Ruho Paluoja has been involved in politics since well before the last winter federal election. That was in 1980, and Paluoja was already trench-toughened. Most of the time he has been involved in advance work. At this moment he is involved with the federal Conservative leadership team doing advance work for the leader of the opposition, Stephen Harper.
Advance work is tough slogging that goes on before the event itself happens, almost effortlessly. The advance people have already disappeared by the time the leader arrives, relaxed and smiling. The advance people are either in a back room checking the event to see if there is any way to improve on the result or already at the next activity. You see that the event doesn't happen by magic after all.
These functions have taken him to many places including around the world. Paluoja has been to the Ukraine with then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Estonia with then Minister of International Trade, Michael Wilson, both in the days of communism with a diplomatic passport in his pocket.
These people - the political backroom boys and girls - are mostly volunteers; the party couldn't afford to pay them. Most of them have executive level jobs. Paluoja is a Professor and Department Head at Seneca College.
In that and its associated functions, Paluoja has worked on the campaigns of all federal and provincial Progressive Conservative and Conservative leadership candidates and leaders.
Paluoja has been very close to current Leader of the (provincial) Opposition John Tory, with whom he has worked on many campaigns and for many premiers.
Paluoja has also been involved with the Estonian Central Council organizing demonstrations in Ottawa such as the one when Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev came to visit. He also addressed the crowd of people that covered the front lawn of the parliament building, representing the Baltic Federation of Canada.
The benefit of having a person, like Paluoja close to someone, like then Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, Finance Minister and later Minister of International Trade, Michael Wilson, and Minister of Indian affairs under former prime minister Kim Campbell Pauline Browes (for whom Paluoja worked as Executive Assistant) when Estonia was about to gain its independence was immeasurable.
Conservative party leader Stephen Harper and Ruho Paluoja on the campaign trail.
The editor asked me to write about the more interesting of the two in the picture, so here it is.
