After more than a year of reading and participating peripherally in activist kinds of events, it seems I’ve begun to find my sea legs in this perfect storm of rising corporate power, dwindling democracy, serious climate change and increasing youth activism. To that end, last week I had coffee with a long-time-ago friend, Jackie, who like me, is approaching retirement age, has grown children no longer living at home, and has recently woken up to the political swirl of smoke and mirrors being directed at us all.

As recently as this past fall Jackie began participating in her first political protests, including the October 22 protest in Victoria against the Enbridge Pipeline. Like me she is trying to make sense of it all. She wants to work to use her time and energy productively and so has taken to calling herself simply ‘An Inconvenient Citizen.’ She is keen to connect with other like-minded individuals, sharing information and encouraging participation in asking the questions that need to be asked of our government officials so that they are being held accountable on issues that matter. For now what is jumping out for Jackie is the need for reforming our electoral process so that our democracy is functioning as it ought to be. Jackie is a smart and voracious researcher so that working alongside her makes sense to me.

This week we’ll meet again and I’m keen to suss out just exactly what it means to also label myself an Inconvenient Citizen.