October 22nd, 2020, will mark two years since the 2018 Ottawa Municipal Election was held. For those that may not be aware, I was one of the candidates that ran for Mayor. With the anniversary coming up, I figured that I would take the opportunity to talk about my experiences being a person with a disability challenging for the top job in Ottawa.
For as long as I can remember, I have never been pleased with how Ottawa treated people with disabilities. For whatever reason, Ottawa has and continues to ignore PWD largely. To be honest, I was getting fed up. Instead of sitting around and complaining, I decided to do something about it or attempt to.
Before I continue, I feel that I should mention that I had absolutely no political experience at all. I knew going into it that I was taking a considerable risk for multiple reasons. I knew that the odds were already stacked against me partly due to my lack of experience and probably because I’m a physically disabled person.
As some of you are probably aware, I’m not one to give up, at least not without a fight. So, I threw my hat into the ring.
The first parts were easy.
One day, I booked Para Transpo to take me to the Elections Office. After filling out all of the forms, I paid $200, and that was that. The next step for me was to get twenty-five signatures. When I announced on Social Media that I was running for Mayor, people were eager to sign my nomination forms. If I recall, it took about a week to get enough signatures. After that, I handed in the documents and proceeded to the next steps.
This is where things began to fall apart for me.
While people were eager to sign their names, they weren’t so excited when it came to donating money to my campaign. When it comes to politics on any level, money is a huge factor. That money can be used for lawn signs, rental of space for your campaign, and more. Without proper advertising, voters won’t know who you are or even what you look like.
I just want to say that I’m not upset or pointing fingers. A few of my friends gave money to my campaign, which I genuinely appreciate. I also had friends and supporters help me get the word out on Social Media, help make a video, and flyers were made to be hand out. The help and support was there, but I had a shoestring budget.
Another part of politics, especially during an election, is the media. I have plenty of media experience due to being an advocate, but this was my first time talking about politics. As far as my platforms went, I wanted to create more awareness regarding people with disabilities. I also had plenty of ideas in terms of making Ottawa more wheelchair accessible, including public transportation. I quickly found out that some media outlets in Ottawa had a hard time accommodating my physical disability.
I won’t call them out, but I’ll share an example of a positive experience that could’ve gone bad.
One outlet wanted all of the candidates to come in and do a video about why people should vote for them. The issue for me was the video had to be between 2-3 minutes. I can’t remember the exact length, but it was short.
Due to my physical disability, I rely on a portable ventilator to help me breathe. In my case, I can only speak when it gives me a breath. That works out to roughly 4-5 words every 3 seconds, or something like that. It was a challenge. If I recall correctly, it took 6 or 7 takes for me to say what I had to say. Kudos to the person behind the camera for their patience and understanding.
And then there was radio.
I remember someone from a local radio station emailing me to ask me to be part of a call-in show. Luckily, I asked if the studio was wheelchair accessible before I showed up. As it turned out, the studio was upstairs, and there wasn’t an elevator. We tried to arrange a phone interview, but it never happened.
There were also issues with debate locations and with canvassing. It was also around this time that my wheelchair broke down, and it took a month for the part to arrive. All of those things killed my momentum.
When I look back on it, I consider it to be a huge accomplishment. I didn’t win, but I managed to get 1115 votes. It also opened a lot of doors for me.
For those of you wondering, I have no desire to run again. It was an eye-opening experience that made me realize I can have a more significant impact on the other side of the circle.
Thank you to everyone who supported me during my campaign, and continue to support me as I roll on this path called life.