The final results:

Credit: Screen Capture of http://www.gnb.ca/elections/10prov/13apr15/13apr15HTMLresults-e.asp

I took time to be part of the NDP campaign. I was able to go to the nomination meeting where Susan Levi-Peters was acclaimed as the candidate. This took place in Bouctouche on March 23. Dominic Cardy spoke, giving his support to Susan. Susan accepted the nomination. The media spoke to Susan and Dominic. The campaign was on.

Credit: Doug Mullin Photography

And I also went down to Kent to assist in the final days of the election. I had an off-road experience on the back roads of Kent County, trying to find the poll we were sent to canvas. We got back the next day and delivered pamphlets, asking for their vote for Susan on election day.

Credit: Doug Mullin Photography

On election day, I was helping to pull the vote on Elsipogtog First Nation. Assigned a small section of the community, I went door-to-door reminding people that it was election day and offering a drive to those who needed it.

I was very happy to get an experience of democracy on the very front-line. Encouraging a community that does not normally vote to get out and vote is very rewarding. From talking with other campaign staff, the number of new voters on Elsipogtog First Nation was up.

I see this as due to the efforts of the team, which included anglophone, francophone and First Nations. The NDP are working towards a better NB and the by-election in Kent was part of that effort.

Personal Analysis

Susan has run in provincial elections twice, 2010 general and the by-election. She increased her share of the vote AND the total number of votes. In this by-election, she increased her vote total by close to 600 votes. The poll by poll information has not been realeased yet, but it is certainly my impression that most of these were from Elsipogtog, but not exclusively.

Credit: Doug Mullin

From my infographic, you can see the growing orange segment in 2013, compared to previous elections. This by-election represents 26.8% of the vote going to Susan. The Liberals have stayed steady over the years (around 55-58%). The riding has been represented by the Graham family for over 40 years. So it has been considered pretty safe for the Liberals.

Credit: Doug Mullin Photography

The ups and down of the NDP vote seems to me to reflect the effort and work put into campaigns. 2003 predates my official involvement with the party. 2006 was a down year across the province for the NDP. 2010 was Susan’s first run. So with 2013, a concerted effort from provincial office, and volunteers and dedicated staff for the duration of the campaign, the work paid off in an increase in vote.

The most striking thing to me is the collapse of the Conservatives. They are the sitting government and for them to only receive 13.9% of the vote in a by-election, even in a “safe” seat for their opposition, does not bode well. The NDP proved that hard work combined with a smart strategy of pulling the vote that “safe” seats for the Liberals are assailable.

The lesson I see is that people will vote for Susan as much as they have the chance to know her. I understand the effort and work put into this campaign was more than 2010. Actively pulling the vote on Elsipogtog was a great strategy. To continue building on this will be key. I hope the results are encouraging to the people of Elsipogtog and that they will continue to be engaged in the process.

A 2014, on y va! To 2014, here we go!

Rural New Brunswick is amazingly beautiful, even in the onset of early spring. The snow is almost all gone, the mud is starting to develop, only to wait for the April showers. The only rule is not to travel down a dirt road. Rule broken on my first day helping the campaign. It was perfect for rally racing, or mudding. Just not fun in a rented Yaris. Though that said, we saw two moose. Kent County is rustic to say the least. And I say that having grown up in the rustic North Esk Parish of Northumberland County.

I still wonder what can be done to draw our people back from Alberta and other provinces to our wonderful province. All I know is that jobs and economic opportunity are needed. New ways of thinking and solving the problems of New Brunswick will come by electing people who understand the difficulties of rural living. Independent, resourceful individuals are key to changing the political landscape.

Susan is one such individual. She was the first women elected Chief of Elsipogtog First Nation. She owned a small business in the community. She is an advocate and activist, helping to lead the fight against fracking in Kent County.

I am proud to be part of her volunteer team. I am proud of the work of the team to date. Come Monday, I expect an NDP MLA named Susan will be heading to Fredericton to represent the people of Kent.

Have you contributed to the campaign? If so, thank you. If not, please consider it. Go to http://www.nbndp.ca/donate. Thank you in advance.

These pictures are from the last two Speaker Series sessions discussing Jobs and the Economy. One session was on politics and the other on associations.

A graduate in languages from Bradford University, Neil Rees came to Christ whilst living in Paris, then worked as a teacher in Bradford before joining World Horizons in 1984. Most of his ministry life was spent in Spain (1985-2012), being involved in evangelism and church-planting, establishing the WH training base in Spain, and overseeing the development of World Horizons teams in Spain, Portugal and, for a few years, North Africa. He now lives in the UK, where he leads CLM church, Ormskirk. Married to Lynn, they have two children aged 18 and 16.

Receiving and training Latin American missionaries in Spain led to a growing involvement in Latin America, particularly in the area of training. Neil’s teaching focuses largely on biblical interpretation, team work, cultural adaptation and language learning, and he is a regular speaker at missions congresses. With an M.A. in international development, Neil’s first book “Not Everything in Our Bibles Is Inspired by God” was published in 2007.

Neil Rees was World Horizons International Director from January 2004 until 2012. His role involved him with World Horizons teams across the world, as well as new and growing churches and mission movements, and unreached peoples. He has a particular interest in the training of new missionaries, in which he is actively involved, and the adequate preparation of new cross-cultural workers from the nations of “southern Christianity”.

It all started with 9-11 when fundamentalist Islamic terrorism reached deep into the heart of the West. Spain also saw its on dose of terror with the 3-11 March trains attacks in Madrid, as did Britain with the 7-7 bombings in London. (A word of clarification is in order here. Both Britian and Spain had experienced their own versions of terrorism at the hands of the IRA and ETA, but here we are talking about Islamic terrorism. Although it causes just the same suffering, it seems that home-grown terror somehow is less of a menace. As they say, better the devil you know…)

With the end of the Cold War many saw a new era of global peace descending on us, ushering in an up until now unknown level of colaboration between the nations of the world. Even retired hippies began to think that that just maybe their collective meditation for world peace in the Age of Aquarius was beginning to bear fruit. But it didn’t last. As the reknowned late political scientist Samuel P. Huntington pointed out, the world was leaving one particular species of global polarization to enter another. In other words, out of the frying pan into the fire.

And how has the West responded to these violent Islamist revindications? Well, essentially by showing complete bafflement and demonstrating how very, very little we understand an Islamic mentality. It’s not that the Taliban regime in Afghanistan did not need stopping, or that we should not try to prevent nuclear warheads falling into the hands of a few madmen. That’s not the point. But a response to terror cannot be based on absurdity.

The Taliban, for example, are not extraterrestrials. They didn’t arrive in an “Independence Day” style invasion; they came to power with the support of the United States. Many of the training centres for guerrilla warfare and suicide bomb attacks in the mountains of Afghanistan were financed by Washington to strengthen local resistance to the Russian occupation of the 1980s. First we pay Bin Laden to get rid of the Russians, and then… well, you know the rest of the story.

And what about Irak? We return in 2003 to complete what had been left half-finished in 1991, that is, get rid of Saddam Hussein. And here we run into more absurdity. And I am not referring to the sudden disappearance of those famous weapons of mass destruction, the immediate motive for the “Allied” occupation of Irak. We need to go back a few more years. Irak is a country which was only able to exist by the will of a dictatorship which maintained opposite and irreconcilable factions together. As a nation-state, it was born of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the resulting British protectorate which had the brilliant idea of uniting Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis in a new country. Years later Bush’s and Blair’s troops had little alternative but to return, trying to keep this artificial country together at all costs.

But at least the people have been freed from a terrible dictatorship and have been brought into the democratic fold, or almost. More absurdity. Without going that far from Irak, Saudi Arabia doesn’t exactly have an exemplary democracy, but no one speaks about a coalition to overthrow the royal family, or at least, not when anyone else is listening. Maybe the West is not actually that concerned about dictatorships after all. And anyway, why do we suppose that democracy is the only legitimate form of government, with a divine seal of approval? It doesn’t crop up very often in Jesus’ teaching. We are also not paragons of democratic virtue here in the West. Did you know that it was only in 1971 that women only obtained the vote in Switzerland? And the canton of Apenzell refused women the right to vote until 1991, giving way only under pressure from central government. Maybe they were beginning to get worried that troops returning from the first Gulf war might call in on their way home…

It’s true, terrorism affects many lives, but the war on terror even more. We certainly feel it deeply when “our people” lose their lives through terrorist action. But those who die in the mountains of Afghanistan, well, they just don’t affect us in the same way. We know that God has no favourites, but it certainly seems that the life of a Westerner is worth more than one “of them”.

And here we run into more absurdity. On 9-11 four commercial planes were crashed into carefully chosen targets causing a total of 2.996 deaths. Terrible, and in no way do I underestimate this. But in the United States more than one hundred thousand people die each year due to mistakes in drugs prescribed by their doctors, not to mention some 45,000 in road accidents. Life must be kept in perspective.

On average, some two thousand people lose their lives across the world each year as a result of terrorist action in all its forms. These are not statistics, they are two thousand people, precious in the eyes of their Creator. But 25,000, mostly children, die each day – yes, you read that correctly, each day – as a result of not having access to a source of clean water. 24,000 die of hunger, and another 2,000 of malaria. Each and every day. 15 million people each year, dying of preventible causes. And it doesn’t really seem to matter that much to us.

Let’s talk money too. War on terror doesn’t come cheap. In 2011 the United States spent $159 billion (that’s billion with “B”) on the war in Irak and Afghanistan alone, a large slice of the $718 billion spent on “defence and international security assistance”1. All that could be done with that money… Three years’ worth of Afghan / Irak war expenses would cover the cost of primary education, clean water, sanitation, basic health care and adequate nutrition for the poorest of the poor across the whole world.

How should our governments’ priorities be determined? Of course, measures need to be taken against international terrorism, a plague that seems to be destined to accompany us through the first half of this century at the very least. But it cannot become the “one and only” priority of Western civilizations. God gives in abundance for us to share with those who are less fortunate and the West cannot shirk its responsibility to use its wealth and technological advances to bring welfare to a world in need. To refuse to do this denies one of the most basic principles of the gospel: we are blessed to be a blessing. In the light of God’s extravagant love for us, any other response is, quite simply, absurd.

Neil’s blog can be found at eatingwithsinners.wordpress.com.

This is a quote from a news story posted on the Radio-Canada website, accessed here. Translated “I ask all ministers if they could live on $537 and I would like them to try.” I’ve chosen to leave the quote in French because that is the language of the person speaking and the language of the story.

The basic gist of the story is a lady on social assistance, who was told that donations of food would count against her check, which maxes out at $537 a month. This is a crazy situation. It is absurd for a province to think that those who access social assistance can live on such a little. It is even more absurd for the same province to pay MLA’s such a salary that their gross monthly pay is over $7000. (my figure was obtained by taking the known MLA salary $85000 and dividing it by 12). This figure for the monthly MLA’s salary is more than is paid out for a year of social assistance. (i.e. $537 X 12 = $6444 for a year of social assistance contrasted with $7083 gross monthly salary for a MLA).

I would also ask the ministers of the government to try living on $537 per month, but would love for them to try for a year. The challenge would be nearly impossible so I don’t expect any government minister to even try for a single month. I say impossible, because I know from my own experience how tight money can be, on my gross salary of $1880 a month.

So to ask someone to live on $537 a month is even more absurd, especially if you’re deducting donations of food from it. My challenge is for those of greater means to make a bigger effort to donate to their local food bank. And to seek out people of lesser means and do something nice for them, like take them out for a meal.

Do you accept the challenge?

What has attracted you to this training?

My One Word for 2013 is growth. This seminar fulfills a want to expand my skill set. I see this as one activity for 2013 to help me grow as a person.

What are the questions you have about this, your work or what’s happening in the world right now that have your attention and why?

Provincial and federal politics, particularly our Conservative governments. Provincially, I see the issue as being a lack of jobs, well-paying and life-giving meaningful jobs. Federally, I see the issue as one of representation. 60% of voting Canadians did not vote for the majority government of Stephen Harper. The direction Canada is being led is a drastic change from the Canada we have build. My interest in these subjects is answering the question: what can I do to make our province and country better?

Where, or on what, do you intend to practice what you experience and learn?

Initially, I want to apply this to my recent self-appointed community project, Making Transit Work. I am organizing a citizen’s committee interested in Fredericton Transit and to facilitate the advocacy for better transit services in Fredericton. In the long term, I want to apply this to my political career, whether elected as MLA, City Councilor or even MP, or unelected as an engaged citizen.

How you remember last year is more important than what actually happened.Take everything that fuels your growth and leave the rest behind.

— Erwin McManus (@erwinmcmanus) January 1, 2013

Love so deeply + fearlessly that it’s messy and as fun as runny frosting that exploded from the broken blender, covering everything! #THIS

— Bif Naked (@bifnaked) January 1, 2013

This fondness for failing my resolutions has been the reason I haven’t not tended to make resolutions. In late 2011, I came across the One Word community, started by my friend, Alece.

So I decided to consider a word to shape my year for 2012. The word that came to me popped at me through the New Year’s Day sermon at Christ Church Cathedral, given by Archbishop Claude Miller, Metropolitian and Diocesan Bishop in the Anglican Communion of Canada. For me, 2011 was about faith.

It was a great challenge trying to focus on faith. My dad has a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. I live too far away to see him daily or even weekly. It has been frustrating for me to see my dad with this disease. Dad was always a man on the go and now he is confined to the four walls of the nursing home.

Another challenge for my faith was the announcement of the end of my employment. The call centre I worked at since 2006 announced it is closing in February 2013. This was a shock to all employed, and looking back, we might have pieced together the inevitable. However, no one wanted to do so before the end was announced.

I hadn’t told anyone but I’ve been struggling with my faith and whether I truly believed in the story of faith told in the Bible, Old and New Testament. Some blogs that have sustained me this year have been Grit and Glory by Alece, Cautious Creative by Katie and the cartoons of the the Naked Pastor, David. I especially love his series of drawings, entitled Sophia.

This fall, I was watching the show Fringe. An interaction on the show was a faith blast moment. Olivia, one of the main characters, asks a lady she encounters “Why are you smiling?” The answer “because I believe. You can’t know everything.” This clicked with me. And made me realize that my faith is not in vain. I can believe without knowing everything. My task in life, my duty is to live what I say I believe. And I have already been doing that.

Faith has lead me to the place where 2013 will be time of growth. Both personal, professional and political. I don’t venture to know where 2013 will lead me but I do know that I will be working on growing my photography into a revenue-generating business. This is the personal. In my professional life, I am putting myself into my new job, so that I can be the best I can and to grow so that I will be ready when new opportunities come around. Politically, I have no idea what this means. I am working on a public advocacy project surrounding public transit. I want to see the NB NDP grow in the eyes of the public, in advance of an election in 2014.

So watch the blog throughout 2013. Watch it grow, watch me grow.

My word this year was faith. This year, I noticed faith mentioned a lot in the Anglican liturgy, particularly in Scriptures read.

I had no idea how my faith would be stretched in 2012. But in August, my company announced they were closing up shop. All 260 0f us would be out of work in February. I started looking for work, not expecting faith to kick in.

You see I worked for a hospitality company, in the telecommunications end of the business. In the past, I have had considerations of interest in working at a hotel directly, but when I started looking for a new job, I started looking at retail job offerings, and fully expected to land in another call centre. I wasn’t thinking in terms of faith and what it could bring.

Boy, I underestimated what faith in God could bring. I found a job in a local hotel. I became the night auditor at a historic hotel in Fredericton. It was perfect timing for me and the hotel. I applied, was interviewed and was working at the hotel within 3 weeks of submitting my application. And recently, I found out that my new employer has been approved as the company to develop a new hotel in the city. So even more good news. This means room for growth and development, as things move forward.

I haven’t considered what 2013 has in store, except to know that I need to do the hard work of determining what form my photography business needs to take. So a growth year. Development of new ideas and making these ideas stick. And I think that gives me my word for 2013: growth.

Pray with me and encourage me. Remind me what the goal is. Will you follow my journey for the coming year?