Elected politicians

I have always corresponded with the people we elect.  Whether it's municipal, provincial or federal, I write them all.  I never tell them how I voted and I have NEVER carried a card to any political party.  I have worked on a couple of campaigns but policies and people change.  I like to look at every election with an open mind.  And over the years, I've pretty well voted for every party including the Marijuana Party many years ago.  No, I'm not a marijuana user but they wanted to built a macrame bridge from Vancouver to Nanaimo.  That was so funny and there was no one else running that I was happy with so I laughed all the way to the polls and threw away my vote.  I figured it was better than not voting at all.  Of course they never got elected but they did get a lot of votes!

When I was a stay at home mom in 1974, which was only one year I subscribed to Hansard.  In case you don't know it's the Federal Government's full-length record of what is said in the House of Commons.  It made for very interesting reading and while the house was in session I got mail every day.  I did enjoy reading it to see what our elected politicians actually do.  It's now available online but I haven't got the time or interest to read it verbatim.  Now we have Twitter and Facebook so our elected officials can let us know what they doing.  We also have email so I don't have to spend stamps to communicate with them.

My grandmother used to call the political party she wasn't voting for to drive her to the polls.  She had a great sense of humour.  I can get myself to the polls but I am on every phone list with every political party. They call me before elections to ask for my support.  I never tell them who I am voting for and usually receive a call on election day to make sure I voted!

John Aldag, our MP answered the email today I sent to him a few weeks back regarding the gang activity in our streets.  He's a family man and I started followed him on Facebook and Twitter as soon as he was elected as a candidate as I did with the other candidates.  One John's first tweets I read was "I'm so busy, grandma showed up to look after the children".  I must say I loved that tweet.  Then I found it he was a neighbour of Krista, my friend Margaret's daughter.  John Aldag is the MP for Cloverdale-Langley.  He attended Royal Roads and the University of Saskatchewan.

Here is John's reply to my earlier email:

Hi Ms. Fisher,

Thank you for writing me regarding your concerns regarding safety. The issue you've drawn attention to is very important, I want to assure you that protecting the health and safety of Canadians is a top priority for our government.

Minister Goodale is responsible for the RCMP, but I will pass along your notes to the Ministry, and will discuss with my colleagues in Caucus, especially in the Pacific Caucus forum.

Sincerely,

John Aldag