I accidentally came across these posts again, a year after the initial incident, and I just wanted to thank you again for your support on this issue. I really appreciate your close reading of my stance as well as your own individual principled perspective. You were the only NDP candidate or member to publicly back me on this…largely because I think others didn’t want to touch the issue for fear of similar smears. However, fear is no excuse – this is for me what politics is about – taking stances and making decisions…of course, that also involves admitting when you have made bad decisions.

It worries me that the NDP was so confused on this issue which, after sifting through the dramatic media representations of Durban as a hot bed of anti-Semitism, was a pretty standard (some would even say banal) UN convention on eliminating racism. For folks who are still interested in this topic, see the excerpt of Julian Marshall’s (BBC) interview with Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesperson Yigal Palmor cited on a Democracy Now! program aired in Sept. 2009. In this interview Naomi Klein points out just how far fetched some of the accusations are – with Palmor claiming that the final Durban declaration is littered with anti-semitism…in the face of Marshall’s increasingly frustrated assertions that there is no such content in the text he is holding in his hand. An excerpt:

YIGAL PALMOR: I don’t have the text in front of me, but in all the—

JULIAN MARSHALL: Well, I do have the text in front of me, and I can see nothing that comes close to what you are saying. I can see a final declaration that speaks out against anti-Semitism, that says we will never forget the Holocaust, that says we are concerned about the plight of the Palestinian people, but nonetheless recognize the right to security for all states in the region, including Israel, and call upon states to support the peace process and bring it to an early conclusion.

taken from:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/14/naomi_klein_on_minority_death_match
_________________

As I’m sure you’ll agree, it is a very important point to be clear on these issues as indeed, we are not just talking about “democracy”, but human lives.

Hope to see you again soon.
Stacy

And to say that Steve was gunning for Robertson’s job…well that’s just bullcrap.

http://www.reedwrites.ca/2008/10/ctv-humilates-a.html

This begins with facing the truth regarding Piere Trudeau’s multicultural ideology. As Americans have done with the election of Obama, Canada needs to break free from antiquated and ineffective ideology.

Whether that was the case here wasn’t addressed in Mr. Chartier’s post, so I wonder why you immediately concluded that the remark was about gender.

In any event, I would rather see women gaining political experience by actually sitting in office than campaigning for yet another lost cause. I daresay we are more than ready.

Using just a rough idea of PR based on the percentage of the vote in that 1980 election the seats would have been something similar to this.

124 seats Liberal
53 NDP
90 PC
liberal PC NDP
Seats won 147 103 32
Seat change +33 -33 +6
Popular vote 44.34% 32.45% 19.77%
Swing +4.23% -3.44% +1.89%

I’d say the article references are simply liberal nonsense. Pierre Trudeau had no intentions of endorsing any form of PR that would reduce his hold on power. We’re being asked to believe in this section of the article that Pierre Trudeau wanted to introduce a system that would certainly reduce the number of seats he could capture in the next election and that the NDP which would have gained more seats which would have been obvious (even if they only had a rudimentary understanding of PR) said no.

The article then claims that although the liberals and Trudeau had a majority government it was solely the fault of the NDP who had the fewest seats in the house. Trudeau could have changed the system anytime he wanted. Why didn’t he? Why didn’t he consult with the PC? Why don’t these ‘high placed sources’ talk about that since they obviously are party to private conversations at the time?

The real story is that Trudeau offered Broadbent a cabinet post in order to have at least one person in cabinet who spoke for western Canadians and wasn’t a conservative. A ‘token’ MP that wouldn’t have enough clout to sway cabinet. Mr. Boadbent has talked about this offer publicly and stated that he couldn’t in good conscience take a solo position in the cabinet and instead asked that Trudeau take six NDP MPs into government positions to form a real coalition. Trudeau refused.

Yes it is true that NDP provincial governments have no intention of surrendering FPTP wins in jurisdictions that they hold regular power. The federal NDP is in no hurry to change the system but at least introduced a motion for it to be studied in the Martin government. The liberals consistently reject any notion of electoral reform as do the conservatives. NDP bashing based on falsehoods won’t get us closer to electoral reform.

http://archives.cbc.ca/emissions/emission.asp?page=1&IDLan=1&IDEmission=729&IDClip=10669

“Shortly after the election Trudeau took an unusual step and offered Broadbent a post in the Cabinet. The Liberals had just one MP west of Ontario and they desperately needed support from the NDP-rich West if they were going to expand their energy policy and bring home the Canadian Constitution.
• Broadbent wasn’t interested. “They didn’t need us in terms of numbers,” Broadbent told his biographer. “Accepting Cabinet posts under those circumstances presented no long-term advantage to the party.”

It wasn’t.

My much miligned analysis that Charlton would win and that the Conservatives would come in second was right. And Banham was a DISTANT third.

Not even close.

Kennedy made his point and won…I think he will have to prove himself though before he will be taken seriously as a leadership candidate.

Best of luck if you are nominated to run again in the next election

To say that someone is not qualified because they are “extremely young” is something I do not even want to get into because I am way more qualified for the position then MANY of the politicians in parliament.

You mention “Experience” in government? I help people, I fix situations, I come up with NEW solutions, that is what my experience and qualifications are.
1. I am a business owner. Previously owning a clothing wholesale business which I sold, to now owning a food business. (Proves I am good with money and strategizing, etc.)

2. I am involved in countless community organizations. (Poverty groups, Youth mentorship groups, and seniors homes, to name a few).

Since the elections, the people that I have met, I have used my resources and connections, to help people move up the process of getting their families immigrated to Canada by giving them contacts. I have found several people jobs and I am still doing this, and I have managed to prevent several families from being evicted from their home.

That to me is community work, and a politician should be doing this, Helping PEOPLE!
So all this “government experience” to me is a small aspect of the bigger picture of helping Canadians make a better life for themselves and their family.

I just wanted to post a comment to tell people to NOT JUDGE someone by simply looking at their age and reading 2 lines about them.

And LASTLY, I would like to say, that John McKay, that you have elected into parliament I guess since he is older and has “experience” you think he is better for the community. But I would like you to tell that to the people of Scarborough-Guildwood who cannot find jobs, whos homes are crumbling, who are living in “high-risk” areas, and outsiders who think the community has a bad reputation.
I may not be the MP for the area but I am still going to do what it takes to make sure the reputation of this area is fixed and that Scarborough-Guildwood is the new Toronto for jobs and homes!

Please feel free to contact me if there are any concerns because I ACTUALLY REPLY to my emails right away despite what this phony article says:

saniakhan@ndp.ca

How do you explain the good people of Welland electing an NDP MP, Kiers beating Maloney and Maloney finishing an embarrassing third?