By Pepper Parr
June 3, 2015
BURLINGTON, ON
Burlington is going to have three different people representing different parts of the city in the House of Commons on October 20th when the federal election results are known.
The creation of the Oakville North Burlington riding was due to population shifts. The Conservatives held a very public dog fight over their nominations – it was so bad that the Conservative party sent both the candidates packing and put a new executive in place. The Conservative nomination is expected to be held June 7th
There is the riding of Burlington, currently held by Mike Wallace that had bits and pieces chopped off; there is still the riding of Halton where Lisa Raitt is the sitting member and there is now a new riding called Oakville North Burlington.
Pam Damoff was acclaimed the Liberal candidate last week after the untimely death of Max Khan. Both Damoff and Khan were members of Oakville’s city council.
The Conservatives are believed to be holding their nomination meeting June 7th where there are at least two known candidates for that nomination; Burlington’s Blair Lancaster and Effie Triantafilopoulos, a former Chief of Staff for Conservative Cabinet Ministers in the three key economic portfolios: Industry, Trade, and Treasury Board.
Damoff has been a Liberal since her university days when she was influenced by Pierre Trudeau and went to Ottawa to work with a Member of the House of Commons.
Damoff graduated from the University of Western Ontario and went to Ottawa to work for an MPP and then moved into the financial world where she was a numbers cruncher for a small financial consulting group that got absorbed by a larger firm which in turn got absorbed by an even larger firm.
Her first run at municipal politics saw her lose by 150 votes – then won a number of years later by more than 50% against six candidates – Damoff had clearly learned how to win an election
She is a passionate woman who will cry when she wants to – for her it is all about people – what she can do and how she can help.
There is the capacity to manage detail and an openness that can be disarming.
While being a Member of the House of Commons is a lot different that handling pot holes and snow clearance Damoff looks as if she will continue to serve the people of Oakville and now some in Burlington as well as she has in the past.
Pam Damoff tends to wear her emotions on her face – a smile that will light up a room and the ability to tear up when she is moved.
So – who is she? A parent, a person committed to her community and silly enough to wade into freezing water on New Year’s Day in Oakville’s popular Polar Bear Dip.
She has been a big, big supporter of the Terry Fox run because she believes it is important for young people to have role models that show what is possible.
Damoff explains that at 19 Terry Fox was a student, at 20 he struggled with cancer and at 21, after a heroic battle against that cancer, he was suddenly no longer with us.
That level of commitment and dedication are what Damoff wants young people to see – and it is to a considerable degree what she is personally. She built the Terry Fox run from 43,000 participants to 132,000
Damoff is a team player; this is no roaming ego looking for all the possible places to land. The environment is an issue for her and she claims to ride her bike often – expects to campaign on her bike whenever she can.
Her nomination was a part love in and part sad evening as the torch was passed from the Khan family to Pam Damoff who had no idea she would be running as a candidate in a federal election. She fully expected to be part of the Khan team – now she is part of the Justin Trudeau team and holding memories of the role Justin’s Father, Pierre Trudeau, played in shaping the country.
Damoff was heavily influenced by Pierre Trudeau and the changes he brought to the country; now she is part of a campaign that is being led by his son.
As a student at Western Damoff worked on John O. (Jack) Burghardt’s campaign which got her to Ottawa where she leaned how the place works.
She is a close friend of Paddy Torsney who represented Burlington in the House of Commons for a number of years. Damoff will be on the phone with Torsney frequently should she win the election
Good healthy crowd for the acclamation of Pam Damoff as the |Liberal candidate
In her moments of reflection – and Damoff is a reflector, she might wonder at the way things turn out. In the next four to five months she will work her tail off and if she can convey to the voters who she is and what she stands for – she will find herself back in Ottawa – this time as a Member of the House of Commons – expect her to tear up when she is sworn in.
Damoff has a small short lead on the yet to be nominated Conservative candidate, however five days after her acclamation there isn’t a Damoff web site in place and there was no mention of using social media in her campaign.
Pam Damoff might choose to do it the hard way – door to door – face to face; it’s the way politics was meant to work.
