Elizabeth May talks to the media after her historic win on election day.
Max Sussman
Parliament got a little greener May 2 with the election of Green Party leader Elizabeth May. May made history as the first Green Party member ever to be elected to Canadian parliament.
Stephen Harper managed to secure a majority and take complete control of the Canadian government on May 2. He did it by a margin of just over 6 200 votes spread across 14 ridings throughout the country. If you’re one of the 61 per cent of Canadians who voted for someone other than his Conservative benchwarmers, you’re probably pretty pissed that Harper got away with it.
One of the first things you notice about Gabrielle Kind and Mitch Hawes, two young broadcasting graduates based out of Victoria, is their indefatigable enthusiasm. It’s a characteristic that is crucial for anyone branching out into the media field today. Record low profits, audience fragmentation and changing cultural trends have seen radio’s allure dwindle in the age of satellite and streaming music channels.
If the saying “third time’s a charm” holds any merit in soccer, then fans of the Victoria Highlanders Football Club should be celebrating come August.
Leading up to last month’s elections, student groups on campuses across Canada could be seen rallying in online videos in an attempt to rile fellow youth and dismiss voter apathy. “Vote mobs” orchestrated by concerned students at several of the nation’s universities drew the attention of candidates and the media alike, but it now seems unlikely that their intended audience — the youthful electorate — actually took notice.
After a whirlwind start to their inaugural MLS season, Vancouver Whitecaps FC have been brought back down to earth.
Knots of anxiety coursed through me on election day and were only made bearable by the sense of possibility that comes from working on a campaign that has a chance at succeeding.
WHAT: Timber Timbre
WHERE: Alix Goolden Hall
WHEN: Tuesday, May 31, 7:30 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $20 at Ditch Records, Lyle’s Place or ticketweb.ca
Tall Tree Music Festival, Port Renfrew, B.C.
June 24–26, 2011
talltreemusicfestival.com
Tickets: $80–$120
Join Graham Briggs in a conservation on the science an politics of climate change with renowned climatologist Dr. Andrew Weaver from the University of Victoria.
Highlights from day one of the 2011 NCMR in Boston, MA - Friday April 8.
Featuring clips of speakers: Juan Gonzales (Democracy Now!), Gunner Scott (Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition), Amy Goodman (Democracy Now!), Glenn Greenwald (Salon.com), Michael J Copps (FCC Commissioner), Malkia Cyril (Center for Media Justice).
Whenever an election is called, I hear someone in their 20s say they hate politicians, or they hate the government for not listening to them, or for doing something they disagree with. When I ask them what they’re going to do about it, they say they don’t care about politics and they do something I find supremely stupid: they don’t vote.
Dennis E. Bolen is gearing up for his book tour phase.
“Nineteen years ago, when I started out, it was a three-week thing. But now, with social media and all the permutations of getting the word out, it goes a year,” said the Vancouver author.
It seems that piano lessons are an entrenched part of North American culture. Everyone has that friend who was pressured into piano lessons by their parents – the one who had to practice their ivory tiled trade while the rest of the kids were outside playing games. Usually the child resented the instrument more and more as their social life became increasingly important, and their parents would finally relent from sheer persuasive exhaustion, thus ending the weekly charade of forced piano lessons.
The nuances might be different between Canada and America, but the major crises of journalism today are the same: media concentration, fair Internet access, corporate co-opting of government and human rights for all people. These themes reverberated through the discussions at the latest National Conference for Media Reform in Boston, MA from April 8-10.
Students who stood in line for hours to vote at a Guelph University’s advanced polling station were shocked when a Conservative party worker burst in and allegedly attempted to take the ballot box.
Protest politely, please
Last May the ship Mavi Marmara (carrying aid to the citizens of Gaza) was attacked by the Israeli navy in international waters, resulting in deaths and serious injuries. On March 29, Kevin Neish, who was aboard the Mavi Marmara, presented live video footage taken during the attack.
More than 2.1 million 18- to 24-year-olds are unhappy. Harper has been throwing us out of election campaign rallies and trying to get Elections Canada to quash our votes. He’s avoiding us and hoping we’ll stay away from the ballot box. We’re finally paying attention, and that damages his lustful campaign for lordship over our country.
On March 27, German citizens in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg elected their first Green state governor. On March 30, Canada’s major broadcasting networks decided to exclude Elizabeth May, Canada’s Green Party leader, from their televised debates. The contrast in outcomes could not be greater.
On March 29, Prime Minister Harper played keyboard while singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” at a Winnipeg photo op. Another song on Lennon’s 1971 album Imagine is “How Do You Sleep?” The original song is directed at Paul McCartney. If you’re familiar with the melody, try these new lyrics. All together now!
At a time when, for many of us, our music collections only exist digitally, it’s nostalgic to remember the days when youth spent hours hunting in a record store for the perfect piece of vinyl. For those that miss those good ol’ days, fear not: on Saturday, April 16, the world celebrated the fourth annual Record Store Day.
Ivan E. Coyote has earned a break.
The award-winning author has produced six short story collections, one novel, three CDs, four short films and recently co-edited an anthology called Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme. But she’s not about to sit back and relax.
If you’re not planning on voting in the federal election on May 2, you’re part of what’s wrong with our democracy.
The parking rates and spaces at UVic are too expensive and scarce, respectively; both need to be changed.
