Two cents from Mr. Pickup...

These past few weeks, I’ve found myself completely submerged in an area of politics that I thought I had escaped when I left Ottawa. For those of you who don’t know, I worked for the Young Liberals of Canada (YLC) for almost two years and I’ve recently found myself almost as submersed in the process as I was just 6 months ago.

This coming November, the Young Liberals will be electing a new executive (a President, and 5 Vice-Presidents) to run the organization. Am I running? No. I am, however, actively involved in a campaign to help elect a president. It may come as a surprise to you, but Young Liberal campaigns are big ordeals. Thousands of people, thousands of hours, thousands of dollars, thousands of beers.

When I first got involved with the Young Libs, I expected the elections to be much like Student Union elections. At face value, they’re similar in the sense that the campaigns are based on ideas and, generally, those who campaign harder will win. The difference comes in the scale of the operation and the length of the campaign. For this particular campaign, it will last roughly 8-9 months, and will involve a campaign structure of hundreds of Young Liberals in every province running a national campaign, all bound together through a national organizational structure. Provincial co-chairs, recruitment chairs, policy chairs, technical directors, fundraisers. The whole nine yards. To boot, you can multiply that by the number of candidates running. It’s some pretty intense and complex stuff. The thought of it right now, to be honest, is making me a little aroused.

So, why have I chosen to get involved with this beast that will inevitably lower my marks and probably lead to some sort of occasional delirium? For me, there are two aspects. 1. The YLC is, and always has been, a really important organization to me and has given me so much. I owe it to the organization to make sure that we have good people to lead the organization once I’ve aged out. 2. For the deliberative value. The campaign is both an opportunity and inspiration to talk about ideas. Ideas for the Young Liberals, ideas for the Liberal Party, and ultimately resolutions for the country. Let me expand...

Let's start with the former. I’ve been with the Young Liberals for years now. I’ve seen good leadership, bad leadership, and leadership that was relatively non-existent. I like to think that by now, I have a really good understanding of the organization and its purpose. Not everybody shares that same understanding, and sometimes these people end up in positions of power. This hurts the organization by disallowing progress. There are, however, lots of great people out there who truly understand the organization and its importance. My motivation in this campaign is helping to ensure that the right people are elected. Luckily, I’ve found people that I truly believe in, and will do what I can to ensure they succeed.

Now, onto the deliberative aspect. For me, the most enjoyable part of a campaign like this is the discussion of ideas. Public policy ideas. YLC organizational ideas. Constitutional ideas. Campaign strategy ideas. Creative ways to drink beer ideas. Idea ideas. You get the point. So, why is this type of deliberation important? Well, the act of deliberation in itself is important, regardless of the outcome. Here we have a group of Young Canadians actively talking every night about policy ideas that are consistent with a vision for Canada that we, as a group of friends, share. We’re thinking critically and trying to offer solutions. Fortunately (but not surprisingly), the deliberation is yielding great results. We have a group of bright people who are excited about our project and willing to put in some effort (probably more than is healthy). The further we go with our deliberations, the more excited people become and our work refines itself. It’s truly amazing, and inspiring.

At the end of the day, we have a large group of young people across the country sending dozens of emails a day, making hundreds of phone calls a week—all in the name of our country. Sure, some may consider the Young Liberals to be a very small part of our political process, but we DO make a difference. Remember the little thing called same-sex marriage in Canada? We can certainly thank the Young Liberals for their 10 years of fighting for its legalization. For an organization that “doesn’t make a difference” we’ve sure had some famous alumni go on to do pretty well: P.E. Trudeau, J. Turner, J. Chrétien, and P. Martin Jr.

My apologies, as this piece got way longer than I had expected. Hannah, this is a really great forum and I hope it will remain active. You’re a superstar.

If anybody has any feedback on my little rant, I’d love to hear it. Lets start a conversation.

All the best,
Scott P.

March Madness!

MARCH 'Participation in the Political Process' MADNESS...

Here's what I did this month...

ALUMNI LOVE:

Acadia University - my Undergraduate Alma Mater has my heart...sigh. I sure do miss that place.

This month, I sent a letter to the University President Search Committee -- just my two cents about someone I think the committee should look into as a prime candidate to heal the Acadia broken heart. Just like we all need Ben and Jerry's to get through a break-up, so too does Acadia need a little community TLC.

I might have also sent the letter to the Acadia Students' Union...pfff. Whatever. They're my people.

Bottom line: Sometimes Alumni need to have a voice too!

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

The National Portrait Gallery should stay in OTTAWA!
I sent a letter to my MP telling him I thought so.

CHECK IT OUT: http://www.pauldewar.ca/en/node/249 -- SIGN THE PETITION!

CANADIAN ALLIANCE OF STUDENT ASSOCIATIONS (CASA)

Not only did I get to vote on this puppy in a recent Univeresity of Waterloo Graduate Students' Association meeting -- that is CASA is now taking on GRAD students in their membership and we're of the first on the roster! Grad students should be lobbying the government along with Undergraduate students. Bring it!

-- But I also contacted the CASA crew in relation the recent Federal Budget and what it has to say about Post Secondary Education...they were of COURSE on it. I just wanted to follow up with the people who work for us, the students.

Read on and educate your post secondary self! (or who ever you are haha).
http://www.casa.ca/index.asp

Here is what the Director of CASA wrote about it:

Dear Students,As you may be aware, the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation (CMSF), which is set to expire in 2009, was not renewed by the Conservative Government in this year's federal budget. The fact that the CMSF has not been renewed is clearly a disappointment to us, our members, and the hundreds of thousands of students that the Foundation has helped and had the potential of helping. The good news, however, is that the government has committed to maintaining the $350 million dollars of non-repayable student financial assistance currently provided through the CMSF, and will increase this amount to $430 million by 2012-13. Now is the time to show leadership to ensure that this new program truly benefits students. CASA has a history of affecting real change and now is the time for us to do it again.

The government's new Canada Student Grant Program will provide non-repayable assistance to students based on their level of family income, and has the potential to be a very successful program. Although this wasn't exactly what we, or any other student group in the country, were looking for, this new income-based grant model does reflect CASA's message that targeted assistance for underrepresented students in our post-secondary system is the best way to promote access to higher education. On this front, CASA and our partners are the only groups in the country who have been pushing for targeted assistance.

That said, the details of this new initiative have yet to be released, and we do have some serious concerns about the program. Though this new grant program will distribute the same amount of money as the CMSF, it will be distributed to more students. This means that the students who do receive grants will be receiving significantly less money. This new program also lacks some of the major benefits that the CSMF offered students, such as targeted support and outreach to Aboriginal and rural communities. Further, because the program is based solely on income and not financial need, those students with high levels of financial debt will receive little or no assistance. Millennium was also the only national organization engaged in research on issues pertaining to access, and so far there is no indication from the government that any group will be continuing with this essential work. As students in Quebec have also pointed out, they and their province stand to lose the funds that were being distributed by Millennium, depending on whether or not the Government of Quebec chooses to opt-out of the new program. These are all serious concerns.

With the government's commitment to work in partnership with students, CASA is optimistic that we can help shape the future of this program, and ensure that any potential flaws are addressed. This is not a time to despair. As a result of the work of student groups across the country, this government has committed to continue to invest in students. Considering that this was a ‘fiscally conservative' budget, and that this government was mindful to avoid infringing on areas of provincial jurisdiction (education being one of these); the amount of money that this budget allocated for students was itself a victory for students. This is a time of opportunity, a time when we have the ability to work with the government to develop a new system of student financial aid; one that has learned from the mistakes of the past and one which ensures that all aspiring students in this country have the opportunity to pursue a higher education. And as always, I assure you that CASA will continue to be there to serve you as the voice of reason and progress when it comes to improving post-secondary education in this country.

Yours truly,
Zach Churchill, National Director

Also check out CASA representing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knI5G4HhSEo
Boo-ya!!

EARTH HOUR http://www.earthhour.org/

The idea is for everyone in the world to turn off their lights from 8pm - 9pm on Saturday night.

Sydney, Australia did this last march and 2.2 million residents turned off their lights for an hour, along with over 2000 businesses. And guess what?! They saved 10.2% of their average energy! Just in that hour! It will certainly be an interesting world experiment.

Check out (and register) at www.earthhour.org -- right now Canada is the number 2 country (next to our friendly neighbourhood Americans) registered for the event. If you register, the WWF can track their particiaption. Break out the candles and flashlights!

That was March!
What did you do each week?
If you want to join the blog, let me know and I'll add you!

~ Hannah Banana

Banana Publishes

http://imprint.uwaterloo.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2249

Same article, but its a little more 'out there'!!

~ hb

Baby Got Barak

-- I sent this to a few Newspapers.

Baby got Barack
February 12, 2008
By Hannah Feldberg

Buzz buzz buzz. Hear that? Yes, we can. It’s the sound of Barack Obama and the noise he’s been creating south of our border. The Presidential hopeful is asking the American people to believe in the political process, not by finding a way to agree on policy change but rather by finding common ground in the foundation of humanity. I would argue that this young, gifted leader is changing attitudes across cultures, races, languages, and boarders. He does not just speak to Americans but to the world. You see, Mr. Obama is asking us to have hope. Surely, this message is not just about red, white, and blue but rather it is about looking eachother in the eye, no matter what flag backs us.

So I’m taking this democrat’s lead. Why not? He believes we can, and it starts with me if the message is true. I clear my throat and proclaim that this is a call to action! As Obama’s declaration speaks beyond borders, he is asking us to consider the political process as our next project. This time, we shouldn’t take on a new house renovation or other such extra-curricular activity. This time, we won’t let celebrities speak for us, politicians spend for us and tax-breaks give for us. No - this time we should consider investing ourselves into democracy. A new democratic movement that reminds us while the kids were at public school pursuing spelling bees and degrees, and while we found a way to put dinner on the table after a hard days work, we still had time to participate in the political process. You can go to bed thinking that you wanted to be apart of your community but really - your community needed you to be apart of it.

If you have an issue in your neighbourhood, at your child’s school, or in regards to a policy you read about in the newspaper – do something about it. Come on, I dare you. Maybe you don’t know enough about Afghanistan to form an educated opinion, so you form nothing. Maybe global warming gives you chills, but you don’t think there’s anything you can do about the temperature. You stand in the shadow of democracy and expect to get a tan while the sun has already gone down. Or maybe you just want to stay indoors - out of the sun and out of your community altogether. But today, consider my challenge. I challenge you to somehow change your daily life to include active participation in the political process. The fun part is that you get to define active participation for your own life – as long as you’re doing more than what you have been.

Barack says “nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change”. Should you accept my challenge, and I hope you do - expect critics. Tell them you want change and you’re actually doing something about it. The idea of millions of people caring about politics is daunting when we live in such an arguably apathetic world. So if you want change, show your change. Mr. Obama asks you to consider his message for a better life simply by having hope. This same political underdog says there has never been anything false about hope. And this proud Canadian says there has never been anything better than agreeing with him.