A taste for politics
Compiled by Stuart Trew
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Graphic credit: DSTRBO
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Everything you never wanted to know about your local candidates
Under the assumption that politicians are also human beings, and that you can actually learn a lot about a person from what they like, XPress asked every candidate in Ottawa about their cultural intake last year. But wait! We're in no way condoning voting for frivolous reasons, so for policy wonks, we also asked them about health care, security and Canadian values. Note: Not all candidates returned surveys in time. Further note: We're pretty sure not everyone understood the individual rights versus economic interests question but we're running it anyway because some of the answers were pretty good. We took individual rights to mean human, legal and Charter rights - pretty important things that should never be trampled on by the state for any reason. Yet so many people chose "false" that we had to assume it was a poorly worded question. Sorry. OTTAWA CENTRE
Name John Akpata
Party Marijuana Party, since June 2004
Current job Writer/poet
Claim to fame Spoken word performer and House of Trouble columnist in Ottawa XPress
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? To help chant down the Babylon system, and end the stranglehold of the Baby Boomers
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Their health card and passport
What is the biggest threat to that value? The Empire/New World Order - only rich people will have health cards, and poor people won't be able to afford a bus pass
Name
your poison Smartfood - it has zero nutritional value
What was the last CD you bought? Michael Franti's Stay Human (used)
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Capital Slam (I hosted)
Favourite book of 2005 Room Full of Mirrors: A Biography of Jimi Hendrix, by Charles Cross
Favourite film of 2005 Crash - almost all emotions were satisfied, and I learned a lot
Favourite restaurant in your riding Caribbean Flavours or Karma Karma
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? Not when 50 per cent of the public is overweight, and 25 per cent is obese. Increased knowledge, traditional healing and herbal remedies are the way to go.
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Drinking water is a fundamental human right
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Security certificates are a human rights violation. The Celebrity and Heritage detention centres in Guelph, Ontario are probably torture chambers for the CIA. Either charge the detainees and put them on the front page of the paper, or let them go.
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? Always. Anyone who disagrees needs to have their phone tapped, have their e-mail investigated, their blood and urine tested once a month, and have a GPS transponder implanted into their spine.
Why you? I honestly believe that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, and that the role of government is to provide the highest standards of living possible to all persons in this country and abroad.
Name David Chernushenko
Party Green Party, 2.5 years
Current job Consultant in environmental management and sustainable building
Claim to fame Passionate advocate of clean air, physical fitness and less car-dependent cities
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? To provide the first real "green" voice and to press for more proportional representation
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Its understated sense of decency and tolerance of diverse views. Fanaticism gets you nowhere here.
What is the biggest threat to that value? Fear of trying new ways when old ones are no longer working. For example, when we hold too strictly to any one mantra, such as "cutting taxes is the answer," or "more police on the streets will solve crime," or "economic expansion is good."
Name your poison: Dark chocolate, watching hockey (now that the neutral-zone trap is dead)
What was the last CD you bought? Layah Jane - a great singer-songwriter from Toronto
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? I sang in - with my local funky choir Folka Voca - and then sat and watched the first ever Canadian Folk Music Awards
Favourite book of 2005 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, by J.K. Rowling
Favourite film of 2005 A Very Long Engagement
Favourite restaurant in your riding Pe-Nan Wok
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? False - If Sweden can do it, so can we!
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it. When we start selling it there will be no going back. In this century it will be worth more than oil or gold!
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Too strict - we will look back on 2001-2006 as very dark times for human and civil rights in Canada
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? False - no issue is this cut-and-dry
Why you? What will do more to shake up Parliament - Ottawa Centre choosing one more Grit, Tory or NDPer, or electing Canada's first Green MP?
Name Paul Dewar
Party NDP, 21 years
Current job Teacher
Claim to fame School teacher, and Nathaniel and Jordan's father
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? Provide more affordable housing, protect green spaces and bring light rail to Ottawa
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Health care and peacekeeping
What is the biggest threat to that value? Privatization and deep integration with the U.S.
Name your poison Doritos and The West Wing
What was the last CD you bought? Kathleen Edwards' Back to Me
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Stephen Fearing (Underground Wires concert)
Favourite book of 2005 A Complicated Kindness, by Miriam Toews
Favourite film of 2005 Les Choristes
Favourite restaurant in your riding Savana Café
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? True, but only if there are enough New Democrats in the House of Commons to make sure that it happens
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Too strict
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? False
Why you? I'm a committed community activist and environmentalist. I am a board member of Ottawa Community Immigrant Services and know the issues that affect new Canadians better than any of the other candidates.
Name Christian Legeais
Party Marxist-Leninist, since the 1970s
Current job Researcher
Claim to fame My work as a Marxist-Leninist activist in the defence of the rights of all, and opposition to the U.S. "war on terror" and the occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Haiti
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? It is time to work together to create mechanisms through which the people can participate in the decision-making process and reject the political system that brings political parties to power and not representatives selected by the people.
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Sovereignty - Canadian people oppose the restructuring of the state to facilitate annexation by the U.S.
What is the biggest threat to that value? The party system of government in which the people exercise no control over the parties. This system does not serve the people but rather the financial oligarchy which has been demanding the dismantling of Canada in order to make themselves richer.
Name your poison A strong coffee with rose water at 5:45 a.m.
What was the last CD you bought? Boozoo Chavis
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? The March 23, 2005 concert demanding justice for Mohamed Harkat at the human rights monument on Elgin Street
Favourite book of 2005 If You Love Your Class, by Hardial Bains
Favourite film of 2005 La Grande séduction
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? True. Health care is too important to be left to the marketplace. Health services must be publicly owned and publicly delivered.
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it. Water is a human right, not a "necessity" as the Canadian government claims.
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? The so-called Anti-Terrorism Act and all other such laws should be repealed. It is particularly important that the security certificate be abolished.
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? They should be harmonized. Rights are rights. There is no such a thing as balancing individual rights and the economic interests of the rich. Only by defending rights can we defend security. Anything less is contrary to justice and international law.
Why you? People who recognize the need to empower themselves and be effective must come together and organize others to do the same. If you do not want to waste your vote, do not vote for any party that supports war and fascism. Vote for MLPC.
Name Anwar Syed
Party Independent
Current job Site manager, power plant construction project
Claim to fame I am the odd man out, with origins in India, an Asian and widely travelled person, and perhaps you might have noted by my name - I am born into Muslim faith
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? My riding needs a person who is always available to listen to their concerns and voice them in the House of Commons
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? They value their independence and want this country to be the best place to live and raise families amongst all the nations of the world
What is the biggest threat to that value? The biggest threat in the long run is pollution and the depletion of water resources, as well as the threat environmental changes pose to the Canadian way of life.
Name your poison I don't mind the occasional cigarette, but sometimes when I travel to India, I like the sweet paan
What was the last CD you bought? Hindi songs by Lata Mangeshkar
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Ballet dancing
Favourite book of 2005 The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown
Favourite film of 2005 Sahara
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? True
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it safe from pollution and also preserve it for future Canadians
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Too secretive and non-judicial, and open to abuse by government
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? Don't know
Why you? I bring a frankness and diversity to the riding, which it needs - a voice different than the usual.
OTTAWA-VANIER
Name Mauril Bélanger
Party Liberal, over 10 years
Current job MP for Ottawa-Vanier (10 years), as well as Minister for Internal Trade, deputy leader of the government in the House of Commons, Minister responsible for Official Languages, and Associate Minister of National Defence
Claim to fame I successfully fought to keep the Montfort Hospital open
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? As more people call Ottawa-Vanier home, we need to come together to agree on how to share our good fortune. Be it new infrastructure projects, new day care spaces, or creating opportunities for new Canadians, I have found that co-operation and teamwork will make it possible but strong convictions and decisive actions will make it happen.
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Canadians value social responsibility, pluralism, the rule of law, and fiscal prudence. These are the values I try to embody in my everyday life and they are those I would advance within a Liberal government.
What is the biggest threat to that value? Like a wolf in lambs clothing, I fear that the Conservative Party is an amalgam of the divisive and disruptive years of the Harris Government with their hospital closings and teacher strikes, and of a social conservatism long since out of favour in such a diverse community as our.
Name your poison Ontario wines from the Niagara region or Prince Edward County
What was the last CD you bought? Les Matins habitables, by Marie-Jo Thério
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? No Great Mischief at the Great Canadian Theatre Company
Favourite book of 2005 Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson, and Louis J. Robichaud: Une révolution si peu tranquille, by Michel Cormier
Favourite film of 2005 The Constant Gardener
Favourite restaurant in your riding Given that Ottawa-Vanier includes the Byward Market, this is an unfair question!
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? True
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? It is not for sale
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? In introducing Canada's first comprehensive national security policy, the Liberal government struck a balance between being able to prepare for and respond to security threats, while still maintaining Canadian values of openness, diversity and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms.
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? The Liberal government's Plan for Growth and Prosperity, tabled on November 14, 2005, is a new economic framework to guide future budgets as new opportunities and challenges emerge, building on the Liberal government's strong track record for strong fiscal progress. This means being fiscally responsible and socially progressive.
Why you? I have remained accessible to voters; informed about their concerns and hopes; committed to helping out those in need; passionate about Canada's cultural and linguistic richness; dedicated to the values of social responsibility, pluralism, the rule of law, and fiscal prudence; and proactive in how I represent the residents of Ottawa-Vanier.
Name Ric Dagenais
Party NDP, 12 years
Current job Analyst with the Canadian Union of Public Employees
Claim to fame Social activism in my community
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? Make a real difference for average Canadians
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Social justice
What is the biggest threat to that value? Integration with the U.S.A.
Name your poison: I watch and collect movies (900) of all genres except sci-fi
What was the last CD you bought? Don't remember
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Cirque du Soleil
Favourite book of 2005 Too Close for Comfort, by Maude Barlow
Favourite film of 2005 Too many to pick one
Favourite restaurant in your riding Nate's
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? True
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Water should not be a commodity
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? In some respects, the current anti-terror laws risk infringing upon civil liberties
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? False
Why you? Vote for the NDP because it is the only party to get results for people and that will fight for the average Canadian.
Name Alexandre Legeais
Party Marxist-Leninst, 15 years
Current job Truck driver (long haul)
Claim to fame Local activist
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? Assist in building constituency committees with the aim of empowering the people directly in the affairs that concern them, such as guaranteeing the right to health care, education, a peaceful and independent foreign policy, etc.
What do you think Canadians value most about their country? Social programs. By imposing a moratorium on debt servicing we can stop paying the rich and increase funding to these social programs and guarantee the right of all Canadians regardless of sex, race, religion, lifestyle or any other consideration to these programs by virtue of being human.
What is the biggest threat to that value? Our system of party government in which the people exercise no control over the parties - it does not serve the people but rather the financial oligarchy which has been demanding the dismantling of social programs in order to make themselves richer.
Name your poison: Rickard's Red, Marlboros and a game of Texas hold'em
What was the last CD you bought? U2's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, and Jacques Brel's Quinze ans d'amour
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Last concert - Headstones at Barrymore's; last play - Rent
Favourite book of 2005 Thinking About the Sixties, by Hardial Bains
Favourite film of 2005 March of the Penguins
Favourite restaurant in your riding Mongolian Village
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? True
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient, or just right? Those laws are terrorist laws against the Canadian people and do nothing for security
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? False
Why you? It is time to stop the vicious cycle of alternating which bourgeois political party comes to power only to serve their own interests and the interests of the rich. A vote for me is a vote against the system of party government, and for direct democracy.
Name James Christian Parsons
Party PC Party, three years
Current job Lecturer at the University of Ottawa
Claim to fame Perhaps my bespoke suits? Other than that, I've kept a fairly low profile.
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? To make Ottawa-Vanier more friendly to human habitation
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Its diversity and civility
What is the biggest threat to that value? Americanisation and the disappearance of a sense of national purpose
Name your poison: A pipeful of cherry tobacco
What was the last CD you bought? Cocteau Twins' Victorialand
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Portrait of an Unidentified Man at the NAC
Favourite book of 2005 A Modern Maistre: The Social and Political Thought of Joseph de Maistre (new edition - originally published in 1999)
Favourite film of 2005 The Constant Gardener
Favourite restaurant in your riding Bistro 115
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? True
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Both: Keep it, and sell it to Canadians
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Too strict
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? False.
Why you? My party has nothing to lose by actually doing what it says it wants to do
Name Raphaël Thierrin
Party Green Party, eight years
Current job Executive director, Sustainable Eco-Development in Rural Africa (SEDRA)
Claim to fame Spearheading a campaign to influence city hall to finally approve the budget for the pedestrian bridge over the Rideau Canal at Somerset
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? Make the government accountable in all meanings of the word, including that our society addresses the needs of future generations
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Its tolerance
What is the biggest threat to that value? The current Anti-Terrorist Act and security certificates
Name your poison See the Ottawa Citizen (Friday January 13) quote for how I candidly addressed the "Have you smoked pot?" question...
What was the last CD you bought? Glasscuts (Philip Glass remixed by trance artists)
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Médée, at the University of Ottawa (November 2005)
Favourite book of 2005 Les Mondes d'Aldébaran, by Leo (comic)
Favourite film of 2005 Hard choice between The Aviator and The Agronomist
Favourite restaurant in your riding The New Edinburgh Pub
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? The right to good health is a public good, and it can be kept in the public sphere
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Too strict
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? False
Why you? I answer questions truthfully, and I am persistent in advocating for a just, sustainable society here in Ottawa and beyond.
OTTAWA WEST-NEPEAN
Name Neil Adair
Party Green Party, three years
Current job Web designer
Claim to fame I don't know, you would have to ask them, other than running for the Green Party of Ontario in 2003 and federally in 2004.
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? Better public services, transit, health, education and cleaner air
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Openness
What is the biggest threat to that value? Us vs. them attitudes
Name your poison Single malt Scotch
What was the last CD you bought? Elephant, by The White Stripes
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Westfest
Favourite book of 2005 Nonprofit Internet Strategies, by Ted Hart, James M. Greenfield and Michael Johnston
Favourite film of 2005 No memorable ones
Favourite restaurant in your riding Le Biftheque
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? True
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it and keep it clean!
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Too strict
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? Yes
Why you? I have grown up in and seen the riding's evolution over 45 years. I have also lived in a number of other places around the world and bring the knowledge and experience gained in adapting to different political systems, economic realities and cultures.
Name Lee Farnworth
Party Liberal, since mid-'80s
Current job Professor at Algonquin College (Issues and Diversity, Politics, Public Administration)
Claim to fame Contributions to affordable housing, including Farnworth Manor Homes
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? Better health care, pensions that will be there for future seniors, a cleaner environment, more government accountability
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? National health care
What is the biggest threat to that value? Privatization of health care
Name your poison Ice cream
What was the last CD you bought? Rolling Stones' 40 Licks
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Barenaked Ladies
Favourite book of 2005 Deafening, by Francis Itani
Favourite film of 2005 Good Night, and Good Luck
Favourite restaurant in your riding Algonquin's International Restaurant
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? True
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Just right
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? True
Why you? With my background and experience as a new Canadian, wife and mother, college teacher, former elected city councillor, community activist and volunteer, I believe I can best represent the concerns and interests of people in Ottawa West-Nepean.
Name Marlene Rivier
Party NDP since my student days, and I am content to avoid specifying exactly how long that is
Current job I provide psychological services at the Royal Ottawa Hospital and describe myself as a narrative psychotherapist
Claim to fame Most people probably know me best for my community campaigns against cuts to health care services and the privatization of health care
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? To fight to preserve our public health care system (the legacy of Tommy Douglas, our greatest Canadian)
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Our collective compassion, our sense of community, and the way we look out for one another
What is the biggest threat to that value? Corporate greed!
Name your poison Godiva chocolate
What was the last CD you bought? The Band's Music From Big Pink (remastered)
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Local gal band The Herb Girls
Favourite book of 2005 Stephen Lewis's Race Against Time
Favourite film of 2005 Brokeback Mountain, for the reactions it seems to provoke in others!
Favourite restaurant in your riding Taj Indian Cuisine
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? True and true and true!
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it, clean it, protect it, worship it, every drop!
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Too Kafkaesque/strict
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? My bottom line has more values than dollar signs in it so I would go with individual rights over economic interests but if you add the common good into the equation that would shift things around!
Why you? I don't need the job (I love the life I have) so I won't sell out to get it or keep it! If you are hungry for power you don't run for the NDP!
OTTAWA-ORLÉANS
Name Royal Galipeau
Party Conservative Party, nine months
Current job Corporate director and community volunteer
Claim to fame Selfless and non-partisan service to the community for more than 25 years
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? I plan to revive in east-end Ottawa the vision first promoted more than 20 years ago by Bob MacQuarrie, Ken Steele, and me for a Technology Transfer Centre that would focus on the existing economic assets of east-end Ottawa such as the National Research Council at Montreal and Blair Roads and the bio-medical complex on Smyth Road. We must stop our fixation with the successes of west-end Ottawa. We must build the east-end economic successes on our own assets. We must focus on the unused intellectual property of our scientists and trumpet it to the world.
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? The physical unity of their country. That is a major factor in the Liberal Party's success over other political parties 72 per cent of the time in the last 110 years.
What is the biggest threat to that value? Alas, the biggest threat is the very Liberal Party that previously had been trusted with the management of the Canadian Unity file. Previously, that Party was believed by a plurality of the residents of Ottawa-Orléans to hold the best insurance policy for Canadian Unity. But it has failed to renew its premium, and then set fire to its own house. Québec separatists have gone beyond their previous anger at federal Liberals. Now, they just laugh at them. The most popular rap group in Québec, Loco Locass, has launched a most popular hit - "Libérez-nous des Libéraux" (Liberate us from Liberals). There isn't a word of anger there, just derision. The intellectual debate that took place between Pierre Trudeau and René Lévesque 30 years ago is now impossible with the federal Liberals at one end of the equation. The emotional tension that existed between Jean Chrétien and Lucien Bouchard ten years ago is also impossible. Under Paul Martin's watch, separatists have gained 20 points in popularity, and it's all his doing. He now boasts of his Canadian patriotism. This is an empty claim. He's such a patriotic Canadian that he took down the Canadian flags from his fleet at Canada Steamship Lines. He's such a patriotic Canadian that he replaced the Canadian sailors who previously worked for him with cheap labour from Costa Rica. He's such a patriotic Canadian that he has given himself the best tax cut of all - no taxes - since he registered his ships offshore. In 2006, the biggest threat to Canadian Unity is the Liberal Party of Canada. It has lost its compass. It has lost the moral authority to govern. All that remains is its "culture of entitlement." Québec separatists (and others) may dislike the Conservative Party of Canada, but they will not laugh at us.
Name your poison Sugar
What was the last CD you bought? Potemkin City Limits, by Propagandhi
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Last month, a series of wonderful Christmas concerts in every venue in Ottawa-Orléans
Favourite book of 2005 Stephen Harper and the Future of Canada, by William Johnson
Favourite film of 2005 C.R.A.Z.Y.
Favourite restaurant in your riding Really Lebanese, the home of the Garlic King
True or false: Healthcare can be kept completely in the public sphere: true or false? False
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Sell it, one bottled litre at a time, at a price at least as high or higher than the price of a litre of gas
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? They are just stupid. The Liberals established these in a knee-jerk way, and failed to properly equip Canadian border guards. They even closed RCMP stations at many border points. A Conservative government, of which I would be a member, would ensure that agencies such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Coast Guard have the proper human resources and equipment.
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time: true or false? True! Every time!
Why you? When faced with issues of public interest, I have in the past found practical solutions that focused on the public good. I did that at the Ottawa-Carleton Regional District Health Council, on the board of TVOntario, on the former Gloucester city council, as a trustee and vice-chair of the Ottawa Public Library, and with the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention.
Name Mark Leahy
Party NDP
Current job Full-time candidate! But I run a small communications and software firm and am a registered graphic designer.
Claim to fame I've done some acting in local plays in Orléans and at the Ottawa Little Theatre. I volunteer at the Greater Orléans Canada Day Celebration.
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? Ottawa-Orléans wants me to solve the lack of jobs in our area so we can get our beleaguered commuters off Highway 174
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Our flag
What is the biggest threat to that value? Moths? (sorry!) Eternal vigilance fatigue.
Name your poison A nice pint of Smithwicks in a proper pint glass
What was the last CD you bought? A couple of Jack Johnson CDs, The Golden Dogs' Everything in 3 Parts, and Serena Ryder's new EP (including a sweet duet with Hawksley Workman)
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Paul at the Black Sheep took my recommendation to book T.O.'s The Golden Dogs in November
Favourite book of 2005 Prisoners of the North, by Pierre Berton
Favourite film of 2005 Hmm... I've mainly seen films with my kids this year so I'm rarely seeing what would make my own A-list
Favourite restaurant in your riding Pearl of India
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? Define "completely." Completely private is unthinkable. Our fall from the grace of Medicare is a big reason for my throwing my hat into the ring.
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it. And cherish it. Share it when needed. Protect it.
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Hmm... I think they're kind of like a Swiss-cheese safety net. Rock solid in places but with holes you shouldn't be able to drive a truck through.
Individual rights trump national economic interests every time: true or false? False. And True. Geez, tough questions. The struggle between security and privacy is a pitched one.
Why you? I think I bring an uncommon combination of experience but with a youthful approach. And though I may not be much like Ed Broadbent, I want to be - more than anything.
Name Alain Saint-Yves
Party Independent
Current job Retired from the military and the public service
Claim to fame Publicizing the importance of independent candidates
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? To represent them with undivided loyalty, unlike party politicians
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Integrity in government
What is the biggest threat to that value? The lack of integrity of the main political parties
Name your poison Good wines
What was the last CD you bought? Sarah Brightman
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? Pops concert, NAC
Favourite book of 2005 Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World, by Margaret MacMillan
Favourite film of 2005 Million Dollar Baby
Favourite restaurant in your riding Little Turkish Village
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? False
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Just Right
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? False
Why you? An independent candidate represents a fundamental difference from a party politician - once elected the party politician has to follow the party line, the independent candidate continues to represents his/her constituents' views.
Name Sarah Samplonius
Party Green Party, since June 2004
Current job Writer and foster parent
Claim to fame My dogs. Sadly it's true. I've got a big German shepherd and a standard schnauzer. Most people in Orléans have seen me running around with my dogs at one point.
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? Put Ottawa-Orleans on the map as an amazing viable community with a unique voice
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Our people. Canadians have something unique to give the world.
What is the biggest threat to that value? Our people. Albert Einstein once gave the definition of insanity thus: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We have a pioneer background and an amazing resilience. We need to move forward in a new way and truly reflect our greatness on a local, national, and international scale.
Name your poison Whisky and knitting
What was the last CD you bought? Kate Bush's Aerial
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? As a Senators supporter I received free tickets to the Eagles in 2003. I went on a lark and actually liked it (slightly incredulous undertone).
Favourite book of 2005 A Brain for All Seasons: Human Evolution & Abrupt Climate Change, by William H. Calvin, and Hunger's Brides, by Paul Anderson
Favourite film of 2005 Sadly, if it's not on the movie network I don't see it
Favourite restaurant in your riding Oh Basil!
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? Well yes and no
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Why do I suddenly feel like Goldilocks? Okay, more seriously, I hate to comment on things I haven't read line-by-line so I'll simply say this: I think it is a beginning attempt to deal with a new and little understood problem. There will be 'bumps', people will 'fall through the cracks', and modifications will, no doubt, have to be made. But it is better sometimes to start on something rather than be frozen in time finding the 'perfect' solution.
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? Is this one of those trick questions? Rather than getting into a debate about individual rights versus the rights of the community I'll make a blanket statement: there are no absolutes.
Why you? To have someone who is 35, encumbered with $50,000 in student loans, and underemployed in government. It's about time this particular segment of society had a voice.
OTTAWA SOUTH
Name David McGuinty
Party Liberal
Current Job Member of Parliament, husband, father
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Being a tolerant and inclusive community
What is the biggest threat to that value? Reform/Alliance/Republican thinking
Name your poison Definitely, single malt Scotch
What was the last CD you bought? Hurt, by Johnny Cash
What was the last performance you went to? My daughter's school Christmas pageant
Favourite book of 2005 John Kenneth Galbraith biography
Canadian water, keep it or sell it? Keep it
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Need review
Why you? My first priority remains working as hard as I can for everyday people in Ottawa South, and I am passionate about building a country that is a role model for the world.
Name Henri Sader
Party NDP, 15 years
Current job Legislative and research assistant to NDP MP Peter Julian
Claim to fame Trilingual, Ph.D. in economics, ready to get to work
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? I think they want to see Parliament work. It sounds like a cliché, but imagine if someone was watching Question Period from space - they'd think that democracy was a joke with all the yelling, screaming and name-calling. I want to go to work every day down Bank Street and get things done for people in Ottawa South - lower tuition, protecting non-profit healthcare, cleaning up the environment and just making life better for people. I think government can do that - and with more NDP MPs it will.
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Our tolerance and our healthcare system. Canadians are proud of the country we have become - free, tolerant and respectful of our fellow Canadians. You see these values in our core national institutions - our healthcare system, our courts and Charter of Rights, and foreign policy focused on peacekeeping and aid. By no means are these institutions perfect, but that's why I am running - to protect and enhance them.
What is the biggest threat to that value? Well, encroaching privatization of our healthcare system and allowing rights to be overridden by politicians. Years of cutbacks by Paul Martin gave conservative politicians like Ralph Klein and Mike Harris further reason to privatize healthcare. The blame of our ailing healthcare system falls squarely on Paul Martin's shoulders. He is definitely not the defender of Canadian values. This is further seen in his acceptance of MPs in the Liberal caucus who voted against the same-sex marriage legislation.
Name your poison Video games, sci-fi movies and good shawarma
What was the last CD you bought? Leonard Cohen
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? The Make Poverty History concert with local Ottawa bands
Favourite book of 2005 The Algebraist, by Iain Banks
Favourite film of 2005 Aeon Flux
Favourite restaurant in your riding Shanghai
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? Absolutely true
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it and protect it. We will be kicking ourselves if we sell it to the highest (or lowest) bidder.
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Too strict - it tramples rights, targets new Canadians and unfairly incarcerates innocent people
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? False, and it is a shame when they do - We must link economic growth with human rights.
Why you? In Ottawa South, people deserve someone who understands how hard it can be to just get by. If elected, people will be my only focus and I will join a team of NDP MPs committed to that goal.
Name Brad Thomson
Party PC Party - he founded the party two years ago
Current job Greenskeeper
Claim to fame Candidate with the longest hair
What do you think your riding wants you to achieve in Parliament? To be honest
What do you think Canadians value the most about their country? Ourselves - we are a moderate, tolerant and loving nation
What is the biggest threat to that value? Stephen Harper
Name your poison Chess, books, poker
What was the last CD you bought? I think it was a box of Mozart's violin sonatas
What was the last performance you attended in Ottawa? The best of them all - The Allman Brothers Band at the Bluesfest a couple of years ago
True or false: Health care can be kept completely in the public sphere? True - it must
Canadian water: keep it or sell it? Keep it
Canada's anti-terror laws: too strict, too lenient or just right? Probably too lenient
True or false: Individual rights trump national economic interests every time? Absolutely true, and a very serious problem
Why you? To allow for the continuation of the party that created Canada - the party of Sir John A. MacDonald - after the betrayal of Peter MacKay, now deputy leader of the Conservatives.
| Please don't vote for Royal... for a student's sake |
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I'm not going to preach my political interests in this response, but people in Ottawa-Orleans are starting to scare me with the tide of blue signs flooding the streets. Needless to say, I will be happy if anyone defeats the Conservative candidate.
Mr. Galipeau is a scary, simple man, and it seems people have not taken notice. In the good words of Will Ferrell "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!"
At the candidates debate he dodged questions about attendance issues he had while sitting on City Council in which he attended 1 of 60-odd meetings which is kept on public record in the Archives. He avoided taking a stand on almost all issues except for the missile defence program, and made constant reference to his ties to the area and how he used to bail hay with his uncle. Clearly a relevant issue to bring up at a debate Mr. Galipeau!
The Consevative candidate also kicked his way into a library demanding to be let in because "he sits on the library council"---which if he attended he would have realized no one--not even members of the board---are allowed into the libraries if they are closed.
His platform includes developing Smyth Road and the NRC, but I presume, he neglected to look at that big campaign map that puts half of the NRC out of his riding jurisdiction, and neglects to include any of Smyth Road.
The problem with Canadian politics, which is exemplified in this case of Ottawa-Orleans, is a lack of participation of the community. I think people who are interested in supporting a political party in Orleans and have not taken a stand on who to vote for SHOULD get to know their candidates and show up to debates. It is an excellent way for people to get involved, and learn what they are voting for. I'm sure if more people came out, we'd see alot less eye-pollution on our streets in the form of signs.
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Dave Zarboni
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{10 votes}
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It still surprises me that something terrible doesn't happen to anyone who doesn't vote.
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I mean, governments want to be able to have access to your internet traffic, they want to be able to lock people up on "security certificates" without telling them their crime and they want to us to have to pay more taxes.
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But, every year, when the election turnout is announced, after everyone goes home, we're somehow led to believe that if more than 34% of the population comes out to vote, we've somehow made our democratic mark.
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Where do almost 70% of the population disappear, the day of the advance poll and election day?
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The doors open at 9:30 and they stay open conveniently for the next 12 hours. The process to vote only takes a minute or two, even if you forgot your voting card. You don't have to give blood, urine test or have your eyes examined. You just have to take a pencil and mark an "X" and that's it. So long as you can't put an "X" in a box beside somebody's name, you're at least 18yrs of age and a Canadian Citizen, you qualify to take part.
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And did you know that every party who get a minimum number of votes, qualify to get $1.75 for every one of your votes? Money that is put into their coffers and help defray some of their costs, including presumably the expense of advertizing what their party platforms are all about? That adds up quickly, doesn't it?
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But, maybe politicans don't want you all to come out and vote, only some people. Like, if you come out and vote, your next 4 neighbours should stay home and not bother. But, if all of your neighbours and colleagues at work and relatives all complain about what is wrong with this country and our government, wouldn't you think they would at least take the few minutes to speak up with an action and mark an "X" on Jan 23rd,2005?
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Not bothering means that possibly the same people that you think have done you wrong, will get in again, with only 34% of the population saying something.
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Steve Landry
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{13 votes}
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I wish that politics weren't the art of finding the most popular rhetoric and lies and dressing hypocrisy in nice suits.
I wish for the colossal intellectual, spiritual, and social paradigm shift required (soon) to keep our children and theirs from the impoverished, diseased, relatively ignored Hell that is so well known elsewhere on our planet.
I wish that everyone, now and in the future, could have the positive, patriotism-inspiring experiences with Canadian healthcare that I have been blessed with.
I wish that we were healthy and self-respecting enough to use healthcare so frivolously.
I wish that marijuana were legal as our government makes billions off of cigarettes and booze.
I wish that we weren't all medicated in the first place.
I wish that the wealthy would learn the idea of Grace rather than a materialistic sense of entitlement and that those upset by their tax rates would shut up about it given that they eat well and didn't really need to lease that SUV.
I wish those who allocate our tax dollars were moral folk, who understood how it feels to "give" so much of one's paycheck or struggle with real debts (never mind a deficit).
I wish that our southerly neighbour were not an aggressive and ingorant empire.
I wish that American and Canadian PEOPLE ruled their countries, rather than the unchecked greed of unaccountable and amoral corporations.
I wish that "Free" Trade weren't so bloody expensive to the poor, working people and democracy.
I wish that I had faith in my nation, rather than love for one in whom I am losing faith...
I wish you all well as you head out to the poles. I wish that you all do so well informed with a heart in the right place.
I wish that I was in my country and able to vote this year, despite myself.
Most of all, I wish that we'd all do more than sit and wish away our children's future.
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Chazwick McSwift
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{11 votes}
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| I think you're right, Dave... |
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Maybe things really have changed out in the Orleans riding, but it still feels as though the country decided to vote Conservative for the simple fact that the public can not accept the Liberal Scandal. I don't think the Liberals were that bad, but they certainly stayed in power long enough to get a little "too comfortable" with themselves. It was nice to see other parties make ground this year. Again i still feel though as if the current ages of majority will dictate who is in the big office. Most of the population is older and that usually goes along with slowing to change. I believe that's why there were as many Conservative votes or rather, basically no independent MPs voted in. We all knew the Top 4 parties would have House of Commons participants, but I thought at least Canadians would be open minded enough to elect more then just one independent out of 306 seats. I think Canada still has a long way to go...hopefully it will be the same for another election so we don't have to go through this again so soon.
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Ger Madden
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| The battle lost and won... |
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The Liberals are out, the Conservatives in, and to the winner, the spoils.
In Canadian politics and government, we find that the Prime Minister is one of the most powerful "rulers" imaginable. He makes appointments to the Senate, the Supreme Court, to Commissions of great variety and boards innumerable. He names members of his cabinet who meet in secret and pledge allegience to their master and if they do not support him, they can be simply replaced of demoted. Should the P.M. not wear a crown?
Stephen Harper soon to become the Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper may show the world what honesty and integrity in government really means. The Canadian public has spoken (or voted) and the Conservatives have won. Now, what does the future hold?
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Louis Reeves
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{1 vote}
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...I can't trust anyone who dodges the "Name your poison" question by listing the least offensive of their non-addictive vices. The candidate for the Marijuana Party didn't even say what his favourite strain of cannabis was, for crying out loud! And politicians wonder why they don't have the public's trust...
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Andrew Franklin
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{5 votes}
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Great article...We learned a lot about our politicians with simple but straight forward questions. It's a side that we don't usually see from our politicians but I always find it interesting to find out more about the personal opinions that they can have and this article really did a good job at satisfying my curiosity.
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Roxane Gibault
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