As freshman Sen. Douglas Canton Jr. hastily ushers in a visitor with friendly greetings, he is automatically clearing off space in the tiny cubicle he shares with Sen. Emmett Hansen II.
"Make yourself comfortable," he says, putting his attaché on the desk to retrieve his other self, his laptop computer.
Canton is a slender 44-year-old, showing a bit of gray in his goatee and smartly clad in a colorful striped cotton shirt, tie, and black jeans, with the requisite beeper on the belt. There's a suit bag on the floor, and the desk is piled with papers, some of them apparently from Wednesday night's Finance Committee meeting.
As he dismisses the desktop computer -— "it moves at about five miles an hour" —- he opens his laptop, adorned with one of his red campaign bumper stickers.
Canton was St. Croix's biggest vote-getter in last November's election, a fact he takes very seriously. "I learned from the last election, where I finished eighth," he said. "I have a mandate, a constituency to serve."What's the secret of his success? "Well, I have to tell you a little history," Canton explains. "After the last election, I didn't stop my connection with the community. A lot of people make the mistake of disappearing into the sunset after losing an election. You've got to stay in touch."
Canton says he started his campaign in January of 2000, much to the objection of some naysayers who said it was way too early. "Some of them even took bets I'd never make it," he says. "I did my homework, and I didn't start late."
The senator says his concerns focused on the youth, the elderly and people with special needs "These people need attention," Canton says, and he became a spokesperson for that constituency.
Canton says he and fellow freshman Sen. Emmett Hansen II "came into our jobs with a new perspective. We aren't going to be beholden to the system," Canton said, "We've had enough exposure through traveling and observing other governments' operations, to know that things can be drastically different."
As if on cue, Hansen appears in Canton's office holding a large cardboard carton. "I'm going back to St. Croix now, and I've got a little space left in here," he says, "Do you want to put anything of yours in?"
Canton obliges, depositing his faithful laptop in the box for Hansen to carry home for him-a kind of statement of trust between the two junior lawmakers.
Canton chairs the Committee on Health and Hospitals, which has been allocated a $15,000 budget. "In the previous Legislature, even after a $1 million budget cut, the minimum for any committee was $84,000," he said.
He has gone to the public with a "Call to Action," detailed on his Web site, canton2k.com. "The community has expectations of me, and I have expectations of the community," he says. "I want my constituents to know what's going on, and I want them to step in and say that they have a stake in the community's health, too."
The Web site encourages the general public and individual groups to write their majority senators asking them to fund the committee at a realistic level to demonstrate their commitment to good health care in the territory.
The committee budget as is, Canton explains, could never cover all committee needs. His budget director alone is paid $30,000, and the committee researcher another $30,000.
"So far, I haven't touched a cent of the $15,000," he says, "Frankly, I'm paying from my personal allotment right now so the committee won't be hamstrung in the future. We are having to depend on volunteers and creative funding."
"If you want a committee to work, you're going to have to fund it, or it won't work and you are discredited," he says, adding, "You can see the political overtones here."
Speaking of politics, Canton was one of the nine senators who recently traveled to Washington, D.C,. for President George W. Bush's inauguration ceremonies, where he spent four days meeting with health officials. Canton spent $853 of his office's allotment on airfare, and the rest came from his own pocket.
The senator had no hotel expenses in Washington, D.C. as he stayed with his sister Denise S. Canton, a U.S. Public health Service captain and a participant in the many discussions Canton held in the office of Delegate to Congress Donna Christian Christensen in the four days following the inauguration ceremonies.
The discussions focused on health and economic initiatives and strategy for increasing and sustaining health care in the territory, health care planning with primary care associations, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and public and private health care partnerships and strategies for obtaining federal grants
Participating in the discussions included: Peter Hebert, of Winton & Straun, the government's lobbying firm; Dr. Cephus Goldman, deputy director of the U.S. Division of Community and Migrant Health Bureau of Primary Health Care; Patricia A. Stroup, director, Division of Legislation, Health Resources and Services Administration; Joanne Lee, legislative analyst, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation; and V.I. Senator Vargrave Richards.
He says the territory must have a comprehensive health plan. "A plan on a territorial level is the ultimate, but certain areas have to be treated first." "For instance," he says, "there's money coming down here for HIV/AIDS, and that money has to go to the clinics in a timely manner and be reported back to the feds."
"We can't let these monies be held in abeyance, as they traditionally are," he says. "However it is set up, the system must have some degree of autonomy from executive-branch manipulation."
Canton says he wants to do a "firsthand walk-through" of the hospitals, the clinics, and the nurses' and medical organizations. "Personally, I want to get out and talk to people and get educated from them, so I'll have a better feel for what's going on." Canton says he can learn more that way, rather than going to the top administrators.
He describes an incident when he took his father to the emergency room at the Governor Juan Luis Hospital on St. Croix. "They only had one wheelchair, and it had no foot rest; they can admit people, but they don't have enough beds."
He also looks forward to more autonomy, to hospital board governance.
"There has to be a certain amount of government representation, however the board should be at least 51 percent of people who utilize the services, bona fide clients and health professionals."
One of eight children of educator and former nurse Pauline Edith Vicars Canton, and former Senator Douglas E. Canton Sr., the senator says he didn't get any political aspirations from his father. What he did get from both parents, he says, was a good, solid education with an emphasis in community involvement. He says his law career-he earned his J.D. from Howard University Law School-has made it possible for him to understand legislation, and the enforcement of legislation.
Canton does an about-face, "Have I told you about 'Cbreeze?' It's my program for kids from 10 years up to learn computers." He has a computer lab in his home where for the last five years, he has taught classes.
"The kids have to be doing well in school," he says, "or they can't stay in the program. I have to be strict with them." Canton says the kids run his Web site, keeping it up to date.
One of the things the Cbreeze kids are keeping track of on the site is a V.I. Water and Power Authority rate increase survey Canton is conducting. "I want to see exactly how much rates have increased in comparison
to the cost of fuel," he says.
Canton has both a legal and computer background. For 10 years after returning home from college in the states, he served as the Legislature's assistant legal counsel on St. Croix, where he also brought his technical expertise to bear. He joined the Management Information System to apply his computer skills.
Looking at his watch, the senator reveals a Cruzan Lock bracelet, the insignia of a true Crucian.
"The bracelet was a gift," he says with a smile. "I wear it all the time, even though it's a little small." With that, and a big parting grin, he jumps up for a 2 p.m. appointment on Leona Bryant's Radio One talk show. Suddenly, he turns serious, "Remember me in your prayers," he says.
