My activist friend Shawna, knowing that my Member of Parliament (MP) appreciated my letters, asked my to forward some, presumably so she could role model.
I suppose activists may read How to Win Friends and Influence People, but then forget the lessons, especially if they are “polarized like an American” or stridently condemning “the establishment.” But constructive criticism means not ranting: If my spleen needs venting, I had best see my bartender.
Shawna laughs easily; I smile to think of her enjoying my (essay was posted in July) MP letter, Canada Builds a Little Red Hen Bridge.
For my final MP letter to her I wrote:
I have not directly tried to teach “letter writing,” because you asked for letters.
…Besides, call it male-vanity, but I enjoy shooting my mouth off, by annotating.
…But I wouldn’t inflict on my blog readers the actual letters.
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Hi Shawna,
(About doing my blankety-blank taxes) If this letter to my MP was a little long, it was because I was trying to tell the long story of one Canadian (me) having trouble, to illustrate that something is wrong. At the time I was annoyed, and I did not know how to make the letter shorter.
I was trying not to sound like some loser, wimpy, ranting person.
You may be heartened that I got a reply that shows I was paid attention to, without being called a foolish wimp.
I am sure my MP and John (his assistant) read every letter, although the sheer volume of mail means they can’t reply.
The fact that my letter had a point, rather than rambling on many things, made it easier to respond.
Cheers,
Sean
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Hi Shawna,
Annotations:
1) “I just had a letter published in the Herald.”
This let my MP know that I influence more than just myself. Politicians like it when you are, say, an officer in the Lions Club or the PTA, because this shows you may influence others.
2) My MP “much appreciated” an earlier letter where I congratulated him.
This is because my MP is human like me—we all like warm fuzzies.
It shows him that I am paying attention to government and the world, beyond being a couch potato.
As for why my letter includes an UPDATE, I guess I had sat on the letter before finishing it. Well, MPs know how hard writing letters can be, as everyone knows who has ever tried to write to their Aunt Agatha to thank her for a book about penguins, “…it told me more than I wanted to know.”
The effort for sending one e-letter, or one real letter, far out weighs a large number of signatures on a petition.
I forget the actual number of envelopes, but it might be “A Nation of Sheep” where a politician tells a fellow party-member, “No, you can’t go through with this. I have six letters opposing it.” Either that or “The Ugly American;” both are by the same writer.
Cheers,
Sean
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Hi Shawna,
Here I am being helpful to my MP again.
… shows we are both on the same team, both helping our community, regardless of whether I voted for him or not..
I think the result of such help is that if I write something crazy, such as my own pet peeve or conspiracy theory, then I won’t be instantly dismissed.
Instead, because he respects me and my help, he will take some good long seconds to consider my theory.
And only then reject my crazy idea.
Here’s a real life example: When I speculated that the war in Iran was to distract from releasing the Epstein files, instead of a dismissive, “What, are you nuts?”
He respectfully said, “I just can’t wrap my head around the idea.”
Cheers,
Sean
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Hi Shawna,
This one’s closer to a generic letter—and more like one you could write—than some of my letters that received a reply.
For this one, believe me, I did not expect a reply.
Annotations:
1) Just as journalists find something “new” in order to keep a story before the public, so too did I have Ms Corbella’s “new” column as an excuse to write again. Doing the excuse of “new” may avoid any accusation of nagging.
Say, however important an issue, it might be “not cricket,” to send a carbon copy of what you have already sent.
2) I was maybe a tad too helpful when offering some words for what to say to the liberals in power.
3) My last line was, I hope, a little bit human and warm because people and lawyers, of different parties, can still “break bread together,” and still drink whiskey together in the parliamentary lunchroom.
4) Also, it shows I have enough initiative to keep an eye on politics.
…I guess one of these days, to be an extra-good citizen, I really should subscribe to a transcript of what is said during Question Period.
I remember once I wandered in to a liberal party office on First Street, south of the Hudson’s Bay store. They wouldn’t let me go without giving me a very special badge. Which I wore out the door. Not a button, but rather a limited edition irregular shaped ceramic badge. Why give me extra attention? Because any citizen that bothers to walk in the door has shown that precious jewel: initiative.
Cheers,
Sean
(For more on this topic, see my Mid-August essay)
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Sean Crawford
Calgary
Summer
2026
Blog (and real life) note: I see where (not my early September post) my last two August posts had lots of footnotes and links. Back when blogs first appeared, people loved links, one blogger even said that if he clicks on a page and doesn’t see a lot of coloured links, he moves on.
Essay-blogger Paul Graham said he “uses footnotes to contain his digressions.”
For real life, such a slew of footnotes remind me of a chap in a group setting often, as it were, “having the last word.” Maybe he just has too much to say that needs containing; maybe he idealistically wants to share.
My remedy for me and you? Just as you don’t share past a bare essay; and just as you don’t idealistically share past the time limits of a speech; and just as if you make a speech without notes then stuff you “meant to say” gets forgotten and that’s Okay; so too can you feel virtues and idealistic, not sad, about “forgetting” and not sharing new exciting factoids. It’s not your fault, nor is any disparagement of other people intended; it’s merely the fault of the universe and the constraints of time.
I suppose if you suspect someone in your group is an enthusiast with more to say, then you could invite him or her for a beer afterwards and converse some more.
