What business does politics have on a music website?

Well, just about all of it, actually.

It’s with growing importance that we take a moment to step away from our usual fare to talk a little bit about our recent experience trying to connect with our provincial MP Francesco Sorbara; Not only is the topic I have been diligently trying to secure a meeting about of critical importance, I think there is a lot of value in sharing the experience so that if you find yourself interested in approaching your own member of parliament for whatever cause is calling to you, you have a better understanding of how things might go.

For starters, I want to tell you a bit about what has gotten me to this point.

I was speaking recently with someone about what has driven me to get more actively involved in political discussions in my own community; why now and why now with such urgency?

When I was younger I was very eager to become eligible to vote. From my limited understanding of the world, politics and voting as a teen, it was important to me that I exercise the right to vote regardless of whether or not I ultimately spoil the ballot. After all, women had fought hard for the ability to do so and what kind of woman would I be if I let all that effort go to waste?

For whatever reason from a young age I’d had an interest in politics anyways so this wasn’t exactly a leap for me, but it would take years before I started to gain a real understanding of how things worked and my role in it. And even then…

So once I could, I’d make a point to vote. Most years anyway (I definitely missed at least one). I’d do my bit of research and select the best candidate for my own needs. Voting is largely a selfish act; what do I need and who can provide it, rather than “okay but what’s best for the collective?” but just as with emergency masks on airplanes, you are meant to fit your own mask on before you can assist anyone else with theirs.

A couple years into this it started to become clear that you couldn’t simply pick a candidate you like and vote for them. That wouldn’t necessarily result in the best outcome. You might be really, really passionate about green initiatives and so the Green party is most attractive to you and the voice you most interested in elevating, but you come to realize that they don’t do too great in the grand scheme of things and maybe your vote is more valuable being pitched to the NDP or Liberal party. After all, either of those options are certainly better than the Conservatives and really here in Canada, that’s what it always comes down to, doesn’t it? Liberal or Conservative. Choose your poison.

And I accepted this as a late-teen, early-20 something because Canadian politics are the way they are and that’s how voting works; you accept it and work with it the best you can.

So for the most part I lean left, as they say and my vote tends to highlight that. But the more years have gone on and the more I started to pay attention even further to the political landscape of my country, the more things started to appear undeniably broken.

People will say anything to get your vote and once they have the power to do with as they please, they don’t really have any real consequence if they do or don’t commit to the ideas that you voted them in for. Looking at your pipeline, Trudeau.

But that’s not even the worst part of it.

Here in Ontario we’re currently sitting under the reign of Premier Doug Ford.

Another Ford, really, after all that stuff with his brother?

Oh yeah.

Without getting too deep into it for the sanity of our American readers, what you need to understand about Doug Ford is that the guy is as thick as a bag of bricks and so utterly incompetent that it’s incredible he’s also managed to be one of the most corrupt Premiers in our history. He and his Conservative teams (if you’re going to take my word for it), have managed to completely dismantle our health care system as he pushes towards a paid-system similar to the United States, he tried (and fortunately failed for now) to turn over our Greenbelt lands to his developers buddies under the guise of creating affordable housing which, he’s also responsible for completely fucking the rental housing market and the hoards of eviction notices that have been handed out to tenants who can no longer afford their apartments under his changed legislation. He’s also done other really amazingly stupid things like try and change all Ontario license plates into a format that makes them illegible at night or when headlights are pointed at them. He bares no real formal education, can’t even use a laptop and his greatest success prior to his political run is his former gig as neighbourhood hash dealer.

There’s more, but the point is that I have found myself over the last couple years absolutely baffled that this utter buffoon of a man is responsible for the decisions that impact me and my fellow Ontario citizens.

And I know what you’re thinking: but you guys voted him in, right?

Well, no, actually we didn’t.

Doug Ford won a majority government with 40% of the vote when he was elected.

This means that 60% of eligible voters did not cosign his appointment.

He was given 100% absolute power.

Does that sound democratic to you?

And therein lies the real issue and it’s an issue that’s not just felt in Ontario but across all of Canada.

When we are young we are taught that Canada is one of the best free countries in the world and we tout diversity and our allegiance to democracy as our greatest strength. And because we are taught this, we assume for much of our lives that the system is in good working order. The key to ensuring your needs are being met by your representatives is to simply vote for them and the rest will work its way out.

But with Canadian voters becoming increasingly apathetic about our electoral system, the kind of system the allows a man with 40% of the vote to have 100% power, less Canadians are interested in voting. And part of that is because, maybe we want to vote for the NDP or the Green Party or the Bloc Quebecois but we know with our current political climate that those votes are basically useless. Right now, you have to stick with the two parties that actually stand a shot at winning.

The problem with that is the Liberal and Conservative parties are at stark contrast with each other. So, right now while Doug Ford continues to put in framework to further dismantle previous Liberal legislature, even if the Liberals were to overtake them in the next election, they then have to spend the bulk of their tenure scaling back all these issues that the Conservatives have created.

And that stalls progress.

We are sitting ducks.

So in coming to this realization that our electoral system then is fundamentally flawed and does not cater to a wholly democratic society as we have been long led to believe and that it is as a result damn-near meaningless to try and tackle any individual issue like housing or health care or education or otherwise until we can correct the foundation of this system, I came to learn of a better way.

Proportional Representation.

If you haven’t heard of proportional representation, it is basically exactly as its name suggests in which representation of seats in parliament reflect the votes that got them there; there are no bonus seats for being the winner, just an appropriate level based on how many people actually want your leadership.

Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body.^[1] The concept applies mainly to political divisions (political parties) among voters. The essence of such systems is that all votes cast – or almost all votes cast – contribute to the result and are effectively used to help elect someone – not just a bare plurality or (exclusively) the majority – and that the system produces mixed, balanced representation reflecting how votes are cast.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proportional_representation

Without getting granular about it, there are several different ways to achieve proportional representation and many countries have already adopted them and have seen the benefits of such systems. Countries like Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland – all of which are generally touted as being pretty great places to live with a high quality of life.

In learning about these alternative systems my next question was, “okay, so what can I do about it?”

Fortunately for me, a lot of other people have already been actively campaigning for this type of change for a while now and they’ve put in significant legwork, which is great because trying to get anything done in politics takes a very, very long time.

There’s a motion set to be read and discussed next month in the House of Commons. It’s called Motion M-86 and you can read about it if you’d like, but what it is in short is a call for a Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral Reform. In plain English, it’s basically asking that parliament allow for a small town-hall of citizen representatives to talk about what electoral reform might look like in Canada, what are our options (proportional representation and others) and if it’s worth pursuing.

Which is to say, even if we are granted this Citizen’s Assembly, it’s not to say anything comes of it. We could reach the conclusion that the current system is still the best system and everything will remain as it is, but we could also reach the conclusion that maybe it’s a little flawed and maybe there is another option worth considering.

From there, more conversations need to happen. Despite all the previous effort from those I know who have been fighting to get Motion M-86 in front of our representatives, this is still very much Square 1.

Those people that were voted in based on the current electoral system are the ones who get to decide if this can happen.

So you can see where this gets challenging.

Nonetheless, upon learning about the Motion the next step was the get boots on the ground; Whenever something like this is set to be called to a vote, the next step is to try and get your own MP on board with the idea or at least feel out their position on it.

Which means you’ve gotta talk to them and because they’re busy important people, you have to try and get a meeting; They’re not just like, hanging out backstage on Canada Day talking to and getting photos with Sam Roberts all the time.

This part is far more challenging than I care to dive into, to be honest, but that’s exactly why now today I was compelled to write this blog post.

I have sent 4 or 5 e-mails to the office of Vaughan-Woodbridge MP Francesco Sorbara.

None of these e-mails encouraged a response from him or his office.

And I’ve called a few times, too.

The first time someone took a message and I explained what I had already explained in my e-mails and that was a challenging phone call.

“The phone line is hard to heard,”

‘Okay but it’s also in my e-mails’.

I digress.

Low and behold I got a call back. Someone who works at the office got the message and now asked me again why I was calling. “I’m trying to get a meeting with Francesco Sorbara to talk about Motion M-86”

“Okay what’s that?”

After biting my tongue to stop myself from saying that it was all laid out very nicely in my initial e-mails (which were short, to the point and included links with information), I explained the call for a Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral Reform.

The staffer went on to say he’d heard of the electoral reform conversation a bit but no one had been really talking about it for some time (maybe not to you…). And then he pressed me for a bit more information and I held pretty firm that I just wanted to talk about it with Francesco to see what he thought of it and why I felt it was important that we push to pass the motion (for the greater good of Canadian democracy!)

And then the staffer went on to explain proportional representation to me and I held my tongue again because I had already explained that was what had driven me to request the meeting. Did we just shift roles?

I’m sure he just thought he was being helpful but I was losing faith quickly in my new point of contact.

We got off the call with the understanding that the staffer would reach out about the meeting request but that Francesco was in Ottawa right now and basically, no guarantees. I caved and said I’d settle for a phone call from him if he could squeeze in a couple minutes of time for me.

I followed up again by e-mail (no response) and then again by phone.

And then when I reached the same staffer and they asked again why I was calling and I explained again in full, they said they “vaguely remember talking about electoral reform” and I rolled my eyes and asked them for their name and reminded them we definitely spoke about it and it wasn’t very long ago.

No meeting.

“They’re back in Ottawa”.

Missed the window.

The window is small.

The staffer suggests a website where I can find progress on the motion as it makes its way to the House of Commons and I express that that’s helpful (I guess) but that I already know the date its going to be discussed and that’s why I was hoping to chat with Francesco prior to it being tabled.

We move on.

These e-mails and phone calls took place over about a month because I was trying to be both patient and understanding but also made it clear I would keep my availability open for the meeting, whether in person, over ZOOM or a classic run of the mill landline phone call.

And so I explained that I had some material I could drop by the office that happens to be a couple short blocks from me and I pass regularly on my way to work.

“Sure yeah definitely bring those by,” he said.

I drafted a letter, a longer and more personal one this time to Francesco Sorbara with hopes that if he could spare the 60 seconds required to read it, I might land my meeting after all, printed it, signed it with my name and number and put it and some brief materials on the Motion in an envelope, hopped on my bike and went to the office.

When you arrive at the office it says to ring the doorbell and then wait for a sound and open the door.

So I rang the doorbell and it immediately sounds a noise (the doorbell) but nothing else happens. I tried the door anyway and of course it didn’t open. So I tried the doorbell again.

Then someone comes to the door and I swear if there had been a peephole they would have been glaring through that first. They opened the door partially. “Yes?” through the crack.

“Hi, I’m here to drop off some materials for Francesco -” I began, the door not slightly more open with my foot propped up against it to keep it open and the woman’s back leaned on to it.

“Well which Francesco because there are two, there is Francesco the MP and –”

I cut in as politely as I could. Now I’m annoyed.

“Yeah, the one that works here. We spoke on the phone today,”

“Because Francesco Sorbara isn’t here” she continued over me.

“I know.” I know, I know. Ottawa. Ottawa. Ottawa.

“What is this about?”

Jesus Christ, really? What is it with you people?

I explained again.

As I was partially through my Coles-notes version of my mission, a young man appears and cuts into the conversation.

“Ah, um, yeah, they have some materials about a — it’s some kind of petition —-“

“It’s not exactly a petition it’s about a meeting but —”

“For Electoral Reform”

“There’s a motion coming to the House of Commons next month and I wanted to — ”

We are all speaking over each other and I’m cutting in because I don’t think this person, who explains they’re who I spoke to on the phone, is explaining what this is all about properly to the person who now mentions they’re the office manager.

It is the briefest of awkward conversation in the middle of a doorway that is still not fully open (and certainly I’m not being invited in today) and we leave the conversation with the office manager explaining they’ll now scan and send the materials to their correspondent in Ottawa. I thank them for their time, still don’t get any sort of meeting confirmed or acknowledgment that I’ll ever hear back from anybody ever about this, and I leave baffled that they would even bother to scan such materials when the original e-mails I sent would have absolutely been sufficient to have this explained directly to my city MP who apparently is never in my city and never has time to speak with those of us who live here.

Another flaw in the system.

And so today I take to the internet because my MP has time to tweet so perhaps we’ll have more luck the ever-burning dumpster fire public forum that is Twitter/X.

For full transparency here is my letter to my MP:

Francesco Sorbara,

With understanding that you are increasingly busy, I appreciate you taking the time to review these documents about Motion M-86 and its call for a Citizen’s Assembly on Electoral Reform which I believe will first enter discussion in the House of Commons on November 23rd.

While I had been hoping to schedule an in-person meeting with you to chat further about this, I would like to use this opportunity to express why I think this is such an important motion that is justly due for your support.

Candidly, although I do typically align myself more prominently with the Liberal party of Canada, I don’t believe that this motion is in any way applicable or more or less beneficial to any particular party, rather it is a vital motion that ensures all voices regardless of their own affiliations or lack thereof are being adequately heard.

I came to learn about this motion through my own research after finding myself increasingly disappointed in the representation here in Ontario. I could not for the life of me fathom how somebody like Doug Ford ever became Premier of this province, nor could I understand to any degree how he has been able to so fantastically dismantle our previous systems; From healthcare, education to housing and more, though flawed before, they are certainly worse now.

With only 40% of the popular vote, Doug Ford and his Conservative colleagues have managed not just to suppress vital services required by so many in this province, but bring them to a level so low that I know it will take years to recover from. He was given entirely too much power when a vast majority of voters did not vote for his leadership. As a 33-year old born and raised here in Woodbridge, Ontario, the future for me as a Canadian living in this province looks remarkably bleak.

And so what is the solution? Another election would bring fourth much of the same results. Even if swung in my preferred direction, the existing electoral system here does not speak to the voices of all its citizens. I’m sure you’re entirely too aware that it is difficult to get people out to the voting polls despite how accessible it is in our country and I believe that is exactly a result of the same apathy many of us feel while trying to work with the existing system. Why vote at all if all control can go to someone with only 40% support?

A citizen’s assembly on electoral reform is more important now than ever before. It will allow us as a collective people to bring forth our own ideas and concerns in an unbiased non-partisan way and allow the conversation of potentially moving to a new electoral system where our votes may carry more value to take place; It is single handedly the most democratic thing we can offer each other in these difficult times.

And ultimately, it is just a conversation. One none of us should be afraid to have with each other. The Citizens Assembly does not guarantee any changes, it only allows us a moment to be heard.

Among the MP’s who have already declared support for Motion M-86 are:
MP Julie Dabrusin
MP Adam van Koeverden
MP Carolyn Bennett
MP Salma Zahid
MP Ben Lobb

I appreciate your time and do hope to see your support for Motion M-86 when it comes to the floor.

Thank you,

I don’t expect to ever hear back from the office of Francesco Sorbara. At this point, I don’t intend on reaching out again either.

But I do hope more of us are aware of the potential of moving to a proportional representation electoral system and I do hope that we can trust our elected officials to understand that there is nothing to be afraid of when it comes to allowing a Citizen’s Assembly to engage in a discussion about how to improve our electoral system.

We’ll see what happens when its eventually brought to a vote.

To end, I do want to say that if you think you can stomach it and there is something nagging at you that you want to speak to your MP about, whether it’s your own support for Motion M-86 or something else entirely, I do want to encourage you to do your best to secure a meeting.

These people are elected to serve you and it is their responsibility to do that to the best of their ability. Simply, it should not be this annoyingly difficult to get in contact with them or a member of their office. It should not take so many repeated attempts at contact over multiple mediums or multiple points of contact. This isn’t supposed to be this complicated. But I hope my own experience helps you understand what you might be in for.

Start with an e-mail or phone call, then follow up.

And follow up.

And follow up.

And if all else fails? Well, I guess you take to a public forum and put the pressure on.