OVER THE EDGE

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March 14, 2007

ick Harr

Conservative MP Dick Harris speaks to students on March 7th in the Winter Garden

Haakon SULLIVAN
StAFF WRITER
On March 8, Dick Harris, the
Conservative MP for the riding of
Cariboo Prince George, came to
UNBC to meet with students and
address any concerns they may
have. The meeting was held in an
informal “Question and Answer”
style, with students asking ques-
tions as they came to their minds.
In general, Harris successfully an-
swered all of their questions and
showed how successful our gov-
ernment is in managing the affairs
of the country.
To start off, he quoted Bill
Gates mentioning that success

can be achieved with hard work
and he also urged students to be
involved in politics to help en-
sure that the country becomes a
better place. He also said that he
was registering a group to run in
the Cancer Relay and that anyone
who could design a team name
and logo would win a prize.

_ When it came to the question
and answer period, he answered
many questions ranging from the
environment to Canadian involve-
ment in Afghanistan. In general,
the students had many questions
and all were answered to the best
of Harris’ ability.

On the question of the environ-
ment, Harris said that the Clean

Air act will bring results and do
more than just prevent green-
house gas emissions. It will also
clean the water.and air to ensure
that Canadians can live in a habit-
able environment for current and
future generations to enjoy.
Afghanistan is another issue
that a student asked about won-
dering why Canada has to take a
major role in fighting the Taliban
in the south. Harris replied that he
hasn’t heard a good reason why
the other NATO countries won’t
assist in the fighting to the south
but as long as the Taliban hinder
the goal of educating the populace
and rebuilding the country, Can-
ada’s role in Afghanistan will be

News

is Q

e Vieu

significant.

As for a question on the
government’s greatest achieve-
ments, Harris replied that the best
achievements would have to be
universal child care, tax relief,
and income splitting for seniors.
The child care program ensured
that anyone living anywhere can
get access to child care while also
forming 250,000 extra child care
spaces. Tax relief came from the
reduction of the GST and the pos-
sibility of not charging income tax
for people in the lowest tax brack-
et. Lastly, the income splitting for
seniors helps them keep more of
their money which lets more of
them enjoy their retirement. .

Mrrcseti. Grant, Proro Eprror

There was much more that
he had to say, but it wouldn’t
even come close to fitting within
this article. Many good changes
are happening in government,
and it’s all thanks to people like
Dick Harris who do their best to
make Canada live up to its po-
tential. As well, there are plans to
form a Conservative group here
at UNBC so that is something to
keep an eye out for. You may see
some interesting events coming
from a campus that has all three
Conservative, Liberal, and NDP
wings. As Dick Harris said, get
active in politics because if you
don’t you will just end up being
- tuled by the people who do.