© News the other press” e SaraJames e otherpress@hotmail.com July 2003 Liberal Leadership Race Receives One- Sided Media Coverage Sara James News Editor The majority of media coverage of the Liberal Leadership race is biased in favour of Paul Martin. The May 31st Vancouver stop of the six Leadership Forums, was attended by supporters of all three can- didates, yet according to most local media reports, the majority were there to support Martin. The debates, held across the country, began May 3 in Edmonton. Biased coverage portrayed the numerous Sheila Copps supporters as a small but vocal group. Her sup- porters, vocal throughout the debate, were close in number to those of Martin. Manley supporters, although smaller in number, were evident yet reserved. Of the three candidates, Copps supporters were the most visibly representative of Canada’s diverse ethnic groups. The bias of local media has been evident through- out the country, most notably after the occurrence of each forum. Manley and Copps were often accused of “ganging up” on Martin, or resorting to name-calling, seemingly because they don’t have a chance of win- ning the race. The impartiality of media is a reflection of ownership of select local television and radio sta- tions and newspapers. Such coverage has prompted Manley to state that he will not allow a coronation of Paul Martin, he will continue with the race, which he believes he can win. The forums themselves have raised questions regarding their structure. Both Manley and Copps have requested additional debates be held and tele- vised during a time when a greater number of Canadians can watch. The six debates occurred during the middle of the day on Saturdays. Liberal Party president Stephen LeDrew has stated that additional debates have not been ruled out, but likely would not occur until sometime in the fall. LeDrew emphasized that the original decision by the Liberal partywas for only six debates. Claiming to be neutral regarding the leadership race, LeDrew recently drew fire when he was quoted as saying that Paul Martin has the race “sewn up.” LeDrew backtracked on his statement during an inter- view with CBC Newsworlds Jennifer Gates, claiming that feels the new party leader must have a “campaign of renewal, new party, new ideas, responsive to Canadians.” What has been considered to be the most important factor in the race concluded on June 20, the member- ship cut-off date for the right to vote for the delegates. Martin’s camp claims to have signed up more than 130,000 members. Manley’s camp reports signing up over 41,000 new members across the country and Copp’s camp reports they have sold over 31,000 mem- berships. While the numbers appear to give Martin a defini- tive lead, Manley is not concerned. In an interview with CTV’s Question Period, Manley acknowledged he has signed up fewer members than Martin, but believes he can convince current members to vote for him the weekend of September 20th. Manley has already convinced several cabinet min- isters that he is the best choice for Liberal leader. Justice Minister Martin Cauchon and International Cooperation Minister Susan Whelan have thrown their support behind Manley’s leadership bid. Jane Stewart, Human Resources Minister, believes Manley would demonstrate fiscal responsibility for all Canadians, including those who need help. According to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce report card on the candidates’ policy positions, Martin scored the highest for fiscal policy. Manley scored the highest Canada-US trade, and Copps had the lowest score on health care reform. All of the candidates were in the middle on innovation and productivity, and low on climate change. The report card graded the candidates according to five key areas: fiscal, health care, climate change, inno- vation, and Canada-US trade. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce feels the candidates should focus more on economic and fiscal policies to “make Canada more competitive internationally and ensure Canada’s long-term economic prosperity.” All of the candidates hope the forums helped spread their positions on specific and general issue to the vot- ing members. Manley and Copps both hope any addi- tional debates can occur both before and after the del- egate elections. While the six cross-country forums were well attended, they did not reach all voting mem- bers and they were topically regional. During the Vancouver debate, all three candidates vocalized their support of Vancouver’s Mayor, Larry Campbell. They spoke of the issues and challenges he is facing in the Downtown Eastside, which they all toured. Interestingly, none of the candidates made any reference to the Liberal Premier of BC, Gordon Campbell. Each forum had a central theme; Vancouver’s was Institutional Reform. Candidates were given three minutes to answer questions posed to all of them. The six debates can be viewed and heard on Sheila Copps’ Website. The Environment Minister was the only candidate to post audio and video recordings of the debates. Copp’s former Deputy Prime Minister and Canadian Heritage Minister, was first elected to the House of Commons in 1984. As Minister of Canadian Heritage, Copps increased Canada’s National Parks by 60,000 square kilometres and intro- duced copyright protection for Canadian artists. Prior to entering politics, Ms. Copps was a journalist with the Hamilton Spectator and the Ottawa Citizen. Minister of Finance, John Manley was first elected to the House in 1988. His first appointment was as Minister of Industry, followed by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Infrastructure and Crown Corporations, and Deputy Prime Minister. Manley has hosted youth conferences designed to match youth with potential employers. Of the three candi- dates, his website is the only one to include-page devoted to his constituency and its issues. Elected to the House of Commons in 1988, Paul Martin became Finance Minister in 1993. During the next nine years, he was credited with reducing a $42 billion deficit and bringing the unemployment rate down with through the creation of jobs. Martin is co- author of the famous Liberal “Red Book” properly known as Creating Opportunity: The Liberal Plan for Canada. A large portion of Martin’s Website is devot- ed to media clippings about him, including selected excerpts of his responses at each of the forums. The next step in the race is the delegate elections to be held the weekend of Sep 19th. Members signed up before the June 20th deadline will vote for delegates who will then participate in November Liberal leader- ship convention. The convention is on the weekend of Nov 12th in the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. The Liberal National Executive chose the location after an analysis of three possible cities including Vancouver and Ottawa. More than 5,000 delegates are expected to attend the convention. In addition to the election of a new leader the convention will include debate on major issues, establishment of Liberal policy, and the election of a new Liberal National Executive. College Revises SARS Travel Position Sara James News Editor Revised SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) information from Health Canada and expressed con- cerns by employees and students, prompted Douglas College to revise its position regarding travel to those areas affected by SARS. The website was updated on June 7 to reflect the revisions. The college has suspended college-sponsored travel, by employees and students to the following affected areas: Beijing, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan. The college is not restricting travel to any areas within Canada. Page 4 e http://otherpress.douglas.bc.ca Students travelling from any of the areas identified by Health Canada are asked to monitor their health for ten days. Students travelling from Toronto are also asked to monitor their health. The college website includes all updates posted since April, general information about the disease, and links to organizations dealing with SARS. It also details common questions by employees and students. Health Canada recently updated its Quarantine Act and Regulations to include SARS in the list of infec- tious and contagious diseases. The list of diseases including cholera, plague, smallpox, and yellow fever, are those considered a public health threat through the movement of people, goods, and transportation. The Act provides quarantine officers with the authority to ask persons suspected of having one of the listed diseases to undergo a medical examination. If necessary, the officer can detain such persons. The revision, issued June 12 now recommends a 20-day quarantine, even though the World Health Organization (WHO) still only recommends ten days. Recent cases in Ontario have made it evident