Bending voters' ears, 1 cup of coffee at a time
Last Updated: Thursday, December 22, 2005 | 12:05 PM ET
CBC News
The parties themselves are nothing new, but many candidates say they're holding more of them this time around as an alternative to spending long, cold hours pounding the frozen pavement.
Mark Wasyliw, the NDP candidate in Winnipeg South Centre, said the gatherings are a way to get beyond "sound bite" politics and really engage the voters.
"Especially in this weather, I'm lucky if I get 30 seconds with people at the door. People are cold, and they don't want me to be the cause of a spike in their heating bills," he told CBC News.
"I would go to a million of these things if I could. We've tried to set up a number of them, and I suspect we would have 10 or 15 of these things before the election is over, more if I can help it."
'This is what it's all about'
A pitch to a dozen seniors at a North Kildonan apartment block was Conservative incumbent Joy Smith's fourth coffee party this week, and she had two more scheduled in her Kildonan-St. Paul riding.
While drinking coffee and eating cake, the senior voters chewed over what Smith told them about cutting waiting times in the health-care system.
Across town in St. Boniface, a dozen francophone seniors ignored the coffee tureen at Liberal incumbent Raymond Simard's coffee party, instead peppering him with questions. Simard says he loves the back-and-forth at these gatherings.
"It's great. This is what it's all about, right," he said. "I'm not going to come and do my spiel; I want to hear where they're coming from."
The candidates say they expect to hold dozens of the tiny parties before Jan. 23, when voters head to the polls.
