E-mailing politicians

Have you tried contacting them by phone?  Maybe email isn’t something they like to work with.  Sure they must be available but the medium you primarly use to communicate may not be the one other people readily use.
I know your dog is an important part of your life but is this issue the sole thing on which you base your voting pattern?  Aren’t there other issues that are at stakes here?

Well, the issue is that they didn’t reply to the e-mail.  If they replied to the e-mail and explained themselves, that would have been different. (Herb Pond did take the time to reply to the initial e-mail).

It’s 2008.  If they’re going to list e-mail addresses on their contact details, then they should read their e-mail.  If they don’t use e-mail, don’t list an e-mail address.  If they “don’t believe in e-mail” then personally, I won’t vote for them either.

I’m basing my voting on the fact that none of them took the few seconds to reply to me.   I wouldn’t have voted for Cullen in the last federal election had he not replied to an e-mail I sent him.

Fair enough!  I think you have a point:  Why list email as a contact and not use it to reply to a question from a citizen? 

[quote=“BigThumb”]
Fair enough!  I think you have a point:  Why list email as a contact and not use it to reply to a question from a citizen?  [/quote]

I’d be saying the same thing if I called them on the phone and they didn’t return my call.  It wasn’t really about the pet fees (though I think the bylaw is just a cash grab).  It’s about the ability to contact your elected representatives.

Like I said, Herb Pond did reply, at least initially.  I’ll have to take a look, but I think we even had a short back and forth in e-mail.  You gotta respect that.

I e-mailed Nathan Cullen about Bill C-61 (as did others).  I didn’t get a reply right away, and e-mailed his office.  They told me that yes, they received it, but that Cullen insists on replying to e-mail himself.  And sure enough, he did.

It doesn’t take much effort to keep in contact, especially in 2008. 

(I’ve split this bit, just 'cause I think it’s a bigger discussion than just the municipal election.)

When I sent out some e-mails about C-61, I was inititally disappointed because Cullen didn’t get back to me. However, after a week or so went by, I got a short reply that was a lot friendlier than the form-letter replies I got from Jim Prentice’s office.

If politicians don’t respond to constituents questions they obviously don’t grasp the whole democracy thing, and are not worthy of your vote.