Stepping out of our comfort zones Part III

This is a guest post – BD

If someone were to ask you what celebrity you would like to meet – what would be your answer?   It’s not a tough question for many.  Celebrity de jours like a movie star or a rock star would probably be the choice of most.   I can think of two I would like to meet – Stephen Lewis and Romeo Dallaire. 
 
Ken Dryden is the MP for York Centre and Chair of the Social Development Committee for the Liberal caucus.  I vaguely knew he was a hockey star.  I don’t do sports.  I am a news junkie and prefer documentaries on TV to movies, sports or drama.  That’s not to say I don’t like games – politics is one of the best games out there.  I think it is hugely entertaining.  Too bad it’s a no-win situation.
 
The Honorable Ken Dryden isn’t just a hockey star.  He is a lawyer and has earned seven honourary degrees from different universities.  His political career is distinguished and unmarred.
 
That’s nice.  If he came to town I probably would not go out of my way to see him, although I am in awe of his academic accomplishments.
 
It Takes a Country is a series of town hall meetings being held across the country.  Garth Turner does town hall meetings all the time.  For those who attend Garth’s town hall meetings, their anecdotal reports on his blog about the experience are positive and upbeat.  Interacting with a ‘live’ MP in a relatively small setting seems to encourage and empower the average Canadian.   Our MP and MPP are very public figures in our riding.  Their offices are open to anyone and both of them are kind, caring individuals.
 
So when I heard that our city was to host a town hall meeting on an issue that I am passionate about I called our MP’s office and asked if Joe Q. Public could attend, since it seems that it was geared for anti-poverty front line advocates.  I was quite excited about attending, they had some interesting speakers lined up.
 
The room was small, there were probably 100 or so people in attendence.  I recognized many as community leaders in the fight against poverty – members of the soup kitchen, the food bank, educators, women’s rights advocates, legal advocates.   There were municipal and township mayors and councillors and reeves.  There was no way to sit in the back,  round tables were set up in a way that made it difficult to disappear into the woodwork.
 
Of course our local MP chaired this town hall meeting.  I remember reading BD’s post on meeting this MP for the first time and still chuckle about it.   
Other bloggers have discussed the poverty issues raised by this series of town hall meetings in detail.  So has the media.  The information is out there.  So what I want to focus on is the concept of what a town hall meeting feels like.
 
Our MP made the introductions.  I was struck by the size of Mr. Dryden.  He is a very big man – not fat – just big and tall and solid.  I’m not sure why that stuck in the forefront of my mind and stayed with me the entire time.  Maybe it’s because I am vertically challenged and everyone is taller?   Maybe because I tend to see sports in a slightly different light than most people.  I just don’t get it.  I have attended two major sports events in my life and found both of them very boring.  Sports celebrities don’t register on my radar but then neither do movie stars or pop stars. 
 
There was another MP there who just happened to be in the area visiting family.   He was introduced as an interested observer who just happened to be the chair of the food banks in his riding.   With all of the political heavyweights in the room I remember thinking I had to be careful who I spoke too, since there were no name tags and I could have been addressing someone with a title and not know it. 
While it didn’t carry the same enthusiasm a sports event or rock concert would for the majoritity of Canadians, it was probably the closest thing I have come to feeling that excitment with three MP’s in the room.
 
When Mr. Dryden rose his presence filled the space.  He is soft-spoken for such a big person and he wasn’t given to rhetorical partisan-babble.  He is clearly passionate about Canada’s poverty.   He quoted Churchill – “It is not enough that we do our best – we have to what is required”.   In other words, targets must be set and met.  It is not easy, and if they are not met then they must be revamped and started again.  Fighting poverty has to be intensely non-partisan.  All Canadians suffer because of poverty.   What haven’t we done better?  What would it take?  When he finished his speech I couldn’t help but think he reminded me of Stephen Lewis at little.
 
The guest speakers were diverse.  The first one made a statement those of us below the poverty level could applaud – “don’t study us anymore, we have been studied enough”.  All the poverty studies in the country won’t change the problem.  Full-time workers live in poverty.  Our First Nations people all know or have been touched by poverty.  For the disabled, mentally ill, seniors, single parents poverty is their life, just a little bit less of a life than other Canadians.
 
The First Nations speaker was incredible and moved some of us to tears.  It makes one ashamed to be Canadian.  He didn’t blame or condemn, he simply told his side.  He believes that First Nations people have the potential to grow but they are too reliant on the government.  The can only grow as much as they are allowed by the government.   Our First Nations people have the highest suicide rate anywhere in the world.     I don’t have words to express how it feels to be reminded how badly we treat our First Nations people.  I could only hang my head in shame. 
This gracious gentle man struggled to speak.  He was uncomfortable, he showed  courage addressing the group.   He ended what was a very moving presentation by turning to Mr. Dryden and saying “by the way, my aunt would like your autograph”. 
 
Another gentleman, a front line worker knows poverty from a policy/committee/report level and as a worker trying to find housing and support for people.  I think he has a great deal to contribute to any program, he is very well-read and knows the subject well.
 
The final speaker was great too.  He advocated getting to know a poor person by name.  While that may seem strange to some of you (we all know poor people) there are many Canadians who don’t put a face to poverty.  It’s just one more tax deduction off their hard-earned paycheck.  He talked about fuel poverty.  Many people pay more than 10% of their income to heat their dwellings.  21 degrees C is the standard set by the World Health Organization.    

When the Honorable Mr. Dryden spoke he reminded us that anyone in the room could end up poor.  While people hear that all the time they tend to brush it off, it is something that happens to other people, or you are born into it.   I didn’t believe it either until it happened to me.
 
The open discussion was one of the best parts of the town hall meeting.  One man at the nothern end of the riding spoke about the 84% of individuals in his town who can’t find affordable housing, the highest rate in Canada.   Many are single individuals and the money they live on each month can’t sustain them.  Another speaker who is now a reeve spoke of her long journey out of poverty as a single mom.  Over time she got her university degree and is now able to support herself.   I remarked that we were opposites, having gone from affluence to poverty and mentioned the shame, exhaustion and blame associated with being poor. 
Much was covered in the short time this diverse group of Canadians had together.  There is much to do.
 
So – what did I get out my first town hall meeting? 
It is the individuals in the room who will be the ones to continue the fight against poverty.  The government has to support their efforts with a workable plan (Ireland has been successful with their antipoverty policies.)   The 30/50 plan proposed at this meeting is just one step in an ongoing battle against difficult odds.   It was a warm and cohesive group of individuals.  I left informed, encouraged and positive, just like many of Garth Turner’s attendees.  It was non-partisan as it could be with all the political heavyweights.   I still can’t get over what a big man the Honorable Mr. Dryden is.  I learned that his heart is just as big as he is.