Bart Maves Interview
by Tom McKenzie
How did you become interested in politics?
I wanted to have a positive impact on people, and I had met a lot of teachers who had a positive impact on my life. I thought that I wanted to be a teacher but in my grade 13 year, I started to think politics was another likely avenue.
I first wanted to be a policy-maker, a bureaucrat and to develop policy initiatives. In Alberta on my Master’s degree, I worked for the Department of Education, and developed a program for Math, Science, and Technology for gifted students. It went through the bureaucracy to the Minister who said "No, I don’t want to do this," and that was the end of it. At that point I decided to have any impact on policy, I had to be elected.
What character traits and skills are most important in your job?
You have to be personable, be able to get along with others. You have to be committed. There are some politicians who get elected and don’t do their job. You really need to be able to take in a lot of information, sift through it, and using good judgement, make the best decision on it. That’s the most important skill. You have to be, it’s sad to say, somewhat suspicious. Most people come to see you for money. It’s public money, it’s not mine to give out. You have to guard that money very closely, jealously because that’s what they elected you to do.
Who are your role models?
I looked up to my father a lot. I liked a lot of my teachers.
Some people say that your policies are against teachers?
We are on opposite sides of a political issue. It’s not like I think they’re bad people, and I don’t think they think I’m a bad person. My wife is a teacher, and she would bring home leaflets that appeared in her mailbox every single day from her union. I would look at this material and say: this is a lie, this is not true, this is partly true, and this is not true. And every single day, when you get inundated with this stuff, some of it is going to stick.
What sacrifices do you have to make?
You give up anonymity. Some politicians love that. They want to be well known. I like a little bit of anonymity, but I’ve given that up. And you definitely give up time with your family.
How do you deal with criticism?
You exercise good judgement. I’ve had lots of meetings since I’ve been elected. When we were making expenditure reductions initially, for instance, the Board of Education said, "Well, we’re the most efficient board in Ontario. Here’s a graph we can show you." You find out pretty quickly that every single board went to their member and said, "We’re the most efficient board in the province, here’s the graph to prove it. You really have to pay close attention.
Do you have any advice for young people who would like to get into politics?
Don’t join any political party right away. My advice is to take your time. Winston Churchill once said: "If you are not a Liberal until you are thirty, you do not have a heart, and if you are not a Conservative after thirty, you don’t have a brain." I chose to get involved in politics because it was an avenue through which I thought I could make a positive impact on people’s lives, and I still believe that to be true.