"You never know what will get people's attention, what they'll react to, what will make them mad."

By Peter Stockland December 17, 2014

1 minute read

The late, great Rod Love believed fervently that democracy turns on small things.

Over a longish lunch at Buon Giorno restaurant on 17th Avenue S.W. many years ago, Love retailed for a listening reporter the lesson he and Ralph Klein learned in that regard, and how it shaped their whole approach to politics.

During Klein's stint as Calgary's mayor, he was faced with returning surplus cash from utilities charges to Calgarians or simply plowing it back into city revenues. The amount was so small in the context of overall city spending that it hardly justified the cost of mailing the cheques to individual households. Or so Klein and Love reasoned. Kazillion-volt citizen outrage ensued.

"It taught us that you never know what will get people's attention, what they'll react to, what will make them mad. Everything in politics is how you respond to the small things you didn’t see coming."

Read the rest of this article at the Calgary Herald online.

You'll also enjoy...

What Changed was the World

Shortly after being diagnosed with esophageal cancer—and following the death of his mother, Virginia—journalist, author, policy advocate, elected senator-in-waiting, political candidate and co-founder of Alberta's Wildrose Party Link Byfield sat down to chat with Convivium's publisher, Peter Stockland

Late To Find Love

Senior researcher Peter Jon Mitchell talks with Convivium Publisher Peter Stockland about a Cardus Family study released yesterday showing a steep decline in young Canadians tying the knot or even living together.

The small laws of civil life

It's a habit that has to be distinguished from the great roiling public acts of law-breaking such as the hockey and G20 riots that have plagued Toronto, Vancouver, and Montreal in the past few years ...