Update: I mis-attributed a line by Rob Rishchynski (Green Party) to Lorne Gershuny (Marxist-Leninist Party). This has been corrected.
- I’ve got more notes. In fact, I took notes for the entire meeting. They’ll take a little time to transcribe, but I hope to get some of that done later tonight.
- I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be in the sort of town meeting that you often see on The Simpsons or Gilmore Girls. The all-candidates meeting was probably a close approximation.
- A shout-out to my fellow bloggers who were there:
- I’d also like to once again thank Michael “The Darker Side to Rants” Kalus for shrinking the raw video to something manageable and posting it to YouTube. My iMovie evaporated in the last system update, and Michael stepped up and saved me a lot of trouble. All this wouldn’t have been possible without your help!
- Although they weren’t of voting age, a couple of kids were allowed to “jump the line” and pose questions to the candidates. I think that was a nice touch.
- Transcribing Terry Parker (Marijuana Party) doesn’t take much effort. His responses to questions were always one of these:
- On issues related to crime: “mumble mumble ending the prohibition on marijuana mumble mumble will solve this mumble mumble mumble.”
- On issues like the Island Airport: “mumble mumble mumble I don’t know what the party stance on this issue is mumble mumble will have to consult mumble mumble.”
- On issues like healthcare, tuition fees and other programs that require lots of money: “mumble mumble tax revenue mumble mumble legalized marijuana mumble mumble $2 billion mumble mumble.”
- On energy and the environment: “mumble mumble hemp mumble mumble renewable resource mumble mumble mumble fuel mumble forests mumble.”
- On other issues, such as the Copyright Pledge: “mumble mumble pass.”
- Okay, were any of the candidates willing to take Michael Geist’s copyright pledge?
- Terry Parker, Marijuana Party: “mumble mumble pass.”
- Rob Rishchynski, Green Party: Yes.
- Peggy Nash, New Democratic Party: Yes.
- Jurij Klufas, Conservative Party: Yes.
- Sarmite “Sam” Bulte, Liberal Party: Are you kidding?
- Lorne Gershuny, Marxist-Leninist Party: Yes.
- Question I wish I’d asked: Terry, are you high, and if so, are we talking just a little crispy, or full-on baked?
- Candidate for whom I have the most pity: Lorne Gershuny, Marxist-Leninist Party. I may not buy into his politics, but he carried himself well, spoke eloquently and made some statements that sounded like they came out of Wired Magazine
(my favourite was his statement on the inadequancy of the current system of government: “A 19th-century invention run by 20th-century parties trying to solve 21st-century problems”) Oops — that was Rob Rishchynski’s (Green Party) line — Joey. He was also the only one who made some kind of statement about Canada’s foreign policy and its military role in world affairs. In spite of all this, if past voting history is any indicator, he’ll still get fewer votes than the Marijuana Party’s Terry Parker, who had all the presence of (ahem) a potted plant.
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Hi Joey -
I'll take credit in my closing remarks where I said that we're burdened by a 19th century electoral system, populated by 20th century political parties, attempting to solve 21st century problems.
Earlier in the evening I also said, "We cannot solve our current problems with the same thinking that created them", but those are Albert Einstein's words.
Thanks for attending and posting your impressions.
Rob Rishchynski
Green Party candidate
Parkdale High Park
http://www.parkdalehighparkgreens.ca
I stand corrected, and so does the blog entry. Thanks for the heads-up, Rob!
Joey - very nice overview of the meeting. I really like what you say here about Lorne Gershuny of the Marxist-Leninist Party. I felt badly for him - especially given that he kept getting cut off before his time ran out. He was dignified, if not embattled (I can't imagine what it must be like for them when they're knocking on doors in a neighbourhood full of generations of people who left oppressive Eastern European governments to enjoy a better quality of life.
But Gershuny is not saying anything all that outrageous, especially when he talked about "changing the system". Sadly, it takes a lot of scandal for all the other big parties talking about "system changing", accountability, ethics, etc. Redefining government is key for all parties. I only wish the MLPC (Marxist-Leninist/Communist party of Canada) would revise their platforms to reflect the more immediate concerns of our community and Canadians in general. His talk of foreign policy, though refreshing and Chomsky-esque, was a little out of step with the kinds of issues that are critical to our our community, and the majority of Canadians. Jobs, healthcare, education, etc are far, far more compelling than our foreign policy in terms of issues that have an immediate impact in our lives. But, like you, I think it's an important issue (just not for last night's context).
I'm really surprised he didn't take the opportunity to talk about deep integration or fighting NAFTA. Both of these things are having a direct impact on our economy, jobs, culture and international reputation. We're slowly being absorbed into the United States and Stephen Harper, especially, has been working towards that goal throughout his political life.
It is unfortunate that it takes a federal election to see people so charged about issues that we should be talking about every single day. Canadians have become dangerously apathetic about the political process and resembling Americans more and more in our inattention to platforms and policy. Instead, we get sucked into performance, appearances and the easy thrill of scandal. It really takes away from the more boring, and more important issues that really matter.
BTW - Toronto writer Liam O'Donnell of the blog Feeding Change was also there. Here is the URL for his post:
http://liamodonnell.com/feed/archives/2006_01_01_feedingchange_archive.html#113708578591268868
- Chandrasutra (thanks for the shout-out!)
Your summary of Terry Parker's words was spot-on, and made me laugh out loud. So perfect.
-- Robyn