Knock, knock: Regina woman working on another campaign

Fifty-seven years and thousands of doors — that’s the reality for Jean Cameron, who has been door-knocking for election campaigns since 1964.

She started out helping her father, Clarence Estey, who represented Saskatoon-Nutana from 1967 to 1971 in the Legislative Assembly as a member of the Liberal Party.

Cameron then took a hiatus from going door to door before she began working on campaigns for long-time Liberal MP Ralph Goodale.

“I door-knocked in Ralph campaigns, 10 of them,” she said on Tuesday’s Greg Morgan Morning Show. “I did it starting in 1988 through 2019.”

Over the years, campaigning has undergone its fair share of changes — and Cameron has seen all of them.

“It has changed a lot and in some ways it hasn’t changed at all,” she said. “The social media, the technology, that kind of thing — in 1964, there was none of that and I know that’s a very important part of all campaigns now.

“One thing that does amaze me is that we still door-knock. That still seems to be the gold standard for all campaigns of all political parties is to meet the voters on the doorstep and have a conversation.”

Those conversations almost came to an end for Cameron, who had planned to quit working with campaigns after Goodale’s defeat in 2019.

Her hiatus didn’t last for long after her daughter, Susan Cameron, decided to run as a Liberal candidate for Regina-Lewvan in the 2021 federal election.

“When my friend Ralph Goodale was defeated in 2019 I was absolutely devastated but I did think, ‘Oh, at least I don’t have to door-knock anymore,’ ” Jean Cameron said. “And then about six months ago, my daughter decided to throw her hat in the ring.

“So I thought, ‘Well, I guess I’m not retired.’ I bought myself a new pair of runners and I’m back at it again.”

Cameron’s experiences over the years can be summed up as positive ones.

“You run into all kinds of people,” she said. “I have to say that the thousands and thousands of doors I’ve knocked on, the vast majority of people are pleasant. Even if they don’t agree with you, they listen to you. That’s been my experience.”