Show the politicians that you care
A Work in Progress
By Ivan Morgan
There’s an old expression that says 80 percent of success is simply showing up. I wish I had understood that better in my youth. In my dotage I try to make people see the truth of it.
That’s especially true in politics. If someone has a campaign, show up. If you have opinions about stuff, voice them. Don’t be silenced. Show up, be counted.
It’s true for protests. If you feel strongly about something, and someone is organizing a protest, show up. Be heard. Can’t physically show up? Make yourself heard anyway. Will you achieve your goal? Maybe not. But energy breeds energy. Showing up is better than not.
A group of people – NL Proud on Facebook – are trying to organize a protest against the Wakeham Tories Churchill Falls MOU. They want to gather on the steps of the Confederation Building on September 14th – that’s the day the Tories are opening the House for a special session to “debate” the new deal. In fact, what they will be doing is rubber stamping it, part of their fast-track plan, banking on most of us not caring.
It would be great if 10,000 people showed up, but it’s a Monday morning. Labour Day has passed; everyone is back to the grind. School is starting. People have lives.
Can’t make it? I think it’s imperative that you speak out in any way you see fit.
What about this new deal? We know the Tories want it. We know Quebec wants it. We know the federal Liberals want it. Do we? We were promised the ability to have a say, and the Tories seem to be poised to break that promise.
We all should care. There are a growing number of people who say the Wakeham Tories’ new agreement with Quebec isn’t good enough. Maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. My sticking point, as I wrote last month, is they campaigned on a promise to give us a say.
What do you think? That’s what’s important. Are they afraid we won’t accept it? Read that line again. Who is working for who?
This is a very important decision. I did a straw poll of people I know, and most of those whom I asked think Wakeham’s Tories got elected on the promise of a referendum. There seems to be a lot of pressure from forces outside this province to get this deal signed ASAP without us having a say. Why?
If you’re one of the people who is not keen on the deal, or one of the people who wants a say on this deal, you need to show up. We all need to show up on this issue. Maybe not on the Confederation Building steps on a Monday morning, but somehow.
There are lots of ways of being heard – of showing up. We need to e-mail Tory MHAs. We need to Facebook them. We need to let the media know. We need to not be ignored, not this time, not on this issue.
In my lifetime I have seen governments cave in to public pressure. Not often but it can happen. It needs to happen now.
Pressure, real pressure, will not be ignored. You might think your little text or call doesn’t mean much. Just like 10 people on the steps of the Confederation Building don’t mean much. But hundreds and thousands of such actions matter. Thousands of such messages will get attention.
Showing up matters. Speaking out matters. We are being denied a basic democratic right that we were promised.
The Wakeham Tories were not given a mandate to cut a deal with Quebec and sign off on it. They were given a mandate, by us, to cut that deal and let us vote on it.
What does one say about a group of politicians who break such a fundamental promise? Don’t show up, don’t speak out and those politicians will have their answer.
The premier, the Tory party, the federal Liberals, and Quebec do not seem to want you to have your say. They are banking on you not caring enough to speak out, not caring enough to get involved, not caring enough to send a message, not caring enough to show up.
Care.
Ivan Morgan can be reached at ivan.morgan@gmail.com