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May 13, 2005
Politeness rules forum
JCC event a staid affair for such a reactive province.
PAT JOHNSON
In a province known for feisty politicians and feistier voters,
this election campaign may go down as one of the most polite. That
unusual attitude was evident Monday night at a candidates forum
at the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver.
The forum, organized by Canadian Jewish Congress, the Chinese-Canadian
service agency SUCCESS and the Vancouver Multicultural Society,
was a lesson in congeniality. Questions were politely asked and
politely answered. Tempers remained under control and a senior Liberal
even referred to his opponents as "star candidates."
Five candidates each from the Liberal, New Democratic and Green
parties squared off in the Norman Rothstein Theatre and, though
the mood was polite, it was not without its disagreements. Panelists
contradicted each other over matters like multicultural funding,
which the Liberals say has increased but which New Democrats say
is a victim of creative bookkeeping.
Colin Hansen, the incumbent Liberal in Vancouver-Quilchena and the
minister of finance, said provincial funding of programs like English
as a second language and the recognition of foreign professional
credentials means funding for multiculturalism is up. Jenny Kwan,
the incumbent New Democrat from Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, said funding
for specific broad-based multicultural programming has fallen. Jarrah
Hodge, her NDP colleague from Vancouver-Quilchena, said immigrants
and refugees have been particularly hard hit by government cuts
over the past four years. Approving credentials for foreign professionals
was a top concern and all three parties expressed support for speeding
up the process, particularly for doctors.
Reductions in provincial support for the Hate Crime Team –
a multi-jurisdictional law enforcement body that investigates, prosecutes
and educates against hate incidents – gained similar consensus.
Gregor Robertson, NDP candidate in Vancouver-Fairview, said there
needs to be zero tolerance for hate propaganda and that the attorney
general's office should be monitoring the Internet. Wally Oppal,
the Liberal candidate in Vancouver-Fraserview and a former judge
who just stepped down from the B.C. Court of Appeal in order to
run, said Premier Gordon Campbell recently announced, after a meeting
with Canadian Jewish Congress, that he has re-hired another staff
member for the team and will add another this summer. He said 3,700
police, prosecutors and court officers have been trained in recognizing
and dealing with hate incidents, thanks to the Hate Crime Team.
Vancouver-Kensington Green candidate Stuart Mackinnon said funding
for hate crimes is important, but added: "Respect cannot be
legislated." Students in the education system must be taught
mutual respect and support, said the special needs educator.
Representatives of multicultural communities and opposition candidates
criticized the Liberal government for what they say is Canada's
poorest universal ESL program. Free education in the English language
for new Canadians is limited to rudimentary levels, said critics,
after which students have to pay for classes. The Greens said this
situation results in foreign-trained workers doing menial labor
in Canada.
"We need these skills in Canada," said Doug Warkentin,
the Vancouver-Langara Green.
The president of the Cerebral Palsy Association of B.C. asked the
candidates to defend their positions on human rights, saying British
Columbia is the only province without a human rights commission.
Oppal defended the Liberal record, saying that a streamlining of
the human rights apparatus changed the name, but not the mandate,
of the bodies. The NDP said they would bring back the commission.
On religious and racial profiling, Oppal was unequivocal.
"I think that we'll agree that the practice is odious,"
he said. "We live in a free and democratic society and if we're
compromising our rights, we're going down the wrong path."
Raven Bowen, the Green candidate for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, said
"poverty profiling" needs to be addressed, too, describing
it as the phenomenon of poor people being chased off public streets
and followed around stores.
Other candidates at the forum were Liberals Carole Taylor (Vancouver-Langara)
and Patrick Wong (Vancouver-Kensington); New Democrat Anita Romaniuk
(Vancouver-Langara); and Greens Damien Kettlewell (Vancouver-Point
Grey) and Cody Matheson (Vancouver-Kensington).
Pat Johnson is a B.C. journalist and commentator.
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