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March 16, 2007
Bringing Stanley home
Hedy Fry visits VTT with special friend in tow.
KATHARINE HAMER EDITOR
Vancouver Talmud Torah's Grade 5 students proved their political
mettle recently during a visit by Vancouver Centre Liberal MP Hedy
Fry.
The youngsters peppered the former minister for multiculturalism
and women's equality with questions about global warming, child
poverty and the electoral process when she spoke to them at the
school March 7.
"If you became a Liberal leader, what would your first act
be?" asked Benny Freedman.
"That's very funny," Fry laughed, "because I ran
for the leadership race that we had [last fall].
"I would be a very strong and tough leader," she told
the children – explaining that she feels Canada needs to be
more competitive in the global economy by putting more money into
education and training, "so we have the best and the brightest
Canadians who can help us to keep our head above water."
Fry also underlined her belief in the "just society" advocated
by former prime minister Pierre Trudeau nearly 40 years ago. It
was that philosophy, said the Trinidad native, that brought her
to Canada in the first place.
"[Trudeau] said that in every civilized country, the government
of that country had a duty and a responsibility to help people in
that country who faced lots of barriers to becoming whatever it
is they wanted to be," Fry noted. "Sometimes they were
too poor, sometimes they didn't have good housing, sometimes they
were in wheelchairs, sometimes they were immigrants who had a different
color and a totally different language and people didn't welcome
them and sometimes they were from a different religion and people
didn't welcome them – and his job, he felt, was to help people
no matter where they lived in Canada and no matter what they were,
to get over those things that stopped them from being the best they
can be – and he thought government was supposed to do that."
After arriving in Canada in 1970, Fry worked as a medical doctor
until her election in 1993, when she defeated then-prime minister
Kim Campbell in Vancouver Centre. Fry also served as the first female
president of the British Columbia Medical Association.
Equality for women was one of Fry's other key messages to the Talmud
Torah children. She began her morning at the school by returning
the "Flat Stanley" character given to her by VTT kindergarten
students – complete with tales of his adventures in Ottawa.
Encouraging the girls to consider a career in politics, she noted
that Flat Stanley "didn't know that there were so many women
in Parliament, but when he met them, he was very happy."
From her perch in a yellow rocking chair at the front of the classroom,
Fry pointed out that VTT's Flat Stanley had met with elected representatives
from across B.C. and with members of Parliament Ken Dryden and Martha
Hall Findlay. "Here he is with another member of Parliament!"
she said. "Oh, my God!" exclaimed a child at the back
of the classroom.
Fry talked about the meaning of democracy and explained that in
an election, "the person who gets the most votes, wins."
Then she asked, "Who can tell me what Ottawa is?"
"It's a kind of place!" said an enthusiastic student.
Fry went on to explain slightly more complex political matters to
the Grade 5s, including the differences between Canada's major political
parties. When asked by Marko Flores-Makon, "Can't the Liberals
combine with the Quebeckions?" Fry pointed out that the Bloc
Quebecois held to the notion that Quebec should become a sovereign
nation – in contrast to the Liberals' federalist ideology.
According to Fry, the New Democrats "believe the government
should help all Canadians, all the time, with everything, and that
people should not have the ability to do things on their own,"
the Green Party is strong on the environment but socially conservative
and the Conservatives "believe the government really shouldn't
be bothered to play a role in the lives of people ... whereas Liberals
believe the government has a responsibility to do certain things."
Fry told the students she was not sure when the next federal election
might be called, but said she would be running again in her riding.
It would be, she observed, her sixth term if she won.
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