Ask-The-Contestants!

Thank you for this excellent question Mary Anne.

As a professional community organizer, engaging the community in the day-to-day work of democracy, in between elections, is what I’ve done for the last 15 years. Sometimes ‘out front’, but more often ‘behind the scenes’.

I know that the main factor that determines the level of citizen engagement, is a clearly articulated and persuasive campaign strategy. This requires some explanation.

The definition I use for campaign strategy was learned from US union organizer (and Obama campaign strategist) Marshall Ganz: "a good strategy is a credible plan to turn the resources you have, into the power you need, to create the change you want."

Without strategy – a credible plan – then no matter how inspired or motivated citizens might be (by powerful narratives and communication and presentation of either data or emotional stories) they won’t know how to engage in ways that make meaningful change. 

Without strategy, Greens are often tempted to fill our activist calendars with ‘busy work’: we sometimes invite to join meetings that discuss the same issues over and over, or to sign petitions or share content on social media. But when those tactics are separated, and not connected by a clear campaign strategy & plan, they don’t add up to building power, or creating policy change. Inevitably, people start drifting away from those groups and tactics. The strong emotions that inspirational speakers and provoked in them can quickly turn into depression, disengagement, or even cynicism.

I know, because I’ve heard it over and over, that this experience feels familiar to many Greens.

What we need now is not more motivation and inspiration, but a credible community organizing plan, articulating how people can organize, democratically, to win the changes that we already know that we want.

Chad and I have made clear, both in our 6 month plan, and our Platform Priorities, how much value we place on the idea of focusing our strategies, to shift the needle to win key campaigns, and key policies.

The Ontario Greens are having success with a similar, focused campaigning approach: rather than commenting scattershot on every potential Green issue, they choose areas of focus, align their ‘air game’ and their ‘ground game’ in the same direction, and they build a ‘critical mass’ of momentum for change, over 6-12 months. Doubling the Ontario Disability Support Payment (ODSP), and ‘Healthcare not Highways’ are two recent examples of focused campaigns. 

Riding Teams can engage their communities in these coordinated, well-planned campaigns, that build pressure towards real, tangible policy wins. Giving people that sense of success in moving the needle, in turn motivates participation in the next issue campaign. It builds democratic participation, and reinforces democratic participation across society as a whole.

One of the reasons that people engage so strongly at election time is because they see a clear logic in election strategy: if I am one of 100 volunteers, who will each knock on 200 doors over 6 months of volunteering, then together we will reach 20,000 voters and have a chance to add another Green seat to the house of commons. And with another Green seat, we can influence legislation. Very logical, very clear. People feel the connection between their actions, and the desired results.

Between elections, we can craft strategies that create the same sort of logic, with focused, issue-based campaigns on key policies that matter to Canadians - to deepen our democracy, push for bold climate action, and to build a wellbeing economy!