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Sunshine Coast woman’s letter to Justin Trudeau goes viral

Sunshine Coast resident Casandra Fletcher had no idea that writing an online letter to prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau would go viral, but it has, with more than 31,000 shares in just two days.
Letter

Sunshine Coast resident Casandra Fletcher had no idea that writing an online letter to prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau would go viral, but it has, with more than 31,000 shares in just two days.

Fletcher created the open letter to Trudeau on her Facebook page while watching the results of the federal election on TV Monday night. The letter talks about her unease in voting Liberal and lists her top 10 suggested actions for the new prime minister.

“When the votes were coming in I sat in the living room after the kids were in bed watching that map of Canada turn red over the Atlantic provinces, and I suddenly got nervous thinking what did I do? What have we all done here?” Fletcher said, noting she voted strategically for the Liberals in order to defeat Stephen Harper, but struggled with the decision.

“I just wrote with hot tears and sort of felt like I wanted (Justin Trudeau) to read it. I thought, can he really hear people like me out there?”

Among the top 10 items for the new PM, Fletcher wrote that Trudeau should “get real” about his win. “Accept it with humility and modesty and treat your fellow left politicians with respect and gratitude for it is THEIR supporters who got you here with your sweeping majority, and not your own.”

Other top 10 items included changing the electoral system, rebuilding Canada’s name on the world stage as a country of peacekeepers, protecting natural resources, supporting science, fixing Bill C-51 and ensuring Trudeau guards against being “bought.”

“Turn your back to those companies and lobbyists that think they can buy you (and Canada) in exchange for decisions that financially reward a few today and hurt people for generations,” Fletcher wrote.

Her letter is gaining lots of attention on Facebook (the number of shares and likes rises hourly) and from news outlets in Canada and beyond.

At Coast Reporter’s press time, BuzzFeed, Global News and the Vancouver Sun had all published articles about Fletcher’s letter and she said she had calls for interviews from the Toronto Star and MSNBC as well.

“It’s crazy,” she said, adding she feels the spotlight is “misplaced.”

“I don’t want the spotlight on me because it’s not about me. It’s about him, and it’s about the fact that all of these people are feeling this way.”

She said that, like many voters, she was undecided right up until she entered the polling station on Oct. 19.

After weighing her options, she finally settled on casting a Liberal vote.

“I think voting strategically was about facts. It was about looking at the system that we’re facing and realizing that two-thirds of our population are left-ish and we have to choose between three parties, and one-third of the population is right-ish and so the Conservatives are guaranteed they will always have a third of the vote,” Fletcher said.

“So when we’re splitting it that way, and without proportional representation, what option is there? You choose whatever guy on the left is the most likely to beat Harper. That’s it. And that’s a sick feeling.”

It was with that “sick feeling” Fletcher voted and later penned her thoughts to Trudeau, posting the letter on her Facebook wall Monday night to see what kind of response she would get.

Soon the responses started rolling in.

“I’m getting bombarded with thousands of messages and most of them are positive, but every one in 20 is some misogynistic super scary person,” Fletcher said, asking that her location on the Coast not be published because “I don’t want them to know where I am.”

The one person who hasn’t tried to contact Fletcher yet is Trudeau, but she’s hopeful he’ll respond in some way soon.

“I’d love to believe that my voice can be heard and answered by that guy that I just helped to hire.”

In an effort to solicit a response, Fletcher decided to mail a copy of her letter to Trudeau on Oct. 21.

Fletcher’s entire letter can be read in Coast Reporter’s letters section. 

For more stories from the Coast Reporter visit the website coastreporter.net.