Congratulations Marva Burnett

Send a message to the politicians.....you have problems and if they want your vote the problems need to be addressed but your enthusiasm cannot end on election day ...the candidates need to know you will be sitting on the doorstep of their constituency office on a daily basis.

Solidarity among the overlooked TheStar.com - comment - Solidarity among the overlooked

August 27, 2007

Carol Goar

There are roughly 1 million low-income voters in Ontario.

They'd be a formidable political force if they stuck together, spoke out and showed up at the ballot box. But most don't.

This means issues that affect the poor – affordable housing, social assistance rates, the minimum wage, tenants' rights – get short shrift in election campaigns. Politicians don't canvass buildings where people don't vote.

It's going to be different this time, Marva Burnett vows. She and her neighbours won't sit home on Oct. 10. They won't be ignored, stereotyped or patronized.

"On election day, I'm going to knock on every door in these buildings," she said.

That's a lot of doors. The Scarborough apartment complex where she lives – the grandly-named Danforth Estates – consists of three 16-storey buildings with 573 units. There is graffiti on the walls. The elevators are creaky. There have been periodic cockroach infestations.