The time to make the donuts guy! Ok that is not my dream job and no my dream job does not involve me being some sort of sex super powered hero type thingy… My real DREAM job is to be a (drum roll please) M.P.P. Yes that is correct. A Member of Provincial Parliament …oh forgot to mention as an independent non partisan M.P.P. Political issues are my true passion. Grade 12 People and Politics; Barry Pike my teacher at St.Anne’s, peaked my curiosity. During class discussions his face would turn red while he mumbled and paced our classroom floor. I didn’t always know what he was talking about but I was intrigued with his passion. We had the privilege of having a Provincial election the semester I took this class. Mr. Pike made sure that each and every candidate visited our classroom. He also demanded that we understood our responsibility as voters. He believed that each and every person who had the right to vote must be accountable by exercising that right. He was and still remains the teacher/mentor I valued the most.
I got married at a young age; 21. I moved away to Chatham the same weekend I was married. My husband was a brand new teacher, in my view I wanted to be the best wife I could be so I started attending School Board Meetings so that I would be familiar with the issues in Education. After spending every other Tuesday night at the Board Office I wondered how hard it would be to run for a position. I thoroughly enjoyed attending the meetings as well as hearing the debates. Once the Municipal Elections were announced I decided to throw my name in the hat. My philosophy of running a campaign or anything for that matter is, go big or stay home. Typically a campaign for Public School Board Trustee in little ole Chatham was nothing more than a business card size ad in the paper and name recognition. By this time I was only 23and still new to the community; I could not rely on name recognition. I had 500 signs printed, and plastered them all over Chatham. I also had literature printed and I knocked on houses and personally delivered flyers to each home in my riding.
I forgot to mention I was 7 ½ months pregnant at the time! The campaign was very interesting considering I was a young pregnant woman and the Chatham Kent political arena was and probably still is run by the “old boys club”. I was not as welcomed as I thought I would be, which made my campaign a bit tough, but very enjoyable from my stand point. I was stirring the pot with issues and many advised me to just not try and change too many things. The last week of the campaign I took every one of my signs down. Which to my competition was mind boggling. Each and every corner in the city was plastered with elections signs to the point that no one person stood out, so 1 week to election day I put 2 foot by 4 foot signs on every intersection….”Boulos for Public Trustee” ! hahaha..Election night I won, hands down with very high votes, in fact I brought in more than most of the incumbents. The best part of this memory for me is not just the fact I won, but I changed the way people run for election. A position of School Board Trustee was always over looked, and underappreciated. The candidates took the election for granted, and I believe my campaign brought awareness and forced other candidates for future elections to work for their win, by actually campaigning.
For three years I debated, yelled, forced issues and stirred the pot, made friends, and enemies but also earned a great deal of respect from my colleagues. I faced issues and often challenged the Ministry of Education head on. It was thrilling as hell! In the three years as a Trustee I aligned myself with many supporters and groups that encouraged me to leave School Board Politics and run for City Council. Which I did! Patrick and I, and my three babies drove the streets each and every night pounding signs, handing out literature and talking to voters. This campaign in particular was nasty as political campaigns go… special interest groups tried to tie me to the unions, and the unions tried to say I was anti union…and being a woman with three small children at home did not go over well with the likes of all the old men in politics.....you know “women should be seen and not heard”……..all and all, it was the most exhilarating campaign yet. Despite the negative press and politics I received almost 17,000 votes! HUGE!
(thanks to all the women that came out to vote!)
Politics and political issues are my real passion. For the first 10 years of my marriage; I traveled the Province, I lobbied political parties, I spoke publically about the affects of change, and I wrote almost daily for the newspaper, I was a political beast! (hahahaha) My children and I were often in Toronto attending Political rallies, and joining forces with social activists. My passion turned to food banks and homeless issues. Weekly visits to drop blankets and deliver hot soup to the homeless in Toronto was a must, as well as in our own community. I think I was my happiest while trying to make a difference, the down side however of living like this……the reality that every issue is complex and inter twined with so many variables that affecting change is almost impossible is disheartening. To deal with homelessness one needs to look at mental health, and welfare and who funds what, to municipal transfer payments to unemployment issues, and unions and and ,and ,and…… you get the picture. My difficulty is I don’t know when to stop; I am an advocate at heart. I have a difficult time hearing someone’s problem without feeling like I have to fix it for them, right then and there. I take it on like it’s my own, that is a good thing right? Yes it is ..BUT not for me, because I take it all on and somehow lose me in it.
It was difficult to balance my life at that point, I had three children under the age of 5, and was trying to juggle a political career, and run an advocacy group. There came a day….I was preparing to go on TVO's parent connection with another group member when I received a call from the CBC… they asked me to do a live phone show, I found myself later that night on the phone about to answer a question from a caller, when I realized it was all too much…I was trying to respond when I heard my girls chanting in the other room “Hey hey, hey ho, ______ has to go”….. I felt my stomach turn. I never realized the impact my life was having on my family. Carting my kids to tim buck too, for a good cause???? I wanted my children to grow up and be involved but.. I realized just then I was brain washing my kids to be what I was….. I honestly felt sick. Don’t get me wrong I don’t regret exposing my children to the kinds of things we did, but I regret not balancing my life. Like I mentioned before “go big or stay home”…that’s me. Do it all….or do nothing. I slowly uninvolved myself with the big stuff, I stepped down from the Higher profile positions, and offered support when needed but in the end I walked away from the lifestyle. I would have run for a Provincial seat that year, as I had primed myself for the job. I was ready; I might have even won that year…..
But I chose to drop out of politics and pursue other things and I stayed home with the girls until they were in school full days. I am thankful that I was able to do this with them, for them, and me. I don’t regret the decision. Today the political arena is a vicious shark tank infested cesspool of uncertainty….and I truly wish I was swimming in it! I would throw my hat in the ring at anytime! To be a in a position to affect change…wow…. So since I have returned to my home town, and my children are almost adults…..maybe it is time to rethink my political ambitions….maybe!
CB for PM!
~Christine~ 
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