Job Application: I'm Seeking to be a Member of Parliament ... and you are the human resources department

Job Application:  Seeking to become a Member of Parliament

It’s Not What You Know or Who You Know

They say, “It’s not what you know but who you know.” I hope it’s not true. It has been said that when you apply for a job, often the best candidate isn’t hired. Why might that be? Sometimes the person who gets the job is the person who performs best in an interview, but the best interviewers are not always the best potential employees. Sometimes a person will be hired because he or she knows the right people, like perhaps the director of human resources. And sometimes, when employers get it right, it’s not what you know or who you know, but rather who you are that counts.

I am a contestant in the race to become the Conservative Party of Canada nominee in the Yellowhead Electoral District. My goal is to become the Member of Parliament in the riding when the next general election is held in the Fall of 2019. Make no mistake, this is a job application process. You, the voters in the electoral district, and in particular the Conservative Party of Canada members in the jurisdiction, are the human resources department. You are hiring someone to a position that pays over $170,000 per year. What qualifications will you seek?

How important is “Who you know?” There is no question that being well known is a marvelous advantage in any political race. Frankly, I am bit of an outsider in this competition. If it’s “who you know, not what you know”, this competition will likely not go well for me. Most of my competitors are much more famous and connected than I am. I hope that fame and connections are not enough.

Look at what happens when an election becomes a popularity contest. In the 2015 Federal Election, Canadians made the mistake of voting for a party led by someone who many perceived to be cool, but who had very few qualifications. He’s a relatively inexperienced teacher. He has no advanced degrees. One of the things I do in my working life as a school principal is that I hire teachers. I am quite certain that if Justin Trudeau’s resume came across my desk, he would not receive an interview. And yet, he is now our Prime Minister. The people of Canada should have checked his resume. While popularity is important, we should also consider resumes to be important.

My resume says I have completed 26 successful years of teaching; 23 of those as a Principal. I hold a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. I have evaluations and university transcripts to back that up. That might get me an interview, but it’s probably not enough to get the job. What about experience? None of the people in this race has been a Member of Parliament. We come from various walks of life, just as parliamentarians throughout the country do. As the saying goes, it’s not what you know. How will you choose? After all, you are the human resources department.

I am an educator, and will always be one, because the future of our young people is important to me. I’ve been told (in jest I think) that what the House of Commons needs is a principal because the people who work there all act like a bunch of children. But more than that, and much more seriously, school principals deal with a wide range of parents about the people who they love the most in this world; their children. We deal with teachers who often disagree with one-another passionately about how we do our jobs. We deal with students who manifest all sorts of brokenness, and we help them navigate through a broken world. We deal with the bureaucracy of central offices and government regulation. Education is all about people. Lots of people. A variety of people. And I cannot do my job well unless I think of them as my people. I imagine the role of a Member of Parliament to be a lot like that. So, it appears I know a few things. But it’s still not enough.

A Lesson from the CPC Leadership Race

So, if it’s not what you know or who you know, what then? Like many conservatives in this country, I followed the Conservative Party of Canada leadership race quite closely. This of course was no small feat since there were 14 candidates. Along with almost 22% of those who voted, I placed the name Andrew Scheer at the top of my ballot. It took 13 elimination rounds before Scheer had accumulated enough votes from the membership to surpass the necessary 50% threshold required for victory. We made that choice, not based primarily on popularity or fame. It certainly was based in part on what he knows. However, at the end of the day, I believe we supported him because of who he is.

Andrew Scheer is the kind of person I want as a Prime Minister. First of all, he’s likable. But it’s not the kind of likability you might get from a drama teacher who has a practiced, pretend sort of likability. He’s the guy who in the high school cafeteria gave you half of his sandwich and maybe even his Twinkie. He’s the guy that makes you smile when you’re having a bad day. And likability is important. I have never heard anybody ever say they think Justin Trudeau is smarter than Stephen Harper. Trudeau won in 2015 because people liked him better. Scheer is much more about substance than he is about style, but he does have style.

Second, Scheer has said clearly that there is room in this party for every kind of conservative. He is building an inclusive party. He is building a party where there is room for disagreement and people sharpening each other as iron sharpens iron. This is necessary. People disagree. That is a fact of life. Conservatives disagree about some very important convictions. If we can disagree respectfully, we will distinguish ourselves from other parties which require you to put convictions aside and clone yourselves after the leader. I am convinced Andrew Scheer will never do that.

Third, and most importantly, Andrew Scheer is a good human being! Those aren’t my words. When leadership hopeful Lisa Raitt was asked on national television about her personal second choice for the party leadership, she said Andrew Scheer, because he is a good person. It was at that point that I became certain that I had filled out my ballot well.

Positions

What about positions? If we shouldn’t choose a candidate based on who they know or on what they know, how about selecting a candidate based on what they believe? This seems to be the basis of most of the questions I am asked when campaigning. What are your views on abortion? What do you think about supply management? Are you a fiscal conservative? Should we repeal the marijuana law? What do you think about environmentalism? Carbon tax? Pipelines? Property rights? First Nations Rights? Rural issues? Etc. Candidates positions are important. However, in most nomination races, candidates stay quite close to the party line and do not distinguish themselves from one another. In this race, as far as I can tell, every contestant is a good solid fiscal conservative. You and the other members of the Human Resources Department need to determine how to distinguish the candidates from one another even though in many ways they all look and sound the same.

What about dispositions? One of the first lessons I learned on the political trail is that it requires discipline to tell the truth. It should be simple, but it’s not. You must fight off the inclination to tell people only what their ears want to hear. My strategy in this campaign has been to be honest with people when we disagree. Be respectful. Practice disagreeing well. Listen and learn. I hope you will agree with me that it is important to know how a person will function within a caucus where disagreement prevails. It is important that a Member of Parliament become a respected person in the house and bring esteem to the riding, and to rural Canada generally. Perhaps it is more important to elect someone who will disagree with you thoughtfully, honestly, and respectfully, than it is to find the candidate whose views align the most closely with your own.

The Challenge

There are, of course, many other factors to consider. How will this candidate serve the needs of the citizens in every corner of the riding? Does this person have the competence to be in cabinet? Is this person articulate? Can he or she think outside of the box? Is this person interesting? Is this contestant physically and emotionally capable to manage the demands of the job? Add to this list questions you would like to ask at the job interview. Hiring a Member of Parliament begins with selecting a candidate who you may or may not yet know well enough. My request is that you make your decision, not on the basis of who a candidate knows, or what a candidate knows, but rather, on the basis of who the candidate is. I may or may not be that choice, but I trust you will choose well.

You, the members of the Conservative Party of Canada who reside in the Yellowhead Electoral District have a hiring decision to make.



To get to know me better, please check out

• Other blogs in this series at: https://rob4yellowhead.blogspot.com/
• My Web Page at: https://rob4yellowhead.wixsite.com/website
• My Facebook Page at: https://www.facebook.com/Rob4Yellowhead/
• Follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/RobertDuiker
• Email me at: rob4yellowhead@gmail.com 

Please take some time to read up similarly on every other contestant in the race to become the Conservative Party of Canada candidate in the Yellowhead Electoral District.