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Edited on Tue Oct-26-10 12:22 AM by lightningandsnow
As you may know, I live in Toronto, Canada, and have been very involved in our local elections. You may also know that my city just elected an extreme right-winger, Rob Ford for mayor, which I am obviously unhappy about. However, this doesn't tell the whole story. In municipal elections here, you cast three votes; one for mayor, one for school trustee, and one for city councillor.
I live in the area of Toronto known as Ward 27. Located in the heart of Toronto, it's one of Toronto's most diverse electoral districts. It encompasses one of the richest neighborhoods in Toronto, and one of the poorest. It encompasses the gay village, and a university campus.
A few months ago, one candidate in the election really caught my eye. Kristyn Wong-Tam, who I had initially heard of because I know her partner, came forward with a strong, progressive message. At first I thought she would likely end up being a fringe candidate, but having read her platform and really believing in it, I hopped on board as a volunteer.
I jumped right into the campaign. From July onward, much of the free time I had was spent in the campaign office or out canvassing. In the past few weeks, literally almost every spare moment I had was spent volunteering. Kristyn emerged as a front-runner, but we all knew the race would be extremely close. In the days leading up to the election, she became the target of a very nasty smear campaign, and I started to worry that she was about to lose.
This morning, I got up at 6:30. By 7:30, I was outside handing out flyers, trying to persuade any undecided voters to vote for her. I spent the rest of the day getting our supporters out to vote. I had a biology midterm from 6-8 PM, after which I briefly came home to pick up my phone and my purse and head to what I hoped would be Kristyn's victory party.
My father, who voted for Kristyn even though he is a self-described libertarian, was already glued to CP24, our local news channel. It showed, with 85% of the votes counted, that she was down by several hundred votes. My dad turned to me and said "She lost. I'm so sorry. That's really too bad - she ran a great campaign."
I looked at my father and said "It's not over until it's over."
I ran down the street to what I still hoped would be a victory party. Not five minutes after I was out the door, my dad sent me a text saying "Kristyn just jumped ahead in the polls!"
When I got to the party, I heard cheering. She had jumped even further ahead. Finally, at a little after 9:00, Kristyn was declared the winner.
It was then that I started crying uncontrollably. I'm 18 years old. This is the first election I was old enough to vote. Kristyn is the first candidate who really made me feel like I mattered. Many other people got teary-eyed as well; and we were all hugging and high-fiving.
Why does this matter, you might ask? After all, ward 27 is one of 44 wards in Toronto. Toronto is one of several municipalities in the greater Toronto area, of hundreds of cities and towns in Ontario, which is one province out of 13 provinces and territories in Canada. Most of you are American, anyway.
However, tonight was very important.
Tonight, the first out lesbian was elected to Toronto city council - ever.
Tonight, ward 27 elected the only woman of colour to sit on council this term.
Tonight, ward 27 elected a true progressive.
Tonight, ward 27 showed Toronto - and hopefully the world - that the good guys can and do win. Not just the lesser of however many evils, but the real good guys.
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