Martlet: “Canada’s next great Prime Minister could be in your class”

If you think young people don’t have a national voice, one UVic student will change your mind.
First-year political science and environmental studies student Emmy Marshall-Hill is competing in the CBC competition Canada’s Next Great Prime Minister, a contest for Canadians ages 18 to 25.

The competition started in 1995 as an essay contest but has since evolved, with contestants answering questions through online video posts and creating their own websites for their campaigns.

In November, the contestants were asked what they would do to make Canada a stronger country socially, economically and politically.

“It took a lot of research and a lot of time,” said Marshall-Hill, who had to answer the question via a video post on the contest’s website. “Whatever we do to improve our lives socially, economically and politically must be guided by two key principals. First, we must not harm our mother earth, and second, we must begin to think and plan in generations not in years.” More.

Public Eye: “Follow the leader?”

Earlier, we reported Infospec Holdings Corp. and New Asia Capital Investment Corp. paid an estimated $5,000 for provincial Liberal caucus chair John Yap to be part of a “delegation of business representatives to promote trade and goodwill” between British Columbia and China. This, despite the fact, Premier Gordon Campbell criticized the New Democrats for letting the Chinese International Cooperation Association pay at least $12,441 for Opposition Leader Carole James, three legislators and two staffer to go on a trade mission to Taiwan in 2006. So why did Mr. Yap think it was appropriate for him to travel to China on the private sector’s dime? More.

Paul Willcocks: “Four months to go, and the Liberals should be worried”

British bookies take bets on election results and post odds years in advance. Perhaps it’s the next bit of gambling expansion the B.C. Liberals will look at, now that people are getting less keen on scratch and lose tickets. But the oddsmakers would be having a tough time right about now. Even a year ago, Gordon Campbell and company would have been heavy favorites.

The economy was good, Olympic plans were allegedly on track and voters in the Lower Mainland could see big infrastructure projects all over the place. There were problems - homelessness and street disorder, health care waits and gaps in seniors’ care. The forest industry, especially the coastal industry, was a mess.

But problems are part of governing. It’s only when they become really serious, or when the party in power doesn’t seem to have any plans to deal with them - or worse, doesn’t acknowledge them - that voters get really riled. And Carole James and the New Democrats hadn’t convinced voters that they could do any better. More.

Jody Paterson: “Watch the spin on your way to the facts”

I wrote in last week’s column about doing my part for the next few months to take the measure of the B.C. government, in the interest of helping us all be better informed come the May election. It’s only just sinking in this week what a complicated task that’s going to be. I’m neck-deep in fascinating statistics already, but no doubt you’re familiar with that Benjamin Disraeli warning about “lies, damn lies and statistics.” I love stats for their simplicity, but they spin like a dream and are rarely as black and white as they first appear.

What is good government, anyway? It strikes me that I’ll have to settle that point in my head if I’m to have any success with this exercise. The answer that comes quickest to my mind is that good government acts at all times in the best interests of British Columbians overall. More.

Bill Tieleman: Barack Obama way too conservative for Canada

Imagine where a Canadian politician who held the following positions would fit in our political system:  This politician opposes legalizing same-sex marriages.  He has no problem with citizens owning handguns - but proposed limiting their purchase - to one per month.  This politician wants to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan - and to keep them there for years instead of withdrawing them in 2011.

“When I was crossing the border into Canada, they asked if I had any firearms with me. I said, ‘Well, what do you need?’”  - Comedian Steven Wright

Imagine where a Canadian politician who held the following positions would fit in our political system:  This politician opposes legalizing same-sex marriages.  He has no problem with citizens owning handguns - but proposed limiting their purchase - to one per month.  This politician wants to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan - and to keep them there for years instead of withdrawing them in 2011.

He thinks Robert Gates, U.S. President George W. Bush’s Secretary of Defence, has done an excellent job in the Iraq war.

The politician is willing to restrict late-term abortions for women and admits he’s not sure at what point a human being gets human rights.

So who did he choose to deliver a prayer before a major political event?

A controversial fundamentalist Christian pastor who has called abortion “a holocaust” and who campaigned in California for the successful Proposition 8, which bans gay marriages.

This politician has described government-run public health care as “an extreme” that leads to high taxes and is “wrong” while supporting private health insurance as the best option.

And despite saying that he has done more than anybody to “take on lobbyists and won” - this politician just appointed one to a top position.

So, where would you place this politician on the Canadian political scene?

An elected representative with these policies that are so obviously way out of line with Canadian mainstream values and popular opinion would likely lead a fringe party far to the right of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper, with little hope of political success.

But in the United States - his name is President-Elect Barack Obama.

And with just one week to go before Obama is sworn into office in a $40-million extravaganza paid for by private donations, it’s worth realizing that America has simply not become Canada-South with one election.

Obama, to be sure, is an enormous improvement over Bush and has many commendable positions on a wide range of public policy issues.

But Obama is a politician working in the context of a right-wing country with deeply held conservative values that are out of place in Canada.

We can all wish Obama well in changing that political landscape for the better and making us feel a lot better about our neighbours, top trading partner and good friends across the border.

Just make sure that you don’t get caught up in next week’s Obama-mania and miss the fact that the new American president is in many ways far more conservative than any of Canada’s political leaders.

More.