I applied to work as an Information Officer for the Algonquin-Renfrew-Pembroke Electoral District with Elections Canada. There was something about the ad that appealed to me so I took a flyer and sent in my info! I like trying new things and I was very interested in the process behind the scenes. I also wanted to put myself in a more informed and credible position where I could credibly answer questions about the system.

I’d also be ready when the first person post election even dared to say “rigged”, and then be able to educate them about the process.

(While challenging my will power and first instinct to retake the scene in Moon Struck when Loretta Castorini played by CHER, slaps Ronny Cammareri played by Nicolas Cage in the head and yells, “SNAP OUT OF IT”) I digress!

It was a paying gig but honestly, I’d have volunteered for it too.

Step 1

I needed to travel to Pembroke for training. (That’s about 60km from Renfrew). Training was classroom style and lasted about 3 hours. I had to fill out a Sworn Declaration about Citizenship, age, my promise to keep elector information private, do my best efforts etc. We went over everything we needed to know, with many quizzes and challenges and role playing of sample ballots and electors and what to do when such and such happens. I asked a ton of questions, which I’m kind of prone to do.

There was a 2 week break between training and election day so it gave me some time to think about whether I got myself in too deep. I have been having back issues for a while now and standing for extended periods of time is out. I was going to be at the polling place from 7:30am to a few hours after the polls closed at 9:30pm. I was starting to question if I could do it physically. As it turned out, I loaded up on Tylenol and was an 8 out of 10 that day.

Step 2

Election day arrived and Dawn dropped me off on time with lunch in my hand and anticipation in my mind. (First day of new job?)

The first thing I did was meet a few of the people I’d be spending the day with, there were approximately 20 of us. The staff was made up of a Central Polling Supervisors CPS, Deputy Return Officers DRO, Registration Officers RegO, and Information Officers IO.

My first task was to help hang posters and signs all around the venue. We were at the MyFM Centre in Renfrew, a huge hockey arena and Recreation Center. (don’t ask me about the cost overruns to build the place…a local frustration for tax payers indeed) Both English and French signs had to be displayed. And we also posted dozens of “Vote” signs. The yellow ones with black printing. Funny that people still ask “is this where you vote”? Uhm yes it is.

After 2 hours of getting ready, all the polling stations were set up with voter lists and ballot boxes.

Step 3

By 9:30am there were about 30 people lined up at the door. Some thought the polls opened at 9:00a and others just wanted to be there early. I was the guy who fired the starter’s pistol and it all began.

My responsibility for the next 12 hours was to greet voters, smile, be polite and respectful to everyone. Look out for anyone who might have difficulty entering or leaving, offer help and ask them if they have their voter card and ID then direct them to their polling station. My best headcount for the day was over 1,000 people.

Obviously this was a piece of cake for me as I have no issues approaching, addressing, greeting and joking with people. I was probably in the best spot of anyone that day among my peers.

I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of the people who would come to vote. This riding has been dominated by Conservative Cheryl Gallant for the last 24 years and Renfrew is quite rural located in the heart of the Ottawa Valley. Suffice to say there has always been a good share of Anti-Liberal sentiment. Lots of Pick ups, Camo and “eff Trudeau” flags.

In terms of the people? They were amazing!!!! Everyone!!!! Maybe it was the nice weather, maybe the handsome and friendly Information Officer that greeted them, maybe they felt they were doing their duty, (feels good to vote) maybe it was being treated like an “outing” by some, but whatever the reason, it really made for a positive experience. Shame on me for stereotyping in my mind beforehand. People are people.

The advanced polls were insanely busy here as they were across the Country and there were line ups on most days that first weekend. 3,500 voted early. Election Day however, there was not a single lineup and no one had to wait ever!! It was really steady all day but no delays.

As an enthusiastic people watcher and character/personality assessor, I loved it. The demographic leaned older the first few hours. It struck me how many people have mobility issues!!!! No exaggeration to say 50% of the voters (Young or old) had canes, or walkers or wheelchairs and if they did not have walking aids, many were struggling just walking. What made it worse for them was the fact that the main entrance where I was greeting, was on street level, but the polling stations were on the second floor. These are arena stairs and it felt like the pitch was steeper than your home stairs. There was an elevator of course and many used that, (with the assistance of another IO) but a very good percentage also insisted on using the stairs even with their canes, citing their need to “use it or lose it”. I really admired that attitude, especially in one 90 year woman who told me if she stops moving, it’s all downhill.

Sidebar, It really made me appreciate how much Canadians rely on their medical services. I’m not suggesting we all get what we want when we want, but there is some comfort knowing there is a medical and social safety net. It needs mending but it’s better than many have elsewhere.

A highlight of the morning for me was greeting a woman in her wheelchair, the tiniest but feistiest and oldest voter of the day. She was 104 years old and when I asked her how she was doing today, she said in a very Scottish Brogue, “I’m fine but the quicker we get this done, the sooner I can go home and have my hot soup on a plate”. She was a heartbreaker. Her daughter told me she has been in Canada for 64 years and served in WW2 so there was no way she’d miss this.

Conversely, many young Mothers showed up with newborns in their strollers. No surprise that not a single one accepted my offer to babysit while they voted.

The demographic shifted as the day went on. Many people who were obviously working started to show up around noon. Construction workers, retail workers and professionals interspersed all day and all were very happy that there was no wait!! I’d say it took a maximum of 10 minutes to vote. On their way out, I thanked them all and they did the same.

There were a few folks who went upstairs and came back down again in a minute or two, and I asked if there was a problem…..most replied, “Wrong polling station”. I told them I’m sorry about that, and each of them said, “well I should have read the card” With a smile.

Another high point was when a Mother brought in her Daughter who was a person with a disability. When she came down the stairs, she could hear me greeting new arrivals. She then said to me, “Who are you? Are you a door greeter who says, (In her best DJ voice loudly) “HI HOW ARE YOU TODAY”? I burst into laughter and told her she was taking my job.

I greeted another woman in the afternoon who I noticed was well dressed and very presentable. She introduced herself, “Hi I’m Cheryl Gallant…..I’m just here to thank the election workers”. I sent her upstairs to meet with the Central Poll Supervisor. It’s not like she COULDN’T be there, but probably SHOULDN’T have been. No campaigning is allowed at polling stations but candidates could visit and monitor and then leave.

By 4pm it became very steady, but still no line ups, with a lot of families once school got out. Moms, Dads, kids….and a lot of students and younger voters. There were many “first time voters” and their faces said it all when they finished. It was very cool!

It stayed busy until 7pm……then it really slowed but a few of those that did come, may have imbibed if you catch my drift. I caught theirs. Again though, not a single person was belligerent at all. At training we did go over the rules about health and safety and I brought this topic up. (of course) The protocol was to let anyone vote per say regardless of intoxication or under the influence. It’s not illegal to vote while you’re in that state. Luckily, no one was even close to being out of line. One trainer reminded us that although it’s not illegal to vote while impaired, it is illegal to drive, so if we felt we saw someone getting into their vehicle in that state, we could call the police.

The sun had now set and it felt like we were close to the finish line.

After 12 hours of the polls being opened, I closed the doors at 9:30pm.

It felt satisfying.

Step 4

Next duty, start taking signs down and let the counting begin. Everyone helped by breaking out to a respective polling station and working with the Deputy Polling Officer who has “Counter” responsibilities. I was assigned as a Recorder. This process involved the DRO opening the sealed ballot box and manually pulling out ballots one at a time, checking that they were initialized on the back, opening it and calling out loud, the candidate’s name that was marked. I would see the ballot and repeat the name and mark a tally sheet. The process was repeated until every ballot was placed on the candidate pile. The DRO then counts each pile of ballots and compares the totals to the Tally sheet. On our station, we matched perfectly. Otherwise he’d have to repeat the count.

After all the ballots were counted there is a series of steps that the DRO had to go through to certify everything. The vote counts had to be relayed to Electoral District Office in Pembroke.

Once that was done, it was Midnight!!!

Suffice to say, all those folks that arrived at 7:30a or earlier were fatigued but felt great. It had been a 16 and a Half hour day.

Virtually everyone was gone or going and I noticed there was a lot of material that had to be cleared out and I asked the Supervisors about who is taking all these packages from polling stations down to their cars? They said they had to do that, so I offered to help. My back was ready to call it a day, but I could see they needed help. No hero biscuit required here but it’s just what most of us do.

That added another 30 minutes to the day and I was in my car at 12:30am heading home. Buzzed really, and not as exhausted as I thought I would be. I did get to see that not a single car was on the road in Renfrew at that time. Weird, not ONE vehicle, even on Raglan, the main drag.

Step 5

What did I learn?

I went into this for the right reasons. I wanted to experience it and in some ways felt it was a duty! I never had any doubts about the integrity of Canada’s Elections, but it was nice to know my confidence was well placed.

That’s why when I’ve already seen some comments about the Carleton Riding, where Pierre Poilievre lost his seat, as being “rigged” it makes me crazy. Yes, there were 85 of the 91 candidates listed as Independent on that ballot which is silly, but also speaks to the integrity of the system….ANYONE can now get on a ballot in a riding provided they get 100 signatures in ink, witnessed and initialed. The group responsible for this scheme is called the Longest Ballot Committee and they claim election reform as the goal. It was an Alberta Court that in 2017, ruled it was unconstitutional to require those running for a federal seat that you needed to place a $1,000. deposit. The Liberals didn’t challenge it and now we have this ruse to deal with. In reality, all that happens is that it takes Elections Canada longer to count the ballots. It’s almost like electronic graffiti. It just looks bad! Elections Canada will propose measures to make it harder to stack ballots with so many candidates in the future.

There’s still such ignorance in the public about how our system works and it makes me sad. I saw things like “don’t use a pencil, you’re X can be erased”. Really? By whom and for what reason? What an insult to all the Elections Canada staff to think they would manipulate your vote. By the way, you’d need to erase a lot ballots and change their names to make any difference and as I noted above. The system may not be 100% guaranteed, but I’ll give it a 99.999% rating.

Lastly, it’s over…….thank goodness. I can’t believe how divisive this election was. We became America overnight it seems.

Conservatives and Liberals have been sharing the running of Canada since confederation, and always with about 40% of the electorate. Sometimes poorly and sometimes wonderfully, sometimes in prosperity and others in crisis. It will swing back to Conservatives again.

Let’s continue healthy debate and discussion about the ISSUES!! But this name calling and judgments and insults on each other merely because each of us support one party over the other, needs to end.

I checked, none of us will be here in 100 years so while we are, show a little tenderness!

Bravo Elections Canada and Bravo Canada!!!!!