Catch 22 For Dion

Not only is it beautifully written and expertly constructed, Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Throne Speech marks both a move of incredible political prowess and foresight. This document outlines the direction in which the Conservative Party of Canada plans to take the country, it also may serve as a form of political security for the party.

Upon deliverance of the Throne Speech, the Opposition, led by Stephane Dion, was given a choice of whether to support the plan of the Conservatives or to vote against it and plunge the country into a winter election. The problem lies in the fact that, according to recent polls, Canadians aren't yet ready to see a Liberal in the Prime Minister's Office. Furthermore, the polls also show that Canada's voters aren't familiar enough with Stephane Dion to trust him with leadership of the nation quite yet.

This presents Dion with a dilemma, if the leader of the Opposition disagrees strongly enough with the Conservative policy outlined in the Throne Speech to call an election, he had better be prepared to put everything he's got into taking down the Conservative Government and yielding his party, at best, a minority leadership.

If Dion decides to grudgingly accept the Throne Speech and refuses to take his party into an election, some political scientists foresee that Canadians could find Dion to be a weak and malleable leader. As well as a supposed disheartened voting population, Dion may also have to be worried about the thoughts, opinions, and overall confidence level of his Liberal Party MPs.

For Dion, this one decision may result in a poor credibility with Canadians especially if following the delivering of the speech, Liberal MPs show that they disagree with the decision of Dion, whatever that may be.

Neighbor Profile

Windsor's loss is Brantford's gain as Alex Denonville, a new addition to Laurier Brantford's journalism program, arrives on campus. Alex plans to follow his courses through the print concentration of the program making good on his passion for writing, a passion that wasn't adequately satisfied during his previous career at the University of Windsor.

Breifly, Alex attended the social criminology program at the University of Windsor until transferring to Laurier's satellite campus in Brantford and a program, he decided, that better suited the direction in which he was taking his life. His transfer means an extended University career, a concept, he says, that isn't at all attractive. To combat this, Alex plans to take an increased number of distance education courses as well as perhaps looking to pick up a few extra credits over the summer time.

While living in Windsor, Alex filled his time working at the local Athlete's World where he sold shoes to throngs of customers. To keep in shape Alex runs whenever he gets the chance, however, when their isn't time to boost his endorphins, Alex makes a point of keeping up with his favourite soccer team, France, and logging on to the immensely popular "Facebook". Finally, he's also proud to note that as far as students are concerned, he's a pretty good cook.

Travelling is another one of Alex's passions, in his twenty years of life he has visited Scotland, Ireland, and both of Canada's ocean coasts. However, in the future he plans to hit Chile, China, and Thailand, although not necessarily in the that order.

As far as other forms of entertainment are concerned, Alex is proud to be a fan of many different types of music excluding what he notes as a style that should be used as cruel and unusual punishment, country and western. As far as TV and Hollywood are concerned, Alex follows neither celebrities nor television programs religiously and he doesn't plan on making a point of doing so. His tastes in film, however, are a completely different matter. Alex is a die hard fan of all zombie movies as well as a number of the cult-followed comedies of our day. Including the teen megahit "Superbad" as well as the Brit-favourite "Hot Fuzz".

As a young Canadian, Alex Denonville is well rounded and intently focused on his goals and aspirations. He is carefully and meticulously cutting out his niche in his present society in Brantford, as well as with regards to his plans for the future.

Democratic Media

To the Toronto Star, the President of Pakistan, Gen. Pervez Musharraf is a "beleageured" world leader, to Amnesty International, the same man is an assailant towards all that is good in Pakistan.

Although framed in a different context both of the aforementioned stories are based on one of the central issues in international news at the moment. This being concerns and apprehensions over the state of emergency in Pakistan and the subsequent suspended rights of the people.

The Star focuses primarily on the speech given by the President that "broke silence" on his controversial implementation of a state of emergency in Pakistan earlier in the month. Taking quotes from both Musharraf and his main political opponent, Benazir Bhutto, the article looked at the Musharraf's promises concerning a lift on the controversial emergency rule as well as a commitment to an election before January 9th. Instead of criticizing the moves of the President, the sources used in the article supported the commitment and in some cases may have only hinted at the need for something more to be done.

Amnesty International frames the same issue in a competely different light. From the beginning, the President is portrayed as a tyrannical leader. Criticized for his implementation of emergency rule and alleged suppression of democracy, Amnesty International believes these to be ample reason to support Bhutto. Although the supporter of a 'better' cause, Amnesty's article uses few sources coupled with the views and the words of their very own Secretary General who was used to comment on the situation directly. Without a diverse selection of sources and the many different perspectives this kind of research may have entialed, the author of the article does not explore another side of this issue and ends up with an article that may leave readers less informed.

Sorting Out Sources

When readers scan any major news publication, rarely are the sources for any given story questioned or challenged for their validity. Perhaps in papers with a large circulation it is automatically assumed that everything in the story derives from a truthful source. However, when areader becomes conscious of what it is they're reading it sometimes isn't difficult to find stories that are either weakly sourced or void of a specific source at all.

For example, published on Nov. 12th in the Toronto Star, a story from The Associated Press reported a major oil spill that had occurred in Russia. For the majority of the story there are no sources given and when one finally does surface, they aren't quoted and no direct comments are made on the actual events. Terms like "researchers" and "officials" are used without any names attached, leaving an aware reader searching for a credible source to back up the information swirling around the events.

Another story published on the same day, this time from the Brantford Expositor, focused on the closing of a major road within the city. The story is literally three sentences in length and among these three statements not a single source is mentioned. Instead of devoting only a half-sentence to why this was occurring the author may have made a bit more of a story about it. Even including a comment or an opinion from a city councilor, city engineer, or simply an everyday man that uses the road on a regular basis would have rounded out the peice and instilled a confidence within the reader. A story that may be newsworthy enough to be included in a publication should have at least 3 or 4 credible sources so the public knows the information they are reading is valid.

Polished Election Night Story

Carmichael and Supporters await the results of election night and predict the future for the Greens

By: Brock Whitbread

CAMBRIDGE - Although it doesn’t look like Ontario will vote ‘Green’ this election, Colin Carmichael assures Ontario that the Green Party of Ontario is multi-faceted and heading towards victory in the future.

In an election night interview, the candidate for Cambridge and North Dumfries assures his supporters that environmental responsibility is far from the only issue covered by the platform of the Green Party of Ontario.

“We’re a multi-faceted party now and we realize that no issue exists in a vacuum,” says Carmichael, who feels that every issue is interconnected with one another. From education and health care, to the economy and finances, and of course the environment, the Green party has a plan for what needs to change in Ontario and how they’d get there. Carmichael has recognized this Green diversity and is applying it to his riding in Cambridge, Ontario.

One of the biggest issues on Carmichael’s and his party is municipal self-sustenance in the wake of a world plunged into ever-increasing globalization. If elected to provincial parliament, Carmichael plans on implementing a “100 Mile Diet” that involves garrisoning locally grown and harvested crops for use in Cambridge. This, he says, will support local agriculture industry and in turn reduce prices for consumers.

Carmichael would like to see both the Federal and Provincial governments invest monies, like the recent budget surplus, back into the Canadian economy instead of investing in corporations that do not call Canada their home. He would like to see more of an economy of scale in Ontario where investments instead of handouts are given to promote Canadian business and hopefully reduce costs to consumers.

During the course of campaigning, Ontario was hit hard by John Tory’s plan to extend public funding to faith-based schools. The Green Party disagrees with the plan and has put forward a different vision for education in Ontario. “The Green Party of Ontario advocates a move toward a single, publicly funded school system that offers…an inclusive and supportive environment” states the platform of the Party. In the same bold manner Carmichael attacks what he sees as an already unfair system. “Why,” he argues, “should a child attending a public school be cut off from the worldview of a catholic child, or any other worldview of faith or life?”

Although the Greens have pushed their boundaries and entered into discussion on -some of the hot-button issues of the election race, they haven’t forgotten their roots in environmental responsibility. On a provincial scale the Greens are concerned about climate change and increases in greenhouse gas emissions. On a local scale, Carmichael concerns himself with plans for a nearby fossil fuel burning plant set to begin construction soon. No matter the outcome of the vote Carmichael maintains that he “will do everything in [his] power to make this an issue during what is left of this campaign and will continue work against this proposal”.

As far as interconnectedness is concerned, Carmichael believes the public couldn’t be any more affected and, in some cases, any less concerned by what goes on in the natural world. According to this Green Party candidate, there is no issue that goes untouched by the natural world. “The world we live in,” he says, “should easily be the most concerning issue in this year’s election”.

Although admittedly not expecting victory on the provincial or local front, Carmichael is optimistic about the future of his party because as he sees it, Ontarians and Canadians alike are beginning to want the change that the major Party’s aren’t giving.

“The Green party has fresh ideas and fresh ways of thinking; I think those are two things Ontarians are starting to look for in their leaders”.