helping my mother move from her 3rd floor apartment to the first floor. The move went well and, at 93, my mother seems OK about kick-starting the next phase of her life. She is on a new plateau, again a step down from the highs of her recent youth (when still in her late 80’s), but the key is to stay on a plateau for as long as possible. She is lucky to have regained her health and to still have the wit to avoid physical and mental challenges she knows intuitively she is not able to deal with.

My mother looks ready for a few more years yet.

18 OCTOBER

After returning from Knowlton I spent most of my time in the afternoon putting the “books” together for the meeting tomorrow. I have now prepared 15 booklets. Three more have confirmed that they will be attending the meeting. I have prepared larger books and an annex for the leadership group. The contents are similar for both but the budget details are included for the leadership group only. The contents are:

- Team Members

- Team Structure and Functions

- Basic Plan

- Budget for the Basic Plan

- Expenditure Approach

- List of “Candidate’s Circle of Donors”

I have put much of this material into this report before so I will not do it again here. Suffice it to say: “My job preparing for the campaign is done!”

I now wait to see whether the invited team members will buy into the developing approach and give me the confidence of a corporate intelligence (and insistence) about the contents of the basic plan.

At the very end of the day I was surprised to receive a call back from Eleanor. She rarely returns phone calls. She reconfirmed she will be at the 19 October event. Over the phone I shared with her the importance of the event and the importance for her, and others, making a confirming choice to be part of the effort to make me a winner in the next election.

19 OCTOBER

This is technically the end of my year in politics.

The journey began on a formal footing on 19 October 2010 when I was accepted by the national office of the Conservative Party of Canada as the acclaimed candidate for Ottawa-Vanier. At the meeting this evening I began by lighting a single birthday candle and shared with those gathered that their candidate is now a one-year old politician.

But today actually began with a film company coming to our home in Rockcliffe.

The company was hired by the Quebec Cree, who want to keep a record of how their society evolved since the first James Bay Agreement in 1975. I had been executive director of the Quebec Claims Secretariat in the early 1980s and I was instrumental in achieving the recent $1 billion settlement negotiated under the leadership of Raymond Chrétien.

There was a team of 5 people, equipped with a number of cameras, lots of lighting equipment and light deflectors. For about 3 hours I was asked a range of questions about how things functioned within Ottawa and the Department of Indian Affairs during the years when the Cree got their brand of government off the ground. I enjoyed the opportunity to reminisce about all of this and could spend hours elaborating right here about what I said. But this is not the right place…and one day there will be a Cree-sponsored documentary of which I may be able to get a copy.

The evening was key for my life as a politician.

I was pleased to see that everyone invited to the meeting showed up…except Colin Lindley. Colin’s absence was a surprise and a disappointment to me but I suspect he simply forgot. I should have called to remind him. I now have the delicate task of getting in touch and confirming whether he remains committed to his role as candidate manager. I hope he will say “yes”.

I used the meeting to run through my approach. I stressed the importance to me of running a campaign which is more tactical than strategic, where by “strategic” we mean the moves that will be made by and for the national level of the party. Our tactics, as I have reported before, will be aimed at the points of vulnerability of the incumbent MP and we will tackle him with humor.

I was greatly relieved to see that my presentation went over very well. Everyone is on side. Even Guy took the time to say that he and I had had our differences about planning and running a campaign, but that he is now totally committed to the tactical level approach. This is where our money will be going as a priority. If there is more money we can always open up to national links and literature, but first we will deliver a smart and simple tactical level campaign.

In emails that followed the meeting I was able to share with the leadership group the words “Mission Accomplished”. As of now, Guy is in charge. He will stay in charge unless he flubs things very badly…and I do not think he will. I think he is now comfortably right inside the box I have been building for him (and for everyone else, including for me) over the last year.

When I think about where I am now and where I was a year ago, the differences are amazing. I stepped into an EDA which purported to receive me as a simpleton who would do exactly what I was told to do. I was expected to respond to the people whom the EDA would set up to manage me. As the EDA fell apart all around me I struggled to set off on my own but could only get my legs for this after Carol resigned.

In order to keep running after I got my legs I needed people around me who were credible but not too energetic or insistent. I needed to find my way. I needed some independence in order to do this but wanted to also carry everyone else along. My brother fell off the line along the way, Priscilla stepped in, and Guy remained the campaign manager. Guy had always been a manager in waiting. I had held him back, kept correcting his missteps in planning and fund raising, and landed him with a fully developed and corporately supported plan on the first year anniversary of my being acclaimed.

As I say above, at the meeting tonight Guy affirmed that he is fully on side. I got the feeling that Gene is as well. I know that Priscilla will continue to watch my back regarding money and priorities. I truly, and deeply, feel that I am right to conclude: Mission Accomplished. And I did it mostly on my own.

Just for the record we now have:

- a fully staffed campaign team

- an elaborated description of structures and functions

- an elaborated campaign plan

- a realistic budget

- an expenditure plan that tracks the campaign plan and the budget

- the list of the candidate’s Circle of Donors

- a good quality website and Facebook

- an association with a budget transfer commitment of $35K

- prepared material for a brochure, candidate recognition (doorknocker), the “chair” flyer, ads on the “too long” theme, and lots of text on the Facebook page, all of which have been pre-approved by the Official Agent for the campaign

- we are known to the senior politicians of the government, including the Prime Minister himself

- a few bits of candidate recognition clothing (coat, liner) and the metal strips for the car (of which I have lost one part) have been added to the inventory.

We are ready to go.

20 OCTOBER

While my year in politics has technically ended I will carry on with this diary until the end of the calendar year. I expect that my diligence will fall off but that the record of events will nonetheless be relevant. I forecast that the next federal election will be in the spring of next year and that my diary will continue, in an increasingly desultory fashion, until the day of the great event. A post-script will follow – and I may even draft alternative post-scripts long before the election itself just to test my capacity to foretell where my political journey will ultimately lead me.

Except for a few emails and the writing of this record of events (playing catch-up from 15 October onwards) I am taking today off.

21 OCTOBER

I took today off as well. I went to the cottage and worked to close down the place for the winter.

I feel kind of depleted regarding my political journey. I feel very sure that I have achieved a hand-over to the leadership group and to the team. I need now to see what happens next.

When I came back from the cottage I noted an incoming email from Colin Lindley. He had missed our meeting on October 19 because of car failure…and I fully believe his story. I was happy to get the note. It gave me a chance to summarily say what was achieved at the meeting, to re-emphasize the focus upon tactics, and to share the news that Colin now has a team of at least two others to work with in his area of responsibility (candidate manager).

22 OCTOBER

I hope to stop by the office of Francis L later today, just to say hello. I will be in the area (on Montreal Road) because I want to deposit a cheque I received from the association to cover the cost of work done by Nancy K on the “chair” flyer. I will be using the amount of that cheque ($307) to help pay my 1/3 contribution for the cost of the 29 September reception at Anne’s place (costed at $1300).

I read an interesting article on small and medium business issues in the Financial Post today (October issue of the magazine) and recorded my conclusions in the “Stump Speech” I continue to build upon when new ideas come my way. That Speech should really be a part of the record which accompanies this diary when all the pieces are collected at the end of the calendar year…but perhaps it would be superfluous to do so.

23 OCTOBER TO 25 OCTOBER

Nothing of particular interest to report. I am slowly getting back into the groove regarding text for Facebook entries and additions to my Stump Speech. I am moving from the planning dimension back into the substantive one. And, soon, I expect I will return to the physical contact part (door knocking, and events) of this business.

I have redrafted the contents of my three conceptual pieces (“A Conservative in Ottawa-Vanier”, “Thoughts on Conservativism and Justice”, and “Why I Can Win”). I have received a quick response from Chris Climo, the campaign team’s Official Auditor, regarding his requirements for the Candidate’s Submission (to be legal for an election) and I now know that Anne D, Marie and I must each donate $300 to the association in order to cover the cost of the 29 September event. I will have to let Anne know about that when she gets back from Bermuda.

I hope to get downstairs before the end of the day to begin with my filing of political issues…but, again, I lack motivation. I would rather play with text of this diary and do bits of research here and there to back up my prejudices.

I have heard from John V and also – to my surprise – from Robert Sampson. Rob’s words to me in an email suggest to me that we really are back on track. I think Marie would rather this not be the case…but it is.

I have in front of me a copy of the Task Force on Canadian Unity report called A Future Together. The report was prepared by the Task Force in the wake of the election of the Parti Quebecois in 1976. The report was published in 1979. I always felt very lucky to be a part of this. I retrieved a copy of the report because there are aspects of federal/provincial balance that I may want to refer to during the public forum discussions when they happen.

26 OCTOBER

Among the tasks of housework, yard work, dog walking, clothes washing, and so on (same old, same old) I worked on the article “Why I Can Win”. This is an article that will return onto the Facebook when the writ drops. It already lends itself, however, to reproduction as a letter from me to riding residents.

In the afternoon I met with the leadership group and it was a very good meeting. Guy handled the discussion well, we agreed upon tasks that need to be done between now and the next meeting, and our proposals clearly fell within the bounds of the basic plan. We are all on the same page and Guy is doing a good job. Holy shit!

After the meeting I did my usual thing: I summarized what I took from the meeting and sent it to Priscilla with the idea of sending an amended version to Guy and Gene.

Again, holy shit! Priscilla got back to me with some proposed adjustments but with a “can do” attitude about Guy’s proposals which had me back off from my own intention to keep tightening the reins. I emailed to Priscilla that I was content with the evident control she now has over the financing side of things and I would leave well enough alone.

I can hardly describe adequately the sense of relief I feel about all this. We are in business.

27 OCTOBER

I continued to work on my various articles and likely will finalize two or three more for the Facebook page by the end of next week. After that…I want to regain some initiative regarding door knocking, tea parties, and the like. For the next few days I will just clean things up.

Overnight last night and again today I focused upon some “Opening Words” for when the public forums begin. The text I am thinking about will be very sly. In effect, I will be asking Mauril to win the election so that I can go back to life as a private citizen…but to have this happen he will have to convince voters that he has been a stronger performer than I think he has been. The draft notes appear elsewhere on this page.

I intend to keep these Opening Words close to my chest. I do not think anyone around me will like the idea very much and the novelty of the idea will be partly what sells it. I cannot help but think of Nixon’s Chequers speech as I run variations of the text through my mind.

Today, by the way, Nancy followed up with some requested adjustments to the “chair” flyer and I sent them on to the leadership group. This product will be action-ready for printing and distribution when the time comes.

While getting a hair cut I happened to sit beside a fellow I knew years ago when I was Director of Operations (Social and Environment Programs) at the Privy Council Office. I knew his name began with B but that was as close as I could get.

I was pleased to learn that he knows I am running. We had a fun discussion about politics, sitting on those barbers’ chairs, in the course of which I demonstrated to him that my orientation is principles based but always flexible and responsive to competing ideas. We parted in good spirits and good humor but I am not sure I sowed the seed for a vote.

OPENING WORDS FOR A CAMPAIGN

- I COME BEFORE YOU WITH A VARIED BACKGROUND, ONE THAT INCLUDES TIME AS EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO A LIBERAL MINISTER BACK IN THE TRUDEAU DAYS.

- BUT, LIKE MOST OF YOU, I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN CONSERVATIVE IN MY PERSONAL LIFE. UNLIKE MANY OF YOU I HAVE LONG BEEN A MEMBER OF THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY.

- IN FACT, I JOINED THE PARTY IN 1978 BECAUSE I WAS IMPRESSED BY THE POLITICS OF MR. CLARK. I HAVE REMAINED A MEMBER EVER SINCE.

- I AM PROUD TO STAND NOW FOR THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA LED BY MR. HARPER. THIS PARTY HAS KEPT A STEADY HAND ON THE HELM DURING DIFFICULT, EVEN TURBULENT, TIMES GLOBALLY AND DOMESTICALLY.

- WHILE MR. HARPER’S GOVERNMENT HAS REMAINED BASED UPON CONSERVATIVE VALUES AND PRINCIPLES, SUCH AS RESPECT FOR TRADITIONS, FAMILY VALUES, PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, AND REWARD FOR EFFORT, THE CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT HAS DONE SOME DECIDEDLY NON-CONSERVATIVE THINGS AS WELL.

- I BELIEVE THE CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT HAS DEMONSTRATED ITS CAPACITY TO BE GOOD GOVERNMENT FOR ALL CANADIANS. THE BIG TENT HAS OPENED TO PEOPLE LIKE ME, AND PEOPLE LIKE YOU.

- LADIES AND GENTLEMEN I BELIEVE I AM CERTAINLY QUALIFIED TO MAKE A VERY GOOD MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT.

- I WAS BORN IN INDONESIA AND MY FAMILY CAME TO CANADA FROM THE NETHERLANDS. WE BEGAN IN A TWO BEDROOM APARTMENT IN QUEBEC CITY WITH A FAMILY OF FIVE.

- MY CAREER HAS INCLUDED MILITARY OFFICER, SESSIONAL LECTURER AND PHD STUDENT AT CARLETON UNIVERSITY FOR FOUR YEARS, EXEMPT STAFF ON THE HILL, SENIOR PUBLIC SERVICE POSITIONS AT INDIAN AFFAIRS AND DND, ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT OF CRG CONSULTING FOR THE LAST 8 YEARS, AND SERVICE IN SUPPORT OF BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS INCLUDING FOUNDING PRESIDENT OF THE REAL PROPERTY INSTITUTE OF CANADA.

- MR. BELANGER: I NEED YOUR JOB LIKE I NEED A HOLE IN THE HEAD!

- MY SONS AND DAUGHTERS, MY WIFE, AND I AM SURE MY DOG HOPE THAT THE MAN IN THE FAMILY WHO DOES MUCH OF THE COOKING, CLEANING, AND HANDYWORK WILL BE RETURNED TO HIS PRIVATE LIFE WHEN THIS CAMPAIGN IS OVER.

- IN ORDER FOR THIS TO HAPPEN, HOWEVER, YOU WILL HAVE TO DO MY FAMILY AND ME A VERY BIG FAVOUR.

- OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS YOU WILL HAVE TO CONVINCE THE VOTERS OF OTTAWA-VANIER THAT I AM WRONG IN WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE TRUE.

- I BELIEVE THAT NEITHER YOU, NOR THE LIBERAL PARTY, HAVE EARNED THE RIGHT TO REPRESENT THE RIDING YET AGAIN.

- I BELIEVE THAT A RIDING WHICH HAS BEEN HELD BY ONE PARTY AND A DESCENDING RELAY OF LIBERAL CANDIDATES FOR OVER 80 YEARS IS A RIDING IN WHICH DEMOCRACY HAS BECOME AT RISK.

- I BELIEVE THAT A 16 YEAR OFFICE HOLDER WHO CAN ATTRACT ONLY A HANDFUL OF RESIDENTS TO PUBLIC GATHERINGS FOR DISCUSSIONS OF POLITICS IS A PERSON UNDER WHOSE WATCH POLITICS HAVE BEGUN TO FAIL.

- I BELIEVE THAT A POLITICIAN WHO HAS ACHIEVED ABSOLUTELY NO RESULTS ON THE THREE MAIN ISSUES HE LISTED WHEN FIRST GOING TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS (ROCKCLIFFE DEVELOPMENT, A NEW BRIDGE, TRAFFIC CONGESTION) IS A POLITICIAN WHO HAS FAILED THE POLITICAL PROCESS.

- I BELIEVE IT IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR A FEDERAL-LEVEL POLITICIAN TO RIDE THE WAVES CREATED BY RIDING RESIDENTS WITHOUT ANY OBVIOUS SENSE OF WHERE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE OTTAWA-VANIER HEADED AS A COMMUNITY.

- MR. BELANGER, I HOPE THAT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO CONVINCE THE VOTERS OF THIS RIDING THAT I AM WRONG IN THOSE BELIEFS.

- IF YOU ARE ABLE TO DO THAT I WILL BE ABLE TO RETURN TO MY PRIVATE LIFE, MY DUTIES IN THE HOUSEHOLD, AND THE EXPECTATIONS OF MY DOG.

- I SINCERELY WISH YOU THE VERY BEST OF LUCK, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO EXCHANGES WE WILL HAVE DURING THE PERIOD OF THE ELECTION.

28 OCTOBER

Today is Amy’s birthday. I will have to be sure to call and to get my gift over to her and Marty. She sure has earned a special mark of respect and affection.

Marie and I stopped by with “the usual” – a gift card for a local restaurant and an undertaking on our part to baby-sit for Connor while they enjoy the evening out. Our discussion turned to politics (naturally) and I found myself saying, yet again, that I never intended to win; I rather would not win; but I’ll be damned if I lose! So I expect to win.

But do I really?

I often look around and realize that I live in a little political bubble within which the feedback from my circle of supporters is positive but there is very little spread of my message – such as it is. As I contribute more and more of my time to this effort I want to believe more and more that my success will depend upon my being perceived as a credible candidate by those who care. But I know from my research that my numbers in the election will be determined mostly by the performance of the national party not by my own credibility.

The Municipal election, by the way, has come and gone. Georges Bedard, for one, is gone. He was defeated. In emails I sent to a number of the municipal candidates who fell to defeat I pursued the question: what makes a difference for defeat or victory in an election? I set up a lunch with those who responded.

I think there is a lot of folklore associated with the traditional activities of door knocking and performance at the public forums. Bruce knocked on 14000 doors (he says) and received 1600 votes. That is a very low ratio. If that is the way to get votes, given that I will need 20,000 votes and more to win, I would say that door knocking is not a very serious option.

In the discussion with Amy and Marty I assessed that the mere fact that twitter and tweets empower individuals to send their thoughts to a listening post somewhere, even if the messages are not read at all, may be enough to have the senders believe that the listening post deserves a vote. Who knows?

On the production side I used this day to review my various articles being cleaned up for Facebook and touched base with a few supporters to keep them up to date.

29 OCTOBER

Another day of down-time. Note that I have moved to receive mode but no incoming direction has been received from my leadership team. To get moving again will likely depend upon my taking the initiative.

I sense within myself a slow rising to the challenge of doorknocking and literature distribution. I suspect I will set myself in motion early next week, for the motions to continue until close to Christmas, but at this moment I could not swear to that. I still hope to get direction from my team. Also, I enjoy just hanging around.

It is clearly no problem at all to just sit back and see where the ride takes me. If I give myself over to the leadership of my team and to the association I suspect I will be called upon to attend a gathering from time to time, perhaps once every couple of months, and that will be about it. Perhaps that is good enough for the purpose at hand…which is to be a credible candidate and to slowly become known to the residents at least by rumor if not by interaction.

I have just read about the election of Rob Ford to the Mayor’s chair in Toronto. His run is an example of a person giving himself over to a management team. Ford had the money to keep the team well lubricated it seems. But who wants to become a product delivered by other people? I have no interest in getting to the House of Commons on that basis.

[Rereading these comments I reflect with a bemused smile on the weaknesses of today’s all-too common approach to politics, where the “product” is only unveiled after an election has decided the outcomes. We used to say: “what you see… is what you get” but in politics these days no one even looks until the getting has already happened. Mr. Ford himself may be a good example of this.]

The weekend lies ahead of me. I intend to enjoy it.

30 AND 31 OCTOBER

Nothing, absolutely nothing, to report. I stayed away from the emails for both these days.

1 NOVEMBER

We are getting back to business. I can feel it and see it.

Today I resumed drafting input to articles that will be going onto Facebook, one day at a time. I have added a number of pieces to my “Stump Speech” so that I will be able to quickly recall the information I have gleaned from books, magazines, and the newspapers. And, I have confirmed through email exchanges that I like the look of ads finalized by Xiao, the fellow we deal with at Eurocopies Inc.

I also had a chance to review a letter developed by Guy and Gene to send to known supporters to request funding as soon as possible after the writ drops. The draft was good and required only a few adjustments from me.

As I said to Guy later in the day: “We are beginning to build!” We are no longer casting about and wondering which ways we should turn in order to maintain the illusion (as it so often is) of headway.

I have begun to arm myself for visits to area businesses. This had been recommended by Paul Benoit. Businesses are open during the day and are publicly accessible. I am sure the owners and floor staff will not want to talk to me for very long. If they are not busy with customers, however, they may be happy to spend a few minutes saying hello and wishing me luck. I include a draft letter (also translated into French) that I will leave in the businesses I visit along with a brochure and perhaps a doorknocker.

LETTER TO OTTAWA-VANIER BUSINESSES

I was pleased to stop by to introduce myself as the candidate for this riding in the next federal election, representing the Conservative Party of Canada.

The Conservative Party of Canada has maintained a steady hand on the economy during difficult and turbulent times globally and domestically. The Conservative Party of Canada has been in office for only four years and is highly likely to be returned to office after the next election: our work has just begun.

With your support I will become part of our team on Parliament Hill. You can then be sure that your interests will be well represented. You will get answers to your questions directly from a member of the governing Party.

Our riding of Ottawa-Vanier has been held by representatives of the Liberal Party of Canada since the riding was created (1933). The last Conservative party representatives of our area, John Chabot (a well-known Doctor) and Stewart McClenaghan (a businessman), were elected in 1925. Eighty-five years of same-Party representation is long enough!

To help me prepare for my role as the next Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Vanier I would love to receive your answers to the following three questions:

1. Has your business ever had a direct or indirect link to a federal government project or procurement program?

2. To what kind of federal projects or procurement programs do you think your business could make a useful contribution?

3. Has your business benefited (in what way, to what extent) from the federal government’s Economic Action Plan during the years 2009 and 2010?

Please send your answers to me, at info@votewestland.ca. Also, I invite you to visit my website (votewestland.ca) to learn more about me and my position in the issues.

While the request to consider times when federal policies impacted upon local business may seem too abstract for most establishments in this riding, my asking of the questions signals potential if nothing else. That said, I will not leave the letter with any business establishments where I believe it may cause upset rather than be directly or indirectly helpful.

PS: I learned today, from Marie, that she will be raised a level in her profession. She will become a Senior General Counsel with the Department of Justice, which is the highest level lawyers can reach without moving into the management ranks of ADMs and DMs. I remembered to congratulate her because she has earned it and because this will make her memories of her career much more satisfying. The fact that the promotion will bring us more income…while my own financial situation gets more restricted every day…is an added incentive for me to appreciate Marie’s success!

2 NOVEMBER

In the mail this morning I received the official invitation from our association to attend a fundraiser on 16 November. The invitation is all on one page and well presented – with pictures. Its contents reflect an association that knows what it is doing. I emailed Brock and the others to pass on my appreciation.

The pictures discourage me just a little bit. Notwithstanding my physical fitness and the youthfulness of my attitude and my mind, the images of me are the images of a 60-year old man. I begin to look like I remember my father looking when he was on his way towards his celebrated role as the head of the World Leisure and Recreation Association.

Dad still had 25 years ahead of him when he was my age and I intend to have at least that many and then some, but the images in the pictures show that I am into the last third of my run on this planet. One can’t kid oneself about these things.

I sent in my cheque for four tickets. This will bring me close to my maximum political contribution for the year. Shaun, our new association treasurer, has still not followed through on my repeated requests to receive a report on the names of contributors. I have asked him for this about a dozen times. Marie got into the act over the weekend and sent a stern note asking for information but has not yet even had a reply. Interesting…

I accepted to attend a reception on 4 November for Quebec High School former graduates to be held in Maloney’s restaurant on Dow’s Lake. I asked Colin Lindley to be there as well so that I have company and so that we can compare notes on the way ahead for our campaign.

There are now only two months left for this diary! I will be happy when it is done: I am not one for indulging myself in this way. After the New Year I will keep the book open, however, and do summary reports from time to time until the day when I summarize the campaign itself and report on the results.

I now will head down the hill to check out the revised content of a form letter I will use for communicating with residents. I will call Gene to pick up the revised brochure (perhaps 1000 copies) and I will pull the stuff together for a walk-about with Guy this evening. I expect I will report on the walk-about tomorrow rather than today.

It is 4:00 in the afternoon and I should say that my enthusiasm has suddenly waned. Oh, dear. For about two weeks I have been almost elated about how well things were going.

I have contributed to a few emails in which I learn that Guy is not following up upon input from Priscilla regarding some cost items. I have maneuvered Guy into a position where he will have to take her seriously on the issues in question. I hope I have satisfied Priscilla that all will be well. Also, Brock has responded to my congratulating him and the EDA for the layout of the invitation to the 16 November event with the request that I get busy to attract participants. But I do not want to! I thought this was his job!

I suppose my pique will pass and I will return to an acceptable level of enthusiasm by the end of the day (while I do not want to do the doorknocking it usually picks me up). Right now, however, I would like the election to be called and to have this experience behind me as soon as possible. If I win the election, of course, a whole lot will change. If I do not win, it will be time to decide what I really want to do. I know I do not want to step back onto the income-earning treadmill.

PS: I learned today that Mauril has three constituency offices in our riding. Like all MP’s he receives a stipend for business expenses in addition to his salary. He will also, of course, enjoy a hefty pension one day. As I did my research I noted with interest that one of Mauril’s most impassioned speeches in the House was a justification of MP pensions.

Given that Mauril lives in Ottawa, with Parliament located right at the edge of our riding, he has a lot more money at his disposal than his colleagues who travel in and out of Ottawa to do riding work. With that and 75 years of vested interests behind him I begin to understand the smugness he evinces when challenged (intermixed with a touch of menace if a contender takes himself as seriously as I do).

Mauril’s presence in the riding (the three constituency offices) must pay dividends. But it could also work against him. It is entirely possible that the more he does to have people take note of his presence the more likely it will be that people say “enough, already!” in the privacy of the voting booths. My campaign will seek to have this effect.

We shall see.

4 NOVEMBER

This evening I went to the gathering at Dow’s Lake (Mahoney’s Restaurant) where a number of Quebec High School graduates and friends/spouses were getting together. It was fun.

I shared right from the outset the news of my running for politics and that topic became the focus of discussion among those attending. Whether talking to me or to each other, the door had been opened for everyone to exchange ideas about politics. Among those sitting around me, which included Colin Lindley, the topics ranged widely. All tension was avoided by returning, from time to time, to a consensus among us about the “facts” in any particular situation. We allowed each other to have attitudes and perspectives about the facts, but a rule of engagement was that facts were facts. A condition for debate was that we first agree upon the realities about which we were talking.

Earlier in the day I had spent about three hours walking from business to business in a small corner of Vanier. I enjoyed the experience immensely. That said, the curious thing is that I know I will be holding back the next time I take this on. I am always reluctant to get started even when I know the experience is likely to be a good one.

Over the next few months I will be going door to door in our business sectors at least once a week, perhaps more often than that. I do not intend to kill myself doing this because I do not think it makes a significant difference for an eventual vote. In the event of my getting elected, however, visits of this kind could prove to be very helpful.

As I said at the gathering this evening my ambivalence about winning on the emotional and intellectual side does not at all cancel out my winning instinct. But I know I am holding back a little on some of the activities that folk in the business say makes the difference between winning and losing. I am prepared to win…but my actions often suggest to me that I would be equally happy with a loss.

5 NOVEMBER

I had another fright today, one that has been growing for a while. Jim Prentice, currently the Government’s minister of Environment Canada, has stepped down to take a $1 million plus job with CIBC. There are rumours that he stepped out of politics for the money, on the one hand, and to be better positioned to run for the leadership of the CPC when Mr. Harper steps down.

I know Jim from crossovers we had when I was a senior federal official and he headed a commission of inquiry. I did not like his approach either personally or professionally. If I win the next election and if there is a race for the leadership of the Conservative party I greatly fear that I will be putting my name into that hat as well. I would do almost anything to avoid a future Canada with Jim Prentice as Prime Minister.

Again, my best defence against so foolish (and self indulgent?) a move is to lose the next election and get on with my life. My priority will then be learning how to live a life away from the conveyor belt of jobs, money, acquisition, and so on.

Today in the Citizen I read that a long-time supporter of the Conservative Party of Canada has passed away. Laureen Assaly was 83 and died of cancer. She has had a remarkable history, including interaction with the brothers Karsh who are known nationally and internationally for their prowess in photography. I will be doing something to mark her passing but I am not yet sure what. A card of condolences to the family is a certainty; a donation to the Canadian Cancer Society is a strong possibility; attendance at the wake will only happen if I am invited to go by someone who knows the family and who knew Mrs. Assaly. I met her only once, at a fundraiser for me, and only for the purpose of an introduction. She was distant to me when I met her. I did not know she was ill.

6 NOVEMBER TO 9 NOVEMBER

As usual every day was a full day. Activity in support of my political journey was interspersed with chores around the house and the social life of a semi-retired fellow of good health.

Without regard to order I would highlight the following:

I sent a letter to the Manor Park Chronicle to observe upon a picture in the November/December edition which features Mauril, his wife, the Liberal MLA, and Manor Park executive members celebrating the win of Peter Clark (a former boss of Belanger’s) in the recent municipal elections. I wrote that the image demonstrates the arrogance of the Liberal machine, now taking their presumed right-to-power down to the municipal level. The heading under the picture, I said, should read “Liberal machine defeats only woman candidate and two Francophone candidates in recent municipal election.” I am pretty sure the letter will not appear in the next edition of that paper… [But it did, so more on that below!]

In the regional newspapers it had been reported that a former municipal councilor had accused Mauril of making available to Mr. Clark the Liberal party’s telephone list. Because Messers Belanger and Clark had worked together in the past it was reasonable to assume that this was done to help Peter Clark get supporters out to the voting booths. A challenge was subsequently filed by Maurice Lamirande asserting that the telephone list has value and that its value ($40,000) would take Clark above the $10K maximum expenditure allowed for municipal campaigns. The elections committee which reviewed the challenge refused, after considerable delay, to proceed with it. For a while there I thought I was seeing the kind of story develop which can put an end to a person’s political career. If the committee had acted quickly and had found against Messers Belanger and Clark the outcome of the federal election may have been different.

I have followed up upon a suggestion by Royal Galipeau that he and I meet for breakfast. We will do this on Monday (November 15) next week.

Yesterday (8 November) I set out to again visit businesses in my riding. My first stop was the firm GasTop, which had earned a place onto the F-35 jet supply chain. I hung around in their reception area, spoke to a couple of people, and then got the message that they had rather see me go. So I went. I doubt I will be called back, so I left some of my campaign material behind. Once again I was told, this time by a secretary in the office, that I was bringing politics into the private sector and that this was not right. She could say this even though her firm had become totally dependent upon my party’s government being able to defend its undertaking to buy the F-35s.

I then stopped at a place called “The Newfoundland Pub”. I have seen it on the roadside for as long as I can remember. I learned that the Pub is no longer in the hands of Newfoundlanders and no longer caters to Newfoundlanders as a primary audience. There is nothing specific to Newfoundland left on the menu or the agenda. The Pub now services the community close by (Carson’s Grove) and appears to be doing OK.

Before leaving the Pub I took note that about a dozen older men were sitting around quietly looking into their beers or looking at a soundless TV screen. So I stepped into the middle of the open space, introduced myself, and began talking about politics. After an initial retreat by all the customers in the face of my bravado, an exchange among us began. I handed out some literature, shook a bunch of hands, and again went on my way.

I had intended to tour other businesses in the neighboring strip mall but I lost my enthusiasm and my sense of purpose after the Pub event. On future rounds my purpose will be limited to asking how business is doing and asking what they think a potential Member of Parliament should know about the challenges they face. Future visits should go a little better.

I was pleased to track in the emails that Priscilla is making headway with both Guy and with Shaun our association treasurer. She is persistent, she knows what she wants, she researches the positions she takes, she is right almost every time. I am lucky to have her and I will do what I can to ensure that she remains my Official Agent until this journey ends. I say this because I worry a bit about her health. She is clearly a high-strung lady, she is in her early seventies, and she does not need tensions that linger in her mind or body. My job will be to work on the mind part of that.

Through Anne D I have been put into contact with two area residents, one of whom is Sheila Perry who ran (and lost) in the last municipal election. She and I will get together later this week. As you know I have also contacted other losing candidates in the last election. In my words to each of them I explained my interest in furthering their goals (which is to defeat the Liberal machine) and I set the stage for a potential alliance with their former support groups. I will be doing the same with Georges Bedard in the Vanier ward one of these days unless the winner of that ward (Michel Fleury) indicates an interest in linking up with me.

Today (9 November) I am headed to the cottage. I like to see the place from time to time and the weather forecast is very good. A bit more sun will help me to keep looking fit for a while yet before the snow begins to fly in earnest. I will be bringing the dog though that part of it is less compelling for me. The dog defecated in the basement this morning. My first half hour was spent cleaning up the shit, so to speak. I feel I do enough of this already.

10 NOVEMBER

I have to remember that Kees’s play (Twelve Angry Men) opens today in Montreal. I love the idea of him doing this. His capacity to express himself through adopted personae has always impressed me. I am not surprised that the theatre group at McGill noted his natural bent in this direction and I look forward to seeing the play later next week. Today I will call him to wish him good luck.

In my email exchanges during the day I learned something from Priscilla that is quite important.

She was meeting with Shaun to agree between them how the hand-over of financial responsibility from the association to the campaign team will work when the writ drops. She also clarified with him that the amount which can be contributed annually to a political party is the same regardless of whether there is an election or not. In other words, to stay within the limits allowed for a 75% tax benefit at the federal level, a person can contribute $1100 (since changed to $1500) to the political process…period. This can all be contributed at the local level (to an EDA or to a campaign during an election year) or at the national level, or shared among the three levels.

The direction we had received from Carol and Ross, that there are three pots which can each receive the maximum amount (association, national, and campaign) was wrong all along.

Shaun told Priscilla that the campaign team must expect that the association will press us to take more and more initiative as we get closer to an election. The association will provide legal cover and will be our enabler but will not expect to be competing with us for spending money or seeking of revenues. We are on the same team, he said, tied to the hip by the same money. I would love to subscribe to his stated view about this but the record of the association’s performance is not good.

I used this day to pull a “tactical” (not Voter ID) canvassing team together (Gene, to date, has not done anything) and to take another run at a local business area. In fact, I am off right now and will report in after I get back. I have set off exercising and will do that either later this afternoon or tomorrow.

I am back!

To tell the truth I did not exert myself very much. As always I enjoyed my reception at the doors more than I expected. It is never easy to engage but seems always to be worthwhile. Most of the store managers appear to enjoy talking with me. None of my team members, by the way, showed up.

If I had the energy to really go at this, visiting two or three malls a day, I might hit the numbers needed to catch someone’s attention. But I do not have that kind of energy or commitment. I go entirely on my own, without association or team support. Perhaps it is time to shift gears.

If asked today what I think my approach should be I would say:

1. Stick to the basic plan for the time of the election. Prepare the material and be ready to go.

2. Remain focused in the basic plan upon the essentials: office space, office support, “chair” flyer, and lit-drops of a brochure or two.

3. Spend more money pre-writ to get my name out there. During the pre-writ period, of course, the association is in charge. The association has not done very much to date. Shaun has just signaled to Priscilla that they expect to do even less in the future.

I will be proposing to Guy and Gene that they work with the association to have our brochure go as a direct-mail to all households in mid-January. The fact that this will consume some $10K from the association budget will be a fact we on the campaign team must accept. If we get less money when the writ drops we will scale back the basic plan.

I will be checking emails for the next hour or so, then I shut off. It will be time for dinner and we go to a movie which starts at 7:00 pm.

11 NOVEMBER

Remembrance Day.

I went to the National Military Cemetery (as you know I had a major hand in setting this up) but I was not really in the right spirits. Mauril Belanger was there, silenced by the lack of an official role. A representative of the government, not even a Member of Parliament, sat on the podium instead of Mauril. I could tell he was upset about this.

When I should have been reflecting upon the role of my father in WW2 and the loss of lives and injuries among graduates of RMC – to say nothing of the two million men and women who have lost their lives in service of Canada since Confederation – my eyes and my thoughts were focused upon Mauril. But I really do not need, or want, to win! I cannot help myself…. I want to win.

The Remembrance Day purpose was brought home to me when driving back to our home. The CBC radio show “Afganada” was playing. It was a powerful story about the loss of life of a soldier whose eyes at his death were only upon his daughter back in Canada. The message was: “It was worth it”. Quite remarkable. Later, while driving around on other business, I heard a few extracts from CBC reports filed towards the end of the Second World War. I cannot hold back my tears when the human enterprise is put on full display and where the enterprise is one focused upon the betterment of all.

I want to use this day’s report, however, to reflect on the epiphany that occurred to me yesterday when Priscilla confirmed that contributions in an election year can be spread between an association and a campaign. They cannot separately be maxed out at $1100.

In terms of production, today was the day where I began to focus upon the November 16 fund raiser. I decided I could not stand on ceremony and wait for Brock to do this himself. I sent a message to all board members and I hope I get some support in return. I decided to also press campaign team members to attend the event. This is not something I have been willing to do before.

12 NOVEMBER

This has been an important day.

I began with a coffee down the street with Sheila Perry, the one who had run in the last municipal election. She was also the president of the Overbrook Community Association where I had attended the presentation on in-fill housing.

Sheila and I began our discussion effortlessly and moved easily from topic to topic. While she was reserved about her political orientation, for the most part we agreed on the issues we talked about. I suspect she must be more NDP than Conservative in her leanings but she observed that a great grandfather had been a Conservative senator appointed by John A. Macdonald.

At this point I expect our follow up will include an invitation for me to meet with members of her community association, which is quite a step forward over this time last year. This is likely to follow an appearance by Mauril at her association’s Annual General Meeting (next week). Mauril may or may not show.

Like I, she wishes the Prime Minister and his senior ministers were less confrontational in their style. It might work in safe ridings across the west. But it will be one of my greatest handicaps in Ottawa-Vanier.

I then spent the rest of the afternoon crafting the note which follows. The note, crafted on the heals of Shaun’s words to Priscilla, is proposed to go from Brock to board members of the association. The implication and subliminal message (to Brock from me, and from him to the association) is that the current executive does not have the time or energy to do their jobs correctly. It is time to hand over the lead, even though pre-writ, to me and my team. I learned, for example, that Brock now is responsible for preparing the PM for question period: Brock’s star certainly appears to be on the rise.

OTTAWA-VANIER CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION

Message from the President

I believe a change in direction is needed for our association because next year will be an election year. The writ could drop as early as next spring.

A change in direction is warranted for two additional reasons:

First, the campaign team which supports our candidate is now in good shape and will become more and more active during the coming months.

Second, we members of the executive work on the Hill. As an election approaches the campaign team will become more active while we on the executive will have less and less time to devote to the work required.

I will submit the “Proposed Change in Direction” below to executive members as soon as possible, but would welcome the input of all board members as well.

Considerations

1. Rem asked us, at our last board meeting and also at an executive meeting in mid-October, to commit at least $35,000 in cash and/or non-monetary value to his campaign. This would be transferred in cash and in campaign material (signs, brochures, designs for campaign material, and so on) as soon as the Rem Westland Campaign becomes a legal entity.

2. We, the executive of the association, have made that commitment.

3. The association now has the money in its bank account to deliver on our commitment to the campaign.

4. I want the approach of our association in the coming months to be one which ensures our commitment will be met.

Proposed Change in Direction

If agreed by executive members the approach of the Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association will henceforth be as follows:

- The bank account (cash) managed by our association will not be allowed to go below $20,000.

- The expenditure allowed for the production of signs and ongoing production of other material that will be used in the campaign (draft ads, flyers, brochures, and so on) will be up to – and not exceed – an additional $15,000.

- The campaign team will provide its list of campaign materials currently in preparation or already prepared and confirm the costs of this as soon as possible. The lead for this is with Guy and Priscilla.

- Shaun and Priscilla will agree between them upon a way for her to be informed on association cash management (revenues and expenditures) so that the Rem Westland Campaign is fully up-to-date on funding issues (including revenues from contributors and their identities) when the writ drops. The campaign will know where to turn for more money when the time comes!

- The association will initiate no activities and/or incur no new costs between now and the dropping of the writ unless submitted to our executive by association members who are also designated members of the leadership group of the Rem Westland Campaign. Those designated members are Priscilla, Guy, and Gene.

- Initiatives submitted to our executive which are not certain to be covered by revenues or matching contributions will not be approved. Rem himself set the precedent for this with the gathering of supporters that was hosted by Anne D. last September. Costs for that event were matched dollar for dollar by contributions.

- Initiatives proposed by members of Rem’s designated leadership group will be reviewed by Shaun to ensure those initiatives fall within the parameters allowed for pre-writ association disbursements.

Practical Implications

Our association will limit its role to banker and accounts manager so that we “protect” the bottom line asked for by our candidate.

The lead for activities and/or material production will shift from our association and our board to members of Rem’s designated leadership group. Only fully planned and funded initiatives will be approved, and on condition that pre-writ expenditure rules are also met.

Conclusion

I welcome your comments on this change in direction and will bring any comments I receive to the attention of the executive when I submit this proposal formally to the executive’s attention.

It will be interesting to learn what the reaction of Brock and his cohorts will be to this attempt by me to take over the functions of the association.

13 NOVEMBER

Today is Saturday. Not much to report.

It is interesting, though, that I have not heard back from Brock. He sent an email to board members reminding them of the November 16 event and adding a November 27 event to the list of events. This may indeed be, as Marie says, his way of telling me to stuff it. His email did not include the above note as an attachment.

At this particular moment I am thinking of quitting this run (my year is over anyway) because, quite frankly, “I don’t get no respect!”

Let’s see what tomorrow brings…

14 NOVEMBER

Only one event of particular relevance happened today: I met for about two hours with Corry Burke. He had had run for a municipal seat in the election earlier this month, and lost. I had invited him to meet with me.

Our discussion was wide-ranging and fun. No new perspectives were provided to me in the course of our exchange but I was pleased to find myself in the company of one who – like Sheila Perry a few days ago – reflects my own sense that politics is important and should be able to draw upon the best people.

I followed up, after coming home, with an email to a group which continues to study the bridge options. It is a pretty good email (I include all of the points I have made elsewhere) but I fear I may have sent it to the wrong address. Oh, well… . I asked Corry, by email, to advise me on this but I have not yet heard back.

And therein lies the bigger story of the day. I still have no email response – of any kind – from Brock. It is becoming more and more interesting to consider what the discourteous treatment of me by the association leadership can mean. Are they instructed to let me play out my string and then to replace me with someone else? I kind of doubt this…but who knows?

PS: While talking to Corry he observed that a Citizen columnist by the name of Randall Denley was in the book shop next door promoting his new fiction story on the murder of a young girl. Corry suggested, and I agreed, that it would be good politics to stop by and buy a book, partly because he was not drawing a crowd. When I stopped by I said what my own journey is, I asked him to write “Good Luck!” in the fly-leaf of the book, and we agreed that one day he is likely to interview me as a member of the Citizen Panel that will assess the quality of the candidates. I hope I remember to have a copy of his book under my arm when that time comes… [I read the book in the week which followed and I must say it is a very good story. He has written another novel so I will try to get a hold of that one as well.]

15 NOVEMBER

I was intended this morning to have breakfast with Royal Galipeau. I went to the agreed spot, on time as always, and ended up eating my breakfast alone. Royal did not show up. When I returned home I checked my various email addresses and my cell phone: nothing.

So now I have another odd development to add to the mix. I am only a “designated” candidate. I can be dropped at any time. Could it be that the national office and the association are advising folk to give me a wide berth? It is so easy to slip into a degree of paranoia when one is ignored. But the events I recount here are real. I am being ignored totally by the association leadership, and Royal did not show at the restaurant further to his own invitation for me to appear.

What next?

In a few minutes I will be seeing Guy and I will compare notes with him. There may be a clue lying somewhere, including the possibility that my approach – and the composition of my team – have alienated the association and national office because of how clearly I have stepped onto their “strategic” turf. I can hardly believe that my association, consisting of well educated young men and women, would believe that their treatment of me is appropriate.

My thinking at the moment is that if I do not hear from my association sometime soon I will do the following: I will attend events organized by the association where my attendance is expected (beginning with tomorrow’s cocktail at the Empire Grill in the market area); I will respond to any emails and any requests for performance that I receive; and, I will reduce to zero my own reaching out to the association or national office. I will leave the next moves up to them. I will step back from the note I proposed Brock send to association executive members. I will try to find a shell to hide within.

With Guy, Gene, and Priscilla I will continue to shore up my basic plan and remain ready to run. The most important piece still missing is the list of places where the lawn signs will go and agreement upon the template that will be used to deliver some 1500 signs just prior to the writ being dropped. I will cease production of new material except possibly of a revised brochure.

I am beginning to think that I should have some 10,000 brochures printed and use my time during the days to walk from door to door to stick the brochures in mailboxes. If any homeowners are ready to hand I would spend the time to have a short discussion but the main point would be, 10,000 copies at a time, to achieve a lit-drop across the whole riding that introduces me to the voters.

I am feeling more alone than ever and I wonder whether this is by omission or by intent on the part of my association. My idea to align the campaign operation more closely with the association is losing its appeal. No one on the association returns my calls or emails.

16 NOVEMBER

The main event today, of course, was the fundraiser at the Empire Grill in the late afternoon. I did not hear from Brock regarding who will be attending until late in the day. I also learned only late in the day as well that Brock will agree to my taking over the lead on planning and development for the association during what remains of the pre-writ period. I am sure Brock does not want to confirm this agreement publicly even though Shaun was the one who instructed Priscilla that we must go this route. I will find my own way to get the message out.

The day was filled with tension.

This is because Marie picked up my negative attitude towards the association. She is not very good at tracking the ebbs and flows of my own emotional reactions. Whereas – because I finally heard from Brock – I am now more relieved than angry, Marie’s anger is only starting to grow. I was placed squarely on the defensive by something she said…and I came out swinging.

I carried my message (“I do not need you to be involved in my political affairs anyway!”) to the point where Marie was disinvited to the fundraising event tonight. I called Georges B just to make my point definite and irrevocable. I offered Georges the ticket that had Marie’s name on it.

Marie and I had gotten past our issues by the time I left for the Empire Grill but leaving without her was now my only option. So there will still be some patching up to do after I come home.

The event itself was successful.

There were not a whole lot of people in attendance but those who were there had a good time. None of my team members appeared, except for Guy. The great majority of those attending work on the Hill and the average age was about 30 (or younger). When one or two of the longer term association members showed up they were definitely out of place because of their age. I suppose I was out of place as well.

My message, however, was well received. There is no doubting that I inspire my audience and motivate them to think positively about their own political leanings. As I observed to them, however, we are all operating in a bubble: our audience is largely confined to ourselves. We are not spreading the message very widely at the riding level.

I was pleased at the event to patch things up with Brock and Shaun (though this required me to say nothing substantive regarding their conflicting messages in recent weeks). I will be badgering them for a meeting to nail down the details of our operating on a different basis than heretofore – namely with Brock and Shaun becoming a kind of Treasury Board who sit in judgment upon the quality, appropriateness, and cost of initiatives proposed to them and then implemented by the leadership group of the campaign team.

I went to bed happy and tired.

PS: At the fund raiser a new member of the association by the name of Luc Savoie stepped forward and said he might have an interest in helping the campaign with media relations. He is bi-lingual, in his early 30s, and quite presentable. He spoke as well with Guy (should I be worried?) and he reconfirmed his interest when I contacted him late in the evening by email. This connection may have potential. I will ask Guy to take the lead for follow up with Luc.

17 NOVEMBER

I intend to be lazy today. I have a dentist appointment at 10:00 am and expect this will leave me in a bad state owing to the vertigo I have experienced on and off since I was in my mid-twenties.

But, as it happened, the appointment was carried off without a hitch. I had a lost cavity replaced and the broken edge of enamel sanded down so that it will not be a problem. I was well treated. Even the freezing left my face within the first two hours or so.

My politics will consist of my drafting a letter that will be included with material I will drop in the mailboxes of people who had CPC signs on their lawns in previous years.

I intend to visit all 320 households where signs supporting Patrick Glemaud in the 2008 election had been hosted on their lawns. I will knock on all those doors. I want a confirmed list of lawn-sign people before the writ drops. I will also be interested to learn whether Gene or Guy will step forward and offer to help me with this…but I am truly certain they will not. What a group. [As it happened, those two left this one entirely for me to do.]

My other political move today, and likely a more important one, will be to visit Miriam and Jason who announced that they have their second video ready for review. In her email Mir evinced a tremendous joy about the content of the video. I am greatly looking forward to seeing it.

And now, at about 3:00 pm, I will sign off until tomorrow. I can hear that a couple of emails have come in for my review. The dog needs a walk. I want to take a nice warm shower. And then I will pick up my book (Randall Denley) and read for a while.

18 NOVEMBER

These have been difficult days, partly because of the journey but also because Marie and I need to allow some space to separate us from the tensions of two days ago.

On the political front Marie and I watched a new video from Miriam and Jason and, like the first, it is excellent. The second is even better than the first. When we returned home I sent copies to the leadership group and some key supporters with my words of exultant praise. Only Priscilla has returned my email to date. What a gang!

I eventually heard from a party member who had been active in Paul Benoit’s campaign a couple of elections ago. Her comment was: “Mauril will not like the video,” and her advice was to drop it. This input is interesting. I had already observed with Paul himself, and then with a number of other CPC supporters, that Mauril was quite well liked. As long as you avoided messing with him too directly, as long as you stayed in the place of a losing candidate, his smiles and words of encouragement could be counted upon to make the journey to defeat a little easier. I had no intention to play things Mauril’s way.

When talking to Priscilla I asked her how we should tackle the list of names of those who had property signs during the last election. I want us to call all the people, confirm interest and addresses, and then drop by their homes to say hello. When I drop by the homes I can perhaps get the signed endorsements I will need in order to become legal when an election is called. Also, when we have confirmed names for the signs we will have a list of people we should personally call when we host a volunteer’s event around Christmas.

Late in the afternoon I met with Paul Benoit again. My bottom line interest was to learn from Paul whether Mauril and his team are people to fear if I press them too hard.

Paul’s answer to that question was “no”, but it was not answered without qualification. Mauril can get nasty, it appears, if people turn to me whom the Liberals think should stay in their own camp instead. I suppose I will just have to find out.

For the most part, however, we talked about how to win an election against the sitting incumbent. I concluded right from the get-go that Paul’s approach would not work.

In essence, Paul would have me meet Mauril on his terms. I would develop my own personal sense of what a developed Rockcliffe site might look like; I would elaborate upon my own preferred location for a new bridge; I would design and cost my own solutions to traffic congestion in the riding; and so on.

I said to Paul that I will counter Mauril’s ideas not with ideas of my own but with the observation that correct management of the political process is the only way to achieve results. I observed again, firmly, that Mauril has not done a good job. He has not delivered. But it was very clear from his replies that Paul thinks Mauril is a very good MP indeed and can be judged a mighty success by the quality of his newsletters alone.

I answered that his newsletters say almost nothing new. Given that he has had the same list of issues for the past 15 years – how could they? I added that if all his newsletters since his first election dealt only with the training of his dog, he would still have won all the elections subsequent to his 1995 win. He owes his place to political inertia in the riding, I said, not to performance.

Paul was quite concerned that my words amounted to an ad hominem attack. He added that Mauril reacts very negatively to such attacks.

In reply, once again, I observed that Mauril’s position will remain unassailable if no one ever feels it appropriate to take him on. The fact is that on his three main files he has produced no results. Zero. And if it will be viewed as bad taste by Mauril and by a majority of voters for me to say so…then what chance do I really have?

“The CPC brand,” I pointed out, “will not sell in this riding. I have looked at the data since 1926 and I see hardly a blip in the Liberal candidates vote when major Conservative victories were scored everywhere else in the country. This is a riding impervious to outside politics.”

I find those words cold comfort and I will consider carefully what my approach in this election should be. I do not want me or my family to get hurt in this process. If a social hurt is meant to cow me, of course, it will not work. I have invested nothing in my social standing and expect nothing in return.

Tomorrow we head to Montreal and Knowlton, then back to Ottawa on Sunday, 21 November. We see Kees’ play along the way. I intend to not think aggressively about politics at all during this period.

19 NOVEMBER TO 24 NOVEMBER

Well, I have not been here for a while. It is now the 24th of the month.

Three of the missing days are explained by our trip to Montreal and Knowlton. The play Kees was in impressed us and clearly impressed the audience (full house, standing ovation) as well. My mother proved to be in good shape but her brain skips around her memories in noticeable ways. She is not forgetful in the usual sense. There seem to be slices of time that disappear, some recent and some long ago. But she seems OK with it all. It makes her giggle, actually.

The political journey has gone on apace. I cannot say I am too pleased with it.

On the one hand, my dissatisfaction with my leadership group (Guy and Gene) is again growing. I received a list of property owners who hosted signs in 2008 from Shaun Webb and determined, after about two hours of doing a comparison, that his list and Gene’s list are about 300 names apart. Neither Gene (who does not return emails) nor Guy had taken the initiative to make a comparison of the two lists and, as of today I have not had a reaction from either fellow.

Tonight we have a round of “training” for volunteers who will make Voter ID telephone calls. I truly hope the volunteers will not have been drawn only from the campaign team. I suspect Gene’s training will be his over-the-top sharing of words that people should use when residents open their doors or answer their phones. “Did you vote Conservative in the last election?” “Are there family members in this house who are supporters of our party?” “Do you plan to vote Conservative in the next election?” “If not, why not?” “Would you be interested in taking out a party membership?” “Can we have your email address?” I suspect Guy and Gene are taking this on together because they continue to believe that Voter ID is very important.

The facts, that Voter ID should have been an ongoing task of the association itself and that it is too late to update our woefully inadequate records at this late date, are unlikely to deter those two.

My direction to Guy and Gene has been that our number one priority, in line with the basic plan, is to confirm our signs list. We have about 880 names to call (Shaun’s list, plus those on Gene’s list who do not appear on Shaun’s report). This is what we should be using our campaign team members for. Then, at least, the campaign team volunteers would be doing campaign-type work. But I fear neither Guy nor Gene understand this or, if they do, neither cares to respond to my priorities or follow through on our agreement of only a few months ago.

As always, I return to my position that when someone better comes along to take over my campaign I will make the move very quickly. In the meantime, as I said to Priscilla today, as long as we can manage Guy he brings to our team the characteristics of a manager that we are looking for: bi-lingual Francophone, riding resident, ran twice himself, public and private sector background. He will bring credibility to us when the media report upon our organization…and that is worth a lot. As long as we can manage him.

The only other bit of meaningful business over the last few days was a prodigious effort (many drafts) of a note from me to Luc, copied to Guy and Priscilla, in which I highlighted the “deal” between me and every team member. This note is part of my ongoing effort to keep Guy in tight control. I am not sure he even reads the stuff but I continue to believe that by the time some 100 ropes are tied around his mind and body the risk of him striking off on his own and causing problems in the middle of a campaign will be less.

To: Luc Savoie

From: Rem Westland

My "deal" with each Campaign Team member is this:

 

1.  For all kinds of reasons (we can swap war stories when we next meet) when I became the candidate I had to fend largely for myself. 

 

2.  The outcome of my efforts is a basic plan for the eventual campaign.  This plan was my lead, but incorporates commentary and advice from those who joined the team in the course of the last 12 months.  The basic plan establishes the bottom lines for ensuring the personal level of comfort I need in order to run with confidence.

 

3.  A "condition" set for each team member is that everyone joining in must agree to help deliver the basic plan.  It is a $47K bottom-line plan, consisting of a range of products which are now almost entirely in place.  The products include:

 

    -  the plan itself (available to all confirmed team members)

    -  a commitment by the EDA to provide a minimum of $35K to the campaign

    -  a list of the "Candidates Circle of Supporters" to turn to to raise an additional $15 to $17K.

    -  design-ready flyer (referred to as the "chair") which highlights the "Time for a Change" theme

    -  design-ready brochure (current version, or an improved version)

    -  design-ready advertisements (three already in mock-up form)

    -  Website and Facebook page

    -  Youtube video content

    -  bi-lingual signs template and production pre-writ (1200 signs, various sizes)

    -  "tactical" canvassing of selected streets in the riding to say hello

    -  confirmed list of arterial and private property locations for signs

    -  confirmed availability of material and bank account to be "legal" on election day

    -  Official Agent and Official Auditor ready to go.

 

Because all these products and commitments are either in place or well in hand the influence of new team members on the design of the basic plan is not very great. Your influence in the delivery of the plan, however, can be considerable.  Our delivery will have to be responsive to the political context as times change (pre-writ) and as we find it when the writ drops.

 

Among the key messages we want to communicate locally are: "sixteen years with the incumbent MP without results is too long", "Rem Westland has proven his ability to deliver results", "eighty five years with the same party holding this riding is too long", and "it is time for a change".  At the national level the Conservative party messages will likely be: "this government has proven it is the best option for the economy", "we stand for the principles and values which made Canada great", and "there can be no compromise on criminal behavior".  How to mix and match these messages, how to keep things short and to the point, and how best to reach our different audiences are challenges which the communications group will have to wrestle with. 

 

If we secure the resources (funds and people) to move beyond the basic plan, furthermore, the scope for creative thought and input will grow. Priscilla and our association are pursuing the idea of CPC backing for a line of credit.

 

Our estimate is that a fully funded campaign, given some 60,000 voters, will allow for an $85K campaign.  This means about $40K could be spent for additions to the basic plan.  As long as my own comfort level is assured (i.e. the basic plan minimums will be delivered) the lead for building onto the plan is with Guy and team members.  The team's challenge, of course, will be to secure the additional funding required before we commit ourselves to new material or activities.

If you are still interested in joining our team in light of all this, Luc, you would be most welcome.

 

25 NOVEMBER

Today began in an interesting way.

Last night I received an email from Alex Bednar (most unusual for him to take any kind of initiative) in which he asked for a time to call for a short discussion. My ears are already burning. My guesses are:

- “why are you so negative about Voter ID”;

- “would you be able to make a short speech at the CPC policy convention in Brockville

- or something else again.

I will now ignore the possibility of a call from Alex (it is 0945 hrs) and go downstairs to get my exercises done. I gave him three alternative times to make the call, the last of the three being today at 0900 hrs. It is now 0930 hrs and the phone has not yet rung.

The dog is in the back yard and will just have to wait for his walk to the park.

It is intriguing, by the way, that neither Guy nor Gene have yet answered my proposal that we use the evening to focus upon signs lists rather than Voter ID. At least 880 telephone calls need to be made. It is amazing to me that my two team leaders feel absolutely no pressure upon themselves to answer me when I make observations or ask questions. They positively cannot stay in those leadership roles…but that means I absolutely must find replacements.

I did not hear from Guy or Gene until about 4:00 pm. I got a call from Gene, in a high state of agitation, wondering why I have not called campaign team members to press for a turnout this evening. “We will be training volunteers for Voter ID,” he emphasized. I answered that the calls were his to make and that he should be calling association members rather than campaign team members if his focus will be on the Voter ID program.

“While we’re talking,” I added, “I have heard a rumour that the association intends to do Voter ID via contract. Shaun told Priscilla that the price tag will be in the order of $5000. Since the plan is to do Voter ID professionally anyway,” I asked, “what is left for us to talk about on that subject this evening?”

I reminded Gene that I do not want campaign team volunteers to be pressured into doing tasks that the association should have been regularly doing for at least two years now. “Remember, Gene,” I told him, “none of the campaign team members I have brought on board are CPC supporters. They came on board to support me, as friend, colleague, or father.”

Gene and I ended our call in a huff. I called Guy, which was a call that ended in a huff as well. I learn again and again that my leadership team twosome will not honour their commitment to help me deliver the basic plan. Voter ID is not a part of that plan. Yet Voter ID is all that they really want to do.

I stopped by Tony and Emilio today to advise them that I will be at Café Caco on Friday for lunch – nothing special. I continue to hope that I will be able to link my campaign to the Portuguese community in some way.

Tonight I stop by the meeting at Guy’s apartment building where I fear he and Gene will want to organize participants to launch a Voter ID round of telephone calls, perhaps in support of a paid organization (the $5000 contract). I hope I am wrong about their intentions.

But I was right.

I arrived to find Guy and Gene prepared to “train” Voter ID volunteers…but no one came. I had not called my campaign team supporters. Guy and Gene had not called any of their EDA contacts to follow up upon emails. After about 30 minutes Anne Jean walked in. She is a campaign team member, central African by birth, who had heard about the meeting via the emails. She had left the association because of its negative attitude towards visible minorities and francophones. She remains supportive of me even though she and her family no longer live in our riding.

To add to this, Anne is one of my Circle of Supporters ($400+ contributions) and definitely one whom I wish to handle with kid gloves. I want her experience with me and my campaign to be unfailingly positive. Yet here she was, about to learn that she would be asked to help place some 7000 telephone calls (Gene’s estimate) to confirm that the association’s list of Conservatives in Ottawa-Vanier is accurate.

Eleanor arrived a little after Anne. She announced upon arrival that she is a coordinator of volunteers for the campaign team. She said she was not there as a volunteer to make phone calls for the association (which she had recently quit in protest). Guy and Gene said they expected four others (all of them campaign team members and not CPC supporters) but they were no-shows. One of the four, Colin Lindley, had called me to ask “what is that about?” and I had told him not to bother.

During the hour this dragged out I asked Guy how it could come to this. He, quite correctly, took this to constitute a challenge to his management skills and his room to maneuver. “I’m done!” was his succinct reply to my challenge.

When Eleanor and Anne left the room I asked Guy and Gene to stay behind.

“It seems to me,” I said, “that you guys really do not agree with my approach or my priorities. What we had in this room were people who have volunteered to be part of the campaign team, yet your priority was the association’s pursuit of Voter ID rather than my desperate need to sort out the signs lists.”

Thereupon Guy declared again that he is through. “You and I are both managers,” he observed, “and you clearly do not need me!”

So now I face the next steps (only a month to go to the end of my first calendar year in politics) without a titular head of the campaign team and likely without Gene as well. Gene stormed out along with Guy but, typical for Gene, he said nothing on his way out the door.

I spent a difficult night. Pressure during the day reveals itself in “rushes” during the night which involve racing heart beats and sensations of stress. I believe this is because my body is driving hormones (adrenalin, insulin, glucose, testosterone, etc.) through my body, each hormone chasing the other and leaving behind the physical reactions. In the morning I am wasted, my head hurts, and I must fight back a temptation to feel panic about the overall state of my health.

IT IS TIME FOR A MUSICAL INTERLUDE

My advice is that you read the following with the tune of Auld Lang Sine as the earworm in your head…

I am coming to the end of my first full year in politics. I have recounted in this diary the ins-and-outs of the political process as experienced by me, the candidate for election to the House of Commons in Canada in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier.

I have not, however, taken the time to describe to you the key people who have been a part of this journey. You have not been able to see these folk in your mind’s eye. I suspect, if you have gone this far with me, that you already have partial images of each person based upon my partial descriptors from time to time. You may not actually need more accurate descriptions this late in the game but I want to devote some time to a description of few of my co-travelers anyway. These are the ones who deserve more recognition than my perspectives on their actions may have provided.

I will begin with the list of people who were with me at the very start of the journey and who were still there at the very end.

Marie Warner La Forest

My run for public office was just as much a surprise to my wife as it was to me. I have detailed in the diary how I, at least, saw it coming. Marie was drawn in only after the first steps had been taken. I had expected those steps to come to an early end. I truly believed that my stepping into the political process could start and stop without Marie ever finding out. But the actions I took to put myself into consideration became irrevocable very quickly.

I was certainly expecting, and then looking aggressively for, an off-ramp at an early stage in the process. I did not feel wholly bound to the CPC until the evening the Prime Minister called me out of the crowd at that barbeque in late Fall 2009.

Marie kept hoping for an off-ramp as well. She was still hoping for this when I was deep into the process. She was supportive of me, if at times reluctantly. She never became enthusiastic about electoral politics.

Marie comes from a family which had sent one of their own, an uncle in St. John, New Brunswick, into the political process back in the 1980s. When Marie and I met (for the second time, some 12 years after we had been at Carleton University together) the run by Clifford Warner for the Liberal Party of Canada was presented to me as a kind of lark. It seemed, even to Cliff when he and I spoke about it, to not have been seriously intended.

Cliff was well known in his area of the country; he – like I – was at the front end of “retirement” when he ran and had the time and money for the gambit. In his case, however, he stood for a political party that already held the seat. I suspect he was more serious about the venture than he let on. But he was defeated by the Progressive Conservatives under Brian Mulroney.

The experience of Cliff Warner, a great favorite in the family, had not warmed the family to the political process. Active politics was viewed as kind of foolish. Examples of Cliff’s electioneering were always presented to me with smiles and laughter.

Marie’s family, if less so on Marie’s mother’s side, shies away from public profile. When we asked her sister Elizabeth one day what she thought when she drove past the hundreds of “Vote Rem Westland” signs in our corner of Ottawa, her answer was: “It’s kind of scary!”

Marie was also very active in her job with the federal government at the time when I was reaching out for “name recognition” and media attention. She had reason to worry about my public profile causing upset among her peers. But she was supportive of me throughout.

In the diary I frequently share the tensions that rose between Marie and me when I contemplated one move or another that would draw me deeper and deeper into the vortex of local politics. She often wished it would all stop. Her instinct was to growl, scowl, and tell me “enough already”. She did not want the public profile, she feared (as I did) that only ridicule awaited us at the end of the process, and – even worse than all that – she knew that her family shared the distaste for the Conservative Party of Canada and its leadership that was common across Canada among Liberal party and NDP supporters.

Marie had to adjust very quickly to a world where her family could not be approached for supportive words or encouragement, and certainly not for money. She had to adjust again when it became clear that many of our neighbors and even long-standing “friends” wanted nothing more to do with me. She had to adjust some more when two of my own daughters had a pretty serious falling out with us over matters which had a long history on the one hand but also had sharp moments of tension which arose during my time as a candidate.

Marie is a woman of many faces. The growls and scowls are picked up in a face which warns others to back off. There is a sad face and an insecure face and a happy face. The faces are always encircled by her dark hair, intelligent blue eyes, and supported on a frame that is both short and average in height. She rises in stature along with her moods. When happy and fully engaged there may also be high heels on her feet to complete the transformation.

While I reflect often in this diary on tensions between us it is also clear from what I say that we overcame those tensions in every instance. We were always able to carry on.

Furthermore, there are more pivotal moments than I can count where an impasse that might otherwise have caused me to barricade myself in my room was overcome by Marie stepping into the breech. She had the people-skills to negotiate me past those points of impasse and at crucial times she kept me going.

I have not elaborated upon the many times when, in public sessions and at political meetings, the happiest face in the crowd and the most engaging of my supporters was Marie. I always loved to look over the gathered assemblies, sometimes numbering in the hundreds, to see Marie’s bright and eager face. She shines.

I am sure every politician, if wanting to remain fully human in his or her pursuit of public office, needs to have a Marie along from start to finish.

Priscilla Hammond

What an interesting woman.

Priscilla had retired to life on a modest pension when she turned 65. She was about 70 years old when I met her for the first time. She was a member of the association when I was selected as candidate but not one whom I knew at all well until some six months later. Her appearance, though no longer youthful, was extremely well put together. She had kept her hair blond, she was shapely, she always stood straight and proud. More than once I heard people much younger than Priscilla refer to her as “that good looking blond” on my team.

I learned that Priscilla struggled with a bad back, breathing difficulties from time to time, and other ailments…but none of this was evident upon our early rounds. Over time I learned that she had been a book keeper, a manager in small businesses, a nurse, and had ended her career as a nurse practitioner on Parliament Hill responding to the needs of Members of Parliament.

She knew a lot of people in the political business and knew how to be very elegant, in dress and deportment, at social functions whether in Rockcliffe or in Vanier. She was fluently bilingual.

As a Francophone from rural and northern Ontario Priscilla had had a background that included work on the farm. While we never spoke about her relations with others – particularly men – at any time in our many months together I suspect from off-handed comments that she had had her share of hurts and male aggression.

She could certainly be aggressive in her own right. I learned, indeed, that if her imperatives were not met Priscilla could get extremely testy. This aspect of her character went fully on display only during the election itself when it looked like things might be going off the rails.

I learned that Priscilla had a personal need to adhere closely to the rules set out before her. This meant that deviations from the rules, particularly as these related to funding allocations and expenditures in the federal election, made her see red. She had absolutely no time for anyone – including me – who might spend five dollars on a taxi if the expenditure had not been foreseen in the plans and if a bus could be used instead.

But my, oh my, was she ever dependable. When she had bought into one aspect or another of my basic campaign plan I could be absolutely sure that the matters involved would be dealt with exactly as agreed upon between us. I had become desperately in need of someone I could count upon to be loyal and supportive, to help me work out solutions to problems, and to still be there when the going got tough.

Priscilla, as you know from the diary, stepped forward to become my campaign team’s Official Agent on the very same day that my brother abandoned ship. My desperation upon the disappearance of my brother was exactly matched, and then greatly exceeded, by my relief and satisfaction with the arrival of Priscilla. Because of her book keeping experience she was an even better fit for Official Agent than Gerald could have been. Because of her inner need to be rule-following, she was a perfect fit for my basic plan approach.

In the diary I observe upon how Priscilla’s imperatives and her sharp tongue could work against the potential for innovation during the election itself. But my bottom line will always be the same: thank goodness she stepped forward. I always knew how lucky I was to have someone of her caliber aboard.

After the election I received high compliments on her behalf from officials in the office of Elections Canada. Our books were among the first to be closed by Elections Canada because everything was in such good order. Our Official Auditor told me he had never experienced so professional a run in his long career supporting campaigns such as mine.

Priscilla and I remained friends after the campaign was over…notwithstanding her upset that I had personally paid for a taxi ride that some team members had taken after Priscilla had ordered them to use the bus.

And now let’s go to the list of leadership group members who joined me at some point in my 19 months as candidate for public office and who subsequently abandoned ship before the ship arrived to port.

A great many of the folk who played a part in my campaign had personal reasons for supporting the Conservative Party of Canada. My own reasons for aligning myself with the Conservatives seemed kind of quaint in comparison.

I had read political theory in graduate school. Way back then I had gravitated towards the arguments of Edmund Burke rather than Thomas Paine in their debates on liberty during the time of the French Revolution. I was aware of writers such as F. A. Hayek but only second hand. My research, for a PhD thesis on individual and collective rights, was grounded in German writings on volk. I read the political theory of anarchists with great interest (not the bomb throwing kind) because I wanted in my heart of hearts to believe that societies could function perfectly well without orders from on high. If I had been around at the time of the Spanish Civil War I would have been tempted to volunteer for the republicans against the nationalist forces of General Franco.

I was a natural for the conservative mantra: “I can do it myself”. I always wanted to know for certain that my successes were owed to competence on my own part. I did not network my way ahead. It was enough for a person senior to me to point to where I should next in order for me to quit instead and do something entirely different. I was proud of my progress through life, proud to have achieved high levels in public and private life, proud to have moved from small apartments and small houses to our place in Rockcliffe Park. I was proud that I, and Marie, accomplished what we did on our own.

Most of my “supporters” were Conservatives for less esoteric reasons.

Many of the women, for example, could point to instances in their personal lives when they were abused by family members or male associates. The justice system, in their view, had not taken the abuse seriously enough. It was time for a change. They liked the CPC “tough of crime” agenda.

Among the men I counted a few who could point to personal instances where crime touched themselves or their families, including one whose brother-in-law had only recently been murdered. The justice system which had evolved under mostly Liberal governments in the past was, in their view as well, not good enough.

A characteristic of many of those around me was their feeling excluded from the mainstream in Canada. This has been a characteristic of conservatives in Canada for a very long time. Until very recently Conservative party supporters would loudly shout: “the West wants in!” I recall reading that in the time of Diefenbaker (late 1950s, early 1960s) his Progressive Conservative supporters were described as people who deeply felt their being different from mainstream politicians…as Diefenbaker felt himself to be even after he became Prime Minister.

If I scratched the surface bonhomie of some people around me I would learn that the person under the skin was deeply anti-Gay, strongly opposed to abortion under almost any circumstances, disparaging of those on welfare, very anti-government and with a particular hate for the memory of the Trudeau government in the 1970s and 1980s (when I happened to be executive assistant to a minister of that government). There were a number who still regretted the emancipation of women, some of whom were Caucasian in appearance and some who were new Canadians of color. Too many of the new Canadians appeared to want a slice of their own cultures in Africa and the Middle East (male control over their own families) to be transported to Ottawa-Vanier.

I also had about me a number of supporters whom others might say are “typical” conservatives: people who have been successful in their personal and professional lives and who want the Government of Canada to leave them alone. These folk include people like me. We have a live and let live mentality. Conservatives like I, however, have a strong desire for governments to step in if social or economic structures are unfair.

Among all of those around me, not a single person was interested in talking politics. That is why I say that my own reasons for running, stemming from my perspectives about politics and my thirst to discuss political issues with those around me, seem kind of quaint. What could I have been thinking?

I learned soon enough, as I have shared in this diary, that electioneering has become events-driven and episodic. It is about image and profile. It is about slogans. It is not about discussion and persuasion.

You can draw a crowd, sometimes even a large one, if the event which brings the people together is compelling enough. Small crowds go to bowling competitions and to barbeques. Large crowds will pay to rub shoulders with senior political leaders, especially the Prime Minister or his wife. But at none of those events does political discussion rise above a slogan or two, shouted more for proof of allegiance than to open the door to debate.

Being events-driven and episodic my own run of 19 months was an anomaly in today’s political process. There are former Members of Parliament who have not been actively in the game for as long as that.

I think this is one of the reasons why so many parted company with me along the way.

Providing active support to a candidate in the political process is no longer something a volunteer in this business expects to do for more than the few weeks during the election itself. The crunch begins when an election is called. The effort is expended through the period of the “writ”. The kind of effort I insisted upon almost every day during the nineteen months of my candidacy was a very long crunch indeed.

The closest comparison to my kind of run, I think, is the work actively done by sitting Members of Parliament. With the benefit of a paid staff, public profile when and where desired, and publicly funded offices at various locations in a riding, a sitting MP has the backing necessary to stay active in the political process indefinitely. To pit a sitting MP against someone like me is to pit a professional with his or her paid handlers against a part-time amateur and his or her volunteers. It is a grossly unfair competition.

Carol Latimer

Date of Departure (DOD) 28 April

I want to start with Carol. I had from the outset, and still have, a high regard for that woman.

As I have described before, Carol was a round, short, middle aged woman with dark hair and a tremendous sparkle in her eye. She was usually full of fun, with a sharp wit and a sharp mind. But her sharpness cut in a multitude of ways.

Her capacity to see things clearly and to think things through was impressive. But her sharp edge included a very low level of tolerance for others whose ideas did not match – in her view – the quality and relevance of her own. She was almost always right about her own ideas being the best ones but her attitude lost her the support she needed from others.

In her immediate circle she dominated her husband, Will, and their salaried employee, Eleanor. Will was a tall, lanky, quiet man. Will was the exact opposite in so many ways of his wife.

Eleanor was rather heavy set, loquacious, and full of life. During most of my time as a candidate her deference to Carol, because of their working relationship, was pretty well total. Eleanor quit the Electoral District Association and walked away from my campaign when Carol did. After Carol left Ottawa for a new home in Newfoundland, however, Eleanor returned to my team with bells on. She proved to extremely dependable and, indeed, joyful. But first she had to escape from the control of Carol.

Carol came to Ottawa-Vanier from Calgary where she had been an official working for the Calgary Stampede. She had been active politically in Calgary and had maintained her contacts with Electoral District Associations in the Edmonton-Calgary area. She could reach out for support in the development of election material, for example, where no one else on our association could.

But Carol had a profound fear of failure. She could see around corners and she could see the demons waiting for her. She could think her way through to logical conclusions but she cowered when her conclusions were challenged. She was almost totally unable to press home to completion the production of material she had herself pulled together. To make matters worse, she used her skills to dismiss the work being done by others even though she would never allow her own better ideas to ever see the light of day either. I now believe that Carol was a main cause of the constipation of our association when I first came on board.

But it must also be said that Carol had saved the association as well. I was told that in the election of 2008, when Patrick Glemaud stood for the Conservatives in this riding, his campaign team fell apart within days of the election call. He had nowhere to turn. He had been encouraged to run by a couple of sitting Members of Parliament hailing from the West, but those folk went back to their own ridings to fight the election along with their staffs. They could send money (some $40,000 in loans and grants I believe) but could not put feet on the ground.

Carol saved the day.

It is easy to imagine that little dynamo stepping into a near-empty campaign office and, with her laugh and her savvy, sending people this way and that. She would have been ably assisted by Eleanor and also by a number of other experienced politicos whom the party eventually directed to the Ottawa-Vanier campaign. But Carol is the one who saved the day.

In the way of campaign material she would have been able to choose from pamphlets and brochures already prepared by the party and already sent to all associations across the country. She would have been able to count upon the money coming to Patrick from political friends and from rich political associations in Calgary and Edmonton. She would have been able to hand-off the mechanics of running a candidate to the likes of Gene (walkabouts) and others.

Carol welcomed me with open arms and I was extremely pleased to find someone like she waiting for me after I was acclaimed. Our times, however, would prove to be very different from the crunch times of a campaign. In my case there was no material already printed and ready to go. There was no money in the association’s bank account. We were not looking at a target (voting day) only a few weeks down the road yet we laboured every day under the threat of an election call at short notice. If an election had indeed been called in the spring of my first year as a candidate we would have been in disastrous shape.

Carol, with that fear of failure dragging along behind her, was unable to make things happen during the “phony war” which is fought between professionals and amateurs during the periods between elections. Because I worried constantly about my being ready if an election were called I grew impatient with Carol’s dithering very quickly.

Ross Carothers

DOD 28 April

Ross was a man of average height and weight, closing in on 70, whose dark hair and demeanor made him seem about ten years younger. He had been in accounting during his career. He had been finance officer/treasurer with the Ottawa-Vanier Association for a number of years and had acted as Official Agent (money man) for a number of candidates before me.

Ross let me know right from the start that he would not be my Official Agent when it would be my turn to run.

I began my relationship with Ross trusting that his experience and dedication would ensure that our finances would be in order well before the next election would be called. I expected he would be an important source of support and confidence for me regardless of his not wanting to be again active in the next election campaign.

There was no having fun with Ross. When I asked him whether the rental of some elephants (to walk down the streets of our riding with Rem Westland signs on their backs) was an option for my campaign he looked at me with disdain. He had no time for the free-wheeling that was at the bottom of my proposal. I really did not believe elephants would be the way to go…but I knew that doing nothing was not an option either.

When Ross was angry he had the unfortunate habit of flicking his tongue up and down between his lips. The general public in Canada had seen something similar from John Turner when he was Prime Minister for a few months between the Trudeau and Mulroney regimes. This habit meant that others in the room would fixate upon his mouth and the action at the edge of it rather than upon his words when he wanted most desperately to get his points across.

Ross was very pleased when someone else became association treasurer in the year after I came on board. I saw Ross only once afterwards. He came to a poorly attended Christmas event hosted by the association in the Christmas before the spring election. We were pleased so say hello to one another, however, and I was happy about that. During the election I was also very happy to learn that he and his wife put up a lawn sign with my name on it at the front of their house.

Gene Pierce

DOD 30 November

I never really warmed to Gene.

He was a bit of an oddball in the Ottawa-Vanier political process because Gene, though an official resident of Canada, was still a citizen of the United States. He was not eligible to vote in Canada. He had been with the Embassy of the United States in Ottawa before leaving that country’s public service and deciding to remain in Canada. My information is that he was an official with one of the US information agencies.

He certainly knew our riding very well. As you know from this diary he and his wife (a woman he had met in Japan) had purchased the Rockcliffe home of my father-in-law so there must have been an accumulation of money between them. Rockcliffe homes are much more expensive than the average house in this city. It is a rather exclusive area.

His tremendous ease when driving me all around the riding after my acclamation was impressive. He was just as familiar with the back alleys in the poorest areas of town as he was with the pleasant and tree-lined lanes of Rockcliffe. He knew all the schools, he knew where the churches and the mosques were, he could talk knowingly about the different cultures in the riding and who lives where, and so on. He knew Ottawa-Vanier like the back of his hand.

He drove me hither and yon for the better part of two weeks. We would stop for coffee along the way and from time to time we stopped to knock on the door of a “supporter” whom he had come to know over his period with the association. With regard to Gene I had a lot to be grateful for.

Yet I never really warmed to Gene. I truly regret that. A better feeling may have had me be more open minded to the directions he was trying to set.

Gene was slightly deaf in one ear. This disability meant that he would lean towards another person when words were exchanged. When he walked this same leaning was evident…even though he then had nothing in particular to listen to.

He was close to a couple of association board members whom I would classify as “far right” but I never detected in Gene a political opinion that bothered me. He kept his opinions to himself. But he loved to walk.

Gene was always pleased to lead me, by foot, to the homes in the different “polls” – which are groupings of houses and streets that must make sense to somebody in the electoral system. I guess if you want to closely track who is voting for whom, the designation of thousands of “polls” within the various neighborhoods of the riding would help you decide where you are strong and where you are weak.

Gene, leaning always slightly to one side, would walk briskly from house to house. He would step up to the front doors with a happy smile on his face, ring the bell, then step quickly back and push me forward in his place. We danced this dance hundreds of time. In a surprising number of cases he would tell me what to expect when the door opened…because he had been there before, during a previous campaign.

Gene was always anxious to find work with the national office of the Conservative party. He wanted contract work. He offered extensive experience in working with polls and polling numbers. During our year together, as far as I am aware he never received a reply.

Gene remained always true, nevertheless, to the party’s “science” of contemporary politicking. This meant that, at each door we knocked on, he wanted me to ask the questions which generate data on: will you vote for us in the next election; how many in this house will vote for us; do you need help getting to the polls; do we have your telephone number and email address correct; will you buy a $10 party membership; and so on. Unless the resident was already a known Conservative party supporter we rarely got past the first question before a door was slammed in our faces.

Because the Voter ID “program” makes no sense unless a large number of polls are backed up with accurate data, Gene always hoped for large door-knocking teams. There were rarely more than the two of us. In his car he always had boxes of “walk sheets” to hand out to other team members. There hardly ever were any team members around to take these up.

Yet Gene remained enthusiastic to the end of our time together. At a meeting among us (Guy and others) in late November Gene finally could see that I had no intention to build the bench strength he would need to make of Voter ID a serious project. That was the day that Guy had quit. I expect Gene decided to quit on that day as well but I got the confirmation of this at a coffee shop three days later.

Gene and I have crossed paths a few times since. We have said hello to one another. We will never be close…

Gordon Peters

DOD 28 January

First, it is important to observe that Gordon passed away a year or so after I last met with him. He was a great guy.

Right from the start, when we met at the first association board meeting I attended after being acclaimed, Gordon impressed me. He had been very senior in Canada’s correctional services during his career in the federal government and counted among his honors his having been the youngest Warden every appointed to head Canada’s most notorious penitentiary, the “Kingston Pen”. He had a maturity which set him above everyone else – including me – and he had experience running a successful campaign. He had been one of the senior people on the team of Gordon O’Connor, at that time a minister in the government of Steven Harper, when they successfully “turned the riding blue”.

Gordon had joined the campaign team of the Conservative candidate who preceded me (Patrick Glemaud) because of the desperate shape of that campaign. I was told Gordon was “loaned” to the Glamaud campaign by the O’Connor team because the latter were already headed to victory.

To Gordon I must credit the decision of my only remaining competitor for the candidacy position to step aside. Gordon had been that person’s manager for the planned nomination convention. When I came on board Gordon determined that my credentials, my bilingualism, and my living in the riding all marked me as having a better chance.

At that board meeting in late October Gordon sat beside me, whispered commentary about the different folk around the table, and applauded when my only remaining competitor said his few words of withdrawal. By the end of the meeting Gordon had offered himself to be my “interim” campaign manager. He said he was prepared to formally assume that function when an election were called (then expected at any time).

As the pre-writ period extended weeks and then months longer than expected Gordon had to deal with the growing tensions among association members. He was unimpressed by all of the board executive members. I felt he was accurate in his assessments of each person. I was pleased to know that I could rely upon Gordon to help pull things together when the time came.

But…not so much.

At a lunch between us a month after my acclamation Gordon and I outlined our respective goals and our understandings of how to achieve them. Given my lack of experience in politics I was happy to rely almost totally upon Gordon to push and pull at the association’s board members and upon its members-at-large to dot the i’s and cross the t’s for a run for Parliament. Gordon laid out a plan of attack and I said I would enthusiastically endorse it if he would undertake to bring in the resources (people and money) required to implement it.

And then Gordon quit the association.

I learned via email that at a board meeting immediately following our lunch together Gord ran into opposition to his (and our) plan. He argued against the opposition for a bit. And then he quit. Gordon told me in the email that he would no longer be able to act as my interim campaign manager. The board would set me up with someone else (and it proved to be Bruce Waverly, who already was my assigned policy advisor).

For a couple of months after Gordon’s withdrawal from the board he continued to participate in campaign team meetings at my place where we planned a way ahead for my campaign. He was now doing this independently from the association.

The diary shows that I became frustrated with Gordon, and he with me, on the question of how robust my campaign plan should be. As my confidence in the ability of the association to deliver people and money began to wane I wanted a plan that fit within a realistic assessment of how much money I might have when the writ drops, and how many volunteers. Gordon still wanted me to adopt a campaign planned on the assumption that the maximum allowed by Elections Canada would be raised and that the number of volunteers would be high enough to deliver results at that top level of funding. He still wanted the kind of campaign he may have been able to prepare had he remained with the association and if he had had the support of the association’s board of executives.

I often lamented to Gordon that his desire, on my behalf, did not include a commitment on his part to obtain the necessary funding and recruit the required number of campaign team workers. He, like everyone else, was leaving the achievement of his robust goals to me and to chance. We had a friendly argument or two about that.

Gordon had very little time for Guy DesRoches whom I began to move into a de facto campaign team leadership role after Gordon stepped aside. Gordon wanted nothing to do with Bruce who was now my policy instructor. Indeed, he had very little time for most of the people gathering around me except, perhaps, for my brother. And then, at the DOD, Gordon no longer wanted anything to do with me at all.

His parting jibe, after I had laid out one more time my concerns about his robust plan, was “Rem, you seem determined to lose. Since that is the case, you won’t need me anymore!”

I want to conclude with an observation upon Gordon’s health. I now know that one of the reasons he chose not to stay engaged in these tense situations was the condition of his heart. He was a very tall man, very strong in his appearance, with a strong and handsome face to boot. He drew attention to himself because of his size and physical presence. When put to the test in a discussion or debate he did not disappoint. But he had a very bad heart and by the time Gordon joined up with me he had already suffered a number of heart attacks.

There was a period between his quitting the association and his reengagement with me when Gordon disappeared from sight and from the internet. I learned later that he had spent about two weeks in hospital, after driving himself to the emergency to submit to additional work on his heart. He was extremely brave about his condition. There was nothing in his conduct with me that gave any hint that his health was a problem.

Bruce Waverly

DOD 10 January

I went through a period of not liking Bruce very much at all. But I did not feel this way in the beginning.

In the beginning what most struck me about Bruce was his professional mien. The “typical” member of most political associations is a person who is unemployed or partially employed or – if retired – representative of middle level to lower level rank in public or private enterprises. Bruce, a sixty-something Caucasian male who stood about six feet tall and seemed reasonably fit, had a full head of grey hair which topped a handsome face. He was a man whose look (square jaw, intense blue eyes, usually well dressed) confirmed his background as a senior officer in the economics and trade profession. So Bruce was a-typical.

As a person of varied and fairly senior background myself I gravitated towards Bruce soon after our first meeting even though he had been the fellow at my first interview at Gene’s place who rather gruffly forecasted that I would lose at the nomination convention. He was the one who observed that a person without a political background and network has no chance.

After Gordon quit the association and Bruce was assigned the combined roles of policy instructor and interim campaign manager by the association, I learned a whole lot more about Bruce.

I truly wanted my attitude towards Bruce to remain positive. I hoped that perhaps in Bruce I would now have the knowledgeable person I needed to guide me and stay with me to the end of an eventual campaign. I hoped Bruce could be every bit as good as Gordon had seemed to be.

But Bruce proved to be impossible.

We set out very professionally, meaning that Bruce imposed structure upon our relationship and he exhorted me to adhere to a schedule of readings, meetings, and preparations for discussions. But he was very far off target with the material he asked me to master. His political orientation was far to the right of where I stood personally and politically, and also where the CPC policy material would have me stand.

I tried for a few weeks of meetings (two formal rounds each week, plus meetings in the evenings and over coffee with others he might bring to the table) to strike compromise positions on issues like women in the family, right to life, employment and welfare, and so on, but Bruce would have none of it. I became increasingly uneasy in his company.

As you know from the diary Bruce began to run afoul of national office direction only a few weeks after taking me under his wing. His star fell almost immediately after the fund-raiser at Anne D’s home where he had had an associate of his champion anti-abortion and anti-gay exhortations. His blatant effort to unseat Carol as president of the association could not be hidden from the national office either.

Just as things were coming to a head between Bruce and me, as affirmed by harsh words between us regarding my intention to disregard his policy direction, the national office made it clear that Bruce was totally out of favor. And then Bruce quit. He quit both the association and my campaign effort. We have since crossed paths occasionally in the street or in neighborhood stores. We have been friendly one to the other but that is all.

Guy DesRoches

DOD – 15 November

Guy was always an enigma to me.

A handsome man, also standing about six feet tall (he, Bruce and Gordon made quite an impression for the few weeks they stood together) Guy had retired from the Quebec provincial government where he had been an advisor on economic policy and business development. He was a Francophone from northern Quebec who had run – and lost – for federal politics in the two Mulroney Government elections (1984 and 1988). I think it says something very positive about Guy that Aline, his wife, was a very attractive woman whose intelligence and determination shone through whenever she and I spoke.

After Gordon and then Bruce had parted company with the association and with me, Guy was next in line. When I first met Guy at the October meeting of the association after I was officially selected as candidate he held the fund raiser position with the Electoral District Association. Because of his own runs for office he had a level of credibility in my eye which exceeded that of most others.

It was quickly revealed, however, that Guy’s approach was often flawed. He knew what he was hoping for. But he did not have the discipline to lay out a plan for getting to the goal he had either set for himself or others had set for him.

If he hoped to have 60 people at a fund raiser costing $100 per ticket for example, his first step would be to commit the association to the expenses of a room, to food, and to entertainment for sixty people. He then expected people would line up for the event. You can guess how things always turned out.

As we closed in upon our first fund-raising event Carol gave up on Guy. We were only two weeks away from a 50’s Dance, with a band confirmed and a convention-sized room pre-booked at an area hotel, yet no information had gone out. We did not have a single ticket sold. Indeed, we did not yet have a single ticket even printed.

The situation was made more complicated by the fact that our Dance would happen in the dead middle of an international drama unfolding in Haiti where an earthquake had devastated the Island nation. While others were raising money to help the homeless and the injured in Haiti our Electoral District Association was preparing to dance and raise money for Rem Westland.

In the diary I have talked about how all this was resolved. The relevant point is that Guy was stymied by his own lack of preparation, by his inability to respond to changing circumstances, and by his proclivity to respond to adversity by hurling criticisms at others.

Yet I really liked the guy. I still do. His having had political experience of the kind that I was acquiring myself had me feel a sense of kinship with him. I enjoyed his company, and Marie and I enjoyed the company of Guy and his wife.

Over the months from Bruce’s departure until the final round with Guy in the month that he quit I tried very hard to shoe-horn him into a leadership role on my campaign team. I steadfastly believed that his authoritative image and background would be good enough for us to get the job done together.

As I became more and more confident that my basic plan for an eventual campaign would get me through the federal election in good order, I believed that Guy’s failings would be less and less consequential. He would be a figure head. Bi-lingual, compelling in his personal appearance and style, credible in his campaign leadership role. All Guy would have to do was follow the script.

I never suspected that others might be scripting Guy as well. For example, he and Gene enjoyed a good relationship. Gene was hell bent to implement the Voter ID and GOTV programs endorsed by the national office. I expect Gene put quite a bit of pressure upon Guy to help get those programs underway.

I did not expect Guy to keep kicking back at my efforts to restrain his freedom of maneuver. When Guy correctly concluded that Priscilla’s power of the purse would block any initiative by him which might deviate from the basic plan he became quite negative towards Priscilla. If it came to a head between Guy and Priscilla I knew without any doubt that Priscilla would get the nod. Guy began to know this as well. He tried hard to remain with the team. I could not blame him when he withdrew.

Luc Savoie

I learned of Luc’s interest in joining my campaign team a year after I had begun my journey. Relations were tense between us towards the end – not unusual in the heat of a campaign – and we have had no dealing of any significance since.

Luc is another one of the many I would slot among the walking wounded who are active in CPC politics. In his case I do not have any idea where the wounds came from. Just to look at him, and to listen to him speak about subjects like foreign investment and social policy, you’d expect no inner tensions or confusion at all.

Luc was a bi-lingual Francophone from Manitoba, educated at Laval University in Quebec, and experienced in politics by working on the Hill and by having run for municipal office in Quebec City. He was a good looking fellow, on the short side but fit in his appearance and (usually, but not always) in his manner. He was just over thirty years of age. He was well read and, as I say above, could speak competently about a great many things.

Unfortunately, he was not dependable in his performance.

Whether a drink like the highly caffeinated Red Bull is the symptom of a personality problem or the cause of it, it can hardly be a good sign when someone fills waste baskets with his or her empties on a daily basis. Luc seemed caught between wakefulness and sleep a great deal of the time.

The pleasing and professional presence Luc could manage for public occasions would be offset, sometimes lamentably so, by disheveled appearances in the office which had him look like a homeless person who had stumbled in off the street.

On occasion I would not hear from him for days at a time. But when he re-engaged it was usually to good effect.

After Gordon, after Bruce, and after Guy, Luc became the titular head of my campaign team. By the time Luc came on board my basic plan had hardened to a very significant degree: indeed, when I asked him to take on the role of team coordinator (not “team manager”) I asked him to formally acknowledge that he would limit his role to recruiting volunteers to help implement the plan – as drafted. At the point where Luc came on board, only a few weeks before the election was called, I did not want to wrestle with any more under-resourced “good ideas”.

The ups and downs of Luc’s performance as team coordinator are recounted elsewhere in the diary. On balance, I am happy to have had him be a part of this and I retain a positive sense of Luc as a person. Had I won the election I planned to hire Luc to be my riding assistant but I would have asked him, in return, to engage in a counseling program and to make me a part of his ongoing effort to recover from the Red Bull and the depressions.

Luc’s greatest strength during my run for Parliament was his capacity to attract and retain hard working young men and women from the Hill to be part of our campaign effort in Ottawa-Vanier. He was also very good with older voters who stopped by the office from time to time.

His greatest weakness was not to perceive his own weakness.

His proclivity to sleep on the job, to sometimes appear with clothes and coif which gave him the appearance of a lost soul, and to try to stray beyond the limited mandate I had given him set us up for tension. In the heat of the campaign I did not want to confront Luc so I largely avoided him. That is not a healthy relationship for a candidate to have with his team leader!

There is one more weakness I should point out: Luc had a proclivity to talk negatively about those whom he suspected held negative views about him. This is surely not unusual or unexpected but it hurt our campaign from time to time. I would hear from others that he spoke negatively about me (a “difficult” candidate who “will not accept direction from anyone”) and I remember how his sharply critical words about our campaign caused a couple of volunteers to walk away. He was not able to dance with Priscilla at all. Speaking negatively about a person who holds all the financial strings is never a very good idea.

All in all, though, our campaign unfolded remarkably well. Luc was a key figure in what I called “the train station” and, for the most part, all of our trains ran on time. Luc, I am sure, deserves a whole lot more credit than I gave him during our time together. If I had won the election I am pretty sure I would have kept him on my team.

Family Members and Friends

In this group I include my brother, my three daughters, my two sons, my son-in-law Jason, and my long term friends Colin Lindley and Robert Sampson. They all stepped up when I called upon them for encouragement and for help. They were not all there at the end of the journey for a myriad of reasons elaborated upon in the diary. None were CPC supporters.

My brother’s stepping forward when I prepared for the nomination and then staying on board for another six months helped tremendously to boost my confidence. Miriam and Jason were campaign team members whose creative contributions on Youtube were inspiring. My son Gerrit and his friends braved a decidedly negative attitude towards the Conservative party among their peers and helped to plant signs and deliver material during the election. Amy was my Facebook presence, Robert’s doubts required me to test my wits, Robin’s questions helped me to formulate content for my stump-speech, and my son Kees set aside his antipathy to all things conservative when he came to Ottawa to vote for the Conservative Party of Canada in the federal election. Colin’s absence during the election was a bit of a shock but he was back immediately after the election and helped to pick up the lawn signs that had to go back into storage.

Because the support from family and friends was personal not political, the ruptures that happened were personal as well. It takes longer to heal wounds that are personal than wounds which are political. What we learned about each other was nonetheless important and instructive. I am confident that we are now in better shape collectively than we were at the outset.

26 NOVEMBER

Today I took my blood pressure and, as I feared, it was too high. This is the first time I have experienced high blood pressure in many months. So I have a job to do: I must get this political journey back in context. I must find a way to relax about it all. I need to learn the physical skills needed to get through a one month campaign in good shape. If I cannot do this I will never be able to handle the challenge of being an MP if I win.

I am firmly of the view that, if I win, I will be smart enough to focus upon the jobs of a Member of Parliament and avoid the stress of being a government member (minister or associate minister). I have been executive assistant to a minister. I know the tremendous additional burden that ministerial responsibility brings. But I get ahead of myself. My health in the near-term must come first.

This morning I went for coffee with Luc Savoie but he did not show. I suspected right away that Guy’s having quit had something to do with this but I may be wrong. Upon my return home I found an email from Luc saying that he was caught out for a medical reason of his own.

In the afternoon Marie and I went to a lunch at the Rockcliffe Community Center where Roy McGregor was launching his book on the Group of Seven painter Tom Thompson. It was a wonderful presentation and helped to settle me down. But my blood pressure is still up. There is work to do! My sense of joy and optimism is low right now…but I can forgive myself that. My reasons are valid ones.

I spoke to Priscilla just now to update her on what has been happening with Guy and likely with Gene as well. She is solidly behind me. She undertook to research with Elections Canada all the rules regarding campaign financing and she will ensure with our association that the stage is set for an easy transfer of EDA funds when an election is called. She also assured me that she knows of places in the riding where we can rent office space at short notice and she knows the service providers who can help us set up a fully furnished and functioning office. She and I will go together to Café Caco tomorrow and I will probe with Emilio and Tony the possibility of support for our cause coming from within the Portuguese community.

Later this evening I will be talking to Alex Bednar (he keeps asking for a time and then not calling) and with Jonathan R. I look forward to the second of these, not to the first. Marie checked into the disappearance of Alex and learned he had flitted off to Vaughn, a city just outside Toronto, where he and a number of other Parliament Hill staffers were sent to help get Julian Fantino elected in an upcoming by-election.

27 NOVEMBER

It feels to me like I am getting very close to the end of this journey…but I will try to record it one day at a time.

This morning Alex called in from Vaughn. Bottom lines: he wants me to “stack” the board of the association because he, Brock, Shaun and others do not have the time anymore to do their jobs. And, he wants me to send a Christmas card to Carol and to Ross. I worry that my new association executive may have concluded that their best option, rather than turn the strategic lead over to me, is to return the baton to the pervious executive committee.

Frankly, between Alex’s advice and the events of today and tomorrow I am again becoming heart sick about this venture of mine.

The main event today was a lunch with Priscilla and Marie at Café Caco. Tony did not show.

My goal with the lunch, once I realized that my idea of a campaign team and association handover to the Portuguese community would not be on the table (for discussion with Tony), was to reassure Priscilla that all is well. I was not in good shape because we were about 15 minutes late (I hate being late), I had blamed Marie for this because none of my intervening functions were taken up (walking the dog being first among them), and my blood pressure was through the roof after a screaming match with Marie added to whatever had caused it to rise in the first place. I had to keep my boiling insides under control as I sought to comfort Priscilla.

Priscilla is a talker. I assess her, as always, to be extremely able. I sense, indeed, that her abilities are wide ranging. But she is insecure and she talks round and round until I draw her into focus. Some of the bottom lines from our exchanges were:

- Gene may be the next to quit but he is replaceable. We need to contact Rob W – the “signs guy” – to learn whether he goes if Gene goes. Priscilla’s account of how Gene played his roles in the last election had me conclude that his “value added” is minimal.

- Guy’s departure is not a problem. Much of what he would have done was done in previous elections by the candidate’s manager…and that would be Colin Lindley. Between us, Colin and I can keep my nose clean and oriented the right way during the period of the writ. [At this point I had not yet learned that Colin would be going on vacation a few days before the writ dropped.]

- Priscilla seems content. She looked a little nervous to me, but women can usually sense when someone else is boiling inside.

The boiling set me off with my rushes in the evening, my chest “burning”, and an inclination to stutter. The physical manifestations of tension are not pleasant. But Marie and I watched a movie (Rogers on Demand) in the evening and I slept (though waking for the rushes) for about 5 hours.

Before the day came to a full stop I drafted the following email to the association and copied it to Guy and Gene:

Further to my conversation with Alex today what follows is an elaboration on my approach between now and a spring election. While I will be very pleased to support EDA initiatives (if any), for the reasons set out below I will keep my own leadership role focused upon an upcoming campaign.  I want to be ready and I want to perform well for my own reputation and for the party.

 

When I became the CPC candidate I stepped into two basic undertakings: become ready as quickly as possible for the next federal election; and, be an attractive candidate for the EDA to support its fundraising and volunteer recruitment.

 

Campaign Readiness

 

1.  Because of the political climate ever since my becoming the candidate the priority has had to be campaign readiness.  I expected to benefit from the leadership of experienced EDA members but - for reasons of internal discord or lack of time – the EDA fell apart and the leadership had to come from me.

 

2.  With my leadership and the continuing support of Guy, Gene, Priscilla, and others the campaign plan is now nevertheless in good shape.  Of about 20 different products - each of them cleared via EDA Board review - there remains only one functional area still to be developed.  The undeveloped area, where I hope to continue working with the EDA through Gene, is to confirm the management, delivery and locations for lawn signs.  I have 883 names (CIMS list and Gene's list) for the location of lawn signs.  I hope to share the work with association board members and call all 883.  To those who confirm that they will accept a sign on the next round we will extend a personal invitation to the Christmas Party. 

 

3.  The phone calls to reconfirm lawn sign locations will identify a relatively large number of residents whose interest in our future is a bit stronger than the norm.  Of these (perhaps 500 or so will reconfirm) the ones who end up going to the Christmas Party will be people whose interest is greater still.  I hope to see as many as 50 to 100 (of the 500) go to the Christmas Party...and these will be the riding people who become candidates for still more of a contribution (door knocking, money raising, volunteer membership of the EDA Board, and so on).  I will extol the virtues of these kinds of public service when I speak at the Christmas Party.

 

4.  Our campaign team, however, is in flux. Guy no longer holds the campaign manager position.  I am treating the remaining team members with kid gloves.  Most are on the team only because of me not because of the party or their abiding interest in politics. I will be needing these guys like crazy when the time comes. 

 

EDA (pre-writ)

 

5.  The CPC literature advises that there are two fundamental tasks for an EDA to undertake.

 

    -  Maintain and build Voter ID data.  This has not been done for a long time.  Earlier this week Brock advised that we have about 23,000 names in our data banks but our data is years out of date.  The RMG contract, if we use it, will update 1,200 names at a cost of $5K.  Whether in dollars or in people Voter ID is extremely expensive. Cannings and Lamirande say, in a deposition to Elections Canada, that Mauril's list of 20,000 names is worth $40K.  Gene has frequently called for an army of Voter ID canvassers but received only a dozen or so for three or four short rounds over the summer.

 

    -  Help the candidate achieve name recognition.  The EDA has hosted four or five fundraising events where my candidacy was highlighted. My biggest advantage, however, lies in the fact that our party is highly credible at the federal level and I am a credible representative of the party.  Flanagan in his book Harper's Team says that this will explain 95% of my chances in a riding such as ours...and more. The name recognition that matters in this riding (the additional 5%) is more Belanger than Westland.  We need people to associate Belanger name to our slogans of "Too Long" and "No Results".  We have to build positive recognition for me on the one hand and negative recognition of Belanger on the other.  The brochure, website, Facebook, ads, and videos we have developed are all consistent with this tactic.

 

Next Steps

 

6.  Especially when an EDA is as far behind as we are on Voter ID, and if we foresee an election in the spring of next year, it makes little sense in my view to spend our limited funds on a Voter ID program. We know that even $5K (the RMG contract) can make only a very small dent. Regarding the use of volunteers, at a Voter ID training meeting this week the EDA could attract only two volunteers.  One is a campaign team member (not on the EDA Board) who was clear that she would not “do phone calls”. The other is in what I call "The Candidate's Circle of Supporters".  Goretti now lives far outside the riding and had no desire to remain an association member.  

 

7. To build "name recognition" is shorter term and much more affordable than Voter ID. All we need are relatively few dollars to get simple messages out. I have made a commitment that any funds the EDA uses for this in the pre-writ period will be repaid by ticket sales or contributions so that the account minimum of $35K is always maintained.  Door knocking and my visits to shopping malls certainly help but what we really need is a mail-out to all residents, a few ads, and an effort to get me onto local television.

 

8.  When we get past the spring election I will be pleased to put my shoulder to the EDA wheel, whether as a Member of Parliament or as the candidate-of-record.  My experience to date has confirmed to me that a candidate's chances are far greater if an EDA has had the time and energy to achieve its pre-writ goals...including a fully up-to-date Voter ID inventory with at least 20,000 names (the number of votes it will take to win).

 

I look forward to a discussion of these matters among us. 

27 NOVEMBER

 

In my diary this day on the calendar appears twice in a row. It means that I have slipped up in aligning the notations I was making with the days as one ran into another. Rather than try to fix the problem I will allow this day to happen a second time in my life.

My cross referencing with Priscilla’s agenda confirms that 27 November was the day for a regional policy discussion sponsored by the Conservative Party of Canada. It took place in the city of Brockville, south west of Ottawa. I had been asked to go by Alex.

After a two hour drive, starting at 0700 hrs in the morning we arrived at Brockville in fairly good shape. Marie and I attended the opening of the regional gathering together.

I saw Guy at the back of the room. After a few seconds hesitation I went over, knocked him on the shoulder, and shook hands. He said he should join Marie and me at our table but did not do so. Later in the morning, at the first break, he left the large hall via our table for a short and pleasant discussion. I did not talk to Guy again afterwards. He left for home before the day was over.

I learned to my surprise that I was a featured speaker on the prepared agenda. I had not been told about this by Alex when he and I last spoke. Thank goodness we had come! I had seriously doubted the merits of going early (who cares if we are late?) when I woke last night at about 0330 hours on account of another “rush”.

I spoke passionately about the importance (to Canada) of the CPC winning the next election. I also highlighted the benefit to candidates provided by the performance of the federal government and Mr. Harper. I acknowledged that my chances will be determined for about 95% because of the party’s performance and that I would be working hard to contribute the additional 5% that will bring me first onto the shore. Colin McSweeney was in the room (I wanted him to hear this). I received a very positive response from an audience of about 150 people. A Conservative senator in the audience stopped me on my way back to my table and said he had rarely heard better.

The discussions among us in the course of the day were very interesting. We were organized to sit in groups of eight at a couple of dozen tables. We then reviewed one policy proposal at a time. Each person at each table was asked to express his or her view on each policy proposal. We then had a vote, and each table’s majority view went forward. The consensus among majority views (twenty four tables) determined what our collective input into the policy making process would be. No one had a problem with that. The different views were presented clearly and the consensus (majority vote) was arrived at amicably. This is not how Conservatives are believed by others to behave.

There is a subtle aspect of our behavior, however, that occurred to me later in the day. There was no effort among those sitting at the tables to convince others. This happened to a very small extent, but in the end we were all just separate little cells of thought and knowledge who agreed to stand with the majority vote. No one changed their minds about anything. I cannot help but wonder whether a Liberal convention would work the same way. Persuasion seems to be dead as an art or a skill among Conservative party members.

At our table a tension entered into the flow of discussion when Deborah Parks arrived (late, but “wearing blue”). In her, our association has a bubbly, energetic, and attractive woman who, I fear, is almost rabid in her reform-era views. When dealing with her one has a sense that in her own mind the question is always being asked: “What would God say?”.

We kept Deborah in check during our review of policies already placed before us. When the floor was opened to new policy proposals from the floor, however, Deborah went rogue on us. Little did I know, but she was circulating quickly from table to table and working hard at putting the issue of abortion before the party officials for discussion.

 

Among a larger set of sometimes-foolish ideas, none of which the Conservatives in the room were so unkind as to laugh at or to dismiss, was a proposal that the government pass legislation to make a special crime out of anyone coercing a woman to have an abortion. Deborah was then asked to speak to the proposal…because it had come from her in the first place. She had done her job well.

The CPC is a party that has been clear about abortion as a policy issue. It is off the table when it comes to new legislation. Suddenly talk about abortion was buzzing around the room and the lead remained pointedly with the Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association. I did not like being associated with Deborah’s initiative. If I were more entrenched in the Conservative party processes I would have spent some credit points and shut Deborah down…but others in a position of authority were much more respectful of the democratic process than I would have been.

Deborah’s proposal went to a vote. She obtained the concurrence of two (out of nine) tables. This did not gain her a consensus but she managed to cross a threshold which allows her to bring this one forward again at the Conservative party policy discussions in June next year.

After I close my diary today I will send an email to Brock and Colin McSweeney in which I observe upon Deborah’s initiative. Since she was there as a representative of our EDA her initiative must be seen as an association-inspired idea. “It will not help me as a candidate,” I said in the email, “to have to drag that issue along”. I concluded by saying that the association must decide how to go from here. My own advice was that she be told to drop her idea before the CPC convention next June. 

 

 

28 NOVEMBER

This day has been a disaster so far. Marie and I are at each other’s throats, which normally means that we will not drop the argument until a physical collapse (of me) and a vale of tears (for her) has been achieved. The bottom line is that my support system, after more than a year into this, is in a mess. Marie takes this even harder than I do. I have had to do everything myself, primarily with Marie’s help, and this is not changing.

Guy’s strength would have been as the figure-head. He could have been good at this but he refused to stay in line. My saying this sounds kind of harsh. But the record shows that Guy’s initiatives are almost always counter productive. He is a good fellow but he creates problems and he creates work. Nevertheless, losing Guy exposes my weakness on the management front. His departure, now added to all the other departures over the last 12 months and more, leaves me more and more to be the only constant. I begin to look more and more like the root of the problem.

Marie was very clear that my isolation is on account of my own poor performance (dumb candidate and all). She included in this charge my reluctance to get involved in the future of the association. Her bottom line is that I am the author of all of my own misfortunes. My physical exhaustion when my mental state is so under assault, she said, is proof positive of my weakness as an individual.

We are now in the early afternoon and I am still trying to keep my inner self in check. I want to break out of the “rushes” and the return of my high blood pressure. Again, I will have to do this myself.

I have no doubt that Marie wants to impart her set of ideas on how I can become a better candidate and more effective politician…but the work will all fall to me one way or another. In my view her input would take me in different directions at a point where I already have a full plate. To please her I will have to phone “supporters”, write Christmas cards, recruit volunteers, re-engage Guy and Gene, and so on and so on. But all on my own and all subject to the revised agenda of tomorrow. Perhaps that is unfair. But that is how I see it.

Instead, as I head into the coming week I will continue my search for campaign team members. I will review the status of my various products and confirm that they are ready to go. I will give up on the association and ask some of my remaining campaign team members to help me confirm locations for lawn signs when an election is called. I will get through the calendar year, after which I will focus exclusively upon my readiness for a spring election.

I will also let out of the bag the news that I do not plan to remain on stand-by if next spring comes and goes without an election. Between Marie and me I do not think we have the stamina for an extension of my journey beyond the spring.

As I said two days ago, I sense that I am at the beginning of the end.

I know there is a Christmas party coming up but I am in the unenviable position of knowing very little about it. The association president had undertaken to arrange this event and had told me that all the administrative details, including community outreach and a personal invitation to volunteers would be looked after by executive members of the board. I decided not to worry myself about the fact that no information had yet gone out and Christmas is less than four weeks away.

29 NOVEMBER

Happily today is a little a bit better.

Very late in the day yesterday Marie came downstairs to my office in the basement to affirm that, if it really matters to me, after she retires and if there is still no election she will become the campaign manager. This would certainly set the stage for even more fireworks between us…but we could make it work.

With that bit of encouragement I was able to reaffirm that – however foolish this journey is in some respects – I believe I would make a good MP if I were to be elected and I would not really like to drop out between now and an election. I have put a lot of time and effort into this. I did not add that I would find it hard to look at myself in the mirror – or at my kids and associates – if I stepped away from this crazy exercise.

As this day unfolded I therefore could get back into the business of trying to salvage what remains of our association and my campaign team. I reiterated my view that the association should formally delegate its functions to me and the campaign team and I sent that advice to Alex and to Colin McSweeney. I also began to rebuild volunteer engagement by reaching out to the people who have hosted lawn signs in the past and may be willing to do so again. If I have to call over eight hundred people myself, I shall.

It is a bit of a stretch to say that I am “back in the saddle”, but at least I dare consider remounting. I feel the fire for this stuff getting rekindled within me.

At the moment, however, my email system is down and it is getting close to Happy Hour. In fact, I have to get into the car and go to the liquor store to buy a new bottle of Scotch. I am down to my last jigger and I want to have at least two.

Just before I lost my email system I had sent to the association board and to my team members a request that volunteers step forward to make phone calls to the 880 people who have hosted signs in previous elections. I wonder how many replies I am going to get? I hope for 20, but I know I will be lucky to get as many as 5. [In the end, I had three.]

30 NOVEMBER

Another eventful day. I sure was wrong a month or so ago when I saluted the end of my true “first year in politics” with the observation that my circumstances (association and campaign team combo) are good.

The highlights today were the outcome of a bi-election in Vaughan (Conservative candidate Fantino wins); a meeting with Luc; and, a farewell to Gene. Tonight I meet with Brock, Shaun, and Priscilla and hope to lock-in the “Association as Banker” scenario.

The Vaughan bi-election was one of three. I watched a few minutes on television of the competitors in Vaughan and in the other two locations (Manitoba) running from door to door and expressing their hopes and reasons for victory. What a charade! The immediate aftermath of my watching the scenes was a renewed doubt about whether my time is being usefully spent.

Marie described the antics of the candidates and their supporters as those of a cult. The cult of politics in a modern age. Without the benefit of any rational argument, except that the paradigm requires it, intelligent people and their friends and neighbors run from door to door. They distribute pamphlets without any meaningful content. They stop for 5 second chats if anyone is home about the issues of concern. They then run to the next door and they do it all again. To keep up the charade, perhaps even to give it some luster, the ridings are visited by senior political figures including party leaders and the Prime Minister. Those senior leaders, each in their turn, say exactly the same things about the chances of their respective candidates (“great person”, “we need that person in the House”, “we are going to win”). And so it goes.

I was somewhat reassured over an extended coffee with Luc. Luc is now a board member of the association. As I have written into this diary before, Luc has worked in the office of a Conservative government Cabinet minister. He is bi-lingual, grew up in the West and in Ontario, went to university in Quebec City (Laval), and so on. He looks to be about 30 years old.

In our discussion about the political process and the importance of politics we found ourselves saying very similar things. We are both of the view that my effort has meaning only if I and my supporters subscribe to a set of values and principles that we individually and together consider worth standing for. This not about jobs for him and for me. It is about influencing attitudes. When I begin to feel time-limited on account of my being 62 years old I find meaning in this effort because life goes on and I should do my part – if placed to do so – to help keep the stage well set for the next groups on the conveyer belt of life and society.

Luc seems ready to sign onto the campaign team, to play the role of team “coordinator” (as opposed to campaign manager) and to help with the production of materials. As I learned with Guy, while a candidate who is his own manager may be a fool the candidate can at least be counted on to show up and stick with the program. The job of coordination is different than the job of planning and management.

Gene, by coincidence, came into the Sconewitch while Luc and I were wrapping up. I stepped up to say hello to Gene and asked him to join our table…which he quite pointedly chose not to do. He chose a table as far away from me as possible.

I made light of this with Luc. After Luc went on his way I sat for a minute or so with Gene. He said he has no interest in remaining a part of the campaign team. He will be bringing all the material he has to the storage locker. “You and I are through,” he thundered. He then looked me in the eye for the first time since we started talking.

While I find Gene’s departure to be a stressor – as was the departure of Guy – I have no doubt that I am better off for it. I can be a better person and team leader, and a better candidate, if I am not actively badmouthing and doing end runs around my own leadership group twosome. I am truly happy that the association I stepped into a year ago is now, with the departure of Gene, entirely gone.

I have lost count of the number of association members who were there when I signed up and who are now gone away.

1 DECEMBER

Luc did not get back to me today about becoming campaign team coordinator but I had advised him to take his time and reflect. I have other irons headed to the fire anyway. I do not want to make the next choice for a senior role in the campaign to be a matter of knee-jerk or convenience for either me or Luc.

Last night, between 7:00 pm and about 9:30 pm, Marie and I hosted Shaun, Brock, and Priscilla at our home. The purpose of the meeting was to agree upon the terms by which the association executive would back into the limited role of banker and treasury board, delegating campaign readiness entirely to the campaign team (namely, me).

The meeting went very well. Now that Guy and Gene are out of the picture, in fact, we all can speak more confidently about the way ahead. We are no longer dragging along the way things used to be. We no longer have to pretend that the Glemaud campaign was a good one, or that the previous association was supportive of me and my candidacy.

The discussion was as one among friends and supporters. In this positive environment it seemed that my desire (and Shaun’s previous instruction to Priscilla) to oust the association from all substantive contribution could be set aside. The association, said Brock, should be allowed to continue to do its job and help scope out a winning situation. But its capacity will not be greater in the future than it has been in the past. Its readiness to receive proposals from the campaign team (substance, staffing, and funding), therefore, is clear. Shaun was gracious and pleasant about the fact that tax receipts had still not been sent out to any of those contributing to the EDA, but what the heck.

We closed the evening with a brief discussion about the upcoming Christmas party. Priscilla and Marie offered to help with the planning and to telephone association members but we were assured all was in hand. We should expect to receive a demon dialer call any day now because rooms had already been rented for December 15. There is no time left for mailed invitations, but what the heck.

I went to bed that night in relatively good spirits. I expected I would be able to sleep pretty darn well. Fat chance!

Those “rushes” woke me almost every hour, on the hour, just as I was finally relaxed again from overcoming a previous “rush”. As this dragged on into the morning my chest began to have the familiar burning sensation. I resisted the urge to panic and rose in the morning in fairly good shape considering. I hope I will learn how to cope with this unhelpful turn by my mind and body.

For all of today I have felt that low burn in my chest. I sincerely do not think it is a heart problem. I worry, however, that some kind of heart problem will reveal itself over the next decade if I don’t do something about this. I think it is a chest, lung, trachea, air-way kind of thing induced by whatever adrenalin does to our breathing. My blood pressure this morning was fine (117/76). As I make my way through the day on the back of a poor sleep, however, I cannot help but worry about how things will be during an election. I will work on the assumption that an election is mostly about movement and speaking. The things that get me down are the preparations. The endless effort to pull things together out of the vastness of political space can be disheartening and stressful.

In the early morning I composed the following Notice, with the idea that I and some others can reproduce it in thousands of copies and drop it (anonymously) into mailboxes all over the riding:

VOTERS’ COALITION FOR THE STATUS QUO

(VCSQ)

OTTAWA-VANIER

WE APOLOGIZE!!

NOTWITHSTANDING THAT OTTAWA-VANIER HAS BEEN REPRESENTED FEDERALLY BY THE LIBERAL PARTY SINCE 1926;

NOTWITHSTANDING OUR AWARENESS THAT SINGLE PARTY DOMINANCE FOR OVER 85 YEARS REFLECTS BADLY ON A DEMOCRACY;

NOTWITHSTANDING THAT OVER THE LAST 16 YEARS THERE HAVE BEEN NO RESULTS ON KEY RIDING ISSUES SUCH AS BASE ROCKCLIFFE DEVELOPMENT AND TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENT;

NOTWITHSTANDING THAT THE LIBERAL PARTY WHEN LAST IN GOVERNMENT WAS RUDDERLESS AND MARKED BY SCANDAL;

NOW THEREFORE LET IT BE AFFIRMED:

THAT WE MEMBERS OF THE VCSQ WILL VOTE FOR THE INCUMBENT MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AND THE LIBERAL PARTY OF CANADA IN THE NEXT FEDERAL ELECTION!

TO THE RESIDENTS OF THIS RIDING, INCLUDING CHILDREN AND FUTURE GENERATIONS …

WE APOLOGIZE!!

I shared this Notice with Marie, who liked the idea. The purpose, as you can see, is to prod people into thinking about the presumption of power by the incumbent Liberals. The Notice is not expressly Conservative. If someone does not like it I can dissociate myself from it entirely…as long as I am not caught walking the streets with hundreds of copies.

[The notice was not used. Only I and Marie thought it was a good idea.]

I met Georges Bedard in the grocery store. He told me that he had no notion at all that he could be defeated, as he was in the last municipal election. In answer, I said I have no notion on my part to perhaps win! I corrected myself, of course, but only for the sake of good form. When I talk to Georges I have one eye on the profile of Mauril, who I think would have been one of Georges’ backers.

I let Georges know about CRG Consulting and shared with him that I will be attending the CRG Christmas event this evening. I offered to bring him into touch with the CRG executive team if Georges wanted to consider a future in the consulting business.

The CRG Christmas party was a pleasant event. I am a bit of a star because of my political journey. Many people harbor a sense that they could do well in politics. Few get the opportunity to actually run, fewer still are in a position to take up that opportunity when it comes, and fewer still will win. For me, if things stay on track, two out of three ain’t bad. Winning is both the last and the least of my goals.

When I compared notes with others at our table I was reminded that most of my colleagues from that previous place and time continue to make money in the same old way as I have done over the last 7 years. I am truly not envious of them. I do not expect to be back. But to say this now would be too soon.

2 DECEMBER

I had coffee with Jonathan R.

He is a very positive and enthusiastic fellow with his eye on a prize: landing a job – preferably on the Hill. His interest in helping me win the next election, I could see, had a whole lot to do with the possibility that in return I will offer him a job if I win.

We reviewed the state of play among campaign team members and he surprised me by saying that the loss of Guy and Gene is a good thing. “Rem,” he observed, “the presence of Guy and Gene at your team meetings made the overall effort feel old. Your own drive and energy seemed to be dulled when you asked one of those two to step into the discussion.”

Between us, Jonathan and I agreed upon a graduated scale of involvement (rather like I did with Luc) where his participation will depend upon whether he gets a job after he leaves University at the end of December. Even if employed he will take the time to make a serious contribution during an election campaign.

If his time remains his own, however, he foresees himself working into the campaign manager position and, after we win, becoming my chief assistant in my Parliament Hill office. I did nothing to dissuade him in these matters.

In the back of my mind, of course, was my undertaking with Luc. My undertaking with Luc runs along the same lines. My duplicity, formerly playing Gerald and Guy off against each other, has begun again.

To Luc, however, I gave a more substantive test: help me implement a pre-writ direct mail of the brochure. If Luc rises to this test and if he further affirms that he wants to get onto the campaign manager track himself (by doing more than just the coordination) then I suspect Luc will get the nod. He is more experienced than Jonathan and he is already known among politicos on the Hill.

While I am again playing two people for one position I have learned from experience that one of the two – if not both – will likely have fallen by the wayside before I have to make good on either of my undertakings. For example, I have not yet heard from Luc. For all I know he is already a thing of the past.

In the evening I did a round of canvassing with Georges Lavoie in the poorest area of my riding. It was great.

This was canvassing as I imagined it. We knocked on about a hundred doors, with Georges knowing the residents behind half of them. This is the neighborhood within which Georges contributes his time and energy. They are lucky to have him. He is greeted by smiles and by undertakings to contribute to his various community projects. My own purpose was explained in the course of these exchanges. I did not feel a stranger or an interloper. It felt good.

This evening we had Jason and Miriam over for supper. I shared the Notice about the Vanier Coalition for the Status Quo and asked Jason (with Miriam) to consider the intent and the contents and let me know what adjustments they might advise.

As I shut down for the night I note an incoming email from Micheline K advising that she does not want to help me make the 880 telephone calls to residents who accepted lawn signs in previous campaigns. I am now down to six people, counting me and Marie. To get this done I am beginning to think that I should range just a little more widely in my search for volunteers. Perhaps my son-in-law’s father might be prepared to lend a hand… He happens to be in town for a couple of weeks.

I am not surprised any more by the lack of enthusiasm among the supporting cast of CPC and association members. I am only surprised, in fact, when anyone at all steps forward. The non-response from Goretti, nevertheless, was totally unexpected. I hope it is because she does not read home email and not a consequence of the break-up meeting last Wednesday. I hope it was not because she witnessed the exchanges that resulted in Guy quitting my campaign team.

3 DECEMBER TO 6 DECEMBER

This was, again contrary to expectations a couple of months ago, an active few days.

The Friday began with a pancake breakfast in Vanier (“Flocons de Neige”) at which Marie and Priscilla joined me. There was a very large crowd (estimated at 500 people), one that would be the envy of most politicians. They were all there to eat and to be seen supporting the cause of the French culture in Vanier. Net profits would be used to provide food for those in need.

I am happy I went. I had a chance to meet the new Councilor who will replace Georges Bedard; I said “hello” to Christian Marcoux of Perspectives Vanier; and, I nodded to Jean Therrien who is a community leader especially for small and medium businesses. I noted the presence of Mauril, who appeared rather isolated and in search of people to talk to. He is not a major draw, that’s for sure.

Over the course of the weekend I was busy on a fairly steady basis answering emails and preparing positions on this and that. My record for this is in the material, not in my mind and not in my weekly agenda. So take my word for it.

This morning I had asked Eleanor to stop by to review where things stand. We found ourselves in agreement on all points: she will be the volunteer coordinator when the writ is dropped. Her intended approach is in line with what I want for the team and for the individuals who make it up. Her enthusiasm will be a treat on the dull days…and likely a pain in the neck on the lively ones. I will take care to be sure she goes the distance. I was pleased to learn, by the way, that Eleanor knows Jonathan. “He would be really great in leadership role on the team,” she observed.

I met Priscilla in the early afternoon to give her a few sections of the telephone list for signs. We had a good chat. Everything is still lining up well in her view as well. Neither one of us expect to regret the absence of Guy and Gene in the weeks and months to come.

I may not have noted above that Rob W has made contact. He and I will be going for lunch on Wednesday of this week. He is the guy who has managed the installation of lawn signs for previous Conservative campaigns. I still worry that his support came to me because of Gene, but his phone call reassures me a bit. I hope he will not use our lunch as his opportunity to bow out.

I have also fixed a coffee with Robert N on Wednesday morning the same day. He appears to be a past-president of the Ottawa-Vanier EDA and a former member of the CPC hierarchy. He called me out of the blue and said he might be interested in lending a hand. So my team membership may be filling up again, to the point where I have now “promised” the same opportunity to two of my potential recruits and fear I may be adding a third person to that list when I meet Robert. I will have to deal with this potential problem…likely by using Luc’s non-response to my advantage. What I offered to Luc now goes to Jonathan and, when I see Robert, I will try like crazy to not make any more offers.

This evening I went through the first of the two dozen pages of names I will phone to confirm locations for signs. I am rejected once for every two calls I place. It is no fun. Just after I quit this evening, however, I received a call from a young woman wanting to sell me the Globe and Mail. I am sure telephone soliciting is no fun for her either.

Tomorrow I am contemplating going to Sharbot Lake to burn the brush I have collected over the Summer…

7 DECEMBER

Well, Sharbot Lake did not happen.

I spent most of the morning responding to emails and finalizing notes to campaign team members. Basically, I am shoring up my support now that Guy and Gene have left. I am so much freer than I was before to say what I really mean and to ask for what I really want.

There is nothing new in the content of the messages I am sending around so I will not reproduce the content here. My only challenge, when summarizing where things stand for team members, was to handle my having “promised” the same functions to both Jonathan R and Luc. Since I have had follow up with JR and still no word from Luc I went with the former. If Luc really wants to step into this in an authoritative way I will respond to his proposal and likely accede…but I do not want to risk anyone else’s enthusiasm in the process.

In the afternoon I visited another strip-mall along St. Laurent Blvd. In a short line of about 12 stores I met proprietors who hail from Congo, Lebanon, Nigeria, Philippines, Jamaica, Syria, India, Somalia, and my home town Quebec City. Amazing. I was well received by everyone, treated to samples of store food, purchased a few products to demonstrate good faith, and believe I made a good impression in my turn. I was pleased to see at one of the stores that my doorknocker was already on the bulletin board. I am never sure what this means in terms of votes but I sure have some interesting stories to tell.

This evening I will again be making a page of telephone calls for the signs. Tomorrow I will have to get my sets of names into the hands of Priscilla and Amy who have offered to help. I may also return to the strip mall of today, to the Men’s Clothing Store, and buy a pair of winter-weight pants. That store has a reception late this afternoon and I was told I would be welcome to stop by.

I will report on these closing activities later today or tomorrow.

Tomorrow should be interesting, by the way. I see Robert N in the morning and Rob W over lunch. By the end of the day my campaign readiness should have been nudged forward just a bit more on account of those meetings.

8 DECEMBER

This was a good day.

Before reporting upon my coffee with Robert N and lunch with Rob W, however, I want to summarize last night’s phone calls and say a few more words about the Guy and Gene departure.

The phone calls went well. Before picking up the phone and for about 45 minutes I hung about watching television and reading idly my latest novel for the sole purpose of delaying the inevitable. To get started is the hardest part. As I said to Marie in frustration at some point today: “The thing that stands between a person and happiness is the physical and emotional act of engagement!” After I picked up the phone and engaged with the respondents, it was fun.

As before I scored about 50% of respondents agreeing to a sign. At this rate I can foresee at least 400 pre-writ confirmations on where our lawn signs will go the day the election is called.

About 1 in 10 were abrupt in their dismissal of my interest. All the others were pleasant or did not answer. In one case, further along the continuum for this kind of thing than others, a 20 minute discussion moved the respondent from being negative to agreeing to a sign. We talked about the communications problem the Conservatives seem to have in talking to conservatives like me. I was able to elaborate on my views regarding a number of upsetting federal government policies and positions. Respondents mostly echoed my views plus added to them.

Almost all the respondents are supportive of my effort to be prepared in advance.

Now, about Guy and Gene.

I learned from Priscilla, who stopped by to drop off her list of names and to pick up others (she does an excellent job with this), that Guy is telling people he was “fired”. In response to this Marie advises that I should call and have a coffee with him. But I won’t.

I copied Gene on a note to Rob W regarding the signs in which I observed that I and volunteers are having to run through about 900 names to confirm lawn sign locations. I am sure it does not occur to Gene that this is the kind of initiative and help I had been looking for when he and Guy decided instead to take another run at Voter ID.

My coffee with Robert N was wonderful. He and I talked about conservatism and its relevance in a wide range of policy contexts. We agreed upon the importance of standing for Canadian conservative principles and values in these turbulent times. We acknowledged that the federal government does not communicate very well when international or domestic pressures move it off its conservative base and into the good, or responsive, governance zone.

After our meeting I sent Robert the key documents on our campaign readiness and invited him to consider where and how he might make a difference. At this point I forecast that he will agree to act as “advisor” to the team, perhaps focused upon the team coordination and management level. If this is what he does then I can move towards a leadership team of Eleanor and Jonathan, advised by Robert, so that issues between Priscilla and the leadership team can be handed by her to Robert for resolution.

[And then Robert’s phone went dead. All emails stopped between us. I truly believe I had done nothing to cause this.]

Meanwhile, Luc remains somewhere out there. He let me know today that he was in Saskatchewan to attend the funeral of his Aunt. This goes beyond being a good excuse: it is actually a credit note for both him and his family to my mind. I did not go to Leamington when my Aunt Willy passed away and I will always regret that.

If Luc steps back into my life I will have the problem of orchestrating a role somewhere among me, Priscilla, Jonathan, and Eleanor. But I have faced worse problems in the past.

I also had lunch today with Rob W. Again, this went very well. Rob will certainly remain on board (he is not lost along with Gene) and, even more pleasing for me, his attitude towards politics is again much like mine and Robert N. I sometimes dare to think that a crescendo of support is building up.

But I have felt this before. Oh.oh

I turned to our developing website today and called Amy to again thank her for keeping the site up to date. There is now a link to the Youtube video done by Jason and Miriam. This evening I plan to stop by to hand over to Amy three lists of names for the confirmation of sign locations: the more a person does, the more I begin to expect from him or her.

At this point I, Priscilla, and Amy are calling the 880 names on the Signs List.

9 DECEMBER

After doing the usual clean up of emails in the morning I met over lunch with CRG Consulting associates to talk about ways for new consultants to break into the Aboriginal/Government/Private Industry business. I found myself to be as excited as usual about this topic…and I was saved by one of those present who said: “If there is a way ahead with this, I will lead it.” So the lead will not fall to me (thank goodness).

I realize that I often need to be protected from myself. I have no desire to step back into the middle of money-making propositions, yet I had almost stepped forward to play a lead role with CRG Consulting in a new line of business development. Unless I am called upon to play largely ceremonial or representative roles I do not believe I should keep going in the consultations business.

The only exception will be, of course, if I am elected and, deep down, I still hope there will be an off ramp – even if it proves to be the good performance of Mauril on the campaign trail.

Only two issues of note for this report because Marie and I went to the cottage for the day and I spent my time burning the accumulated underbrush and rotten lumber of last summer.

First, it is amazing to me that Brock and company have still not reached out in any way whatsoever – at least not in any way seen by me – to promote the Christmas Party scheduled for 15 December. I wonder how the heck he is going to pull in the numbers to make this a meaningful event. This may be one of the association’s last events before a spring election so I would think it to be an important one. I wonder what Brock and his executive team are doing to get ready.

I have let a few people know about the event but I have not gone out of my way. Marie and Priscilla offered (repeatedly) to help make calls and to help stuff envelopes but we were never asked. I do not intend to take over this kind of association function if they don’t even return our emails. In the new year it seems Brock and Shaun should revert to the limited roles of banker and treasury board after all. Their undertaking to make the association produce results is falling flat.

Those two guys do not have the energy, time, (or inclination?), to do their association executive jobs properly. Marie and I assess that because of my own good performance and because of the resulting inflow of contributions that have moved our association into a healthy financial position, the national office no longer worries about Ottawa-Vanier at all. They don’t expect to win the riding anyway.

Our two association leaders, Brock and Shaun (Alex is now rarely in the play), have already earned the gold stars (additions to their curriculum vitae) they were looking for.

I do not expect to do much in the political line of work this weekend. I received a call back from Gord L, a riding resident I had called for placement of a sign who happens also to be a former student at Quebec High School when I was there. I will follow up with him and propose a coffee or lunch down the hill. His background includes a career in the media. In addition to our comparing notes, who knows, he may become an advisor or member of the campaign team.

I will be back on Monday, 12 December, after which there will only be 19 days left to go before I close down this diary. I will move to updates from time to time and begin to reflect on where my year in politics has left me in terms of understanding the political process in Canada.

10 DECEMBER TO 13 DECEMBER

I seem to be having some trouble with my days. Today is Monday…but it is the 13th of December, not the 12th. Last night (Sunday) I sent out a reminder to all my “contacts”, now numbering about 50, to go to the Christmas Party on Wednesday. We are sending out notices pretty close to the wire. It has become clear that the association executive did not reach out to anyone at all. If there is a good turnout I will consider it a compliment to my efforts as a candidate.

On the home front these last few days have been very tense. The impact of tension upon my health remains the same. I am beginning to settle on “adrenaline” being the problem. I found and printed an article off Google which explained my problems very well.

I cannot figure out, however, why adrenaline “rushes” in the night time should leave my chest feeling squeezed and aching. I have heard that the heart itself features very few nerve endings and has little feeling. But those “rushes” definitely leave an unpleasant pressure under my chest. It takes a good sleep or two to fix it.

The tension between Marie and me began, as it often does, with her perverse (in my view) persistence in a negative frame of mind. On Saturday that negativity was applied four-square to my political journey and all the people in it. She is angry and impatient with the non-performance of Brock and Shaun, anticipating an embarrassing showing for the Christmas party. Marie claims to be a Liberal but I always find her consternation when others are in control of her destiny a very conservative response. While Marie is correct in her criticism, her sullenness about things does not help. I have no choice, even if greatly discouraged, but to climb back out into a happy state of mind as soon as I can. I must try to stay above the fray. I find the poor performance of the association and their impolite treatment of me and Marie interesting. I try to leave it at that. I find Marie’s attitude discouraging because I feel I have a responsibility – towards her and also towards me – to turn her attitude around.

The tension between us always risks slipping into a full blown attack and counterattack, into which get drawn the age-old hurts and angers of years ago and of yesterday. This kind of tension and the adrenaline that flows along with it always has its repercussion in “rushes” during the night and a wasted following day.

When this happens I despair about how I will deal with things during the five weeks of a campaign.

On this occasion I came away from our tensions, the bad night, and the recovery period with a new angle on the future of my journey. My new angle, which is actually a return to what I had contemplated before, is this:

Because Marie will leave work in the late spring (June or so) and because this journey has already lasted longer than I had planned, by March or April I will either have completed my run at public office (an election having been called) or resigned as candidate and run instead to be on the board of the association. The next AGM is at the end of April.

The constitution of the association does not allow an executive member of the board to also be the association’s candidate.

From a position on the board and then headed towards the president position over a period of years, I will have good reason to stay involved in the politics of the day. I will also be able to support the incoming candidate who replaces me by handing over a great many files of information. By doing this I will confirm to the association and to the party that I can be counted upon. Within the world of political organizers I likely will be seen to have stepped up a rung in the ladder rather than down.

Marie, needless to say, was enthusiastic about this alternative trajectory.

In reply she offered herself to a future in which she supports me just as fervently and consistently as board member of the association as she has supported my journey so far. I am being a bit disingenuous here, of course. Marie’s support is always there when pressed to the wall. I have it anyway.

On Sunday I received an email from Luc saying he would be pleased to go the distance with me, including the spot of campaign coordinator. I reacted very positively to this. We will have lunch on Tuesday of this week (actually tomorrow, since today is Monday) at which I will discuss the personalities of our team and consider with him how to handle Jonathan and (possibly) Robert N to whom I have offered the same deal as to Luc. My current thinking is:

- Luc becomes campaign coordinator

- JR is assistant to Luc

- Eleanor is volunteers coordinator

- Robert is campaign team advisor, ready to help anyone who asks for his advice.

I will tell Luc tomorrow that the people I will want to find work for if we win are him, JR, Eleanor, and Priscilla. Of those four I think Priscilla will likely be asking for very little.

This evening I will get back to the telephones for the signs confirmation.

14 DECEMBER

Today should go down in my journey as having been a good day. I hope this is how the day turns out.

Today I had lunch with Luc. We reviewed our respective histories. His background reflects much of what I experienced when I was in a minister’s office, but in his case he was “fired” when he came to the end of his rope. I understood his reasons, turning as they did upon the personalities of those who directed him. Politics are highly volatile: if the wave turns your way you are best to get out of the pool quickly.

What endeared me to Luc was his close relationship with Tom Creary, who had been a favorite of mine when I was a kid back in Quebec. Tom was a bit older. He was keen, fair, fun, and respectful. It is a plus for me to link up with another who has known Tom.

I was frank about the members of the team and I was clear that Luc – if he stays the course – will be my choice for team leader. But I am not yet sure whether I want a team “coordinator” or “manager”. As I said to Luc: “The campaign plan is fully set. All I want is for its contents to be delivered upon. I do not want any further development of the plan unless new resources are secured in advance.”

Jonathan, too, impresses me greatly. He does not have the experiences of Luc but he cuts a good figure and can help me to make a difference.

At the end of the day I returned to my telephone calls. As usual, I enjoyed the effort once I got going. Most of my discussions over the phone are positive whether or not the respondent agreed to accept a lawn sign. I am now at 40 accepted signs and expect to come close to 50 (after a few return calls), after calling about 150 people. I am pretty sure the 880 names I began with will result in 400 or so pre-planned and positioned signs on the day the writ drops.

I am not sure whether I recorded above the fact that I have sent another letter to The Rockcliffe News. I take issue in that letter with the supportive ways in which the Rockcliffe leadership stand by Mauril…even though there has been no action on any of the major files in this area of the riding. My letter will be posted by Amy on the Facebook. I do not expect my home neighborhood to publish it.

Tomorrow evening is the Christmas Party. My forecast is that we will have about 40 people, half of whom will have been driven to the event by Brock. I will be ready…but flexible. I really have little idea about what to expect.

15 DECEMBER

The day wore on in the usual way, with my review of emails and my addition to a few pieces such as the first of my video “speeches” for Jason and Miriam. I adjusted the speech so that I can use it this evening.

The Christmas Party, to my mind, proved to be a defining moment in many ways.

First, the good news. The party played out quite well, with 35 people in attendance and enough dialogue among those participating to create the hubbub needed for a successful event. My speech went well, concluding with my comment that the long-missing All-Canadian Person talked about in the media a few days ago is in fact a conservative in his or her values and principles. My business is to find 20,000 of these people between now and the next election in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier.

But we had been lucky. Priscilla and Lynda, joined by Eleanor, had arrived early to the Richelieu Centre and had seen the food had been delivered but no one was around to set things up. No preparations had been done. No decorations were on site. Brock arrived just before the scheduled start time.

I learned later in the day, after the event was over, that Brock had received confirmations from three people. Three people. Frankly I don’t know how they even heard about the event since no invitations were sent or calls made from Brock’s end. We headed into a Christmas Party without any preparations and with three confirmed attendances.

I cannot let this happen again. One of the goals of an organization that wants to win an election in Ottawa-Vanier must be to build momentum. When I compare today’s Christmas Party to last year it would appear that no momentum is building at all. On this round we had no festive atmosphere at all. We had far fewer people. And even at that, we were extremely lucky that the event worked as well as it did.

Enough already.

There were about 10 in the room whom I could say I attracted personally. There were about 10 of the “regulars”. About 15 of those attending were a compliment to my efforts over the last year. But 35 votes will not win the election. We need twenty thousand.

16 DECEMBER

This morning I was able to say to Marie with greater resolve than before that I will not drift beyond the Spring of 2011.

Between Christmas and New Year’s I will pull together an action plan for the pre-writ period between January and April. I will use a project approach for campaign preparation. Each project will have a person assigned to its development.

My plan will include a meeting in late January of the campaign team, prior to which I will have informed Brock, Shaun, Colin McSweeney, and the national office that I will step down as candidate if the February budget passes successfully and there is no election. In April I will present myself for election to the board of the association and will accept an executive position if one becomes available. If the current board steps down I will be prepared with a slate of supporters who will take over the association with me.

If there is no election in 2011 the stage will be set for doing the job right, for the next candidate, for an election in the early fall.

Later this afternoon I do another round of canvassing with Georges Lavoie and tonight I intend to complete the signs calls.

What does canvassing in a neighbourhood like Beausejour entail? On the one hand one does the usual, which is to knock on doors – sometimes two at once – and to jump into the door frame of the door that opens up. If two doors open at the same time one can get compromised quite quickly. Usually the residents in both houses (row houses, in the case of Beausejour) are impatient to learn what the disruption in their evening is all about. Georges kills time with one resident while I introduce myself to the other.

Every round of canvassing leaves a candidate with stories to tell. Each and every time something interesting crops up. That is why you hear candidates for public office almost always refer to a particular person, in a particular neighbourhood, having a particular problem that the candidate believes the government should address. If you are running for the government in power you explain how the government’s policies already deal with the matter and that, once elected, you will be sure to bring those policies down to ground right there where the person at the door can benefit from it. If you are running for an opposition party you observe upon the shortcomings of the government in power and you say how you, and the government you hope to be a part of, will do a better job.

As before, to canvass as few as sixty row houses takes a minimum of three hours if you allow as few as three minutes at each door. Sometimes a resident will ask for a whole lot more of your time. Very few residents expect you to turn tail and run to the next door over after the first minute or so of introductions.

One of the doors that stayed open for about twenty minutes on this particular round was that of a new Canadian, of Congo descent, who has been an unemployed pastor of the United Church ever since his biblical studies came to an end three years ago. Oscar B, the married father of three grown children, remained a patient man – trusting in God – notwithstanding the indignity he felt for having been without a job for so long. In the Congo, I learned, a man with his education and his professional orientation was in high demand. Back in his former home he would be a success story. Here in Canada he feels like he is failing. I talked to Oscar for all of those twenty minutes, I met his family, and he became a fairly regular part of my life until well after the election had come and gone. Six months after the federal election in the spring after we met, Oscar enrolled as a candidate for election in Congo. In that country the parliament allows for a few seats to be filled by expatriates who, coming back to sit in their legislative building, are expected to bring with them the lessons learned in their new homelands.

Another experience on this round of canvassing was my being stopped between two sets of row houses by a couple of women, wearing white saris, who wanted to tell me about troubles they are having with their kids. Beausejour is not a happy place for kids. Between the boundaries of the social housing project and the border of a fashionable part of centre town, on the edges of the wide boulevard which runs between those lines, one can see the angry men and women who work in the drug and prostitution trades of downtown Ottawa. In broken English and French the women described to me how their teenage children have to get past those angry young adults every time they want to go off the property of the projects. A high percentage of kids, in their teenage years, fall victim to the enticements offered by the drug dealers and prostitutes they come to know. The kids become agents and moles for the drug dealers. The girls are introduced to prostitution. The guys become attracted to the life of pimps. There is no money in the projects. The money is made at the border and then on the other side.

To those two mothers I was unable to extol the “get tough on crime” policy agenda of the government I was representing. I talked about the importance of community action groups, I called upon Georges to describe what his own efforts are to provide recreation opportunities for Beausejour children, and I said that – if elected – I will become a thorn in the side of municipal and provincial politicians to have more program support be directed to our riding for the prevention of criminal activity and to intervene when young people have fallen into crime. I would have been good in that role.

17 DECEMBER TO 21 DECEMBER

We are talking the weekend, and then Monday and Tuesday here. Very little happened.

I checked my emails daily and kept up my end of any correspondence but there was nothing new. Today, the 21st of the month, I copied my letter to The Rockcliffe News onto my letterhead paper and delivered 14 letters. Each went to one of the Rockcliffe Community Association board members who happened to be named along with addresses on the December edition of the News.

I believe I noted above that since my message in the letters is essentially a reprise of what I have already said about the bridge and Base Rockcliffe development I will not reprint the contents here.

Over these last few days my inclination to abandon the candidate position in favor of joining the EDA Board instead has waxed and waned. At the moment the inclination to abandon my run is waning.

I am regularly doing quite a bit to get my campaign house in order. I have completed my first round of phone calls on the signs list (49 more acceptances). I have sent out emails and letters and Christmas cards for the season to over two hundred people. Tomorrow I expect to spend time with Miriam to do the New Year video we had spoken about, and so on. I think I am earning my spurs.

I think I may have to re-play the “heavy” with Marie and reassert my desire to take this run for politics to its conclusion. It would be a fantastic cap to my career. It would become one of the most meaningful accomplishments for me to point to when I begin to reflect upon my career. It would be the story my kids share about me when I have joined Dad and all the rest of humanity in whatever space we permanently occupy after we pass on.

Besides, my health is better than ever!

I have no idea what has brought this on, but my blood pressure is actually low these days – all day – at about 110 over 70. My “rushes” at night still occur but I welcome them with a sense of “you again!” and go back to sleep. Also, believe it or not, my running for Parliament gives both Marie and me something to keep our minds upon when we might otherwise wonder endlessly about how to play out the next 20 to 30 years of “retirement”. Why not really earn the privilege?

22 DECEMBER TO 26 DECEMBER

Well, I am closing in upon the finish line. Perhaps I will close in relatively good order. The fact is there is a great fall-off in pressure, given the Christmas season, and also a fall-off in my own level of engagement.

Tonight, the night of the 26th, I went to a cocktail party at the home of Michael and Craig, former neighbors in the Ottawa area known as Lindenlea. They lived beside us when we were on Rock Avenue, about 5 minutes walk from where we live now. I felt free to talk about my run at politics, sensed I was among friends, and had the happy coincidence of speaking with a supporter (I forget his name) with whom I apparently spoke at length when calling about the signs. It is amazing to see again and again how the links get made across a society.

One of the people at the party had run in 1984 for the NDP. He and I compared notes. Through discussion with him, and also with others who expressed admiration of the effort I am making, I reconfirmed to myself that I will be in this until an election actually happens. I will have to find a way to break it to Marie.

Over the last five days I developed my action plan for the pre-writ period between January and April of next year. While, as frequently before, the contents of my text simply repeat what has been said dozens of times before I display them below because of the summary the draft plan provides. As was true back in October, I once again am of the view that my administrative efforts are nearing a moment of closure. There is very little more I can say after you read how I propose to set things up for the first quarter of the New Year.

OTTAWA-VANIER CONSERVATIVE ASSOCIATION

ACTION PLAN FOR JANUARY TO APRIL

Submitted by the Rem Westland Campaign

BACKGROUND

1. In view of comments by Opposition parties in the House of Commons regarding their likely positions on a February budget, the Rem Westland Campaign proposes that the Ottawa-Vanier Conservative Association (“the association) base its action plan for the first four months of 2011 on the assumption that a federal election will be held in the spring.

2. In view of the high state of readiness achieved by the Rem Westland Campaign it is further proposed that the association’s plan, while we are still in the pre-writ stage, be implemented by Campaign Team members.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PLAN

3. The objectives of the plan are:

- ensure a minimum of $35,000 is in the account of the association when the writ drops, so that the Rem Westland Campaign can confidently plan on the basis of a $30,000 transfer (cash plus non-monetary value of signs);

- improve “name recognition” for our candidate during the pre-writ period without compromising the transfer target; and,

- ensure the Rem Westland Campaign is fully prepared (the 100 name endorsements, office space and equipment, signs locations, etc.) when the writ drops.

COMPONENTS OF THE WORKPLAN

4. The components of the plan, their cost, and the volunteers who have accepted lead roles are the following:

Protect the account

5. The association will maintain, or continually restore, a minimum account balance of at least $35,000. Every planned document, activity or event described below will be submitted to the executive committee of the association by the lead campaign team volunteer for final approval.

- The lead for this undertaking to ensure an account minimum will be with the executive committee of the association (Brock and Shaun), working closely with Priscilla in her role as designated Official Agent for the Campaign.

- All items will be submitted to the executive committee of the association along with a financing plan signed off by Priscilla and by the candidate. The financing plan will demonstrate what will be done to ensure that the undertaking to transfer $30,000 to the campaign is not compromised by the proposed document, activity, or event.

- The executive committee of the association, in discussion with Priscilla, will agree upon whether the refunding approach should be implemented before, during, or after the planned expenditure. This means that the account balance held by the association may have to be reduced below $35,000 in order to achieve an agreed outcome within a desired timeframe, but the refinancing plan will be a solid one that leaves no doubt about the shortfall being made up before the writ drops.

6. The association will work with the national office of the Conservative Party of Canada to learn whether a line of credit can be set up for the Rem Westland Campaign which is “guaranteed” by the party.

- The lead for this will be with the executive committee of the association, working closely with Priscilla. If a line of credit can be confirmed in advance of the writ being dropped then the Rem Westland Campaign can confidently move from its “basic plan” to a fully funded campaign plan.

7. The association will work with electoral district associations in other ridings across the region and across Canada to learn whether inter-association cash transfers are possible to increase the amount the Rem Westland Campaign can expect to receive.

- The lead for this will be with the executive committee of the association, working closely with the candidate and with Priscilla. If it is confirmed in advance that more than $30,000 (monetary and non-monetary value) will be available to the campaign then, again, the Rem Westland Campaign will be able to move confidently from its “basic plan” towards a fully funded campaign plan.

Promote name recognition

8. A brochure will be prepared for direct-mail. It will be either the brochure already in use or a variant of this and it will be mailed to selected households (apartment buildings only?) or all 55,000 residences as will be determined by the lead volunteer in coordination with Priscilla and the association.

- The lead volunteer is Luc. Gene has the templates for the brochure (and door knocker) currently in use. Both these important documents are out of date with regard to website and email addresses.

- The cost will range from $5000 (selected residences) to $11,000 (all residences). Affordability and final content will be determined by Luc in discussion with Priscilla and the executive committee of the association.

- The mailing is planned for late January or early February 2011.

- The same content will be considered for a brochure to be distributed (direct mail or lit-drops) during the period of the writ.

9. Advertisements will be considered for local print media (EMC, Perspectives Vanier) based upon existing design options already prepared for the campaign team.

- The lead volunteer is Luc. The templates for the existing designs are available from association board members Priscilla and Guy. The design lead is with Eurocopies Inc. in the market area.

- The cost will be approximately $800 per advertisement. Affordability, timing, and final content will be determined by Luc in discussion with Priscilla and the executive committee of the association.

10. Radio and television opportunities will be explored and implemented if possible during the period of this plan.

- The lead volunteer is Luc. If an opportunity arises the approval to proceed will be provided by Brock, in his role as president of the association.

- A condition for this component of the plan being implemented is that there be no cost to the association. Luc and the candidate will seek out opportunities where we are invited guests rather than paying customers.

11. The presence of the Rem Westland Campaign in the social media (website, Facebook, Youtube) will be maintained during the period of this plan. Quick (and likely minor) adjustments of the content will be made as necessary when the writ is dropped.

- The lead volunteer for this is Amy. She will work with Luc and with CPC advisors on website and Facebook content and will coordinate with other campaign team supporters regarding Youtube content as may be required.

- Unless the association is advised to the contrary there will not be a cost associated with this activity.

12. Canvassing of Ottawa-Vanier neighborhoods will be conducted throughout the period of this plan.

- The lead volunteer is Jonathan. He will work with other campaign team volunteers including Georges, Colin Lindley, and Eleanor. Association board members will be invited to become part of this activity as well.

- Information gathered in the course of this canvassing will be incorporated in CIMS and therefore be supportive of the Party’s Voter ID program. The priority at the doors, however, will be meet-the-candidate.

- A condition for this component being implemented is that there be no cost to the association. Any costs (refreshments, travel) will be absorbed by those who participate.

13. Events will be organized to advance the goal of name recognition and/or fundraising throughout the period of this plan.

- The lead volunteer for this is Eleanor, working closely with the candidate. She will also work closely with campaign team volunteers.

- The events being considered include coffee parties (high-rises) and a meeting of the Candidate’s Circle of Supporters (formerly known as the 400 Club) in mid-February. The association will be asked to help bring a senior party official or elected representative to the mid-February meeting.

- A condition for this component being implemented is that there be little or no cost to the association, except as may be recoverable by ticket prices or by contributions solicited at the event.

- Eleanor will obtain final clearance from the executive committee of the association before confirming an event.

Ensure the Rem Westland Campaign is fully prepared

14. An adequate number of signs will be prepared in advance, using the CPC template, for arterial road locations and for all pre-confirmed private property locations.

- The lead volunteer for this is Priscilla, working closely with Rob W.

- Confirming the size and number of signs required for arterial locations will be done by Rob. Confirming the number, names, and addresses of pre-confirmed property sign locations will be done by the candidate working the phones with a number of volunteers.

- The cost of this component, including hardware, is in the order of $10,000 and has already been approved in principle by the association. Priscilla, in discussion with the association, will decide which firm is contracted to produce the signs and how many signs will be produced pre-writ.

- Eleanor, working with Rem Westland and Rob, will ensure that there are four teams of two people – properly equipped with vehicles and pole drivers – ready to go with the signs after the writ drops.

- The “all clear” to proceed will be given by Priscilla in her role as Official Agent.

15. A suitable location for the campaign office will be identified and preliminary work done (lease and sub-lease, equipment selection and rental agreements) to ensure occupancy just before of immediately after the writ drops.

- The lead volunteer for this will be Priscilla, working closely with the executive committee of the association. While the association is solely responsible during the pre-writ period and post-writ, and therefore will be the party that signs the lease, a decision about office location must be approved by Priscilla in her dual roles as office manager and Official Agent.

- The cost for an office plus overhead is forecasted in the budget of the campaign team at $7,500 and will be drawn from the amount transferred to the campaign.

16. Material prepared during the pre-writ period but intended for the campaign will be gathered in “action ready” format and assessed for its non-monetary value to the Rem Westland Campaign.

- The lead volunteer for this will be Priscilla.

- The work will result in a “book” of materials (text, discs, internet links). The non-monetary value to be ascribed to the cost of the campaign will be negotiated between Priscilla in her role as designated Official Agent and Shaun as finance officer for the association.

17. The names of 120 supporters will be compiled for submission to Elections Canada/the Returning Officer when the writ drops so that Rem Westland can be confirmed as the candidate for the Conservative Party of Canada.

- The lead for this will be with Priscilla.

- Opportunities will be used throughout the pre-writ period to compile this list, including door-to-door visits by the candidate and Priscilla with residents who have confirmed their interest in having a lawn sign on their properties.

One of the underlying messages in the action plan is confirmation that I intend to remain in charge. I will be sending this text to the core group of campaign team members and ask them to agree that they will handle the task(s) specifically assigned to them. There is no suggestion in the plan that there will soon be a senior guy to replace Guy, however weak he may have been in his leadership role. There is no one identified who can be held by Brock or anyone else to be the single point-person to whom questions can be addressed on all matters occurring in, or relating to, the plan. Contact for the different activities will have to be with the lead campaign team member or with me.

For the association, whose literature from the CPC tells them that candidates are dumb bunnies who cannot be trusted to do the right things, my approach must be difficult to swallow.

My current thinking is to leave the leadership open ended for the time being. I will wait to see how the three lead people – Eleanor, Jonathan, and Luc – play out their respective roles. In my view the overall lead can be any one of the three roles those folk will be playing: volunteers’ coordinator, canvassing and community outreach, and public relations. I am pretty sure the nod will go to Luc, but I will keep my powder a bit dryer than I have done in the past.

Tomorrow I plan to do another round of telephoning for the signs, and then again on Tuesday and Wednesday. One way or another I will deem this calling for the signs to be a completed project by the end of the first week in February. By then I am absolutely sure I will have at least 250 confirmed property locations, which is short of the 400 I had expected but is nonetheless a pretty good beginning. By knocking on those 250 doors, furthermore, I will be certain to obtain the endorsements I will need from riding residents who approve my candidacy.

27 DECEMBER TO 30 DECEMBER

Boy oh boy…just one day to go!

Again, given the season and my being drawn into family receptions and – as I write this – to our hosting of Marie’s father, I have very little to report that might add to my eventual theory of politics. But there are a few important developments.

First, it is noteworthy that today for the second time Marie’s dad and I exchanged views about my political journey. It was a short but meaningful and positive discussion. We talked about the political process, the incumbent Conservative party in New Brunswick and in Ottawa, my own approach to politics, and the crime agenda. I was able to lay out my own positions without incurring a visceral rejection or apparent growth in resentment. In fact, the result was more enhancing of our relationship than anything else.

A second development has been an exchange of emails between me and John V who lives around the corner. He is decidedly not a Conservative (likely more of an NDPer) but proves to be a supporter of the idea that political discussion can be positive as an end in itself. He has shared with me a number of texts I will have to glance at about communications in a modern age. He has also made a number of significant points about my political experience that I should record in this diary:

- The problem with politics today is that those engaged in political discussion move quickly to stridency and ad hominem attacks. While a level-headed debate – even with feelings and beliefs that are intensely held – would be desirable for the health of our political system, the chances for such a debate happening on a large scale seem to be reducing all the time. In this regard, efforts made in the House of Commons to improve the level of discussion during “Question Period” merit the support of people such as me.

- Whereas I often present my issues in terms of “right” and “left”, a more meaningful differentiation might be between hierarchical/structured/top-down and horizontal/free-flowing/responsive. The difference is between the known and the unknown, where the latter requires folk to navigate their way without the benefit of certainty about the past, present, or future.

- However one marks a distinction in approaches, to come from one place rather than from another is not a bad thing. This is where debate comes from. But to move towards a consensus – even if the consensus is always changing – is the goal of those who are in a position to provide direction to a society. In this regard, in my discussion with Marie’s father, I had shared my “shock” when I learned in Brockville that the CPC subscribes to the view that the federal government if formed from our party in the House is not to be separated from the party itself. I do not like this position of the CPC. I will work to change it if I am elected or if I stay long enough in the political system. There should be latitude for a great deal of difference between what motivates a government and what motivates the political party from which the government is drawn.

- In politics today (as always in the past I suspect) there are two objectives: gain votes and raise money. The latter objective can move one away from the former. I agree with the legislation in Canada which limits how much funding can be provided to a party or a candidate by any one person or entity. The more one plays to the money the more one moves towards corporatism and the further one moves away from the people.

I have not had to do a great deal on the politicking front these last few days. I have even set aside my telephone calls regarding signs locations. I will return to that next week.

I had a good conversation with Priscilla, however, whose attitude and interest remains unabated. I will be doing everything I can to be sure that this does not change. Her support for me, especially in the role she is slated for (Official Agent) is absolutely key to my success.

I will now shut off for the day and use tomorrow to talk about where things go from here. I hope to log on at some point during the day, just to keep the faith with the title of this diary.

31 DECEMBER 2010

So…this is it! I have completed my diary on my first full year in politics.

I will be cheating a bit in this last entry because I will be returning to this day over the next few days (and perhaps weeks?) to summarize where I have been and what I intend. But I begin with what happened on the day itself that was politically relevant:

Nothing.

But I did receive an email from Luc saying that my expectations from him during the pre-writ period are exactly what he had expected of himself. I did not hear from Jonathan or Eleanor. I am confident that Jonathan will be on side. The jury is still out regarding Eleanor. With me, Priscilla, Luc, Georges, Colin, Amy, and a few others firmly in the ring I am certain I will be in good shape when the time comes. I have noted above that I never heard from Robert N again. For some reason he has taken himself off the list of campaign team members.

So, now I will begin to cheat. It is now already tomorrow (Happy New Year!) but I want to stay with my end-of-year perspective.

I listened to a short blurb on CBC today (1 January) in which Shelagh Rogers on CBC was interviewing a writer who has written a book about political participation. The few minutes I heard before leaving the car to walk the dog convinced me that the contents of this diary will resonate with others. I will track down this interview on the internet and learn more.

I talked to one of Marie’s sisters who, cautiously, asked me how things are going and observed: “This is going to be interesting. I never knew anyone who was running for political office before.”

The indicators that I will be staying in this game until I reach the finish line (voting day) are growing. I shared the information about the CBC interview and the observation from her sister with Marie, whose unenthusiastic “humph” reflects her preference that I withdraw. I will run into some upset when I state my intention to go the distance even if the next election is not until after the spring. In the fall I will turn 63: still three years younger than Julian Fantino, the same age as Marc Garneau, and a year younger than the leader of the Opposition.

The risk of my winning remains low, but I suspect my not running would become for me a point of irritation over time – especially if I assign blame for the decision to Marie.

On New Year’s Eve, by the way, we went to see the film The King Speaks. The film was well acted and played out an interesting story. For me there was an underlying query, however, that I rarely shake when watching or reading about “royalty”. I marvel that the politics of countries like Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and so many others still include public tolerance for such a foolish notion as Kings and Queens. They are symbols of culture, I know, and as a conservative I know that culture and its symbols are dangerous to tamper with. I suppose a bottom-line message to observers like me is: the alternative, in countries like Canada, Australia, and America, have not impressed the publics in the Kingdoms and Queendoms enough to bring those archaic structures to an end. As between England and France, Edmond Burke still takes it over Thomas Paine.

THE WAY FORWARD

From this point forward I will update the diary only from time to time. One thing I must do fairly soon is provide a forecast of where I think my involvement in the political process will take me. [This is an undertaking I never got around to doing. Suffice to say that, at this point in my journey, I had begun to believe that I would be the surprise winner.]

I JANUARY TO 11 JANUARY

These first few days in January were ordinary days, involving email updates a few times a day and my finalization of a couple of additional articles for the Facebook page. The noteworthy developments were the following:

- I re-entered an email exchange with Randall Denley of the Citizen which led to our agreeing to meet to talk politics (on the record) and for me to buy his other book.

- The Citizen of today (11 January) contained Randall’s article on Mauril Belanger. It was a polite article but damning with faint praise. I sent the article around to my core team of supporters (now totaling about 50 people) with the observation that the comments play well into our campaign plan. I did not say that I had shared with Randall my letter to Rockcliffe residents in which I was strongly critical of the incumbent MP. The article picked up some of what I had written to Randall.

- Marie and I had a blow-out “fight” about my decision to stay in the game unless something really important shakes me loose. I allowed that our moving to Fredericton to enable her to help her dad would be one of those important things but Marie does not like being put on the spot. After a difficult day we agreed that I will go the distance. I will do this on a project (fixed timelines) basis so that we can take trips to the Maritimes or elsewhere whenever we want. I will not be in a reactive/responsive mode, dancing to the tune of others.

- Marie contacted Colin McSweeney about Brock and Shaun never, ever, returning emails or sending out receipts, or whatever. She did not talk about the close-to-disasterous Christmas party. Colin clearly acted because the next day I finally got some answers to my various questions posed over the last two months.

- I asked Brock to put to the association at its next meeting my motion that would make the campaign team responsible for all initiatives between now and April. The board of the executive would reduce its role to that of banker and treasury board. Brock tells me the motion will be presented. This is quite a come down from the confidence expressed by Brock to Marie and me at our home last year. At that meeting, you will recall, Brock said a campaign team takeover of board functions, as Shaun had recommended was not necessary. I talked to Priscilla today and will ensure we have solid support at the board meeting when this appears on the association’s agenda.

- Tonight I meet the new leadership group of the campaign team. Jonathan cannot be there but said he would lead our canvassing and outreach functions as long as I could get to him a few hundred copies of doorknockers and brochures. I did not like the presumption that I should be the one to make the copies and fold the hundreds of sheets but I remain confident that he will stay on the journey with me to its end. [He didn’t. Jonathan quit a couple of days after the writ dropped.]

- Carol, now the past president of the association (but no longer part of the show), has moved to Newfoundland. Eleanor tells me her vacant apartment contains a number of items belonging to the association (computers, projection device, files) and that someone from the association should pick the stuff up and move it into storage. I checked around and learned that, as always, I will have to do this myself. Because I do not have a key to the association storage unit I made a couple of trips to Carol’s apartment and put everything into our basement at home.

- I asked national office to help me get in touch with the producers of a local show on French-language television where important people in the neighbourhood are interviewed. They responded with a long list of questions that got to my motivation for this. The outcome was a direct order to not pursue the idea any further. Oh, well…

- My next important event will be Marie’s birthday. I had better get cracking…

12 AND 13 JANUARY

The evening at Café Caco went well. The core team was there (Luc, Eleanor, Priscilla, and Marie, with JR missing). We discussed the workplan, my approach, and our respective undertakings for the time that may remain in the pre-writ period. Marie, as almost always when she has become engaged, was enthusiastic and helpful. Her pressure upon me to succeed is often much greater than what I place on myself, once she gets going.

Yesterday (12 January) I had my coffee with Randall Denley of the Citizen. To my mind the discussion between us went very well. He was much less interested in my view about issues nationally, regionally, or locally than I expected. His interest was clearly upon my person as a candidate, my reasons for running, my experiences to date, and my expectations for the future. I look forward to reading his article when it comes out.

The party, I know, would not have wanted the interview to take place. That is why I did not share the imminence of it with the national office. When the article on me comes out I will stumble upon an excuse of some kind. If the reaction to anything I do is stridently negative and the party wants me out…I will quit.

In the meantime, life goes on.

The Globe and Mail today ran another story about CRG Consulting being caught up in a bid-rigging “scandal”. There is a risk that a link will be made between me and the company if public debates happen. I shared my understanding of CRG’s predicament with the national office and we agreed not to worry. I am a separate legal entity from the firm. If an attempt is made to give profile to CRG, to the firm’s problems, and to my being on the firm’s executive I think this will help rather than hinder my cause. It will make the point that the firm I am associated with has been a serious player. Bad news is always better than no news.

14 JANUARY AND 15 JANUARY 2011

Today (15 January) is a Saturday and, like too many of our days recently, it did not begin well between Marie and me. My determination to carry on has been at the centre of our tensions. Coffee ended with the two of us hardly talking. Oh, well…

Yesterday I stopped by the local Inuit Community Centre, and then a Community Resource Centre which provides services to the Forbes/Overbrook area of this riding.

At the Inuit Centre it was obvious that the only support they expect from a member of the federal parliament is with regard to housing. But they are wrong about the jurisdiction involved. The women at the Centre (there were two men, who said very little) referred to their housing requirement as “Inuit Housing”. Their problem is that social housing for Inuit is a provincial issue everywhere but in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Inuit Housing is a concept that has meaning only in the two northern territories where the federal government retains authority. In Ontario the Inuit have no more rights than any other citizen of the province.

I sent an email to the Inuit following our meeting. I hope they get back to me and ask me to help them get something started with the province…but I am not too optimistic. If I am elected I will go back and offer my services anew. I bet Mauril has very little to do with the Inuit in this riding even though we host the largest concentration of Inuit south of the tree line.

At the Forbes/Overbrook Resource Centre I spoke for about an hour with the director of the Centre. Her observations regarding the extent of poverty she confronts were distressing. The challenges she and her colleagues face in their desire to help people escape from the poverty cycle are immense. We agreed that the federal role should be to work with the provinces to establish and maintain funding support. I sent a follow up email committing myself, if elected, to a bi-annual or annual meeting at her Centre where I will sit with provincial, municipal, and local leaders to help in the struggle against poverty in our riding.

Again, however, I am not too optimistic that there will be a follow up call from the lady. I am not the sitting Member of Parliament. To her I must look like a very risky investment of personal time and effort.

Even in the case of Ottawa University students, whom I now expect to meet at a pub night in mid-February (arranged by Luc), I appreciate more and more that politics only draw people together on an events basis. Politics as a process, in which people talk to each other and develop personal or consensus views about political decisions, are dead. People will participate in bowling evenings, they will attend AGMs where pizza is served, they will attend meetings where the event is an opportunity to listen to a speaker, but people are no longer interested to meet and talk politics among themselves on a regular basis.

As I said to Marie (things are settling down between us again) political dialogue will happen, and election results may turn on a dime, if ever there is an event or perhaps an issue which galvanizes public opinion. An extreme event, if there is a political organization prepared to pick it up, could result in sea-change in the politics of this country overnight. Hitler really could happen here. The political space between voters and elected legislators is almost entirely empty.

16 JANUARY TO 20 JANUARY

Not much new to report. I do about four hours of dedicated effort in support of this journey every day. Much of this consists of email exchanges that keep everyone, especially those on my team, informed.

My emails to the association are few, my responses from them are zero.

I have now had four more rounds of “door knocking”, done in a fashion I really like best. I and one or two others drop literature into the mailboxes of houses in an area of our choice, I stop to talk to a homeowner now and again, and we move to a new area. The goal is to let as many people as possible, with the numbers determined solely by our enthusiasm, know that the Conservatives will have a representative in the riding and that the representative has already been named: me! I think it will help me a lot if the word gets out that I am not a last-minute, stop-gap, stand in for want of anyone better.

Marie’s birthday was on January 17, and all went well. From the morning presentation of gifts (including a $400 travel voucher) to supper at Sweetgrass in the market, peace and harmony reigned. She really is an amazing woman. The tensions between us are always resolved at some point, often because of her fundamental commitment to all that we have going between us. I have that commitment as well but she is much better than I at finding ways to reconnect with the marvels of it.

We did not know that a very dark cloud loomed on the horizon.

Ted, our twelve year old Keeshond, had to be put down two days later (19 January). He had a condition of the spleen, likely a cancer, which was robbing him of red blood cells, had caused one lung to collapse, shifted his heart out of its normal position, and threatened massive internal bleeding. To us he seemed tired, coughed frequently, but was otherwise fine and quite his usual self.

The vet said: “now is the time”, so we acted right away. The little fellow lay by our sides on the floor of the vet’s private office as a sedative kicked in. He placed his head on my arm as the anesthetic was administered. His heart stopped. For us both it was heartbreaking.

On the political scene it is becoming more obvious that the Conservatives want to have an election this spring. The official line is that they will happily wait until the very end of their mandate (October) but the CPC has begun to play “chicken” with opposition parties. A number of “negative” ads came out today (19 and 20 January), on radio and television.

I assess that the Liberals will be honor-bound to reject the February budget; the Bloc will vote against the budget because the Conservatives will be sure to avoid an alliance with those guys; but – my guess anyway – the NDP will swallow hard and support the budget. I do not think the NDP would dare to have an election in the spring because their numbers are not very good. I do not think there will be a spring election but I had better start the engines revving again.

In the fall I will be 63 when an election is called but I must still be raring to go. I will be raring to go because I plan, from here on in, to manage my time and effort in ways appropriate to a man who sees election to the House of Commons as an extremely worthwhile retirement project.

This evening we went to a fund raising event at Yuk Yuks for a women’s shelter called Nelson House. Eleanor said it was important for me to attend because there would be a number of Conservative supporters in the crowd. I was a bit doubtful but I wanted to do what I could to keep Eleanor on side. One of the people I was introduced to confirmed himself to be a strong supporter of the Conservative party and we spoke at length in the course of the evening. Shortly after returning home, late at night, I sent to him a report on the current status of my campaign preparations because he had said he might be interested in helping out. [I never heard from him again. During the election he had three huge Mauril Belanger signs on his lawn. The fellow had been a Liberal all along.]

PS:

I asked myself while exercising this afternoon why it was so easy to be executive assistant to a Liberal minister in the Trudeau government when I was already a card-carrying Conservative.

In those days Liberals made up a political party which was committed to good governance. As the “Government Party” with decades in office, the Liberals welcomed Canadians of all stripes into its ranks as long as no one expected to force individually held values and principles into the content of policies and programs. Liberals were people who listened to what Canadians wanted and then tried to square the circle so that competing views and expectations were reflected. My minister said to me: “Rem, I don’t care what party a person belongs to. My requirement is that you commit yourself, with me, to doing the best we can for all Canadians. This is not a government just for Liberals.”

The so-called “dark ages” of Liberal underfunding for the military stand for – in the eyes of most Conservatives today – a lack of commitment by the Liberals to the value of self-defence and the principle of sovereignty. I was a part of that government.

If I were still standing for the Liberals I would answer: “The so-called ‘dark ages’ were nothing other than an ongoing adjustment away from war-fighting (World War Two and Korea) towards a situation where the Canadian Forces specialize in peacekeeping and in aid to the civil power.” In those days most Canadians were pleased and proud of the drift away from war-fighting. In those days war-fighting was what Viet Nam had been all about.

The Conservative government in recent years has been responding to appeals from a war-fighter Chief of Defence Staff. I, truth to tell, am not a war-fighter. I do not think it makes sense to equip Canada to fight wars as if we were a stand-alone power. I would rather have the CF specialize in an aspect of alliance support such as transport. A CF capacity to transport people and equipment in support of NATO would also come in handy at any time within Canada. Blowing people away with the fire power of an F-35 jet will never be useful to Canada except if we act in a subservient capacity to the United States.

21 JANUARY TO 23 JANUARY

Business as usual. There has been a very positive development in Luc’s pick up of my proposed letter “from the Rem Westland Campaign” on why I think I can win the next election. Luc undertook to do what I had hoped he would do: he will take it from here by touching base with team members and proposing a final version of the letter in French and in English. [In the end, he did not get around to doing this. Marie helped me finalize the letter in both official languages and I contacted the editor of a local paper to have it published.]

Today, 23 January, I attended the 5th Anniversary of the Conservative Party’s win that brought it into power in Ottawa. The Prime Minister spoke to a crowd of about 1400 party supporters. There was nothing new in his messages to the faithful.

I want to observe upon a particular aspect of this event that is telling, in terms of what I am learning about politics.

The event was scheduled to begin at noon and most people were in the room (about 1400 of us) by 12:15 pm. The Prime Minister stepped up to the podium at around 1:45 pm and spoke for about 30 minutes. His text was prepared entirely in advance (I could see the prompter screen). Every word and every gesture was scripted. There had been no lead-up to the PM’s speech, we had no idea who else from the party was attending, no mention was made of the associations represented or of candidates – like me – in the audience. It was a political event with only one featured entertainer. It was a one-way deal.

I could see that most people in attendance were happy with that. It is all that they now expect. I found it wrong in concept and discouraging in terms of the message: “you all count because of your numbers, not because of your wit or wisdom.” I think the unrolling of this event confirms my growing sense that politics in Canada are dying and no one really cares. We are all being asked to play in the political arena with the understanding that we are part of a charade which will bring to power a group of people (I hope to be among them) from which the governing few will be drawn.

On my way in and out I spoke to a number of people on my team and to members of the association in our riding. I also said hello to some party members whom I had met in Brockville. I said hello to Shaun and Brock, saying to the latter that I hope he will be standing again as president for the association when there is an AGM in April 2011. My words to him, with Priscilla watching, were: “I may not always be satisfied with the follow through on emails and discussions among us, Brock, but I trust you guys. For me, trust is key. I and my team are prepared to do 90% of the work as long as I can be sure the association protects the budget and that the money will be there when we need it.”

Brock said he was willing to stay on but I felt him to be insincere. I hope there will have been an election by the time the next AGM rolls around. I worry that an association which lacks committed people standing for board and executive positions will again be the kind of association to which folk like Bruce, Guy, Gene, Ross, and others are attracted. I am not sure what my attitude would be if the old gang shows up and resumes their former leadership roles.

I am pretty certain the “old guard”, if returned, would demand that I step down.

Tomorrow, January 24, I see Luc for lunch and in the evening I will get back to the telephone for the signs. Today I received from Amy her report on one of the sign lists: 12 more names went onto my list, making for a total of 130. Priscilla has a list of names as well. I am pretty sure I will be at 200 before I start to add the ones from the five lists still to go. I will make those last calls myself and likely add at least 100 more names to the total. I look forward to this job being done…

24 JANUARY TO 26 JANUARY

Not much to report. I met with Luc as planned and helped to set him up with his projects during the pre-writ period: preparing a direct mail of our brochure and beginning the work on a Newsletter to be issued if there is no election in the spring. I checked just in case: but Luc does not do telephone calls. He will not help me on the signs list project.

In the emails over these two days I used the opportunity to remind team members of our approach: we will each undertake a project or two to better prepare the ground for the basic plan should there be an election in the spring or later. I said I will play a part in anyone’s project on the basis of the script they develop for me. I want to avoid short-notice imperatives.

I also carried on with my telephone calls for sign locations. For about 30 minutes I engaged with one person who considers himself a Conservative but finds just about everything the party is doing to be wrong. He has a particular hate on for the Prime Minister.

I countered each and every one of his points on a wide range of subjects (long form census, family planning, long gun registry, public support to political parties, and others) and I was pleased to see that we both remained civil throughout. My blood pressure, however, went up to about 150/110. This tells me that I have a long way to go before I will be able to handle public debates during an election with the kind of aplomb that reflects best on a person.

I received an email from the national office which declared all the usual stuff about the leader of the Liberal party. In the email I was provided with a list of things I should attend to in case an election is called to counter the intransigence of Mr. Ignatieff on important national issues. I had all those listed items already well in hand. The email strengthened my resolve to get the endorsements I will need to become qualified as a candidate when the election is called.

For the rest of today I will check emails and draft content for my speeches. Tomorrow evening I attend the PC Annual Convention (provincial election in October) where I plan to be a spectator but one with a presence and a reputation that I could not have imagined having at this time last year.

PS: I was asked to speak at the end of the PC Annual Convention. In my words I congratulated the new executive and proposed that our two associations consider working more closely together so that conservatives in Ottawa-Vanier begin to vote conservative at both the provincial and the federal levels.

27 JANUARY

The Provincial PC Annual Convention for our riding was a stunner. It was a stunner on many counts.

First, it is an association in disastrous shape. There is a membership of about 60 people, of whom only 10 appear to have had paid-up members by December of last year. There is a deficit in the operating account of about $8K. There is a shortfall between assets and debts in the order of $7K. There were about 30 people in attendance at the meeting, half of whom seemed hardly alive and lacked the energy to care.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that the president of our federal association agreed to be president of the provincial association (though the parties have different philosophies) and that at least three of the executive of the provincial association will now be three of those who sit on our board as well? Yep. That’s the situation. If Brock and Shaun had demonstrated a surfeit of energy in their work for my association I could understand their wanting to do even more. Instead, I think the best they can do for the provincial association is even less. I think it is lose-lose. I am not even sure it is legal.

My reflections further to last night’s experience have been varied. I will record some of those reflections and have already forgotten (sublimated?) many others.

There are riots in the streets in Egypt these days, emulating riots in Tunisia that upset the leadership in that country and riots just starting in Yemen. In those countries, and others, long-standing autocracies are being overthrown by youth who are desperate to see the democratic process work so that they get a voice.

My forecast is, however, that the energy which is needed to implement democracies in those countries will bring Islamist powers into office and the door will close tightly upon all future dissent. The Islamists have the energy and they have the organization. The autocratic regimes in those parts of the world have been the only buffers which enabled some basic values and principles familiar to the West to be displayed. Our enemies are in fact our friends. The worst case outcome for us democracies is to see the democratic process take root in the Middle East.

In a way, the democratic process is as weak and vulnerable in those countries as it is in our part of the world. To believe that our democratic process is alive and well and that we have something to export which actually works is to believe in Santa Claus. There is no informed democratic decision making in our riding, that’s for sure.

Local politics has become an events-driven activity which restricts political discussion to time-limited events such as the period of the election itself. There is still a great deal of freedom within Canada for people to express dissent and to oppose government, but an informed process which can help to achieve consensus before decisions are made no longer exists. I believe we are running out a string that began to unravel many years ago. It would be an interesting project to conclude when the unraveling began in earnest, likely a time contemporary with the rolling out of the internet.

Marie and I discussed over coffee what could be done to reverse the tide. I am not optimistic that this is either possible or even desired by the majority of the people involved. It may not even be wise to try. The illusion of participation that now comes from interaction over the internet has greatly, and hopelessly, outstripped physical reality on the ground.

One little step might be to fund the political process so that rival parties with national standing can have offices and staff to match what the incumbent Member of Parliament has access to. The competition to get access to that money will then become serious at local levels within all party structures. Associations will no longer be desperate to find volunteers. People will be competing aggressively to get into the paid ranks of party politics.

If money is not available for this little step an option is to redistribute funding currently provided to the offices of elected MPs to all parties with national standing in every riding. But sitting MPs would fight this tooth and nail.

A third way, of course, is to end funding to elected MPs except for what they get for their offices on the Hill. Locally all MPs will then have to compete on the same volunteer basis as their rivals. I believe this is how things were before the Trudeau Government in the 1970s decided to fund constituency offices of sitting MPs.

Whether or not a level playing field for political competition would restore political debate is uncertain in my mind. I am also not certain it would make Canada a better country. I think I am seeing a drift towards governance by a select group of Canadians who have maneuvered their way into a position of eligibility via a lottery-style electoral process. The dice are loaded at the start of an election by what happens at the top level of our political system in the days immediately prior to the writ being dropped.

The lottery is structurally unfair because one of the players in each riding is backed by public funds to a very significant extent while all the others are amateurs. But it remains a lottery nonetheless: it is a lottery in which one of the competitors holds 50 tickets and the others hold two or three each. Even the holder of a single ticket in a local, regional, or national lottery may win the draw. But politics as a lottery does not sound very stable to me.

28 JANUARY

I went for another round of door knocking with Georges Lavoie today. As before, the reception was mostly positive, and negative in only one instance. I could not determine whether the door closed in my face because I was standing for politics or because I stood for the Conservatives.

After the door knocking I went to the official opening of a Bistro which targets the new French speaking residents in our area. The proprietors are Congolese and Canadian. The Bistro was supported by a large number of groups which also promote social issues. The politicians present included Mauril. When I stepped into the restaurant the first person I saw was Oscar B. He received me warmly and invited me to sit with him throughout. This gave me legitimacy.

Mauril gave a pretty good speech and we greeted each other amicably. His greeting was much warmer than I expected and I felt quite positive towards him at that moment. I noted that his wife was also in attendance. She moved into the crowd as if she were a political star in her own right, hugging and kissing all around. I tried to catch her eye but did not succeed.

Upon reflection, of course, I repositioned the event in the context of conservative principles.

To use social programs to give birth to a private sector venture is risky. If the economic drivers are not in place to forge a long term success story, a pin-point of hope provided by social programs to an isolated group of people like the Congolese Canadians in Ottawa-Vanier is to set the stage for their failure and disappointment. The careers of the social agency managers carry on but the budding entrepreneurs are broken in their finances and in their spirit.

The better way is to adjust the framework within which all initiatives like this have a better chance to succeed. To adjust frameworks is that conservatives like me are all about.

Mauril and other speakers exhorted the rest of us to make use of the Bistro. “Unless you guys go, and bring your families and friends, this Bistro will fail,” we were told. A private sector venture should be able to build its own momentum. It should not have to depend indefinitely upon the benevolence of others.

[As an aside, the new Bistro went out of business soon after the federal election. It lasted six months from day of opening to day of bankruptcy.]

31 JANUARY

To my surprise it appears to me that we are headed to a spring election. I say this because the NDP are starting to get restless in the House.

I will have my “core team” over tonight and will share with them our state of readiness. We are well positioned to conclude our work on:

- signs development and placement

- names gathering for endorsement

- “chair” flyer printing and distribution

- office location and outfitting

- office flow management (volunteers)

- funds solicitation and collection

- calls receipt and management

- candidate agenda updates and support

- expenditure approach including candidate debit card

- brochure printing and placement

- national office contact and response

- rental van on stand-by?

I want to make sure that the most committed “core” of our group will help me stick to the game plan. If very enthusiastic volunteers step forward, and especially if the national office steps in to say what we should or should not be doing, I want to know that the core group will stand together to insist that the basic plan be delivered without compromise. Others can offer additions to the plan (Voter ID calls, GOTV calls, GOTV transport, scrutineers, etc.) but those others will have to find their own support teams and raise their own money. I will be happy to help…but I will not be compromised.

We must keep our game plan to ourselves until after I am fully legitimate.

I talked to Marie today about her situation in her office. She is planning to retire but she has again been “offered” a more senior level in her department. What Marie is learning is that a person’s ascendancy to higher levels in the public service is rarely achieved without jumping through a number of hoops. She has to engage in the PS form of begging to land a promotion that has essentially been “offered”.

I have already observed that politics is also about begging. To be a candidate one needs to jump through the hoops. It begins with a nomination convention for which one has to have a manager, the signature of 25 supporters, money, and so on. One then stands before a crowd and begs, along with other hopeful candidates, for support. After becoming a candidate one continues to beg. What else can one call the door-to-door solicitation of voters and of money? Ultimately, the most successful beggars become power holders.

My father used to say to me: “I have never asked for anything in my life!” And, prior to now, I have not either. I am where I am because of a confluence of factors – including the loser nature of the riding – so that I can truly say I was asked. I did not beg to get here. When I go door to door, I explain. I do not beg. I do not like Voter ID because I must ask. I do not ask. And therefore I do not do Voter ID.

PS: Mike D just stopped by to share a copy of a newspaper put out by the area Chinese community. He wants me to dance in front of the Chinese, perhaps sing in their language as I understand Pierre Poilievre had done, to earn a few more votes in Ottawa-Vanier. I humored Mike in our discussion. But I will not sing for my supper or for my votes.

And now I turn to my preparations for tonight’s core team meeting.

2 FEBRUARY

Well, the “core team” meeting was a success. I was pleased to see that everyone, except Eleanor, attended. We went over the plans and the expectations, dialogue was free and easy among all of us, and a few new developments resulted.

One of these new developments was confirmation of my previous decision to create a “team chairperson” position. This would be the replacement for Guy. The chairperson will be a coordinator and implementer of the basic plan. He or she will not be a rival to what we have developed. He or she will not be a person who expects to go his or her own way. When I checked with Luc he reaffirmed that he would be the right guy for the job and I was pleased to agree.

Now Luc will become the figure head I had hoped Guy could be. Luc also brings fluency in both official languages, residency in the riding, experience in the political realm, and he brings youth. His approach is mild and his goal is to be helpful. Let’s see what happens.

Last night by the way (1 February) my association held a Delegate Selection Meeting to pick people to represent our association at a June convention of the CPC in Ottawa. As in the case of the Christmas Party, Brock did very little preparation in advance. The first notice of the event came on Monday 31 January. Brock told me later he did not expect more than a dozen or so to attend.

Surprise, surprise. We were at least 80. We had some 17 people step forward. An election was needed because only 12 could go in an official capacity to the convention. Colin McSweeney, who was the national office rep at the meeting, was greatly impressed. I am sure Brock now has another feather in his cap. Lucky fellow!

I had about 20 minutes to speak to the meeting while ballots were being counted. My bottom lines were: politics are in trouble in our riding; we can win but we must really want for this to happen; to be a delegate for an association presumes you are a strong supporter for the work of that association; those who are selected and those who decide to attend the June convention in an observer capacity can expect to hear from me!

In an aside with Brock and Shaun I again stressed the importance of quick-turnaround with tax receipts after contributions are received. “At a minimum,” I said, “I need to know who the contributors are.” I can then at least send out letters of appreciation and tell my supporters that a receipt will be forthcoming. Brock and Shaun nodded to reflect full understanding but with a vacant look in their eyes. I am pretty sure contributors will not be receiving tax receipts any time soon. I am pretty sure I will not be getting their names either.

In the course of that meeting I encountered a new Canadian of Nigerian origin who is president of the Nigerian community in Ottawa. As in the case of Oscar, Victor W expressed an interest in the two of us getting together to compare notes and to learn what the options are for advancing conservatism through the ranks of the Nigerian community in Ottawa-Vanier. Marie and I will be attending a Nigerian-Canadian event later in the month and I expect I will be meeting with Victor again before then.

On the international scene the break-out of populist pressure for change in Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, and other Arab countries continues to dominate the news. It serves to remind us that we are very lucky in our context of culture and country. Personally, I think it may dampen somewhat the ardor of Canadian political leaders to put our own system to the test in a general election.

 

 

 

6 FEBRUARY

Over the last few days a number of events have helped to focus my mind.

To begin…the CPC national office again shared an instruction to associations and candidates to move forward with their campaign plans. The expanded list of things we are expected to do are, again, already well in hand in my own case.

I was nonetheless spooked by the urgency in the CPC message and I found myself thinking about all those outstanding tasks I still must complete. The national office would have me run a campaign which – as in all the campaigns over the last eight decades in Ottawa-Vanier – will see me lose. I am prepared to lose, but not without trying something different. I must stay on-message, the message I developed for myself and for our riding.

And now it turns out that Priscilla will be away for all of February. She has family who are ill in her home town in northern Ontario. This means I must cover again more ground myself. This includes getting the list of endorsements completed and choosing an office for the campaign, both being tasks that I had left with Priscilla. I will tackle these two jobs with the help of Luc. I know Priscilla will head home quickly if an election is called but she puts again more pressure on me and I do not like that very much. On the plus side, Priscilla reassured me that any approvals required from her while she is away will come quickly via emails.

Another point of pressure is the lack of response from Jonathan R. He does not answer emails, he is not following through on the arrangement for neighborhood door-knocking, and he still has not helped Luc to confirm when and where the Ottawa U students will be meeting.

I have dealt with this, and Priscilla’s news, by simplifying yet again what I expect from myself and from others during a campaign. In effect, I now want to keep my sights set on only six items of business:

1. Have the signs ready to go (Rob and Brock).

2. Have the material for me getting confirmed as a candidate ready in advance (done!).

3. Support whatever the CPC/EDA may undertake to do to advance name recognition pre-writ, even if it means less money at the start of the campaign. The CPC is talking about an “introductory brochure”, likely to be sent to all voters.

4. Ensure we have a good quality office and that it will be properly outfitted and staffed throughout the campaign (Priscilla, when she gets back, and Brock).

5. Have the stage set for 10,000 copies of the “chair” flyer to be produced within the first few days of the campaign (done!).

6. Have my Team Support letter (a version of the “Why I Can Win” document) ready and perhaps even printed before the campaign begins (easily done).

With those six fundamental pieces in place I will be free to focus upon public events while Luc and others struggle to keep the campaign on track. The “chair” flyer and my own approach will combine with the Facebook and Youtube items to tackle the centre of gravity of this campaign. The centre of gravity (military-speak for the point of greatest weakness) is Mauril’s having been here too long and being still without results.

My assessment is that the six steps above can be delivered by me, working with Priscilla, Marie, Luc, Colin Lindley, and whoever else shows up. The essential minimum can be delivered for under $20K. Almost all the rest of the typical campaign effort and cost will amount to a spinning of wheels in this riding. It would take a Herculean effort to directly contact even 5000 residents by way of home visits or telephone calls. We require about 20000 votes to win.

After all my work to date to compile a list of lawn sign locations…I got one call back from a person who had said “yes” because she now means “no”. Her issue is a recent decision that she believes the Conservative government made. In my view she is wrong in her understanding and I explained this to her, but it reflects the reality that government action at the national level will have more to do with my success and failure than anything else.

If the CPC goes into the next election on the back of some popular or positively viewed federal government decisions a vote for me will be a way for the public to support the government. The party brand does not sell in this riding.

It suits me to rely upon the fewest number of campaign team members as possible. Gene is definitely out of the game. I called him today because I needed additional brochures and I know he had kept some at his home. The additional brochures were delivered to my doorstep in the dead of night to be sure of no physical contact would be made between us. I had asked for the keys to the storage facility where other brochures are held. His handwritten note, left on top of the pile of brochures, said he will deliver those keys to Brock. I had asked how many brochures are left, for planning purposes. I got no answer.

Today is Sunday. Tonight is the Super Bowl. I plan to lie on the couch and watch the game even though it has little relevance in Canada. I am worn out by lack of sleep recently and I have a cold. If I could quit this journey I likely would but, as Colin McSweeney said to Marie at the Brockville event: “What else does he have to do?”

Frankly, given my professional background, I know I could have figured something out. At CRG Consulting my seat at the executive table is being held open for me. In contrast, in the case of most of the politicos I have encountered – including our riding MP and Colin himself – that question would be a difficult one for them to answer.

But I will stay on this political journey. I will continue to take the highs and the lows of it until the journey is over.

8 FEBRUARY

I was quite edgy yesterday about a reluctance on the part of Priscilla to accept my choice of office space and my direction about how to overcome funding concerns about the campaign. Given her imminent departure for northern Ontario I figure the choices are surely up to me. I also was disturbed to read an email from Luc advising that my idea about loan funding to backstop any shortfall from the association could run us into trouble if my campaign is a “dud”.

Luc knows how much planning has gone into this. He must know that coming up with a dud is impossible for me. He throws off these words as if they do not matter. It worries me a bit.

But today, 8 February, it went so well with Priscilla that I almost cried. In a telephone conversation between us she was supportive about the office space (helping me to put that one behind us); she was convinced that campaign funding for the basic plan would not be a problem; and, she had proposals about our getting ready that I could support 100%. As she had assured me yesterday, her imminent departure means her need to be involved in the nuts and bolts of our decision making here in Ottawa will be much reduced. Marie and I closed off our coffee in the morning with a long talk about politics and our views matched on every point. Our respective egos are back in good repair.

Later in the day I had coffee at the air force mess with Simeon N, hailing from Burundi. Our discussion was entirely in French which, for me, was no mean feat because Simeon talks very quietly and with a bit of an accent. But we did well. Simeon appears very sincere in his support for the Conservative party and for me. I challenged him to set up a “talk politics” session with some friends of his. He appeared to take up this challenge enthusiastically so now I will wait to see what happens. [Nothing did, of course. I never saw him again.]

I note, in passing, that I have not yet heard back from Oscar B. I suspect politics for those guys are difficult. To be seen to be Liberal is likely very important. Mauril is the guy out there dispensing gifts, such as the support for the Bistro. To vote Conservative in the private of the polling booth, however, will be much easier for them. That is where my own sights are set on their behalf.

I spent much of the afternoon drafting the deliverables for the campaign in the form of the projects I have described earlier. Each project has a project manager, a funding allocation, a description of the work, and a timeline. If I can get each project into the hands of a person who will actually do the job I will be miles ahead.

I finished off my calls to people who will accept lawn signs this evening and will compile the near-to-final list tonight. The only lists I will miss are two of the three done by Amy. I hope she will complete her part by the end of the week, after which I will get on with completing the endorsement lists that Priscilla returned to me today.

We already have 60 names on the endorsement lists so a good start has been made. We need at least 100, and conventional wisdom tells us that 150 is better because the returning officer may find reasons to disqualify a number of the people on the list (wrong address, wrong telephone number, misspelling of name, and so on).

11 FEBRUARY

A fair amount has happened since the last time we got together.

Today I attended a breakfast fundraiser for a provincial PC riding which, after scrubbing away the elected people, staff, and association members who were there in a quasi-official capacity, was attended by a half dozen members of the party. Pathetic, really. Yet one speaker after another stood to compliment the organizers for so successful an event.

I shared my own perspective with Robert N (no mention about the end of all correspondence between us since after our last meeting). He seemed quite pleased with the sorry event we were attending. He had indicated an interest in being a delegate for our association at the CPC convention in June. He also repeated his previous desire to become more active. But he is too late. I feel I am well rid of him. He is another of the hangers-on for whom manifestly sorrowful politics are plenty good enough.

Last evening I spent about two hours with Ottawa University students at a local pub, following about two hours of dinner and discussion with Luc. JR joined Luc and me just before the evening came to a close.

Luc impressed me a lot. He clearly knows the financial system very well, he knows his history very well, he makes assessments about politics similar to my own (what’s not to like?) and his stories suggest to me that he will have the courage to keep our campaign focused upon the essentials. He agrees with the essentials of the basic plan.

JR, too, impressed me. He worked the room among University of Ottawa students extremely effectively. Between him and Luc, and with me, we reflected a team that has confidence, capability, youth (in those two guys and in my energy), and class. I was told after the meeting that the students were blown away by my words about politics. We now have a half dozen more volunteers than we had before.

In the course of the evening Luc received an email from national office asking more questions about the CRG story and whether there is anything in that story that could come back to bite me. The question was whether the party could have confidence that the story would not cause trouble for me and the party during an election.

I therefore sent Luc another round of explanation of how CRG Consulting and I are legally separate and how CRG Consulting – not I – deals with the contracting departments and agencies. I provide services and deliverables to CRG, I told him, the company sends my work forward to the client.

I wonder if the national office may yet provide me with an off-ramp. I am quite proud of my affiliation with CRG Consulting. If I am dropped as a candidate because of the trouble CRG’s president is in I will rejoin Brian Card’s team and throw a few darts at the party from within CRG’s ranks. But I hope I am able to stay the course.

Two days ago I had a good discussion over coffee with the president of the Nigerian Canada Association of Ottawa. Victor and I shared our view about a range of things and developed together a possible policy proposal for the federal government which would open doors to Nigerian students in Canada to get practical experience working in democratically-based national institutions. The problem is that well educated students, hosted by Canadian universities and educated to the MA and PhD levels, return to places of work in Nigeria where graft and bribes are the order of the day. The application of political theory in such work-a-day work environments leads to distortions with sometimes grave consequences. Machiavelli is more likely to prevail than John Locke.

Oh, and today at the PC breakfast I learned that my letter to the Manor Park Chronicle was printed. It was the letter which criticized the newly elected Peter Clark because of how he and Mauril had gloated over their victory over the two women in the race. I was told that Peter Clark berated the editor of the Manor Chronicle in a public setting because of his unhappiness about the letter. This, to me, is just another example of the kind of pressure that I suspect the Liberals keep up in this riding in order to continue winning. You will recall that while Clark was campaigning there was a court challenge that he had been given Mauril’s list of Liberal voters, with telephone numbers and addresses. The court challenge said that the value of this list exceeded the allowed expenditure maximum of a municipal candidate.

On the one hand, I believe the reports on Mr. Clark’s conduct will spread quickly. This will not help Mauril. On the other hand, because I can’t stop myself, I sent my information and my views on this to Randall Denley at the Citizen. It will be interesting to see if he picks this up in some way. Regarding the voters list issue my belief is that such lists, being an element of those “programs” called Voter ID and GOTV, don’t matter anyway. So I am not too highly charged about all this one but I would love to see both Clark and Belanger get a little egg on their smug faces.

In the world about us, by the way, Mubarak – now the former President of Egypt – has quit. This was not expected so soon after his decision to the contrary just yesterday. The army is in charge over there.

For us in Canada and Ottawa-Vanier I think the Egyptian experience will make it easier for me to stay focused upon the “too long” argument. I think that experience has relevance for us, I said to the Ottawa University students, because in Canada too the machinery of government has become detached from the citizens. The electoral process and the notion that elected people are effective in the government – except those in Cabinet positions – have become a joke. Our machinery of government can still be fixed but the situation is not a healthy one. As I have said above, we have the luxury of playing out a well threaded string. How long we will have this luxury is uncertain.

I read an interesting article related to this in The Citizen. The political analyst said that there are two categories of political perspective, that of the cynical and that of the naïve. The cynics see politics as a technical construct where the goal is to secure power for a privileged group. For the cynics the primacy of “programs” like Voter ID and GOTV makes tremendous sense. They look for discipline among those who stand for the party in a general election. The requirement is for candidates to reaffirm policy content which has been geared to the number of votes required to win. Discipline in a candidate matters a whole lot more than intelligence.

The naïve people are those who still want to believe the individual candidate matters. They believe the candidate who wins and election will be the one who corrals the greatest possible consensus among residents in a riding. The winning candidates then assemble in the House of Commons and debate among them what policies would respond best to the preferences expressed in each of the more than three hundred ridings across the country.

I have learned that party activists, like Fraser M, are mostly cynics. For them the kind of politics still imagined by the naïve ones died a long time ago.

13 FEBRUARY

We are headed to Montreal today and tonight, to help celebrate Kees’ birthday. Over coffee Marie and I discussed a number of things, of which I want to record a couple.

First, it was easy for us to list a half dozen or so initiatives that could be taken to help achieve a win in Ottawa-Vanier. These include ideas like having Canada Post – for a fee – drop “chair” flyers into mailboxes in designated parts of the riding where we think the chair could have effect. We could also drop flyers into mailboxes ourselves of course and by-pass Canada Post. People in the pizza business bypass Canada Post and drop flyers on a regular basis.

The amazing thing is that, while businesses all across the riding do this kind of thing regularly, in the political business one would not be able to find a single “volunteer” who is prepared to take this on. A candidate must do it himself or herself. The alternative is Canada Post.

I was blown away when I learned from one of the eager people who volunteered to make calls for the sign locations (my lists are now all called) that – after two months with a list of about 15 calls before her – the volunteer had been too busy to make the calls and asked for me to retrieve her list and do it myself. It took me 20 minutes.

At every turn I get people who will volunteer “for anything” but who do nothing.

I lamented with Marie about such foolish initiatives as the gathering and managing of “scrutineers”. The CPC told all associations to get the srutineers lined up for the day of the vote. These are the people who you see sitting in the chairs around the polling booths. When the votes are counted they debate among themselves whether contested votes should be allowed or not allowed. These people must be extremely important in countries moving to democracy where voting in the past has been rigged by those in power.

We have about 120 polls. We would need about 120 volunteers, cars to deliver them to the polls, pizzas and refreshments to get them through the hour or two of the “work” and cars to get them back home again. Gene, if he were the manager, would want a large boardroom in which to brief the volunteers.

In the end, the scrutineers might catch a hundred or so vote corrections all across the riding. All the volunteers would get their jollies, Gene would feel important, it would cost the campaign in the order of $2000, and it would make no difference at all.

Marie and I went into our hot debate mode yesterday about my intention to have us loan $20K to the campaign. In short, I summed things up by saying that a $20K loan – if we stick to the basic plan – is guaranteed to be covered by the combination of association transfers, money raised during the campaign, and the Elections Canada subsidy. The loan at the front end of a campaign will mean funds are in the bank to proceed immediately with basic plan initiatives such as a mail-out of the “chair”. I need to know for sure that the basic plan will be implemented.

When we put our own money into the campaign Marie – on my behalf – will be in a strong position to insist that the basic plan be respected in every way, shape and form. I do not intend our own money to go towards increasing profits for a Calgary PR firm or the PMO if the PM stops by to visit with his staff and cars (all of which we would have to pay for).

Marie agreed…but she hoped it would be less than $20K.

18 FEBRUARY

Just a few thoughts. I guess it’s same-old, same-old as one day of this journey turns into the next.

I sit here slightly bitter about the fact that I get no email replies from Priscilla, now away with family in Northern Ontario; from Luc, who has gone quiet on me and is making none of the effort he undertook to make on my behalf; from JR, who was pleased with the University of Ottawa evening but has not replied to my proposals for some more door-knocking; and so on.

We had an association meeting two days ago at which the executive shared minutes of the previous meeting that were in fact six meetings out of date (Brock had picked up the wrong notes on his way out the door); Shaun orally reported upon the financial situation without any detail and with nothing in writing as required in the constitution; the “quorum” was a forced one because there were only six people present; and, we spent about one hour listening to one woman’s pitch on why she should be a delegate to the June Convention of the CPC even though we had never seen her before.

I found the meeting hurtful because, ever optimistic, I had brought with me my sheets for endorsement signatures and had thought that those attending would be happy to take up this challenge and help me out. Even as I was explaining my need for assistance I was stuffing my well prepared sheets into my valise because I could see I would get no volunteers from the six around the table. Luc was not there; Eleanor was not there; Priscilla is 400 kilometres away. And so on. Gene was at the meeting but looked distinctly bitter about me. I sent some jibes his way (“things go so well these days”) but I did not really mean it.

Today, 18 February, I went to CRG to talk about the future of the Real Property Institute of Canada (RPIC) of which I am the founding president. This follows a round earlier in the week when I was asked to meet with DND to review where my contract of four years, on DND heritage property, had been left off. The firm has been asked to pick things up again and we will do that, but not by me. I did not want to do it regardless, but could plead the imminence of an election. The CRG connection is alive and well and that makes me feel pretty good about myself.

This weekend I will be drafting the front end of a five-year plan for RPIC. I get no pay for this (my own request). I was pleased to hear a number of CRG executive members say they will make personal contributions to my efforts as a candidate after the writ drops but I will not be holding them to this.

Tomorrow I will attend a wake for two nephews of Oscar B who were killed in a motor vehicle accident in the Congo. Next week I will begin asking for the additional endorsements I need to be accepted as a candidate. Two days ago I attended a reception in Ottawa for the leader of the PCOntario party. I keep busy and it seems like a political kind of life…but with no benefits.

I wish I had a better team of supporters. I wish I did not feel so alone on this journey. But what the heck.

23 FEBRUARY

Today I do not know why I am sticking with it. It is somewhat depressing to not have any contact anymore with Luc, Jonathan and Eleanor. Marie and I had another tussle today, beginning with a move made by Oscar yesterday to gather the three of us into a circle for a prayer. Shades of the Tea Party in the US? Marie was quite put out by Oscar’s presumption.

For my part I felt the move by Oscar was appropriate. He has been trained for the Ministry after all. He came to our place at my invitation to hear me out about the political journey I am on. My purpose was to impress upon him the facts of my situation so that my open invitation for support from him and his associates can be considered with an eye to making things better.

During the course of the meeting among us Oscar asked innocently: “What is it about you that explains all those people leaving?”

Good question! Upon reflection I allowed that I have an evolving, but always firm, idea about how I want to engage in the campaign when it comes. I am looking for people who will fall into line. I am also looking for people who can be counted upon to deliver results. I welcome creative ideas and leadership, but everyone’s room to maneuver must be limited by the parameters of the basic plan. To move beyond the plan is also OK, but I would need to see that the resources are in place (people, money, skills) before any expansion of the plan happens.

I said: “Oscar, most people I know have jobs. For them my demands are too time consuming to match easily with the time they must allocate to professional pursuits. Those people who help me who do not have jobs do not have jobs for a reason. They are not the most dynamic of folk. Many of the unemployed people around me are hoping my journey might lead them towards steady jobs. They feel it hard to invest too highly in me given my very low chances.”

At this point I suspect Oscar, who also does not have a job, may prefer to watch my progress from the sidelines as well. Marie suspects, for her part, that Oscar may be a Liberal who is checking up on me so that the Liberals can get inside information. That has happened before. We shall see.

This afternoon I went on my second tour of the riding to seek endorsements for my run for political office. I go to the doors of people who have agreed to accept lawn signs and, in all cases, I am well received. At a number of homes I am asked to come in and have a chat.

Today was an interesting one. A retired military officer and his wife shared with me their sense that the political process and approach in Canada has become so unreal that our circumstances are more comparable to those in the Middle East (riots everywhere) than we think. His reason for this is the tolerance we have for the growing rich/poor gap. At one point, he thinks, the unhappy masses will rise up and simply take what they want.

I added my perspective: “Given that politics at the grass roots are essentially dead I worry that the decision-making groups have become free floating viz the electorate. Our system floats upon the history which made it what it is. Our system is no longer rooted in the popular will. A take-over by an anti-democratic leadership one day is entirely possible. It would be much easier than most people suspect.”

I observed that I believe (I have to, given my circumstances) we can avoid having large numbers give up upon the political system in Canada. We can avoid having people go into the streets to grab what they believe is rightfully theirs. It is not too late to turn things around. The first step is to get me into the House of Commons! Before leaving their home I received two endorsements (one from each) and a cheque for $100.

Tomorrow I plan to slip out of town and go to Sharbot Lake. Marie does not know this yet and it may not happen. But I hope it does. I want to recharge my batteries. I need to cut down a dead birch tree. I simply want to get away for a bit.

28 FEBRUARY

Quite a bit has happened over the last five days, but I jump in to report that Colin Lindley – the one guy whom I have been telling everyone is totally trustworthy – has received an opportunity to go to Mexico in late March and will be going. He comes back some time in April which could, given all the signs, be a few weeks after the election has begun. Who would have guessed? Another one bites the dust.

A few other highlights that occur to me:

I have not heard from Oscar. I think I was right to suspect that he will be watching from the sidelines. Marie may even be right: he may be trading what he now knows about me with Mauril in order to get a job. [I learned subsequently that this was not the case. Oscar stayed on my side throughout. He was not able to help me with my campaign however because he found work with Elections Canada.]

The next event for the “Candidate’s Circle of Supporters” will be on 21 March, the day before the budget. The Honourable Julian Fantino, minister responsible for seniors, will be coming to our place as the special guest, which is interesting given his role in the Caledonia situation. He was Chief of the Provincial Police when a decision was taken to allow Indian occupiers of private land to flout the law as they might wish. Non-Indian owners of the land and home owners blocked by illegal Indian barricades were arrested by Fantino’s police if they tried to do anything about it. I am not a fan of Mr. Fantino.

The Middle East continues to erupt. People a whole lot braver and/or more desperate than the rest of us are being killed. Our governments will impose sanctions and be critical. Not much help for individuals at high risk but perhaps conducive to regime change.

I am making progress in my final development of the brochure I will be using during the campaign. Priscilla and Luc are on side. Both sent an email (finally!) saying they are content to watch me make headway wherever I can. The dynamics are beginning to amuse me more than stress me because, with each new disappointment, I scale back still further what my expectations are. Yet there are times I fear I may nonetheless win. As long as I stay active, Mauril will be in trouble.

I met with Mathieu Fleury today. He is the new Councilor for Vanier, aged all of 24 and experienced as a lifeguard. But he is an enjoyable fellow. He thinks straight and he seems to have the energy to make a difference.

Between us we agreed that Mauril has been around too long. More and more people are getting fed up with him, said Mathieu. All I need is a convincing case for closing the deals that will one day improve traffic on King Edward. “If you do nothing else,” said Mathieu, “do that, and you will win.” I need to visit with minister Baird. I need to get heard in my criticism of Mauril’s approach and with my own undertaking to make something happen. I need to formulate my words carefully. I know I will achieve results…because I always have. But not everyone knows me well enough to be sure about this.

Life goes on. Marty’s grandfather has passed away; I want to get in touch with his father; I am doing work for CRG on an RPIC file; Miriam and Jason have separated; Marie and I have gotten over a couple of devastating rounds between us; I need to get back on the road to obtain the endorsements I need but today it is snowing heavily so I will do this tomorrow. Miriam told us to stay focused upon the upcoming campaign: “I can look after myself for now, but I may need you guys later.”

2 MARCH

Onward and downward.

I spent another day, added to a three hour tour yesterday, seeking endorsements for this journey. A number of people at the door seemed surprised that they are on the “signs list” even though I have spoken personally to at least one person in the house. Most of those who appear confused by my presence are prepared to adapt right on the spot. Getting the surprised ones to also endorse me, however, is to confront deep hesitancy about signing an endorsement that vouches for a person they do not know at all. I agree totally, of course, but the alternative is that I badger folk lining up to buy liquor at the LCBO.

I have adopted a slightly adjusted approach: I tour the neighborhoods one sheet at a time and, if I do not have 10 signatures on the sheet when I am done in a neighborhood, I visit old neighbors of ours in Lindenlea to top things up. In that neighborhood I get a good reception whether or not the people endorsing me will vote Conservative in the upcoming election.

A relatively minor issue today brought home yet again how lonely this journey is.

The national party has recast the content of the lawn signs. They have changed minorly the words of approval from the Official Agent that must appear on all campaign material. Priscilla will have heart failure over this. It means, for example, that I must recall the “chair” flyer from the printer and rework it a little bit before the copies can be printed for a direct-mail.

I have done what I can over the emails to soften the blow for Priscilla but I must change one line in all of the templates I have brought to “action ready” status. I will need her to recommit to content which we know the national office has not seen. Priscilla will have to wrestle with her conscience all over again. Perhaps fortunately she is now far away from Ottawa and has undertaken to be supportive of what we in Ottawa decide.

While on the topic of loneliness let’s forecast what is likely going to happen about the signs. We now have a new template. It has to go to a printer. We need to have the printed signs (sizes, numbers, and hardware to be determined) moved to our storage area. Guess who will have to do all of that? In principle it should be the association because only they have the financial authority to sign contracts between elections. Priscilla has tried to have the association step up and do their jobs but this is not going to happen.

At one time, now so long ago, this was a task Gene would take in hand from start to finish. After Gene left I hoped Priscilla, who had challenged Gene every step of the way, would assume responsibility. Luc is basically a spectator. With Priscilla gone it will fall to me and Marie. I believed I could still count upon Rob W but now he too has a chance to go to Florida and he expects to take it. Rob will be leaving early in April. Oh, well…

Again and again, also by the last minute actions of the national party (there will be a round of candidate training in Toronto a week before the expected election call and Luc wants to attend), the message is clear. Grass roots politics is events driven and episodic. There is no expectation that people will be organized in advance. The party’s machinations seem last-minute to me but for most associations in the country I bet nothing has yet been done to get a candidate ready for election. It is catch-as-catch-can, fly by the seat of your pants, and good luck Charlie. No wonder the common wisdom is that local results are determined 95% and more by what is determined in the central offices of our political parties.

I met with Jason yesterday, by the way, to discuss with him how a man in his situation might understand, and react to, the departure of his partner (my daughter, Miriam). My bottom lines were: life goes on. Try to be wise about what each of you needs and keep your eye on Monica (my granddaughter) too. In the end, what goes around comes around. Marilyn (my first wife, and Miriam’s mother) and I meet quite regularly at family events and my three daughters remain firmly linked to both parents in all that they do. Separations are changes in course and in priority. Unless one party moves far – and forever – away the relationship continues for as long as all parties continue to live. I said to Jason that if he needs money to get himself reoriented (new apartment, furniture) he can feel welcome to call me.

The split of Miriam and Jason, for my other two daughters, hearkened back to the split between me and their mother almost thirty years ago. In emails among us I could see the undercurrent of tension among us being stoked yet again. There appeared to be an open question which asked: “we know how you dealt with us; we wonder if you and Marie will deal the same way with your granddaughter?” I wish I had the emotional energy to meet with them, separately and perhaps together with Marie as well, to answer that question. But I don’t. It rather looks like it’s all about me now, doesn’t it?

4 MARCH

The day is about to begin. I go to Oscar’s place today to learn his intended approach to helping (on not) with the campaign. Frankly, I cannot afford to care. He has had over a week to respond to my full confession about my journey. The delay in response, to my mind, already speaks volumes. Unless he has used the time to organize an event that he will only now – because it is fully ready – tell me about (which would be extremely good news), my assessment is that he will be like the others: “tell me what politics can do for me…”

I want to record a few thoughts, however, before the day begins.

First: a condo building with 20 floors and 10 apartments per floor would take 5 days to “canvass” if one spends 15 minutes to “talk politics” at every door. If one has 6 such buildings in a riding the entire period of the writ can be used up assuming one knocks on doors for 5 hours a day. It shows how foolish the prevailing paradigm is. We have some 17 buildings of that size in our riding. I cannot legally get into the doors of those buildings unless an election has been. To canvass in our high rises before the writ drops is virtually impossible.

Second, I am soliciting endorsements from the strongest supporters (those who will accept signs). Even they, while positive in their reception, mostly have little time for me. I get the endorsements but, for a great many, the provision of names and signatures is done hesitantly. At one door I was reduced almost to the point of begging: a political system which yields elected representatives who are generally reputed to be pretty haughty begins with those same people begging for support, telling white lies (“I will do that!”), and pretending that door knocking equals engagement. It is all pretty darn ridiculous.

7 MARCH

It is worth noting that I attended the India-in-Canada official opening last Friday, and I spoke at the South Sudan celebrations of their successful referendum on Saturday evening.

The first of these was extremely entertaining because a very famous dance and singing troupe from India were on display. The leader of the opposition in Parliament also went on display. In a short speech he said that he found the saris being worn by the Indian women to be sexy and that his wife’s wearing of a sari was driving him to distraction. For a person of such international distinction I found his comments to be in poor taste.

The latter event was the more satisfying. In addition to meeting a great many Sudanese-Canadians who have an amazing background as individuals and as a group, my speech was very successful and reconfirmed to me that I am “made” for this journey, however long it may last.

I was the only speaker who spoke to the audience as new Canadians. All the others spoke to them as Sudanese. I observed that the challenge in their former home country will now be great…but that John A Macdonald faced a remarkably similar challenge and we got the better of it. I invited those present to dedicate themselves equally to the re-birth of politics in Canada as they have to politics in Sudan. We have become far too complacent.

My discussion with Oscar went well. He says he is definitely on stand-by to become a full fledged member of the team. His engagement has given me the courage to reconfirm the intentions of Luc, Eleanor, and JR. In their return emails JR confirmed he has withdrawn but Eleanor wants back in. I welcomed her with words of thanks and praise.

I have not yet heard from Luc. His health (mental and physical) is starting to concern me. He seems to have the energy to propose things – from time to time – and to seek employment opportunities, but he is occasionally dead from the legs up when it comes to enthusiasm, energy, and joy. I wonder what I will be learning from Luc by the end of the day. If I do not hear from him at all I will begin to think that his days with me may become numbered. I may need to find a new campaign team coordinator. It may need to be Marie.

9 MARCH

I learned today that a $500 cheque from a CRG executive, sent a couple of months ago, has not yet been cashed by our association. I received another cheque from CRG today ($1100) which I propose to hold onto until I learn whether there will be an audience for it within the association. Shaun is not even depositing cheques into the association bank account. The non-issue of receipts is now the least of my problems in this regard.

I also learned that Brock had never responded to a letter of interest Priscilla and I had drafted regarding campaign office space down the hill. He and Shaun are doing very little. I carry them along, things are going better, but I know this cannot last. I will persist until the election – if there is one in the spring – and then, one way or another, I will fix the problem. [Marie, happily, was the one who took up the cudgel. She held the hands of Brock, Sean, and Priscilla until the three of them had made all the necessary commitments regarding office space.]

Today I went again to CRG to discuss next steps regarding the Strategic Plan for RPIC. There is no money in this but lots of respect. If I need CRG down the line I know they will be there for me.

Tonight I see Georges Lavoie and will set the stage for Oscar coming on board. This may not be an easy discussion. Georges and Oscar do not appear to be the best of friends. [When the writ dropped later this month Oscar would still be on board but Georges would not. Oscar then left to work for Elections Canada. So in the end I lost them both.]

I sent a letter to Truda Rosenberg, whom I met at the South Sudan celebrations. She survived in the middle of the holocaust in Europe during WW2. When packed with others in a train headed to the death camps a decision was made to push her (a small woman) out of a ventilator. The hope was that she would survive the fall from the top of the train car and work her way to safety (though Jewish, naked, in hostile surroundings). She did, and she became the witness that everyone still on the train had hoped her to become. A remarkable woman, one who remains attractive in her ways though she is close to 90 years old.

11 MARCH

Before I forget…

In the House of Commons the Speaker ruled against the Conservatives…sort of…on two points of privilege (Bev Ota “affair”, and lack of information associated with a couple of crime bills). The Parliamentary Budget Officer, in addition, has set his sights on the cost of the F35 program, saying the costs are underestimated by about 40%. I address these issues separately.

For the election, of course, it means the assessment of risk (that there will be an election) has gone up quite a bit. Mind you, there was a major earthquake in Japan today that has destroyed a nuclear power plant. This major story will take the focus off the often petty quarrels that go on endlessly among politicians on the Hill.

The fact nonetheless is that every party is getting its ducks lined up for an election. Politics and international events will soon no longer be able to compete with the internal party machinery that has begun to turn. We may already be past the point of no return.

For my part, lacking any support whatsoever, I have entered into email exchanges with two local papers to get my ads set to go. I send all that I do to Priscilla and to Luc for information, always stressing that my undertakings are well within the forecasts we have all agreed upon for the budget of the basic plan.

I learned via Priscilla that Luc is upset. He believes he should be paid for being campaign chair. As mentioned earlier Luc had agreed to be team “coordinator”. He would not have the freedom to maneuver that goes with the job of campaign “chair” or “manager”. He will not be paid.

Oh…and Oscar has confirmed to Priscilla that he will be coming on board. Whether by reasons of culture or personality, unfortunately, Oscar can be curt with women. Priscilla already does not like him.

15 MARCH

Ramble on, ramble on… Let’s start with a rumor, shared by Luc, that the PM may call a snap election tomorrow.

I got no further input about this from Luc but I quickly beat out a dozen or so lines which summarized where we stand on all the pre-planned initiatives for the campaign. I reassured everyone on my core team that we are in good shape.

I also made sure our relationship with local papers for ads is solid. I signed a contract with a printer to provide 30,000 copies of the brochure and the “chair” and to distribute these to different parts of the riding via Canada Post; and so on. The campaign office has been selected, the source for office furniture has been identified, the order to print signs has gone out. Luc affirmed in his return email that he believes we are in good shape as well. He has done very little to help us get to this point.

Luc did not show at my meeting this morning with Oscar. The meeting went very well. Oscar appears on side, his thinking appears to reflect mine, he appears keen. The fact that he fell asleep during the more exciting parts of my presentation is, I hope, immaterial.

The national office is worrying me a little bit. There is a meeting in Toronto to prepare candidates that I do not plan to attend because I am already prepared and will not be changing my approach. Luc will be there. The purpose is to indoctrinate new candidates (most will have only a few days of experience). We do not need this anymore. They will also be marketing flyers and other things via the association reps and campaign team managers in attendance. We do not need any of this.

There was a demand for photographs. I sent in a bunch (all of them excellent) taken by Denis Dever a year or so ago. He had been official photographer for Joe Clark when he was Prime Minister. National office did not like the pictures. They want pictures, it seems, like the ones Horton R had taken when Mark and Heather were still on board (before quitting in response to Carol’s criticisms). I did not like Horton’s pictures but I was able to live with them. If I get pressed very hard I will retrieve some of Horton’s images and send them in. But, basically, I am just killing time in the hope that the election will be called and our campaign will be legally independent before the CPC puts imperatives to us that will cost money we do not have. Horton was paid only for his proofs, not for the final copies we will need if we go national’s route.

In the media these days, aside from the destruction of a nuclear power plant in Japan by an earthquake and ongoing battles in Libya and elsewhere in the Middle East, the national press is focused upon sins of the CPC, in particular the in-and-out advertising “scandal”.

The scandal is really about the amateur conduct of local associations: they are unprepared and underfunded and understaffed. In consequence, when the national office proposes to “sell” a riding a prepared national ad – with a tag line for the local candidate – in return for a payment to that riding of an equal amount the candidate’s team jumps at it. It is all about promoting the national ad, at a cost now born by local associations. It is a kind of trick but not all that evil in my view. In our case we do not need to tap into national office advertising. In our case we will not be playing along.

Earlier in the week, by the way, Mauril held a coffee. It turns out that only six people showed up, three from my organization. The event was a bust for Mauril and my heart kind of went out to him. When told about this by Georges Lavoie, who had gone to see how the coffee would unfold, my first though was: “Mauril can keep that silly job!” If it is one of a sitting MP’s challenges to keep politics at riding level alive between elections it sure seems that Mauril has done poorly.

On his way out the door Mauril saw that Georges needed a boost to get his car started. Mauril’s comment was: “You would be in better shape if you had stayed with the Liberals!” Georges answer was: “No. This happens because I bought a cheap car, just like you Liberals wanted to buy cheap helicopters and now cheap jets. If I had bought the equivalent of an F35 I would be driving home happy!”

Bottom line: democracy is really in tough shape in this riding! The banter is funny but also very sad.

16 MARCH

It is interesting to note that I am now totally out of money. I am down to my last hundred or so in my two cash flow accounts. If Marie does not give me her “share” for the monthly costs today I will have to surreptitiously transfer money from our joint line of credit. We have about $145,000 in credit available, lined up against the cottage, and $50K pre-approved lined up against the house. We could easily add about $400K to the house line of credit but that would be silly. Between loss of income and random expenditures I am now over $200K out of pocket.

The bottom line is that my cash flow is no longer adequate to cover my usual costs and debt. Something will have to give over the next few months.

Today I am following up with Nancy to see if she will coordinate my printing and direct-mails. I have contacted Horton regarding his pictures (without a real intention to use them…but to buy time with the national office). I am emailing with my brother. Gerald seemed interested in getting back into this game. I hinted that he could help me with the buying and locating of over 500 lawn signs.

His email back was same-old, same-old. Though he had some good ideas his imperatives would be labor intensive (for me!) to implement and are based upon expectations of financial and human support that does not exist. He wants me to set up three teams for him to give direction to, to set up the office with wall maps and pins, to provide cell phones and walky-talkies, transportation, and so on.

This time, as opposed to a year ago, I could share Gerald’s imperatives with Marie and laugh about it. Twelve months ago I would have been stressed about how to proceed. Like so many, my brother’s way of providing support is by telling me what I should do. Gerald will not be a part of this venture when the writ drops.

Oh, well…

I now plan to do my exercises downstairs, followed by a shower. I will then re-check my emails and, if it is not raining, do another round of endorsements solicitation. At the end of the day I will – upon the insistence of Marie – make a number of telephone calls to confirm the intention of our invitees to be part of the March 21 reception. I currently have 36 confirmations.

RAMBLING ON … AND THE 2 MAY ELECTION

My relatively diligent commitment to this diary ended with the entry for 16 March.

The next major event was the reception on 21 March. Because an election was now looming more likely every day I spent a great deal of time on the phone to attract as many people as possible to our reception. These would be the people I would contact in the days immediately following the dropping of the writ. These would be the people from whom I hoped to solicit at least $20,000 in total contributions within the first week of an election call. I went out of my way to both telephone, and also to stop by the homes, of those who had said they would be there. I will describe the event below. It was a wonderful success. The commitments I received made it possible for me to achieve the total in contributions during the election on which I had set my sights. As of the 21 March I knew that the basic plan was secure. Almost.

I still had to worry about being confirmed by the Prime Minister and I therefore still had to worry about the national office ordering that all my prepared material be supplanted by material the CPC had designed for all of its candidates, everywhere in the country.

Ten days after the March 21 event was held at our home in Rockcliffe the writ dropped. The election was on. Our timing had been excellent.

But I lost the election.

After all the preparatory work, after having been convinced (lulled?) by my own hubris into thinking that I had a good chance to win, I received only a few more votes than Patrick Glemaud had received in the previous federal election (just over 14,000 votes, or 27% of the votes cast).

As a surprise to me, I came in third after the NDP candidate.

Readers of this account will notice that I hardly ever mentioned the NDP in the preparations we undertook. The NDP have never done better than a distant third in this riding. I did not take that party, nor their candidate, seriously. Trevor Hache was an attractive and evenly tempered fellow who, by his own deportment, clearly did not expect to do as well as he did. The first time I had met him, at one of the public events in Vanier, he told me he had not wanted to run again (this was his second time) but the NDP had no one else. His background was in the area of social work and community support. From what I could gather he worked only part time and his major claim to fame, as he repeated often enough during the campaign, was his role in helping to establish a community garden behind the cooperative apartment building where he lived.

Mauril received 39% of the vote. This was his lowest ranking ever. He was a few votes over 20,000. So Mauril had had reason during the campaign to get nervous. Only three in ten potential voters (because about 40% did not vote) would have said “yes” in answer to his pollsters’ question: “will you be voting for Mauril Belanger in the upcoming election?” Between me and the NDP we shook him up a bit.

The Green Party received about 2% of the votes, less than half their number in the previous election.

The big difference for the NDP was a last week surge of support for that party because of the sudden popularity of their national leader, Jack Layton. Mr. Layton had only recently “beaten” cancer, though most people doubted his apparent confidence about this. He went onto the campaign trail with remarkable flair and joy and appealed especially to voters in the province of Quebec (his home province as a child) when his competence in the language was confirmed during a couple of interviews on a popular television show. His appeal for the francophone vote caught on in Ottawa-Vanier where the local candidate’s signs were replaced in the last week by “Vote for Jack Layton” signs.

I suspect Mauril, who went down about 5,000 votes from previous numbers, lost most – if not all – of those votes to the NDP. I suspect my own voting population was essentially the same voting base as is usual for Conservatives in federal elections in our riding. I assess however (in self defence?) that Conservative numbers would have been lower if I had not been a good candidate. If the quality of a candidate can only explain 5% of the vote then I expect my tally would have been about 22% without my effort over my 19 months in the business.

I am pretty sure that a majority of non-voting residents – most of them are new Canadians – would have given their support to the CPC if they had gone to the polls but, when all is said and done, my guess will never be confirmed. If I had it all to do over again I would try to attract the government’s minister for Immigration Canada (Jason Kenny) to the riding in the early days of the election. The next federal election, if handled right, could be set up as a test of my hypothesis that attracting a greater number of new Canadians to the voting booths will mean a greater percentage of support for the Conservative candidate.

But for me the test will not happen.

In the months after the May election I was blown away by the fact that I received not a single message from the national office or the association regarding my future intentions. Except for a nice letter from the Prime Minister I got the distinct sense that they were pleased to be rid of me. As Marie observed the party likely has a grudging admiration for how well the election unfolded (more to come on this) but the emphasis is on the word “grudging” rather than on the word “admiration”.

As I prepare myself to reflect upon how the election and its immediately preceding days unfolded I want to affirm an impact upon me that is lasting still today. I am depressed by the result.

I enjoyed the independence of thought and action that my being the candidate provided. I enjoyed the attention given to me by my supporters, beginning with the Prime Minister of the country and a number of high ranking Cabinet ministers. I enjoyed the limelight that came along with my being a candidate at public meetings and at private events. For 19 months, and especially during the election itself, I was a person with considerable public profile in my corner of Canada’s capital city.

During the election itself the profile included signs with my name emblazoned upon them all over the riding. I participated in television interviews and debates where, for the most part, I did very well. I was regularly interviewed by regional and local papers, visited in my office (quite an impressive one) by numerous community leaders, and was endorsed in the largest regional newspaper, the Ottawa Citizen, as being the best – indeed the “perfect” – candidate for Ottawa-Vanier.

On the day of the Ottawa Citizen endorsement, just a week prior to the vote, I said to Marie: “this endorsement is what I was running for.” I had wanted, once my candidacy began, to have a chance to experience a run for public office and, above even that, to remain credible for as long as I stayed in the game. At the outset, and until the last days of the process, winning the election was not uppermost.

The Citizen endorsement meant that I had done my job well.

There were times when I worried that – while I knew I would be excellent if elected to public office – I had stayed in this venture more to demonstrate my abilities than to actually have to serve. I even said this publicly a number of times: “I need to win this election like I need a hole in the head!” I told everyone that I was directing all my effort towards winning the election. I said this more as a necessary part of my public duty than out of vanity.

My personal need for legitimacy was met when the Citizen affirmed that I would be the best candidate for the riding.

But enough of the angst. Let’s get go back to what happened, and let’s begin with reflections upon the March 21 event at our home.

First, we had to overcome a major fire down the street on March 14 which destroyed the catering business that would service our reception. We had 60 confirmed guests at this point. With only five days to spare Marie sped around town to secure the finger foods and the hired help we would need to cater to a party of at least sixty people.

In keeping with my developing view that financial support over the long term is more important than one-time payments at the door, the March 21 gathering was without charge for those attending. I believed this would be the best way to build up the numbers for contributions during a campaign. We said we welcomed contributions in the course of the evening but made no demands. This meant Marie and I had to be prepared to pay the bill.

As I have mentioned the national office sent along Julien Fantino, then a newly minted minister (responsible for seniors). As Chief of Police for Ontario he had been the orchestrator of a disastrous approach by the province to an Indian “occupation” in Caledonia. As a person who had a deep background in Aboriginal affairs and in the management of claims I had been very upset by the approach Mr. Fantino took in Caledonia.

The minister spoke at the gathering from notes which limited his words to slogans. He sounded just like anyone opposed to the government of Stephen Harper would have expected him to sound. I was embarrassed by his performance. I was ashamed on our collective behalf. I asked myself if he had had his silly words imposed upon him by our party of if he really was as dense as he sounded. I also wondered if I could ever imagine myself saying the same things one day. Among the people at our event I think most were simply pleased to have someone of such high rank in attendance.

As I have mentioned many times in these reflections: politics at the local level is about events not about process or substance. An event with a minister of the Crown in attendance is an event worth attending. Period. What is said, either in discussion with the featured guest or among other attendees, is largely immaterial.

When Marie and I reflected on how things had gone after everyone had left to go home we noted that the only four who appeared unhappy with the performance of our special guest had been the two of us, my son Gerrit, and Amy. For Marie and me there was a touch of humour added when we received the catering firm’s bill for the event: it wrongly referred to our association as a mental health centre.

But attendance had been good. Unsolicited contributions at the door far exceeded the cost of the event. The stage had been set for more contributions to come if an election were to be called in the near future. I now had my list of those whom I will call when the writ drops and all those present confirmed they would be pleased to receive my call. I assured everyone attending that we were ready to go if there were an election within the month.

March 21 also happened to be the day when the government presented its budget to the House of Commons. The budget would be defeated because of the decision by the NDP to take a chance in an election. The Liberals had said all along that they would vote against the budget so there were no surprises there. All three parties had moved themselves so extensively into campaign preparations that, in retrospect, the votes could have gone no other way.

Yet when the writ dropped only a few days later, all hell broke loose.

I was about as ready as any candidate could possibly be. By the end of March I had the ducks lined up for the production of all my planned material; Marie had helped to secure offices for our use during the electoral period; Priscilla had returned to Ottawa and had linked us up with an office equipment store (furniture and communications) to fully outfit the office; Priscilla had already learned what her duties would be and had prepared herself as well as an Official Agent possibly can; the association had just over $35,000 in its bank account and was primed to turn all that money over to my campaign; we had a basic budget in place that included a direct mail of our key items to every household in the riding; I had a person, in Luc, who would act as coordinator during the campaign, bring in volunteers, and fill in any holes; we had our list of top supporters who would positively receive requests for more funding; we had a list of about 500 confirmed lawn sign locations; a local merchant had the template for our signs and had already produced 800 copies, in various sizes; we had a list of volunteers ready to start on day-one; Marie and I had set up our accounts to make a fully transparent loan to the campaign on the day Priscilla called for it; and so on.

Best of all, my campaign plan set down all of the steps which would be taken from here forward. We had “campaign guidelines for dummies” fully written up. The risk of us overspending was close to zero because all members of the campaign team had formally acknowledged that the Official Agent would not approve any expenses outside of the campaign plan without her or my prior agreement.

Upon my being affirmed as a candidate by Elections Canada we would be in a position to push a few buttons and, within a week, about 80% of our planned campaign material would be printed. Our “chair” flyer was set to be delivered to every home in the riding by Canada Post and our four advertisements were set to be printed. All we lacked at the front end was the people-power to plant the lawn signs, deliver the door-to-door pamphlets, coordinate TV appearances, and so on. In a pinch I knew I could have done most of that on my own with help from Marie and a few others.

But boy, oh boy.

To begin I want to unburden myself of a remarkable family event. Only two days into the election, and the day before the first public debate among all the candidates, my eldest daughter affirmed that she and her two sisters (Robin and Miriam) wanted nothing more to do with me.

This split in the family, between my daughters from my first marriage and my second family, may have been coming for a long time and may perhaps have been inevitable. When I reread this record of events I see a number of times when I observed upon a growing tension. But talk about timing!

The girls (young women, actually) believe that I had precipitated the split by emailing to them a message which included the words “any distance between you and Marie is the same as distance between you and me”. I had written this because emails from Marie to the three girls were becoming less and less likely to be answered. More and more emails and telephone calls were going directly from the girls to me rather than to Marie or to both of us together. I would not have had the time during the election to continue wrestling with this gathering rupture in communications among us.

I wanted to put a quick stop to this because of where things stood electorally as well as personally.

Clearly I failed.

My eldest daughter has always had a predilection (like I do, Marie will say) to speak forcefully and even undiplomatically. She now did this with a vengeance. The emails launched by Amy landed upon Marie (first target) and upon me a long litany of grievances dating back to the days when my first wife and I separated and subsequently divorced. I really was dumbfounded when I read the stuff.

I was disheartened as well by the tone in emails from Robin that followed Amy’s diatribe. She had not been pleased by how Marie and I had responded to the break up of Jason and Miriam, particularly with regard to my granddaughter Monica. Our position was that Monica’s future was for her parents to sort out and for the rest of us to stay away from.

From Miriam I heard nothing for what appeared an eternity but proved to be only a day or two. Miriam simply said: “I am not interested in any distance among us. I bear Marie and Dad no ill will at all.” The split came down to a splitting away of two.

The tension of these developments certainly affected my performance at the first of the public debates. I love debating but I do not do well when my blood pressure is up. Immediately after the debate I asked Amy and Robin to not engage with me any further in these personal matters. “We will deal with this after the election.” And that is where we left it.

During the election I had the support of Miriam and Jason (separately, if no longer together) but I had no communication with Amy or Marty. From Robin I had a short email along the way in which she wished me luck, with the implication that this was regardless of my personal failings.

I want to conclude this side-bar by observing that the split became a split of only one (Amy) shortly after the election was over. Robin lamented in an email “how did I get caught up in all of this?” and seized upon a proposal from me that helped her to bury the hatchet. With Robin we set about rebuilding a relationship which, within months, was considerably stronger and better than it had ever been before. We were able to pull that hatchet out of the ground, clean it off, and throw it away.

With Miriam things went smoothly and, I am sure, will always go smoothly. Marie found many ways to demonstrate our profound appreciation of her being constant in the face of her eldest sister and, for a time, her next older sister as well. This could not have been easy.

I now know that with Amy the rebuilding would begin when we all came together at the marriage of Miriam and Jason. Happily, things are back in good order. I am confident all of us mean it when we say: “never again!” Indeed, we are all rather pleased with ourselves because of how things played out.

For Marie the words “never again” likely applied to my running for public office as well. Running for Parliament is a heck of a way to flush out family tensions.

THE PERIOD OF THE WRIT

Sit back and make yourself comfortable… I will try to remember this as best I can.

As I say above at various points, by the time the writ was dropped I was ready. I should not repeat yet again the list of things I had prepared beforehand but I will do so anyhow. I am pretty darn proud of how far we had gotten from the day the journey began. So here we go:

I knew at the point when the writ dropped that I could count on about $35,000 in value for the campaign from the association. This would consist of lawn signs (about $10,000) and cash. Marie and I were prepared to make a personal loan to the campaign, which would come from Marie, to a maximum of $20,000. Working on the assumption that my front-line supporters would contribute at least $15,000 in the course of the election, I was confident that my campaign could spend in the order of $70,000.

As long as I could achieve at least 10% of the vote my campaign would get back from Elections Canada 60% of legitimate costs. This would be applied to actual expenses (the lawn signs would be expensed and returned for example) meaning that I could safely estimate a return from Elections Canada in the order of $40,000. Marie and my loan would be repaid from this subsidy. The rest, which proved to be about $20,000, would be returned to the EDA.

I had ready to go the “chair” flyer, a pamphlet outlining what I stood for and who I am, four fully developed advertisements for insertion into local newspapers, and a few other products of this kind. All the contacts with printing companies and newspapers had been made (by me!). Contracts would be signed by Priscilla as soon as she and I became “official”. All was ready to go at the push of a button (confirmations over the internet) because my contacts had said they would trust that the contracts would be signed in due course. I had arranged in advance for a direct mail of the “chair” flyer and the information pamphlet by Canada Post to all residencies in the riding. I did not want to count upon our door-to-door campaign being effective.

The cost for producing and then putting my whole gamut of products into the public domain, renting the office space, and acquiring the furniture was $40,000. All I needed for everything to happen was a confirmation to Priscilla that the money to pay the bills was physically in the account. This is where our loan money figured in. Priscilla also needed to be legally recognized by Elections Canada as being my campaign’s Official Agent and therefore the two of us awaited the Prime Minister’s endorsement of me as candidate.

I worried like crazy that the national office of the Conservative party would get nosy and insist upon blessing the content of all my prepared election material. I worried about this because I had come to understand that elections are big business for the national headquarters of a political party. They are big business for the service providers who have become favourites of the party elite. The national office did not like independent operators any more than the head office of Harvey’s might like a franchisee to feature a menu of special foods. In my case, of course, it was too late.

The national office sent us its list of preferred agents for the production of campaign literature and candidate photographs. The national office had standard templates for brochures and ads ready to go which local candidates were expected to pay for and then – at added expense to the local campaigns – to adjust for a small amount of local content.

We in Ottawa-Vanier were not going to be using those agents or any of the national office products. This meant that our campaign in Ottawa-Vanier would not be contributing to the CPC national costs.

In the first day of the campaign, before I was approved by the Prime Minister, I was called by the national office and asked “who has approved your material?” I gave them the name of a former staffer in the Ottawa office whom I knew had already departed to help in a riding out West. I said my material had been fully vetted. I was not challenged on this because, I think, the national office did not have our riding on their screen as a winnable seat. Their only concern was that I not embarrass the national campaign by doing something stupid.

The very first step was to get Priscilla and me, and therefore my whole campaign, confirmed by Elections Canada and by the Prime Minister as being legitimately in business. Once that was achieved it would be too late for the national office to put a stop to all my production. It would be too late to cause tens of thousands of dollars to be wasted – to say nothing of the personal time and the creative efforts of people like Nancy K.

My association had never told me what I needed to do to secure the Prime Minister’s endorsement. This is something I had left entirely in their hands. On this one key point, therefore, I had rendered myself powerless. I needed to have Priscilla meet with the Elections Canada officer in our riding to sign the appropriate papers and then to sign a half dozen contracts. But Priscilla could not move forward until I was legitimate. I was feeling rather desperate.

For as long as the CPC had the option to replace me with someone else I remained vulnerable to the command that I deep-six my own products and use national material instead. This would have set my campaign back about $20,000 in pre-writ production and about $10,000 in pre-paid direct mailing costs.

Two days into the writ the PM’s endorsement came through. I learned that all CPC candidates, all across the country, were endorsed in a single note from the PM to the Chief Electoral Officer. This was the standard approach. I simply had not been told about it.

Priscilla, now legitimate herself because of the letter I had sent some time ago to Elections Canada and to our Official Auditor, still held back because she was “waiting for Elections Canada to open their doors”. The wait went on and on: each hour seemed like forever to me. She would drive by the Elections Canada headquarters in our riding to check for signs of life and there was none. She did not stop and bang on the door.

While we were waiting I learned that the national office was at the point of setting up an approvals process to which campaign managers (I did not really have one) would have to submit all material and all activities being planned for their candidate. I did not trust that Luc would be able to squeeze us through the approvals process successfully if we got caught by this national office initiative. I needed to launch all of my material before Luc got drawn into the act.

My growing anxiety put a lot of pressure upon Marie. Marie was the one who took action.

It was Marie, with Priscilla bound tightly to her side, who went to the office of Elections Canada and banged upon the front doors. The office still looked unoccupied, she told me later, and Priscilla was greatly bothered about making a spectacle of herself. Marie kept banging, to the point where even she worried that the windows might break. And then the door opened.

With Marie glaring at the Elections Canada staff and her reminder to one and all that the writ had dropped two days previously, the people in the office did the impossible. I became the first registered candidate in our riding. I was off. I was up and running. The game, for me, had begun. Priscilla and I were now legal. We were independent of the association and of the national office. The order from national office to include them in the critical path that delivers products and candidates to market had not yet come.

My very first move was to telephone and email all the contacts I had established among printers, advertisers, and local and area newspapers, to say “go”. The printing began, the mailing began, the layout of advertisements was finalized, the dates of delivery of pamphlets and flyers to our office were confirmed, the furniture was delivered to our – rather attractive – offices (I wanted, and had obtained two of them, side by side). By the end of the first week of the five-week campaign we had fully played out all of the printed and internet substance of the campaign. When the order came from the national office that all campaigns needed prior approval for campaign material…the national office was too late.

On the morning of the seventh day I went to my office down the hill, sat behind my beautiful desk overlooking one of the riding’s main streets, and said to Priscilla: “Well, the deed is done! For all intents and purposes, Priscilla, we could go home now and simply await the outcome.” My office was not only beautiful it was also extremely clean and tidy. Priscilla had made it her business, in the evenings of those first two days, to clean the place from top to bottom and to put everything into good order. Wonderful.

I was not entirely serious about having nothing more to do of course. As I have said before, just about everything in the electoral process in Canada these days is better understood as a series of events rather than as a process. The events appropriate to electioneering, other than the first of the public debates, had yet to happen.

Our immediate challenge was to follow up upon our pre-confirmation of where lawn signs could be planted all across the riding. Our signs had already been printed and delivered to our storage space in the riding. Overriding Priscilla’s unease about this, I had approved the production of our signs before we had become legal because other candidates were already placing signs all over the riding. I knew they were not as far advanced in their preparations as I. If they were prepared to break a technical requirement (to first be confirmed by Elections Canada), so would I.

The first 200 signs were the large ones that were intended for arterial roadways in Ottawa-Vanier. In the work to hammer posts into the ground and wrap wire around the signs I was backed up by quite a large number of people, including Marty and his father (the break with my daughters would not happen for another day). I want also to mention Devon, a man who works on Parliament Hill. He went around with me during very inclement weather, teaching me the ropes about signs installation and giving me all kinds of advice in the hours we trudged from location to location in the pouring rain. I had hoped Rob W. would be the lead for all this but, as you know, he left for Florida only two days into the event.

An amusing note came from Marty and his father who, along an arterial road close to the offices of Mauril Belanger, decided to exercise our right to plant as many signs as we wanted adjacent to his front door. Mauril came out to complain…and eventually the signs were taken down.

The next order of business was the planting of lawn signs in front of the 500 or so homes where I had received permission through all those calls from the Signs List. I learned from Luc after my day spent installing signs along the arterials that Marie and I were the only ones on our campaign team with cars. Our Volvo and our Jeep became service vehicles which delivered signs and staff to all parts of the riding. Since I drove one of the vehicles I also helped to install most of the signs.

At each door I stopped to say hello, and thanks. This sometimes delayed things quite a bit.

The preparations we had made for signs delivery and installation paid off: at an early riding event where the Prime Minister was in attendance he singled out Ottawa-Vanier as a riding where he saw more lawn signs than anywhere else. He asked me to take a bow on behalf of myself and my team. The material we had prepared in advance also was a success. The “chair” poster, the size of a large post card, had been well received. A member of the Prime Minister’s team who lives in our riding had a copy and was waving it about as an example of something really “cool”.

My use of our Volvo and Jeep to deliver signs, of course, set a precedent. Throughout the five weeks of the election our two cars were the only vehicles to take people to the neighborhoods for the walk-abouts; the only vehicles to pick up and deliver material; the only transportation available for public events; and so on. I charged for the gas at the end of the campaign but it took a heck of a toll in personal time. I did not want anyone else to drive the Volvo!

And now let’s look in upon my office arrangements and the supporting cast.

I had picked up two offices down the hill from my home. On the one side was “the candidate’s office”. On the other was what I called “the train station”. The one side was reserved for me and Priscilla. It was available for use by others only on a special permission basis. I had a key and Priscilla had a key. This office was always very neat, well appointed, very professional. Here is where I met anyone from the visiting public who wanted to talk to the candidate. Here is where I had private meetings with individual members of the team as might be required.

On the other side of the hall was “the train station”. I called it that because in that office all the hustle and bustle typically associated with a campaign took place. For a few days we lacked adequate communication capacity because our phones and email addresses were still tied to the office of the electoral district association. Among Luc, Priscilla, and especially when guided by Marie, new phone lines were installed and new email addresses assigned. Luc wanted blackberries for himself and his “senior team” but that had not been included in our basic campaign plan. I believe Priscilla eventually relented. A few of those hand-held communication devices were added to the mix.

I had appointed Luc to be notionally in charge of what would happen in the train station. I say “notionally” because I had so prepared for the next five weeks that Luc would have precious little to do. All the campaign material was already being produced and mailed. His focus could only be on the “busy work” of campaigning and upon the important matter of personnel support.

As the campaign unfolded I nonetheless grew to be more and more appreciative of what Luc, helped tremendously by Eleanor, was able to achieve in the train station. The national office sent various Parliament Hill staffers our way to help with our campaign as volunteers. Some of these people had had a lot of experience – though few were over 25 years old – and certainly they had energy. Eleanor jumped into her role as volunteers coordinator and fed our new recruits into teams of three and four who walked at least twice daily through our neighbourhoods. We saw right from the start that a couple of fellows (Chris and Geoff) could be trusted to deliver upon the business of door-knocking and polling with remarkable flare and skill. A couple of very attractive young women took on the public relations aspects of the work. Marie was on perpetual stand-by to help resolve tensions between my office and the train station, especially by staying close to Priscilla to help her keep down her temper.

And we had tensions aplenty.

To start with, Priscilla proposed – and I agreed – that the key to my side of the offices (used by Priscilla, and for my formal meetings) not be given to anyone else, not even Luc. Priscilla did not trust Luc and he did not like her. Priscilla did not want the calm environment on our side spoiled by the rabble on the other side. Luc – for good reason – found this very upsetting, not least because our office was very attractive and he was planning (I suspect) to use our comfortable furniture and television for personal down time when everyone else went home.

The dislike between Priscilla and Luc, the two key people on a campaign team, spread into a tension that engaged many other team members. Happily most of those others could get past the moments of upset and could appreciate why my priority always had to be the imperatives of my Official Agent. We only lost one or two volunteers because of the internecine feuding. I was very impressed to see how the most experienced of our volunteers quickly assessed the situation, took on areas of responsibility at their own initiative, and took charge. I always saw this as a high compliment to me and to the overall effort.

The only occasion we entrusted the key to my office to someone else, by the way, was the night Eleanor and a few others went to watch the Royal Wedding (William and Kate) on television. This was towards the end of the campaign when – as luck would have it – a spring storm had knocked out power to large parts of the city but not along the street where our offices were located. [In our home, by the way, we almost burned down the place because we forgot to check what some of our candles were up to in the dining room.]

Since most of our money was committed or spent by the end of the first week of the campaign Priscilla was reluctant to approve any other expenditures. This meant that even taxi money was made available to train station staff only with great reluctance. Refreshments were funded to a minimal and laughable amount. Marie and I regularly topped up with our own money what was provided by Priscilla from the campaign bank account. The amounts were small but I knew this way of operating was nonetheless improper. I should have kept receipts and deposited them with Priscilla.

While the train station had the equipment they needed to reproduce material they initially had no garbage cans. There was little money provided for toilet paper, or soap, towels, or whatever else. The money that was needed for basic necessities had not been included in the basic plan and had to be begged for from Priscilla.

Marie and I both exploded with laughter (but also tears) when Priscilla one day looked into the train station and muttered: “Pigs!” The place was a mess; an abomination. But those poor guys had none of the usual amenities needed to keep themselves and their work stations clean. They had no place to stuff piles of campaign literature except one small closet where coats and boots were supposed to be stored.

After the first week Marie and I, to sidestep Priscilla’s tight controls, went down to the offices late at night, every night of the campaign, when everyone else had gone home. We cleaned, we refreshed the water supply, we added comfort foods of various kinds (chips, etc.), provided stamps and letter paper, and so on. When the workers in the train station arrived at work in the mornings it was thereafter always in good shape. Since Priscilla rarely deigned to look into their space she rarely had reason to wonder how the other half managed to keep themselves in good shape within the very tight allocation of funds that she provided.

Our telephone answering system did not come on stream until after the first week in the campaign; our machines for printing extra copies of material and for creating new material regularly broke down (we had three printers by the end of the campaign but were mostly using UPS anyway); arguments among volunteers about favoritism between friends drove some people out and brought new people in; and so on. One of the people driven out was an intense young man who was so angry about my not championing Voter ID and GOTV (he wanted us to install dozens of “phone banks” in the train station even though we had neither the money, space, nor the people) that he and I almost came to blows.

There were a great many positive highlights to mark the five weeks of the campaign.

Without regard to the actual order of events, one of these was the national office agenda for the Prime Minister. Every time the PM and his wife were in Ottawa during the campaign there would be a rally of some form. This required the Ottawa area candidates to show up and be introduced, always to a lot of fanfare. We would run through a gauntlet of cheering party supporters, we would be escorted to private meetings with the Prime Minister, we might individually be called upon to accompany the PM to a photo-op in one’s own riding, and so on.

I always welcomed these opportunities to partake in the life of politics partly because I suspected my time in this life might be short. I even went to the airport reception when the PM returned to Ottawa on the day after the election had been won by a Conservative majority. I was the only defeated candidate to be there and, along with the winning candidates, I received an appreciative two-arm hug from the PM.

While on a subject linked to the role of the PM himself in my campaign, another highlight was to have his mother volunteer to do a round of door-knocking with me and my team. Mrs. Harper was a shy and quiet woman who could certainly remind one of her son, the Prime Minister. Her manner was friendly but somewhat distant. I had her sit in my office for a few minutes during which I summarized where I thought the campaign in our riding was headed and then we went to one of the more attractive parts of the riding to knock on doors and drop flyers.

A happening of particular note during our door knocking with Mrs. Harper was her tripping over a raised flag stone on a walkway in New Edinburgh. Mrs. Harper appeared to be in her late seventies. Her posture was amazingly straight…and this seemed to save the day for us all. She fell forward in a fully erect position. She did not bend a knee. She did not put out an arm. She simply fell full onto the front of her body, landing – it appeared – on every square inch of herself from toe to forehead.

I and one of my team ran to her to help her up and determine the damage, expecting the worst. Yet not a hair, not a piece of skin, not a muscle, not a bone, nothing had been damaged. Not her clothes, not her handbag, not even the flyers that she had been holding in her hand had been disturbed. Once on her feet again she led the way enthusiastically from door to door as if nothing had every happened.

I had a great many visitors at my office in the course of the election. Most of these were community leaders who wanted to make a connection in case I was elected and would then be in a position to follow up with them over four or five years in office. A number were residents of the riding who wanted to make a special effort to get to know the CPC candidate. I truly believe that most of those who entered my office left with a determination to vote for me.

I was pleased to be joined on a few rounds of door knocking by the person chosen to represent the Progressive Conservative party at the provincial level (the provincial election was scheduled for October) and also – to my surprise – by the Honourable David Kilgour who had been a minister in the government of Jean Chrétien (Liberal Party of Canada). If you have read my reflections in the diary you will know that my relationship with David had been difficult for a bit.

David had always been “above the fray” of party politics, having been both a Progressive Conservative party and a Liberal party member in the House of Commons. Since leaving public office he has been very involved in political issues on the African continent. One consequence of his enthusiastic support for my campaign was the growing number of supporters for my cause who were of African descent.

On a fairly regular basis, as I have already intimated above, supporters stopped by my office to contribute money to the campaign. We easily met the $15,000 target for the campaign, meaning that by the end of the second week I knew that I would be able to cover all our planned costs and fully repay the loan provided by Marie and me. Indeed, I contemplated expanding the scope of the campaign.

But expanding the scope of the campaign proved to be impossible.

I could not expand the scope of my campaign, frankly, because my team leaders lacked either the initiative or the energy (or both) to add anything to my basic plan. This was largely my own fault. I had so locked-in the basic plan that no one on the team could have built up a head of steam required to pursue unplanned opportunities.

Luc, the campaign coordinator, set the wheels in motion for only one new idea: a gathering at a café in our riding to which members of the public and the media would be invited to “meet the candidate”. This was set up for the last week of the campaign. If this had happened it would have been the only stab at an activity that had been contemplated for over a year by association members and by team supporters.

When we were only a day away from the event, the location rented and the food all ordered, the national office expressed reluctance. They did not want to risk my saying something that could become a problem regionally or even nationally at this late stage. Luc was advised to cancel the event and, on his own initiative, he did so.

I was very bothered by this development. I said forcefully to Luc: “You had no business moving me this far along into your planned meet-and-greet without pre-clearing the evening with the national office. Because of your failed initiative, Luc, I am now cited in the local papers as being yet another Conservative who backs out of public discussions because of an order from the national office!” If Luc had checked with me I would have asked him to keep the whole thing quiet until the evening was over. I was supremely confident that I would make no mistakes.

When writing these reflections I asked Marie to look over my shoulder. “Luc had less to do with it than you think,” was her comment. Since many of our volunteers were staffers with politicians on the Hill they brought with them a whole lot of experience in electoral campaigns. They knew what to do. Luc drank gallons of red bull (a strongly caffeinated drink) to help him stay alert and he spent most of his waking hours on his blackberry.

When Marie and I straightened up the office at the end of every day we often saw notes on his desk or on the floor addressed reminding him to “keep the candidate in control”. These likely came from representatives of the national office. “Luc,” I answered to Marie, “had his hands full keeping the national office away from me and therefore away from the anger that was likely to erupt if a national office directive had landed on my desk without pre-screening.”

My self confidence grew exponentially in the course of the campaign. In parallel with my confidence growing, the dollars were flowing dependably in from supporters. Our offices were always open to the public and voters in the area came to contribute to the campaign at the rate of a dozen a day. Even Guy, I was pleased to see, came by to write a cheque for $400 notwithstanding the unfortunate turn in relations between us.

Except for the first public event where my concentration wavered because of the sudden breakdown in relations with two of my three daughters, all my public events went well. My appearances on local television presentations of the candidates showed me to be the best prepared and the most effective debater. My coverage in the local and regional media was always glowing. As I said above, late in the campaign the Ottawa Citizen endorsed me to be the best candidate. I defended myself and the government well on all occasions. I made few mistakes.

I performed well enough that the national office, whose preference was for candidates such as I (in loser ridings) to keep a low profile, asked me to stand in for a sitting MP at a public debate on Middle East issues. Marie helped pull material together and I sat on the stage…where I received three hours of personal attack from a large crowd while Marie madly googled for answers to questions and sent them to the cell phone I had set on the podium in front of me. I was thanked after the event by one of the organizers (“you did well up there”) but I sure was happy to leave the building through the back door and go back to my home riding.

I missed very few opportunities to appear publicly. I knew the odds were against me and that I might not get to do this kind of thing ever again. When Luc and his group decided not to respond to an invitation to have me speak to a Shelter for Men I was quite disappointed. My disappointment turned towards anger when I learned that I was the only candidate in our riding who had not shown his face. As soon as I heard this I raced down to the Shelter to make my apologies and to leave behind a fairly large donation, even though I knew my make-up action would garner no media attention.

Even in settings where the Conservative party could not count upon much support, such as Homeless Centers, Retirement Residences, Recovery Homes, elementary and high school students, and so on my audiences became more and more appreciative as my speeches went on. I was able to sense the moods of my audiences and adjust my explanations to the words and contexts my listeners. I was always faithful to the messages from the national party but my elaborations often differed from how other CPC candidates delivered those messages.

Because my fingers move quickly over the keyboard and I enjoy typing I was able to respond to every single question which came my way over the internet. I did this in the evenings of every day, after I got home. The questions which came to me allowed me to hone my answers and my arguments so that similar questions asked orally at public events or at people’s front doors became easier to deal with all the time. I answered hundreds of emails over the five weeks of the campaign.

To say that I enjoyed the campaign would be an understatement. I loved it. I felt fully alive, fully tested, and always rewarded for my efforts.

Certainly there had been a great many frustrations along the way and these had often become personal between my wife and me. As you know from reading the diary, Marie was not keen about my political journey when it began. She did her best all the way along but her frustration and even resentment rose forcefully to the surface from time to time, especially when I appeared to be unhappy.

During the campaign itself, however, Marie came into her own. To her own surprise, I expect, she would lose herself in the effort to make things better and to put on a good face before public gatherings. Had I been elected I am certain Marie would have been a perfect fit for the life of a political couple.

Marie could always be counted upon to step in and defuse pressures that might otherwise have derailed things. She, like I, was astonished by the slip by Luc in the last days of the campaign but even then we went on to hold the event (almost no one came) and enjoyed ourselves regardless of the failed final effort. We invited a few dozen regulars at the café, who had most definitely not come because of me, to enjoy the finger foods…and they sure did.

It is important to observe that, as a general rule the election unfolded in our riding very peacefully. There was actually quite a bit of friendship displayed between and among candidates when we appeared together at public forums or crossed paths at public events. We in Canada are still leagues away from the street warfare that we see during “free” elections in most other parts of the world.

There were only a few exceptions to this. One of these was the endless tension between campaign teams regarding which organization was responsible for one or another round of signs removal or defacing. Mauril’s team was always quickest to finger suspected culprits (usually my guys) but it was not a big deal for us candidates.

Another exception was the subtle pressure upon local business to not compromise future relations with the likely winner, the Liberal party candidate. Small businesses, for example, often received me warmly and almost always featured my sign in their window after I went back onto the street. Within days those signs were either taken down or were paralleled by Belanger signs positioned slightly forward to my own. The owner of a local service station where I regularly bring my cars to be oiled and tuned welcomed me to place one of my signs right under the lights which beamed down to the gas pumps. Mauril’s team swooped in and a week later one of his signs, slightly larger in size, stood half in front of mine. Small business owners are typically conservatives.

This kind of pressure was also applied to individuals. At one public event the sitting MP and his wife came to say hello to the couple who had invited me. After what appeared to be entirely friendly hugs among the four of them (Marie and I were not acknowledged) Marie saw that the wife of my supporter was crying. I suspect something had been said to her about future employment…but we never asked.

In one of our public debates I drew attention to Mauril’s record of attendance in the House of Commons. A local paper had reported that his record of attendance was one of the poorest among sitting Members of Parliament yet his house is only fifteen minutes drive away from the Hill. Unfortunately, while I had the exact figures in my files, I had turned to the wrong page and got the figures wrong. Mauril’s reaction was an off-the-handle “you are lying!” and I feared he would have a heart attack on the spot. I quickly apologized for my error…but you can see that the bonhomie among us ran shallow.

Mauril had taken to wearing a red Liberal scarf and sported a jaunty look regardless of his tremendous girth. His presence in the riding was greater than mine because his stature as parliamentarian drew media attention that I was unable to garner. My hope was that voters would see through the charade of profile only during election periods. My hope was that folk would laugh at his foolish campaign “promise” to lose twenty pounds by walking the streets and knocking on doors. My hope was that my own prodigious effort during the last eighteen months would get noticed, along with the fact that my physical fitness is not a joke but a life-long commitment.

On voting day I was pleased as punch to vote for myself in a federal election in Canada. I was also enchanted with the knowledge that my daughter Miriam and her future husband Jason (they got back together two years after the election), my two sons and my wife would all be voting for their father, future father-in-law, and husband. I know this happens for almost very candidate in an election but no one of my personal acquaintance had ever experienced this privilege.

On voting day I was encouraged by a number of people who were also on their way to the polls. They felt we had done our jobs well. I was certain that Marie and I, helped so much by Priscilla and also by the Luc and the team, had together delivered a campaign that anyone in the business could be proud of. All that remained was to await the results of the vote.

The evening of the election was, of course, a disappointment. We lost. Not only did we lose, we came third – for the first time since the riding was created. Happily we obtained a few more votes than my predecessor and happily we achieved far more than the number of votes needed to get the Elections Canada subsidy upon which all our repayment plans depended.

But the gathering of volunteers around our television in the office, which included my son Gerrit and two or three of his friends, was not a happy time for me.

Within 30 minutes of the polls closing the CBC declared the Liberal incumbent to again be the winner of the election. I had led for a very short time because polls in some traditionally conservative areas of the riding were the first to close but thereafter the only issue was whether I would come second or third. In the end the candidate representing the NDP received 1000 more votes than I did.

Everyone in my office did what they could to keep their spirits up but one could not call the evening a celebration. Long after the office doors had closed for the night Luc returned on his own and kicked things around (furniture and stuff) meaning that the cleanup which began in the morning included our need to make a few repairs to the rented furniture. I think Luc really counted upon a winning campaign in order to get himself back into the workforce…and now the avenue via an office for me on Parliament Hill was closed.

LAST WORDS

In the days immediately after the election I had to deal with what I called the “ultimate indignity”.

I, with Marie and very few others, had had to do almost all of the pre-election preparations ourselves. It only stood to reason, I suppose, that I would have to do almost all the post-election clean up as well. I spent a few rainy and cold days either on my own or with a couple of friends (also my son and Colin Lindley, on one occasion) taking down the hundreds of signs now dotting the landscape in Ottawa-Vanier. These all had to be removed from their metal frames and brought, together with those frames, to our storage facility on the edge of our riding. Also into storage would go the contents of our offices that had not been returned to the furniture rental company.

For one of those rainy days I was driven around in the pick-up truck of a fellow I had met who sits right behind Roger Maris, as the major league catcher, when Maris hit his record-setting home run. The quirks of running for public office could still amaze me.

For the most part, however, I felt rather sorry for myself.

This feeling sorry for myself continued at a fairly high level of intensity for about six months. Even now, four years later, moments of regret can seize me with a remarkable force. While I was quite rational during my pursuit of public office in Ottawa-Vanier, meaning that I appreciated my odds to be extremely long, I experienced the delusion that I know to be a necessary part of this kind of venture.

When fully into the campaign almost every single person I met or crossed paths with would be positive towards both my effort and even my chances. When one polls almost 30% of the vote, as I did, it means that almost one out of every three people headed to the polls would say to me in the street: “You can count on my vote!” Since those not intending to vote for me would mostly keep silent on the matter, in no time at all one begins to think that the support level is very high.

As the election progressed, and always building up upon the political base I had begun to build 18 months before, I could see myself to be a very good politician. I speak well. I understand my audience. I elaborate well. I can bring rational arguments to bear on a policy position even if I know the listeners disagree with my premises and the conclusions. I have empathy. I have energy. I look the part of a leader.

But it was not to be.

I now believe that the period of the writ is a kind of trauma for those running for public office. Candidates are called upon to be the best they can be, almost always on the public stage. After the election there is a degree of post-traumatic stress which reveals itself in dreams and reflections. It goes on with intensity for months. It fades away only with years.

I know that my own after-shock must be minor compared to the shock felt by sitting Members of Parliament who experience an unexpected loss. This happened to a great many Liberals all across Quebec. I can easily imagine how tough the loss must have been for someone like the leader of the Liberal party. Among Conservatives there were a couple of Ministers who took a fall in Quebec because of the “Jack Layton effect” and a couple of senators who had stepped down to run were defeated. Most of those folk would take longer to get over their losses than I would. The leader of the Liberal party eventually wrote a book to share his lament with the general public.

In my case, even running for public office was a totally unexpected development. To then lose in a riding where Conservatives have lost every election since the riding was created could hardly be traumatic in any deep sense of the word. I just wish my luck had been different. I would have loved to surprise everyone – even myself – by concluding my career as a sitting member of the House of Commons.

I know I would have been good for the riding because I have always done well at everything I have taken on. But in this riding the odds were so stacked against my winning that I should really learn to get over my having lost.

One of the slogans highlighted in my campaign material was: “The courage to act!” After stepping into my role in national-level politics, largely on impulse, I demonstrated the courage to stay the course – and do this honorably – throughout my 19 months as a candidate. I can be happy about that.

I received a letter from the headquarters of the Conservative party shortly after the election and, in the margins of a form letter sent to all losing candidates, the president of the party noted: “Rem, you did us proud.”

I certainly did! Nothing more needs to be said…

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