Jordan Katz: The Smoker's Man- Kenzie Love

Most aspiring politicians have aspects of their lives they’d prefer to keep hidden. It’s an understandable impulse. Everyone wants – and is entitled to – some measure of privacy.

What’s frustrating is when politicians tell a journalist that something he’s done is irrelevant, but suggests to certain members of the public it’s a prime reason they should vote for him. Candidates shouldn’t be allowed to have it both ways, but one London man is trying to do exactly that.

Jordan Katz is the Conservative nominee for Parliament in the riding of London-Fanshawe. He’s currently a consultant with mychoice.ca, a smokers’ rights group funded by the tobacco industry. He seems to have gauged that his career will make him popular with the riding’s smokers (why else would he advertise his candidacy on the mychoice website?) At the same time, however, he appears to be trying to keep his occupation a secret from everyone else, insisting during an interview that it’s “separate” from his activities as a Conservative candidate.

Katz has no real political experience. He’s run for office once before, and he’s served as a campaign manager, but that’s it. But he apparently wants voters to overlook his lack of experience both as a politician or holding any other job and vote for him anyway, because he’s gone door to door and listened to their concerns. Kudos to him, but a lot of people could do this. Why is he a better choice than any of them?

It may well be that Katz’s experience as a tobacco lobbyist has prepared him for a career as an MP. As one wag observed, politicians and lobbyists “both seem to lie a lot”. On a more serious note, Katz sounded reasonably convincing when he talked to another Western journalism student for an article published in March. He argued that his work for my choice had reminded him of the importance of individual rights, and the fact that smokers deserve to have their voices heard.

It’s probably not enough to convince many people to vote for him (people who, not without cause, are suspicious of anything funded by Big Tobacco and anyone running under the Conservative banner), but at least he addressed the issue head on, and frankness is a quality sorely lacking in politicians these days.

Being candid about his career may well cost Jordan Katz some votes. But it might also earn him support from people who value experience and candour in politicians, rather than evasiveness.