wT By-election candidates address student issues at Douglas College forum By Tanya Colledge, Staff Reporter “All too often I feel we are voting during an election for things we don’t want,” said Rebecca Helps, by-election candidate for the Green Party, in her welcome address at the all-candidates forum held on November 4, at Douglas College’s New Westminster campus. “But if you actually take the time to vote for policies that you believe in, and policies that you support, you are sending a message to the government, regardless of what party they are from, of what you want.” That was the overall idea behind the forum, organized by the Canadian Federation of Students Local 18 at the Douglas Student Union building, which allowed Douglas College students, as well as members of the community, to hear the by-election candidates in the New Westminster- Coquitlam riding speak out about their parties’ policies and political platforms. The college was host to NDP candidate Fin Donnelly, Liberal candidate Ken Beck Lee and Green party candidate Rebecca Helps. Conservative party candidate Diana Dilworth was not in attendance. “Since the summer, I have talked to thousands of people, and I have heard many concerns,” said Donnelly. “One of the biggest concerns I’ve heard about is the negative impact the HST will have on families, students, seniors and small businesses,” said Donnelly who explained that for students on limited incomes, an added seven per cent makes a big difference. “I want to make life more affordable.” Lee took Donnelly’s side on the HST matter saying, “for a province that relies heavily on the service industry, the HST is not a good idea.” And with the Canadian student debt now over $13 billion, Donnelly said that the New Democrats are committed to doubling federal grants to over a billion dollars, and lowering tuition fees and investing in quality public education. “Students suffer from a crushing debt load of an average $20,000—this is not the way to start a career. I want to make education more affordable by stopping the HST, raising the minimum wage...and supporting a post- secondary education act,” said Donnelly. While the NDP petitioned a solution to lowering tuition fees for post secondary students through an increased minimum wage, Helps explained that through the Carbon Tax, the Green party would reduce 50 per cent of current student debt and give a 50 per cent credit towards debt for students who complete their certification and training. Lee shared his belief of increased funding through industrial cooperation to create good relations between post- secondary institutions and industry —creating a win-win situation. All candidates agreed however, on the importance of public transportation and the need for it to become a federal priority with appropriate funding. “In a downturn economy, one of the best ways that you can invest is by investing in infrastructure such as transit. The Evergreen Line should have been built years ago,” Donnelly said, telling the audience that the stalls and delays on the project are due to a lack of commitment from senior levels of government. “Rapid transit is one of the best ways to fight traffic congestion and get cars off the road—that is also one of your best ways to reduce climate change and reduce green- house gas emissions.” “The reason our transit system doesn’t work is because of poor urban planning,” said Lee. “We don’t have enough density for the public system to be operational. And because of the lack of density, we don’t have enough ridership in the public transportation system.” Lee explained that, “in order to make the fundamental changes, we need to look at the root causes as to why our system is failing, and then we find possible solutions.” “Tt’s not enough to say that you’re behind [improving public transportation], you need to show how you’re going to pay for it,” said Helps, who underlined that the Green party is the only party with concrete solutions to funding improvements in our public transportation system including stopping the Gateway projects, allocating one per cent of GST to green initiatives, creating municipal savings bonds that invest in our cities, and a mass-transit promotion fund. “[That] will help us get the transit that we deserve and the transit we need...to combat climate change,” said Helps. Fin Donnelly, Rebecca Helps and Ken Beck Lee Douglas College Wrap-Up By Kristina Mameli Win Canucks Tickets! You could win two tickets to the Canucks vs. the Avalanche on Friday November 20 at GM Place simply by writing a 250-500 word story for Douglas College’s Community Blog, doug. Pick one of five topics: 1. My favourite teacher at Douglas. 2. My favourite place to hang out on campus. 3. Why I chose Douglas. 4. How] balance school and life. 5. An unexpected in-class moment. Send your story name and program to douglasishere@ gmail.com by Friday November 13 to qualify. Please be sure to follow the writers’ guidelines detailed on the website. Only one entry per student, all writers will be entered and all submissions may be published on the blog. H1N1 update Though reports of absences due to HIN1 and flu- like symptoms have increased, the numbers are still within the expected range. According to a press release on its website, Douglas has been advised by the Provincial Medical Officer to “either vaccinate for HIN1 and seasonal flu concurrently, or else to have HIN1 inoculation precede seasonal flu inoculation.” The seasonal flu clinic has thus been postponed and no dates have yet been confirmed for either vaccine. DSU health and dental plan now active Although health and dental coverage started September 1, Green Shield Canada has been unable to process claims and confirm eligibility until receiving student enrolment information in late October or early November. Students can now pick up their DSU Green Shield card from the DSU office and should present it to their health care providers during your their visit. Prominent storyteller and performer visits Douglas College creative writing class Ivan E. Coyote talks offers insight about writing and more By Kristina Mameli, News Editor riginally from Whitehorse, writer O= performer Ivan E. Coyote, now transplanted to East Vancouver, treated a Douglas College creative writing class to a reading Tuesday on the New Westminster campus as part of Douglas’ Literature Alive series. Coyote boasts an impressive catalogue of six books, including four short story collections: Close to Spiderman, One Man’s Trash, Loose End, and her an author to watch closely. Her first novel was essentially written by accident. She challenged her writing class to write 1700 words a day for National Novel Writing Month. After all of them had signed up and were consistently meeting their quotas, she felt that like any good role model, she had to do the same and catch up. And after fearing that a devastating house fire had claimed that last several chapters, the novel was published to rave reviews. During the session, she read from her works The Slow Fix, as well as Boys Like Her featuring Lyndell Mongomery, Anna Camilleri and Zoe Eakle and her first novel, Bow Grip. But Coyote’s work doesn’t stop at writing prolific literature, she also has two CDs, 2003’s You’re A Nation and 2007’s You Are Here with Rae Spoon and writes a monthly column for Vancouver’s Xtra West magazine called “Loose End.” Coyote also appears regularly in The Georgia Straight, on CBC Radio, and in many other publications. Coyote’s work is funny, honest and most refreshingly, real. She writes from her own personal experience and is not afraid to explore a wide variety of topics, even topics that some readers may find uncomfortable. The genuine quality of her work transcends genre, and makes Hall. 4 and even debuted a new story, never before told in B.C. She spoke to several topics the class had been working on and held a question and answer period afterwards addressing questions and concerns about style. She was very insightful, and advocated that writing is like anything —it requires practise. As a writer, Coyote has been afforded the opportunity to travel the world over, performing at literary festivals and gathering new material to be woven into heartfelt stories. She is currently working on a new novel, a graphic novel and a live CD, with music by Veda Hille, current reigning king of Vancouver indie Dan Mangan, Rae Spoon, and Cris Derksen. Coyote performs November 10 at the Wise Ivan E. Coyote