3Dementia
Senior Member
On the very same day that the Cathedral Square story ran in the POST ... in which Mr. Rae was kind enough to call me "abusive... demanding to see him" (after being blown off promised meeting etc. for 4 months)... look what ran in the Star.
Karma eh Kyle??
Why is an answer too much to ask?
TORY ZIMMERMAN/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO
Photo caption:
Kyle Rae, here joking around before Pride Week two years ago, is as rude to constituents as other politicians. Being openly gay doesn't mean he's open.
May 24, 2008 04:30 AM
Brent Ledger
Odd to think that people were excited when Kyle Rae became Toronto's first openly gay city councillor in 1991, almost as if we thought his gayness would make a difference. Oh, how our innocence has fled.
I've interviewed Rae a couple of times over the years but I had never approached him as a constituent until this winter, when I called his office to complain about some noise in his ward. Actually, I called four times over the space of three months. Three times, a message said someone would get back to me shortly. No one ever did.
Once, I even reached a real person and the real person assured me that he would look into the complaint and someone would get back to me. That was seven weeks ago. No one ever has.
The cynics among you may think this par for the course. We are, after all, talking about politicians, and who ever said they were there to serve the people who elected them?
But I've contacted lots of politicians over the years, from most political parties and all levels of government, and I have almost always received a reply and even sometimes – get this – some help.
In fact, it wasn't until a few years ago, when I found myself in the unlovely hands of Carolyn Bennett, the Liberal MP for St. Paul's, that I first encountered Rae-level indifference – an indifference bordering on contempt. I wrote (emailed) or called her three times and she never replied, until a friend who happens to be a well-connected Liberal dropped into her office and told her I was a journalist. Then she called back.
Political replies are usually something less than intimate expressions of personal concern and nobody understands that better than I.
Many years ago, I worked as a temp in the solicitor general's office churning out replies to irate voters about some now long-forgotten scandal and I vividly recall that the most difficult part of the task was not crafting the response (which was done elsewhere) but merging hundreds of names and addresses with the same bland reply.
Still, any reply is better than none, and at least it makes you feel heard.
Smart politicians know that and they work hard at maintaining contact with their constituents. David Miller, for instance, is no great shakes as a mayor. After almost five years in office, he's done – well, what has he done? The Gardiner is still standing, the waterfront has been clobbered by condos and the TTC is a ramshackle money pit. But to give the man credit, he's smart enough to hire good constituency people who keep him in touch with the grassroots.
Send his office an email and you usually get a response within the day.
It probably won't address your concerns directly, more likely wriggling off topic in the approved say-nothing political style. But you'll get the sense, however illusory, that you're part of a functioning democracy.
Voter turnout in this country is notoriously low, especially at the municipal level, and the pundits scrunch up their brows and wonder why. But, really, what's the surprise? Between obvious examples of democracy flouted (see the Bush-Gore election in the U.S. or civic amalgamation here) and active displays of political indifference, the wonder is that anyone shows up.
Democracy depends on a dialogue between voters and elected officials and, when either side shuts down, there's nothing much to encourage participation or debate.
Ignore people long enough and they'll eventually go away.
If politicians really want to engage the voters, they might try dialling back the contempt.
Brent Ledger appears every second Saturday. You can reach him at
living@thestar.ca.
http://www.thestar.com/article/427928
Karma eh Kyle??
Why is an answer too much to ask?
TORY ZIMMERMAN/TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO
Photo caption:
Kyle Rae, here joking around before Pride Week two years ago, is as rude to constituents as other politicians. Being openly gay doesn't mean he's open.
May 24, 2008 04:30 AM
Brent Ledger
Odd to think that people were excited when Kyle Rae became Toronto's first openly gay city councillor in 1991, almost as if we thought his gayness would make a difference. Oh, how our innocence has fled.
I've interviewed Rae a couple of times over the years but I had never approached him as a constituent until this winter, when I called his office to complain about some noise in his ward. Actually, I called four times over the space of three months. Three times, a message said someone would get back to me shortly. No one ever did.
Once, I even reached a real person and the real person assured me that he would look into the complaint and someone would get back to me. That was seven weeks ago. No one ever has.
The cynics among you may think this par for the course. We are, after all, talking about politicians, and who ever said they were there to serve the people who elected them?
But I've contacted lots of politicians over the years, from most political parties and all levels of government, and I have almost always received a reply and even sometimes – get this – some help.
In fact, it wasn't until a few years ago, when I found myself in the unlovely hands of Carolyn Bennett, the Liberal MP for St. Paul's, that I first encountered Rae-level indifference – an indifference bordering on contempt. I wrote (emailed) or called her three times and she never replied, until a friend who happens to be a well-connected Liberal dropped into her office and told her I was a journalist. Then she called back.
Political replies are usually something less than intimate expressions of personal concern and nobody understands that better than I.
Many years ago, I worked as a temp in the solicitor general's office churning out replies to irate voters about some now long-forgotten scandal and I vividly recall that the most difficult part of the task was not crafting the response (which was done elsewhere) but merging hundreds of names and addresses with the same bland reply.
Still, any reply is better than none, and at least it makes you feel heard.
Smart politicians know that and they work hard at maintaining contact with their constituents. David Miller, for instance, is no great shakes as a mayor. After almost five years in office, he's done – well, what has he done? The Gardiner is still standing, the waterfront has been clobbered by condos and the TTC is a ramshackle money pit. But to give the man credit, he's smart enough to hire good constituency people who keep him in touch with the grassroots.
Send his office an email and you usually get a response within the day.
It probably won't address your concerns directly, more likely wriggling off topic in the approved say-nothing political style. But you'll get the sense, however illusory, that you're part of a functioning democracy.
Voter turnout in this country is notoriously low, especially at the municipal level, and the pundits scrunch up their brows and wonder why. But, really, what's the surprise? Between obvious examples of democracy flouted (see the Bush-Gore election in the U.S. or civic amalgamation here) and active displays of political indifference, the wonder is that anyone shows up.
Democracy depends on a dialogue between voters and elected officials and, when either side shuts down, there's nothing much to encourage participation or debate.
Ignore people long enough and they'll eventually go away.
If politicians really want to engage the voters, they might try dialling back the contempt.
Brent Ledger appears every second Saturday. You can reach him at
living@thestar.ca.
http://www.thestar.com/article/427928
