Now what?

The election campaign is over and Canada has a new leader – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. I don’t know if I’ll ever get tired of saying that, or knowing that I played even a small part in  helping get him elected.

It also means that this blog can come to an end. When I started it over 80 days ago, I didn’t really have an idea of what I was getting into. It started on a lark the day the writ dropped and it just flowed from there. At times I didn’t know what I was going to write about; all I knew was that I wanted to share this incredible journey with people.

I fully admit that when this campaign started, I did not know it would be a commentary on the journey to a majority government. I didn’t know at the time that I would be sharing a perspective of working behind the scenes to help elect the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada.

I have volunteered behind the scenes for over 10 years, devoting thousands of hours to the Liberal cause. I have worked with 4 incredible leaders, who devoted part of their lives to improving this country. I have seen good times and challenging times. I have been chided for being so politically active and for supporting the Liberal Party of Canada. Helping achieve this historic result is the most amazing feeling and makes all the previous struggles worth it.

I don’t know what’s next, but I do know that it will be an exciting time. I can’t wait to see what unfolds.

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

I didn’t actually think I’d get to say those words together today! And I don’t think there any words to describe this evening. I am in awe.

Tonight was all about spending time with the hundreds of volunteers across Manitoba who helped make this historic win a possibility. In the meantime, all I have to say?

Hope beat fear.

Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau & I the day before my 32nd birthday (what a great present!)

Also? I’ve got quite a collection of pictures with the now Prime Minister !

 

Day 78 – It Arrived!

TWO cover page spreads today, including the Winnipeg Sun (yup, you read that right!)

I don’t know how we made it, but we did. We finally arrived at day 78 of this campaign.

All of our efforts comes down to making it happen tomorrow with GOTV efforts. (Pop quiz now: what goes GOTV stand for?) Some of the key things that make for a successful E-Day operation (aside from having your votes identified) is having an extremely organized E-Day Chair. In Winnipeg South Centre, we have an amazing chair named Corey. We took some time at the end of our  night to take a quick picture; a lot of hard work goes into campaigns.

E-Day eve with the crew

 

The people who put their name forward are to be commended, but the volunteers who put in hundreds and thousands of hours are the ones that inspire me the most. We have had several volunteers on Jim Carr’s campaign who’ve devoted the last 2.5 months of their lives. Some of them have never been involved in a political campaign before but they have done such a spectacular job. It’s humbling, because these are people who do it for no other reason than they believe in the candidate and the party.

I also can’t believe that I’ve kept this blog going over the past 78 days. The idea really started on a lark – it’s easy enough to write a blog post on August 2 talking about the upcoming election campaign and what to expect. It’s also pretty easy to write a post when you have the leader in town or you’re working on an event. The rest of the time can be a little more difficult. I’m incredibly proud of the fact that I made it through this campaign intact and without missing a post. I hope that those of you who’ve read the blog have enjoyed it and gotten at least a glimpse of what it’s like to work a political campaign.

Thank you for taking this journey with me. Tomorrow will be my 100th post on this blog, and couldn’t be more of a milestone day with it being Election Day. I look forward to tomorrow’s post, as there is excitement in the air.

The calm before the storm – Election Day eve

 

Justin Visits Winnipeg

Not much to say. It was an incredible event. By some accounts over 3,000 people attended tonight’s rally. Simply amazing to see the support, momentum, and encouragement.

You have to read some of these tweets about the rally tonight:

Attn @ZitaAstravas. I hear you love front pages. https://t.co/eswYJyqT71

— Gerald Butts (@gmbutts) October 18, 2015

Something about this line makes me think #Winnipeg is ready for #realchange and @JustinTrudeau #elxn42 #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/zhaxH7e1TK

— Adam Scotti (@AdamScotti) October 17, 2015

Thousands head to the St. James Civic Centre for a Justin Trudeau rally. Line-up of cars filled surrounding streets pic.twitter.com/0oRuhCirOp

— CTV Winnipeg (@ctvwinnipeg) October 18, 2015

Justin Trudeau visit attracts throng of supporters at Liberal rally http://t.co/OgVK4ok3hi

— CBC Manitoba (@CBCManitoba) October 18, 2015

What an awesome job in Winnipeg, #TeamTrudeau. Off to Edmonton. Keep working hard. #RealChangeNow

— Gerald Butts (@gmbutts) October 18, 2015

We expected 800-1000. More than 3000 in Winnipeg to see @JustinTrudeau, including a 5 block line. #RealChangeNow pic.twitter.com/nxtpK0Ew2X

— Gerald Butts (@gmbutts) October 18, 2015

Never seen anything like this scene in #Winnipeg. #TeamTrudeau #elxn42 pic.twitter.com/gw2dZtm9Qe

— Gerald Butts (@gmbutts) October 18, 2015

This is about half of the line to see @JustinTrudeau in Winnipeg right now. #RealChangeNow pic.twitter.com/7DR00OOOIS

— Gerald Butts (@gmbutts) October 18, 2015

Kilometre long line to get in to Trudeau event in Winnipeg Liberal plane just touched down. #elxn42

— Susan Ormiston (@OrmistonOnline) October 17, 2015

Some photos from tonight (no selfie with Justin tonight, however I did get a hug!)

We ran out of these stickers

Setting up in the afternoon

The line up outside was incredible

Most adorable picture ever

Brought my dad to this rally

Throwback to Young Liberal days

Wagonmaster for one more day

Videographer extraordinaire (and birthday boy!)

ERC Co-Chair Sandy and I

JUSTIN IS COMING TO TOWN

Saturday, with only 2 days left in this marathon campaign, Justin Trudeau will be back in Winnipeg. You won’t want to miss this event. (Sidebar – is there another word we can use to describe a 78 day campaign?)

Click the photo to RSVP for Saturday’s rally in Winnipeg

You’ve seen photos of the various rallies across the country – hundreds of people show up to get inspired. Now it’s finally Winnipeg’s turn to show that we have incredibly passionate people here who support the Liberal cause.

Last rally in Winnipeg – August 19 2015

The last rally we had in Winnipeg with the leader was August 19 2015. It was held in a hotel room that had a capacity of 300 people, and which was completely packed an hour before the event was to start (at 7:00 in the morning!)

With the excitement in the air, I expect this rally to bring out even more. I wouldn’t be surprised if over 500 people showed up to this event. [Post campaign note: what was I thinking saying only 500 people?!] When the rally starts, there will be less that 48 hours until the polls open; this will go a long way to firing up our volunteers and our supporters as we head into E-Day.

Of course I’ll be there – the question is, will you?