Left Overs

Iain Reeve, OP Columnist

1) What decision in Canadian politics has excit- ed you the most in the last year?

I'd say it’s a tie between the introduction of gay-marriage legislation, which acknowledges a major outstanding human-rights issue in Canada, and Paul Martin throwing down and saying no to the missile-defense program. I think that many Canadians are not convinced that a program with one successful test involv- ing a low-speed missile fixed with a tracking device is something worth spend- ing money on.

2) Which decision pissed you off the most?

I was none too pleased with the budget. While, to a degree, I understand the need for new military spending, I think any budget that offers new money for social programs followed by a whole series of new tax cuts is questionable. If you want your cake, you have to pay for it, kids. Also, I think letting Stephen Harper into parliament to regale us with tales of how

homosexual marriage will lead to polygamy was also a poor decision.

3) What one law could be enacted to make the world a better place?

Where does one start? To go with a very hopeful choice, I’d like to see Canada pass an amendment to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms ensuring everyone in Canada to a minimum standard of living, thus enshrining Canada’s socio-liberal tra- dition to avoid tampering by the government du jour. It may prevent the current trends of rollbacks to social pro- grams by neo-conservatives that we are currently seeing.

4) Should gay couples be allowed to marry, use the word “marriage,” and have all the rights that same-sex: couples legally enjoy?

Unequivocally yes. Opposition to gay matriage reminds me of opposition to interracial marriage. It came with all the same promises of evil, horribly maladjust- ed children, and the destruction of society as we know it. To this day interracial mar- triage has not destroyed society and has become culturally accepted. It’s a simple issue of human rights, and homosexual couples deserve the full package, just like everyone else.

5) Are all high-ranking politicians inherently corrupt due to the amount of money it takes to get elected, and the bedfellows it inevitably creates? I would not say there is any inherent cor- ruption. A person’s standing morally is largely defined by the morality of their actions. Being a politician gives you a lot of leeway to do some downright crummy

things. Some abuse their power from the second they take office, extorting money, fitting enemies with cement galoshes, etc. Some, the good ones, manage to avoid temptation and keep to their morals. Unfortunately, in the system we have set up, those who are moral tend to not get the election funding and support that those who are immoral do.

6) If Quebec held another separation referendum tomorrow, how would you vote, and why?

If I were a Quebec citizen given the chance to vote, I would certainly vote no. I understand, and am sympathetic to, the concerns of many French Canadians, hav- ing grown up in a French neighbourhood. Canada should stand as a whole; we should be an example to the world that cultural differences need not divide us when so much mote is similar.

7) Define “the liberal elite, the liberal agenda, and/or the left-wing liberal media,” making a case for why your definition is whatever it is. Since I think the liberal elite is somewhat self-explanatory and the liberal agenda varies, let’s talk about the left-wing media. Some people—kept intentionally vague so as not to refer to J.J. by name—would have you believe that networks such as CNN and NBC in America, and CBC in Canada, have a left-wing slant. I disagree with this. If you compare the occasional left-wing bias of CBC, which tends to swing left in the same places as most Canadians do, to the right-wing bias of Fox News in the US, it becomes clear that “extreme left-bias” is nothing compared to what they have on the right.

Mommy Left” Me Alone: Ten Questions with a Member of “The Liberal Elite

8) Does Gordon Campbell deserve to be re-elect- ed? If no, who does?

Mr. Campbell does not deserve to be in office now, since he got tipsy and endan- gered the lives of the fun-loving people of Hawaii. Besides that, four years of union busting, poor busting, student busting, and back massages and stiff drinks for the wealthy of the province means that it’s time for a change. I am, however, not wholly impressed with Carole James and the NDP so far. I mean... WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY? So, I guess we shall see. In the meantime, if the NDP fails, perhaps we should create our own branch of the Canadian Extreme Wrestling Party, which decides their leader via a 14-man battle royale. Don’t believe me? Look it up on Google.

9) What makes Canada unique in your eyes? Simple answer. Multiculturalism. The embracing of people from many cultures. Too few people take advantage of it, though. Stow your preconceptions some- time and go down to Chinatown. We can see different cultures by hopping on a SkyTrain instead of a plane.

10) Does Douglas College need a mascot? If so, why, and what should it be?

I think we need something that represents not just the feelings and emotions of Douglas College students, but something that speaks to the attitudes of young peo- ple all across Canada. Thus, my choice: Andy the Apathetic Antelope.

“Right is Right: Ten Questions with a Conservative Elitist

1) What decision in Canadian politics has excit- ed you the most in the last year?

I think the conclusion of Gordon Campbell’s “citizen’s assembly” on elec- toral reform was a pretty exciting development. Though I don’t personally agree with the recommendation the com- mittee came up with, I think the fact that we even had a citizen’s assembly in the first place was an important step in achieving serious political reform in this country. I hope it sets a precedent.

2) Which decision pissed you off the most? The decision made by Ontario voters to re-elect the Liberal Party for a fourth time. Honestly, how much more corrupt does a government have to get before you say “enough?”

8 | www.theotherpress.ca

3) What one law could be enacted to make the world a better place?

Abolishing the joke that is the United Nations and replacing it with an effective global body that is seriously committed to promoting human rights and democracy around the world. But I’m not holding my breath.

4) Should gay couples be allowed to marry, use the word “marriage,” and have all the rights that same-sex couples legally enjoy?

I think civil unions for gay couples are the most obvious solution to the situation. If you get equal rights, what difference does it make what name you call the partner- ship?

5) Are all high-ranking politicians inherently

corrupt due to the amount of money it takes to get elected, and the bedfellows it inevitably creates? I’m inclined to say yes. I think it’s just the reality of modern politics that you have to accept that every prominent politician, even the ones you may personally admire, will ultimately be beholden to the interests of certain special-interest groups at the expense of common-sense decision mak-

ing.

6) If Quebec held another separation referendum tomorrow, how would you vote, and why?

That’s a hard one to answer. I am often confused as to why exactly I should feel passionately about keeping Quebec in Canada. After all, this is the province responsible for the idiotic bilingualism laws, our embarrassingly pacifist, anti-

RIGHT HOOK

J.J. McCullough, OP Columnist

American foreign policy, and the general unrepresentative dominance of left-wing politics within Canada. No one can pre- dict what the consequences of an independent Quebec would be, but at the same time, I don’t think the status quo of a spoiled, whiny Quebec holding the rest of the country hostage is really that much more productive.

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Match 9/2005