David Orchard Sets Eyes on New West Seat

By JJ McCullough, Editor in Chief

ss Orchard, a well-known Canadian anti-free trade activist and political gadfly, is said to be considering a run to become the next MP of the Burnaby-New Westminster federal riding. Despite several attempts in the past, Orchard has never won elected office anywhere in Canada. He does, however, enjoy the support of a dedicated political base, largely due to his high-profile crusades against free trade and US-Canadian integration. Orchard, a Saskatchewan farmer by trade, gained national fame in 1985 for founding a protest group to oppose then-ongoing discussions about Canada entering into a free trade deal with the United States. In 1993 he authored The Fight for Canada: Four Centuries of Resistance to American Expansionism, a book harshly critical of the United States that defined Canada’s “national duty” to oppose political, economic, or military ties with the United States. Despite having a solidly left-wing

stance on most major issues, Orchard ran two controversial campaigns for the leadership of the former Progressive Conservative Party. In his latter bid,

he famously dropped out of the race

to endorse Peter MacKay, on the understanding MacKay would in turn oppose a merger with the Alliance Party. MacKay later turned his back on the deal and supported a merger anyway, with Orchard joining the Liberals in the aftermath.

Speaking to Vancouver’s 24 Hours last week, Orchard noted that the Liberal Party has encouraged him to run in the next federal election, most likely in British Columbia. Noting that the province had given him “‘a wonderful base of support” in the past, Orchard described BC a natural location for his next campaign. Though an exact riding has yet to be determined, the paper speculated that the reliably liberal Burnaby-New Westminster community, which frequently votes NDP, was a strong possibility.

News Shorts

By JJ McCullough, Editor in Chief

Vancouver strike comes to a close

The ongoing Vancouver civic strike that has shut down many key government services over the past three months

was largely resolved last week, with City Hall officials inking deals with all but one local of the striking Canadian Union of Public Employees. After over 80 days of inaction, a flurry of tentative agreements were approved by both

city council and union reps, meaning regular garbage pickup has resumed, pools, community centres, and theaters have reopened, and city hall staff have returned to work. The agreements enshrine pay increases and clarify various other issues of contention between worker and employer that had

originally sparked the walkouts back in July.

As of press time, only CUPE local 391, which represents workers at the Vancouver Public Library, have failed to make a deal with the city. The main sticking point remains the contentious issue of “pay equity.” CUPE officials are demanding librarian salaries be raised to match those of city archivists and researchers, arguing that both groups perform largely similar work. A tentative deal proposed by strike mediator Brian Foley was rejected by members of the librarian local by 78% last week.

Olympic prices revealed

Tickets for the 2010 Vancouver winter Olympics will not go on sale until fall of 2008, but those eager to purchase now know at least how much to save up. Last week the 2010 organizing committee released a chart of ticket prices for all major games and events, with prices that vary wildly depending on seating and sport. Second-class seating at an unpopular sport such as women’s cross- country skiing can cost as low as $25 per person, while an A-level seat at the men’s hockey championship game will cost $775 a pop.

It is the official opening and closing ceremonies which represent the single

most expensive venues of all, however. The absolute worst seating still costs $175, with prices increasing steadily to over a grand for an A-level seat. Buyers will be able to submit applications to purchase tickets in October of 2008, with successful buyers then being determined through a random lottery, to ensure tickets are “distributed fairly,” according to VANOC. Any remaining tickets will then be sold in traditional fashion in early 2009.

Ontario voters reject electoral

reform

A BC-inspired proposal to change the way Ontario elects its provincial legislature went down to defeat in last week’s Ontario election, with only 37%

of voters casting a ballot in favor. The move would have changed Ontario’s present system, the so-called “‘first-past- the-post” method in which members of the provincial parliament are elected

by a simply plurality of votes, to a new, more complex “mixed member” system in which additional MPPs are appointed from party lists in conjunction with their party’s share of the popular vote. The system, which was devised by a drafted “citizen’s assembly” of random Ontarians was inspired by a similar referendum process on electoral reform used in British Columbia in 2004.

Supporters of the Ontario proposal argued the new electoral system would provide a more accurate distribution of seats than the present system, where political parties can easily win a majority of seats in the legislature with only a narrow plurality of the popular vote. Opponents, including the editorial boards of both the Globe and Mail and National Post, denounced the plan for giving more power to political parties, and suggested a “mixed member” system could usher in permanent minority governments.

Ontario now becomes the third province to reject electoral reform at the ballot box. Along with BC, Prince Edward Island rejected a similar proposal in a 2005 referendum.