Knock knock.

Who鈥檚 there?

It鈥檚 your local candidate for parliament 鈥� and according to the experts, it鈥檚 no joke.

As electoral campaigns and platforms continue to adapt to the digital age, politicians and experts agree that traditional face-to-face interaction through door knocking is here to stay.

鈥淧ersonal contact is still the best way to reach people,鈥� said Maxime H茅roux-Legault, assistant professor in the department of economics, philosophy and political science at UBC Okanagan.

鈥淥n social media, you鈥檒l see ads, and you鈥檙e going to see news articles. It鈥檚 not the same thing as meeting the candidate.鈥�

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H茅roux-Legault said door-knocking boils down to three primary purposes 鈥� persuasion, motivation and information.

鈥淭he motivation aspect of door-knocking needs to be taken into account,鈥� he said.

鈥淧arties are not trying to gain new voters but motivate their voters to turn out on voting day.鈥�

The informational component pertains to candidates providing details surrounding voter registration and where local polling stations are, which also helps to increase turnout on election day.

Somebody who has had immense experience with door-knocking is local NDP volunteer, Maria Tokarchuk. She鈥檚 been volunteering in various capacities with both the provincial and federal NDP on a local level since 1991.

In her view, what has changed most over the past 30 years are peoples鈥� schedules.

鈥淢ore people used to be at home and would answer the door,鈥� said Tokarchuk with a slight chuckle.

鈥淲e try to go in the evenings between 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., especially during the week. Probably half of the people are home.鈥�

Tokarchuk said it鈥檚 been even more noticeable when trying to reach people by phone.

鈥淲hen you phone people, they don鈥檛 answer the phone,鈥� she said.

鈥淲hen you鈥檙e at the door, people can look out the window and see you as a person, but on the phone, if they don鈥檛 recognize the number, they don鈥檛 pick it up.鈥�

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Some local candidates share similar sentiments.

鈥淔ace-to-face is always the best way to do anything,鈥� said Liberal Party candidate Stephen Fuhr.

鈥淚n the 21st century, there are other options out there and they also bring different pros and cons.鈥�

Fuhr said while door-knocking is very useful, it鈥檚 also very labour intensive and you can鈥檛 connect with the same volume of people as you can through digital channels.

鈥淣owadays, I think its a good healthy combination of both face-to-face and interaction on social media,鈥� he said.

鈥淨uality interaction is important but you also need reach. Social media can help you with that.鈥�

Conservative candidate Tracy Gray balances her approach, but added in the past four months she has door-knocked a distance equivalent to walking to Calgary and back.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all about connecting with people where they are. It鈥檚 an especially important way to engage with retirees and seniors.鈥�

michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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