Cheri DiNovo: Angel or Devil?
When I accepted this assignment, I figured that the titular question would be obviously metaphorical rather than metaphysical.
Boy, was I wrong.
I knew I was wrong when survey respondents began saying things like “I don't really believe in either” and “can we truly know anyone?” instead of the “if she's a politician then she's a devil because all politicians are devils!” that I got from a patron of a neighborhood bar.
And I knew people were taking it too seriously when I started hearing things like “that's a ridiculous binary” and “there's a little gray there, don't you think?” (But once I got Cheri talking about the issues themselves, the interview lightened up a bit.)
My completely unscientific community opinion poll turned up no one who considered Cheri to be on any side other than that of the angels. Even those who confessed to a completely opposite ideological bent conceded that their opposition was to her methods rather than her intention. She was frequently described a decent, well-meaning person with an interest in looking out for those who aren't usually getting looked out for by society. Even by those who couldn't quite remember her name.
When I read over her Web site, even the choice of issues that she highlighted for attention underscored her concern for those with less power and pull in our society. Minimum wage. Payday lending. Affordable education. Seniors' health care. Assistance for new immigrants. Protection for those whose jobs are being lost in a sagging manufacturing sector. Nothing, though, about cats and the unborn, both of whom are notoriously poor at the organizing and handshaking necessary for a successful grassroots campaign.
(The downside to this was that I knew there was no way I was going to get an answer to the question I really wanted to ask: “Care Bears vs. My Little Pony smackdown: where's your money going?” So my ‘80's Ultimate Fighting Fantasy League will have to make its own odds.)
As the NDP arts and culture critic, she had a lot to say during our interview about championing the cause of artists in Ontario through Status of the Artist legislation. I had not realized, for example, that there was no legislation protecting child performers. I had anticipated that there was no EI, given the difficulty of quantifying participation as an artist, but she made a good point – why not rework EI legislation to find a way to incorporate artists? What if “starving artist” were more of an oxymoron and less of a redundancy?
She also mentioned her concern over female representation in politics. Again choosing the side currently wielding less power, she's hosting Girls' Government, taking 107 school-age girls to Queen's Park every month to introduce them to the political world and the issues of the day. (With any luck, they'll see something more inspiring than my most vivid memory of visiting the PEI legislature in high school: a cabinet member sitting at his desk, reading the paper and completely ignoring the proceedings except to toss in a smartass remark when someone called him to account for something his office was responsible for.)
So whom should we expect to either fear or oppose Cheri enough to consider her a “devil”? When I asked her, she was hoping that nobody would, but we both realized that might be a little unrealistic. After all, she did play the Devil's Instrument in school. I figured that at least “the patriarchy” she mentioned a couple of times should be taking notice. Eventually she consented to let “the nuclear industry,” “companies who pollute” and “opponents of the minimum wage” stay on the other side of the fence.
But as far as I can tell, the “DiNovo is a devil” side of the fence is a pretty lonely one.