November 24, 2004 UNBC’s Homegrown Politician Fighting for the Needs of Youth CONTINUED FROM COVER that the new Conservative Party of Canada has a large role to play in Canadian politics. “I think it’s healthy for Canadian democracy to have two national choices: I think we saw this in the last election,” he stated. Although he was hoping that the Conservative Party’ would win more seats, Moore was not overly disappointed with the results in ‘the last federal election. “T was pleased in the sense that the merger worked, we held on to almost all of our incumbents, and gained some new seats as well,” Moore ‘said. “It was a solid first step.” While the future of the Conservative Party of Canada remains uncertain, Moore is posi- tive about the direction the party has taken. “We have ten MPs under the age of 35, more women, and more ‘vis- ible minorities than the other par- ties,” he says. “Thé Conservative party is becoming more ‘diverse.” At age 28, Moore is still one of the youngest Members of Parliament. He believes that his relative youth gives him a unique perspective, which in turn helps him to influencé Canadian “public policy, and he is’ very concerned with issues that are important to today’s young Canadians. Recently, Moore has spent much of his time dealing with issue of date rape drugs. “Date. rape drugs are a major concern of mine,” said Moore. “This is a bigger deal than most people appreciate.” He is currently advocating legis- lation that will protect women from these offenses and will inflict harsher punishment upon those who carry out these crimes. PHOTO BY ROB VAN ADRICHEM UNBC graduate James Moore was the youngest Member of Parliament in the history of British Columbia. He was at UNBC on November 8 to speak to UNBC students about his experience working in politics. “My perspective as a young Canadian allows me to understand these issues,” said Moore. “There is a disconnection in terms of per- spective. [Date rape drugs] were not a real concern until recently, and they certainly weren’t a con- cern in the 1950s when Paul Martin was attending University.” According to Moore, the Conservative Party of Canada has much to offer young Canadians. “The Liberals have had four governments in a row and have been in power for 11 and a half years,” he said. “A change of lead- ership would definitely benefit Canada.” Moore also pointed out that “the Conservative party has _ the youngest MPs and the youngest leader in Canada, which gives us insight into the issues young Canadians are facing today.” PGPIRG’s Food Box Program in Trouble By MAGGIE GILBERT ARTS EDITOR Despite being a highly popular and well-received service.on cam- pus, PGPIRG’s organic food, box program is.in: big: trouble;: "and the famous green boxes may: not’ be seen at all on campus next 'semes- ter. The food boxes, which carikaiti a wide assortment of high quality organic products, many of which are grown locally, are sold for 20 dollars a box and are usually avail- able every week. The program is entirely non- profit, so PGPIRG makes nothing from providing the food boxes to students. The program is run as a co-op, where everyone contributes so everyone benefits from the pooled resources. While the bene- fits of a co-op program are great, the key to the program is that the more people participate, the better the program. According to PGPIRG, partici- pating in the program is like buy- ing in bulk - the more oranges you buy, the cheaper it is per orange. Therefore, the more people who participate in the organic food boxes the more food PIRG can buy for the boxes. The less people buy, the less food will be in the boxes - and here lies the problem the food box program is facing. With only a few people buying into the boxes, they look like they aren’t worth their 20 dollars and less people participate. With less people participating, the boxes get smaller and there is even less inter- est, and so the vicious cycle goes on. The minimum number of people the PIRG office needs to order the organic food boxes is 66 and their last number was 31, which is clear- ly too small, especially when one considers that last year, hundreds of people were participating in the program. “Ym really disappointed that UNBC students aren’t supporting PIRG's initiative to bring organics to UNBE€,” one fourth-year stu- dent commented. A representative from PIRG agreed, saying, “It would be really sad to see it go. It’s a great service for the students.” PGPIRG plans to start educating the students about the. organic food box program of UNBC fur- ther through pamphlets and talk- ing to the students in the hallways. With hope, interest will flare up again, and the food box program will again soar to its once impres- sive records. CBC Top 10 Garners Criticism Political scientist calls “The Greatest Canadian” a ‘popularity contest’ By TASNEEM KARBANI THE GATEWAY (LINIVERSITY OF ALBERTA) EDMONTON (CUP) — On the CBC’s list of the 10 greatest Canadians, which includes ath- letes, inventors, three former prime ministers and the likes of Don Cherry, a feminine presence is missing. ee % i believe card isa real one-sided pic- ture of Cat ae his- tory being put forth. If's really simplistic and moralistic’ ~ Fyiesert The absence of women on the CBC’s top-10 list for The Greatest Canadian series has attracted the attention of many: Canadian women. In spring 2004, the CBC received nominations for The Greatest Canadian from across the country. Twenty women fig- ured in the top-100 list, but no women received enough nomina- tions to make the top 10. The highest-ranking woman was Shania Twain at number 18. - University of Alberta political science professor Linda Trimble, a specialist in gender politics, said the list displays figures receiving the most publicity, rather than who is truly great. “It’s a popularity contest. It’s about who is in the public eye; it’s not about greatness,” Trimble said. Kathleen Powderley, a CBC publicist, stressed The Greatest Canadian is a television show, not a referendum or scientific list. The network adapted the program from the British version, Great Britons. Powderley said in comparison to the 40,000 nominations received for Great Britons, The Greatest Canadian polling in spring 2004 received over 140,000 nominations for 10,000 different candidates. However, the Great Briton top- 10 list included two women: Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth I. Powderley said the Canadian top-10 list is not a reflection of the CBC’s views but of the Canadian public who voted. Trimble asserted the poll would mislead people into think- ing women have not accom-. plished very much, which in her view is not the case. She said soci- ety has equated greatness with politicians and public figures. Until the early 20th century, when women entered the workforce in greater numbers, these figures were primarily men. “For women to be great in the public realm of politics or busi- ness is a very tecent phenome- non,” said Trimble. “We tend to define greatness according to masculine traits and accomplishments.” Deborah Barretto, communica- tions manager at MediaWatch, said she was surprised no women figured on the top-10 list of The Greatest Canadian. MediaWatch, a non-profit feminist organiza- tion, conducts research on the portrayal of women in the media to promote social justice and equality. For Barretto, including Don Cherry ‘in the top 10 shows peo- ple voted primarily for recogniz- able public figures. She said she thought it was sad no women made the cut, but stresses the poll doesn’t mean_there are no great Canadian women. “It’s not a last say of what or who the greatest Canadian is. The voting and polling process is not too reflective,” said Barretto. According to Katharine Friesen ‘of the University of Alberta’s Women’s Centre collective, the entire program is problematic. Powderley satd the Canadian top-10 list is not a reflection of the CBC’s views but of the Canadian pub- lic who voted. “1 believe there is a real one- sided picture of Canadian history being put forth. It’s ‘really sim- plistic and moralistic,“ Friesen said. “If you look at the entire list, there’s a general deficiency of pepresentation from marginalized groups.’ Powderley stressed the CBC faithfully stuck to the votes from the Canadian public. But in Friesen’s view, it is predictable no women made the top ten. “It makes sense that there would be a lack of women nomi- nees. They usually are doing things behind the scenes,” said Friesen. On Nov. 29, the greatest Canadian will be revealed. Currently, Medicare founder Tommy Douglas is leading, with cancer activist Terry Fox in sec- ond. But, either way the polls go, Friesen quipped: “Behind every good man there’s a woman.”