This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant

Calgary’s Caffè Beano reminds me of the bar in Star Wars. Beings of all ages, backgrounds, and worlds come to Beano to sample its wonderful coffee, food, and ambience (caffebeano.ca/about/). Kali, our youngest daughter, works there and I stopped by this past Saturday to say good morning and to ask if it would be ok if I asked a couple of people for signatures to support my Independent candidate nomination (I need 1,500 signatures by April 9th or you won’t read any more blog postings on this site!)

That’s where I met Lisa.  Sitting in the sunshine she looked every bit the person whose next stop was going to be a park for a run along the Bow. I asked if she would support my quest to run in the Senate nominee election.

She asked me to sit down and started to ask me about what I stood for. We talked first about hyper-partisanship in federal politics. Ranching and oil and gas are among the vocations practiced by her extended family. If I was promoting environmental issues did that mean I wanted to shut them down? I emphasized how the wealth of oil and gas is crucial to the dream of the Next Alberta.

After about 15 minutes she said she had a confession of sorts to make. This 46-year old native Calgarian had never voted in her life – never voted in a federal election, never voted in a provincial election. But, she said I had given her a reason to change that on April 23rd.

She walked out with a handful of our platform postcards to share with her family and friends. I walked out with her signature on my nomination sheet and the feeling I had made a positive difference in someone’s life.  Priceless.