FEATURES opfeatures@gmail.com Svend Robinson New Beginnings for a New Democrat J.J. McCullough, OP Contributor Photographs by; Luke Sitncoe Svend Robinson was a longtime NDP member of the Canadian parliament, representing the city of Burnaby from 1979 to 2004. Well known thorough the country for his controversial views and left-wing activism, his career came to an abrupt end in the spring of 2004 when he resigned after admitting to stealing a $21,000 ring. I first interviewed Svend Robinson for the Other Press in 2004, shortly before his resignation. He has since announced his intention to return to politics, and thus I felt a second interview was in order. OP: Mr. Robinson, on behalf of the students of Douglas College, I'd like to thank you for once again agreeing to an interview with the Other Press. First off, how are you feeling these days? ROBINSON: I'm feeling great. I mean, I've lived through the year from Hell, and I'm feeling strong, I'm feeling healthy, and glad to be back in public life. OP: I want to ask you to respond to a charge we've been reading in a lot of newspaper editorial pages across the country since you announced your inten- tion to run in the next election. Many are asking how can Svend Robinson claim he is mentally ill to the point where he can steal with- out taking responsibility, but simultaneously NOT be mentally ill enough to prevent him from being able to serve as an MP? ROBINSON: Well, first of all I have never used men- tal illness as an excuse for my actions. Never. Explanation? Yes. Excuse? No. We're talking about an event that took place 18 months ago—almost two years ago, on Good Friday, 2004, at a time that quite clearly I was struggling with some signif- icant mental health issues. I hadn't dealt with them and I should have, a long time previously. I didn't know that I was living with mental illness at that time. This is a year and a half later and we're now in a very different context in which I'm feeling strong and healthy. Part of what is important in my running is to demonstrate clearly that there is tremendous amount of stigma and fear and misunderstanding about mental ill- ness. And the reality is that there are many, many people in our society, in all walks of life, in journalism, in poli- tics, in the arts, who in fact are living with mental ill- ness, just as there are people who are living with physi- cal illness and physical disabilities. They are still able to not only do a great job, but to play leadership roles. And that's what I intend to do. OP: Do you think this whole experience has notice- ably changed you? In other words, do you think the world will be seeing a different, perhaps a “calmer, gentler” Svend Robinson in the future? ROBINSON: (laughs) I don't know about calmer and gentler. Does it change you? Of course it changes you. It was a terrible, painful, traumatic experience that I went through. I mean, I gave up a job that I loved, that I did for 25 years, and I think I did well. The circum- stances in which I gave it up were devastating, and very humbling. So in terms of my relationships with other people, whether it's with my family, with my partner, with my colleagues, with my friends, of course that changes in an important way, and I'd like to think in a positive way. OP: There have also been rumors that your return to politics is not being enthusiastically welcomed by the NDP party establishment. Do you still feel as welcome in the party as ever, or do you think the NDP has started to move away from the sort of strong—some would say hardline—democratic socialist ideology that you are known for? ROBINSON: I've had tremendous response since I announced that I was coming back to public life. In fact, part of what led to my decision to return to public life was the support that I got from people, whether it was from former colleagues, constituents, [or] Canadians across the country who wrote and emailed to encourage me that they wanted to see my voice back in public life. In terms of my own colleagues, Jack Layton has been tremendously supportive from the beginning. From day one, he has been a huge supporter for me both personally and politically. Libby Davies, the House Leader, has been just an absolute rock, incredibly solid, again as a friend and a former colleague. Will there be some people within the party and outside who won't be thrilled to bits to see Svend Robinson returning to public life? Absolutely. They weren't happy when I was in public life, and they'd be just as happy if I was appointed ambassador to Outer Mongolia, but that's not going to happen. OP: An interesting fact I recently learned about you is that you were actually born in the United States, and that your family immigrated to Canada in the 1960s. I was wondering what personal relevance, if any, being an American by birth had for you, espe- cially in respect to your activist work protesting the United States. ROBINSON: Well, aside from First Nations people Canada is a nation of immigrants, some of us more recent than others. My values obviously were shaped in a very important way by upbringing, by my childhood, by the influence of my parents, both of whom were socialists and humanists. They took the very difficult— and I think courageous—decision that they would not support an immoral war in Vietnam, and they pulled up their roots, and moved with the children, four of us, to move north to British Columbia. That shaped me in an important way. I think Canada was very fortunate to have received thousands and thousands of people who left the United States out of conscience. I think those families have made this coun- try a much richer place. I feel very fortunate that I had that background. OP: Have you renounced your US citizenship? ROBINSON: I think probably technically I still am a dual citizen. I haven't really explored that.