Deirdre Pike: Asking the tough questions, politely

We have a new doorbell. It makes me happy when I hear it ring throughout the house, replacing the antique door knocker which looked lovely but functioned poorly. Now, we hear the first half of the Westminster Quarters," the common clock tower tune first struck in 1793, at Great St. Mary's, Cambridge. It is still tolled out four times a day by the bells of many churches in Hamilton and beyond, reminding us to pray and send good energy to the amazing health-care workers pushing through the fourth wave of this pernicious pandemic.

When the tune beckons me to the door, I make my way, humming along to the music, musing about who it might be or what parcel has been delivered. Lately, I've opened the door to find no one. With no clues left behind in the mailbox, I wonder if the neighbourhood boys finally put down their guns (yes, toys, but still ...) and picked up on what I thought was a long-gone game, Nicky-nicky-nine doors.

I've been ringing a lot of bells and knocking on doors lately, but I don't run away. These days, I am hoping people will happily open up to the masked volunteers who come knocking from any party, ready to engage in the important issues of this election: First Nations priorities, climate crisis, housing, child care, guns, and so much more.

I am proud to be door knocking for some of the few women candidates running in Hamilton, a city with the unfortunate distinction of having less women running in this election than the national average.

While the NDP is the only party on a national level to have reached gender parity in 2021, with 52 per cent of candidates identifying as women or gender diverse, none of them are running in Hamilton. Both the NDP and Conservatives are running only men in each of the five Hamilton ridings. The Greens have two women, the PPC one, and one independent candidate is a woman.

The Liberal party has three women running here, and I have been door knocking with each of them. The experience has been interesting and the vibe exciting. There have been no actual stones thrown in my experience, but I have heard a few words that strike a bad chord. It's no reason to run away though, as this engagement is what democracy thrives on.

Why is Hamilton, or Canada for that matter, still low in the numbers count when it comes to women and gender diverse people running for office? Witnessing the verbally violent treatment of candidates and leaders on social media over the past few elections, and now the more physical aggression seen in public, it's no small task to convince people to give up the relative privacy and comfort of their lives and lay it all on the line in an effort to make change for their communities and country.

If you recall the misogynistic and homophobic venom toward former premier Kathleen Wynne in the 2018 election, it is not hard to see why fewer women, LGBTQ+ people, Indigenous and racialized people and others who already face a multitude of barriers, would be able to see their way through to run.

Not to give up hope though, Kate Graham has written a book which should be required reading in schools across this country, if we really want to encourage girls to consider politics.

Govern Like a Girl: The Women Who Became Canada's First Ministers," tells the stories of the 12 women in Canada who have become premiers, and, in one case, the story of our only female prime minister.

Each of them was empowered to make change in their communities, long before they ran for office or held a fancy title," says Graham, herself a Liberal candidate in the last and next Ontario election, and the mother of a girl.

No matter who comes knocking to your door, please ask them your tough questions, politely. And no matter who you choose, please vote. A just recovery demands it.

Deirdre Pike is a freelance columnist for The Hamilton Spectator. If you want some help figuring out what to ask at the door, check out the pre-election resources by Citizens for Public Justice, the National Council of Canadian Muslims, or countless other justice-seeking organizations. You can order, Govern Like a Girl," from Second Story Press.