A Day With Jean Crowder, M.P.

Earlier this year, Brentwood scooped up the opportunity to have current NDP Member of Parliament for our local riding, Jean Crowder, visit as a guest speaker for the 4th time in the last five years. The Grade 11s enjoyed hearing her speak on a variety of topics and asked impressively analytical questions from a wide range of viewpoints. Jean also did a separate talk for the students of AP Comparative Government and Politics 12 where students who are keen in the subject of politics challenged her with very educated and insightful questions and she answered with extraordinary detail. The visit was not only informative, but it was a unique and memorable way to experience Canadian politics, not from a textbook, but firsthand.  “I love it” Jean Crowder said when asked about her job. She also enjoys coming to the school and volunteering her time to give students this opportunity. For the students in AP Comparative and Politics, she offered an even bigger opportunity: job shadowing her for a day.  Berit B, Allard ‘14 and I, Maria F, Allard ’15, are both planning on studying and possibly going into a career in politics, jumped at this offer and were beyond excited to be her shadows - and one day possibly follow in her footsteps as women in politics. After months of planning, fitting it into our schedules and building up excitement, the day had finally arrived. Jean’s office (which took the form of a little green house with large windows and scattered flowers) was our first destination. Inside, it was cozy and friendly but a place of busy work where we received our schedules for the day. We met her secretaries and learned about their work on a day-to-day basis which included a huge umbrella of tasks that you wouldn’t expect.  “We have many different hats, sometimes I put on my detective hat, sometimes my thinking hat, there’s always a hat” one explained chuckling. There is only one person with a busier schedule than them, and that’s Jean. Before we knew it, at 9:00 sharp we were off to our first meeting of the day which was the Cowichan Stewardship Roundtable.  The meeting had a casual atmosphere but a plethora of information was dispersed and introduced on the topic of the watershed, fisheries, water levels, rain, etc. from so many different people with different roles related to the topic. There were environmentalists, representatives of First Nations, scientists, park rangers, two young boys representing their family business and even one commercial fisherman present who all spoke with passion and knowledge. At the break Jean had to compromise and, although she would have loved to stay, we were off to her next meeting back in her office.  As teenage girls who are interested in entering the world of government, we were engrossed in the topic of women in politics. We were delighted to see that we were meeting a woman who is interested in running for council and we would later be meeting a woman who is thinking of running for MP in the next election and seeking advice from Jean (who will not be running). Jean has decided not to run in the next election so that she has more time to spend with her family and grandchildren. She explained to us and the women in the meeting how this a huge aspect of being a woman involved in politics. “The family as a whole must agree on the decision to take up the job or there are major consequences. You must realize that from that moment on, the other parent has to take up the role of being the main caregiver to the children; you are sacrificing your time with them.” Along with this, if a woman in politics is planning on having a family, they usually start much later in their lives and have shorter careers.  When Berit asked “Why is it that there is such a smaller percentage of women in politics than men?” Jean moved onto a new topic which was that of simply not believing in ourselves. We are moving away from this, but it is still unconsciously imprinted. Jean replied, “The problem is not the amount of votes that the women get when they run, it’s getting them to have the courage to run in the first place.” Jean explained the basics of running for council or for MP whether you are a man or woman. “You must be able to answer three main questions: Who am I? Why am I running? And why should you vote for me?” After that, you will have to read the papers and inform yourself about everything happening in your region and be able to answer almost any question that may come at you. You must have a solid opinion on all major topics, that’s how you reel in voters. If they agree with your views they will vote, if you don’t have a view, they won’t.  We learned that the first step to becoming an influential leader in politics is creating your own team. This team is a group of friends who support your political views, help you create pamphlets, brochures, buttons, and get your name out there. Lastly, you have to physically go out there and get involved in the community. Berit and I jumped at the opportunity and landed it feeling as if we had not jumped but skydived. It was a jam-packed day where the only break was in a small coffee shop reflecting on our morning with the Member of Parliament and on our career choices in the future. Who knows what awaits us? Maybe one day two students will become our shadows and follow our footsteps.  A huge thank you to Jean for inviting us, Catherine Macey for organizing it, and Mr. Wismer for inviting our MP into our classroom and making it all happen!  Maria F, Allard ‘14