Along with the questions on political philosophy and the party stance on the issues of the day, the most important question to ask anyone seeking public office is "why do you want to be a politician?"
It seems basic on the surface but it actually forces the respondent to give a thoughtful and often personal reply. The question also forces both candidates and voters to remember what elections really are.
Eight men and women - four each in Prince George-Valemount and Prince George-Mackenzie -have applied for the job of Member of the Legislative Assembly to represent the residents of those ridings in Victoria.
These individuals are applying for employment in your company (the government) and you're on the hiring committee (the electorate).
So asking "why do you want to work for me?" is a pretty important question for the candidate who comes to your door.
It's so important that it's the first question we're asking (and the only question the candidates know is coming in advance) during the May 8 all-candidates forum at Canfor Theatre, presented by The Citizen, CKPG and UNBC.
The question shouldn't be easy to answer.
Who in their right mind wants a job where you don't have one boss but literally thousands of bosses (your party leader on one side and the electorate on the other)? Who wants a job where people routinely question your decisions, you principles, your intelligence, your scruples and your integrity? Who wants a job where you have to compromise your goals and your beliefs? Who wants a job where you have to defend ideals you may not fully agree with? Who wants a job that requires taking unpopular stances and making agonizing decisions?
Candidates running for any level of political office talk about wanting to give back to the community and wanting to make things better for everyone but most people feeling the need to do that can volunteer for non-profit groups and join a service club.
Why politics?
Besides a healthy ego (that's not a negative - self-confidence is essential in the political arena to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune), candidates need to believe to their core that their actions can make a difference for the better and the best person to take that action looks back at them in the mirror.
That level of engagement needs to be personal and emotional. They need to have the time, the physical and mental energy, the passion and the drive to succeed, starting with winning an election.
While candidates have one core goal in mind - they want what's best for the community - they deeply disagree on who is the best person or the best political party to make that happen.
Although few candidates ever show it in public, politicians are generally an angry lot. Incumbents running for reelection are furious that they don't get enough credit for their accomplishments and are deeply frustrated when their policies and goals are misunderstood by misinformed constituents. Candidates running to unseat an incumbent are outraged with the mistakes made by the previous representative and government. They also can't help but get testy when their ideas to improve things are dismissed by voters.
All candidates see red when, over and over and over again, they have to justify not just their professional decisions (about that memo, Mr. Dix...) but their private choices, too (about that red light, Ms. Clark...).
What's the reward for so much personal and professional grief? The pay? Not likely. As a lawyer, Bobby Deepak will probably be taking a pay cut if he's elected. Public service? Mike Morris already devoted his working life to it while he wore an RCMP uniform.
If you're having trouble deciding who to vote for and all of the party ideology sounds like Klingon chatter, ask the candidate on the other end of your phone or on your doorstep why they're doing it and demand their sincere honesty.
The candidate that gives what sounds like the most heartfelt response deserves your vote.
