At the end of the day, after all the jokes about Joe Clark and his daughter, Jean Chrétien missing a step on the stairs and Stockwell Day’s lack of knowledge about Canadian geography are made, we must remember there’s a federal election going on and we should be concentrating on the issues.
Most of you have probably never voted. And some of you are so clueless about Canadian politics you probably think Professor Ted Morton is a Senator. That’s OK. After all, I don’t expect all students to be political geeks like moi. So here is what I propose to you all–get to know the facts so you can make an informed decision on Nov. 27.
Your Students’ Union will be holding a forum in MacEwan Student Centre on Thurs., Nov. 16 at noon with all the candidates from Calgary West. As well, we will be publishing an election supplement in the Gauntlet on Nov. 23. The supplement will have summaries of the parties’ platforms and interviews with the candidates running in Calgary, with a concentration on Calgary West, the university’s
riding.
So who is running in Calgary West you ask? Here is the list: the Green Party has Еvan Osentоn (a U of C student and Gauntlet co-editor); the Liberal Party of Canada has Frank Bruseker (former Liberal MLA in Calgary for eight years); the New Democratic Party has Greg Klassen; the Progressive Conservative Party has Jim Silye (formerly of the Reform party); and of course for the Canadian Reform Conservative Alliance, aka the Canadian Alliance, we have our current Member of Parliament Rob Anders.
In addition to the SU’s election supplement, there are a few other resources you can check out. Much Music’s Web site has a section devoted to the federal election. They have managed to present politics in a fun and informative manner that appeals to younger people (that would be US). Elections Canada is also trying to attract all youth to vote by dedicating part of their Web site to US.
If you want to know more about our political system you can visit: www.parl.gc.ca. I will end this by leaving you with some links to Web sites that either deal with election issues or belong to various political parties. If you have any comments or questions please e-mail me at jsalkhou@ucalgary.ca.
The CBC: www.cbc.ca/election2000
Elections Canada: 1-800-INFO-VOTE or www.elections.ca/youth/index.html
Much Music: www.muchmusic.com/events/elections2000/
Political Parties:
The Liberal Party of Canada: www.liberal.ca
The New Democratic Party of Canada: www.ndp.ca
The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada: www.pcparty.ca
The Green Party: www.green.ca
The Canadian Alliance: www.canadianalliance.ca
Le Bloc Québecois: www.blocquebecois.org
The Canadian Action Party: www.canadianactionparty.ca
The Natural Law Party: www.natural-law.ca
The Socialist Party of Canada: www.tcel.com
Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist): www.cpcml.ca
Last but not least: The Marijuana Party: www.marijuanaparty.com