Since the end of the election campaign, I have never had so many people trying to give me advice. Chantal Hebert wrote a column saying I should run for leadership of the Liberal Party, emboldening people who run into me on the street to make her points in case I missed them. Don Martin's column in the National Post berated me for running in Central Nova. This familiar theme is beaten into my head about a dozen times a day from people who have never been to New Glasgow or Antigonish or Sheet Harbour. Nevertheless, they are quite sure I should run in a "safe seat." Where might that be in the first past the post system, I ask? Meanwhile, at home in Nova Scotia, people are quite sure that next time will be different and I will win extra support because I will have overcome the idea I am not really committed to the area.
Along with Stephane Dion and Jack Layton, I am target for a letter writing campaign urging that the Opposition Parties try to form a coalition or other cooperative effort before the next election.
I had emails suggesting I should step aside as Green Party leader so that Al Gore can take over (small problem, not Canadian), or David Suzuki (Canadian, but he's not interested). Otherwise, I would be more than happy to. Others tell me I should run for a Senate seat once the Senate is elected. Others still suggest I should be an international diplomat.
People are wonderfully free with advice. And I wouldn't want this blog to discourage anyone from sharing their opinion. After the Speech from the Throne I attended the reception on the Hill. Senators and MPs from across the political spectrum all took the time to tell me what I should do next. Often people don't like some or all of my answer "Stay on as leader of the Green Party and run again in Central Nova." I was getting so used to the barrage of helpful advice, that when I saw one of my heroes, Senator Romeo Dallaire, I just expected it. "What is your advice for me?" I asked.
"Don't listen to anyone over 30," he said...and then noted it was hard to take that advice since he is, in fact, over 30.
Still, it is the best advice yet.
My favourite letters and stories have been from young people. I get quite a few letters from children. Jack, in Ontario, wrote that he is 8 years old and likes my ideas best. "I voted for you. My mother let me hold the pencil." Jack urged me to keep on trying because "practice makes perfect."
One woman told me she made a deal with her 13 year old daughter. "I told her I would vote the way she wanted me to, if she could defend her reasoning." She told me during the election campaign her daughter would grab her and run to the television for Green Party ads -- "This is the one I like," her daughter would say. "I like that they are not attacking anyone." After the debates, her daughter was sold and she voted Green.
My daughter in Lesotho, whom I support through Help Lesotho, is named Nkeboleng. She is one of a group of 16 young women who have lost one or more parents due to HIV-Aids "adopted" by St. Bartholomew's Church in Ottawa, while my parish at home, St. Georges Church in New Glasgow, has taken on a grandmothers' project through Help Lesotho.
I received my most recent letter from Nkeboleng a few days ago. Normally there are weeks between letters and our communication hardly feels current. But thanks to the fact that Help Lesotho's founder and a dear friend of mine, Peg Herbert, was in Lesotho October 14th, with email access, she was able to tell Nkeboleng the news right away.
Somehow, having an Aids orphan living in Lesotho try to cheer you up keeps things in a rather clearer perspective.
"I heard that you lost from the elections. Sorry for that. Losing once doesn't mean you will always be a loser. Just place your trust only in God and he will help you. Keep on hoping one day your dream will come true."
Best advice yet.