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With the help of a small team of organizers from the Shepherds of Good Hope and Ottawa Inner City Health, more than 40 homeless people, many of whom are clients at the Shepherds’ supervised injection site, were expected to exercise their right to vote on Thursday.
According to Matt Gaudet, a peer worker at the injection site, a recent staff meeting raised the question of what was being done to get out the vote for clients at the injection site and residents at the Shepherds’ shelter. He said that after liaising with Elections Ontario, it quickly became apparent that there are mechanisms to allow Ontarians who may be homeless to participate on election day.
Gaudet and Inner City’s peer outreach services supervisor Anne Marie Hopkins enrolled with the legislating body to authenticate the identities of those who wanted to vote, get them City of Ottawa client ID cards and register them on line to vote.For interested parties to vote in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier, they must be living at the Shepherds of Good Hope, which is within the riding’s boundaries.
“It’s been awesome to see people get excited about it and understand how the politics affect them,” said Gaudet.
Katrina Adams, 26, was one of the site’s clients who voted on Thursday, thanks to the initiative.
“I haven’t voted in five years,” she said, adding that she became homeless about four years ago and that made it difficult for her to cast a ballot.
“Most of us don’t have proper fitting shoes, never mind a wallet with ID in it,” she said. “It’s not like (election officials are) knocking on our door here.”
Gary Wilson, 54, voted for the first time in his life in the provincial election. Ottawa Inner City Health and Shepherds of Good Hope worked together to assist clients in voting in the provincial election. June 7, 2018. Errol McGihon/Postmedia
Leah Belle, 32, a recovering addict who helped to organize Thursday’s drive, said helping clients of the injection site and others at the Shepherds who may not have been thinking about voting has been rewarding.
“I remember voting and feeling super empowered. It took me a long time to get to that point,” she said. “It’s really empowering people.”
Inner City’s Hopkins agreed.
She said the project has been focused on providing information on the platforms for all of the parties that are running. She said they registered about 40 people with Election’s Ontario prior to the opening of Thursday’s polling stations. She planned to help walk as many of those registered voters from the Shepherds to their local polling station when they were ready to cast their ballots.
Provincial support for supervised injection sites, where drug users can use illicit substances safely, has become a hot-button issue during the election. Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford has repeatedly stated that he is against their operation.
查看原文...
According to Matt Gaudet, a peer worker at the injection site, a recent staff meeting raised the question of what was being done to get out the vote for clients at the injection site and residents at the Shepherds’ shelter. He said that after liaising with Elections Ontario, it quickly became apparent that there are mechanisms to allow Ontarians who may be homeless to participate on election day.
Gaudet and Inner City’s peer outreach services supervisor Anne Marie Hopkins enrolled with the legislating body to authenticate the identities of those who wanted to vote, get them City of Ottawa client ID cards and register them on line to vote.For interested parties to vote in the riding of Ottawa-Vanier, they must be living at the Shepherds of Good Hope, which is within the riding’s boundaries.
“It’s been awesome to see people get excited about it and understand how the politics affect them,” said Gaudet.
Katrina Adams, 26, was one of the site’s clients who voted on Thursday, thanks to the initiative.
“I haven’t voted in five years,” she said, adding that she became homeless about four years ago and that made it difficult for her to cast a ballot.
“Most of us don’t have proper fitting shoes, never mind a wallet with ID in it,” she said. “It’s not like (election officials are) knocking on our door here.”
Gary Wilson, 54, voted for the first time in his life in the provincial election. Ottawa Inner City Health and Shepherds of Good Hope worked together to assist clients in voting in the provincial election. June 7, 2018. Errol McGihon/Postmedia
Leah Belle, 32, a recovering addict who helped to organize Thursday’s drive, said helping clients of the injection site and others at the Shepherds who may not have been thinking about voting has been rewarding.
“I remember voting and feeling super empowered. It took me a long time to get to that point,” she said. “It’s really empowering people.”
Inner City’s Hopkins agreed.
She said the project has been focused on providing information on the platforms for all of the parties that are running. She said they registered about 40 people with Election’s Ontario prior to the opening of Thursday’s polling stations. She planned to help walk as many of those registered voters from the Shepherds to their local polling station when they were ready to cast their ballots.
Provincial support for supervised injection sites, where drug users can use illicit substances safely, has become a hot-button issue during the election. Progressive Conservative leader Doug Ford has repeatedly stated that he is against their operation.
查看原文...
