November 4 2002 Over The Edge Page 4 Ingenuity Canada: A Forum for Expression of Ideas on Federal Change By Stephanie Wilson “A country is something that is built every day out of certain basic shared values. And so it is in the hands of every Canadian to determine how well and wisely we should build the country of the future.” - Pierre Trudeau, former Prime Minister If you think you cannot change the system, think again. Thanks to Ingenuity Canada (http://Awww.ingenuity- canada.com), Canadians have a forum to express their ideas and affect federal change and policy. Inspired by the work of Canadian (political scientist) Thomas Homer-Dixon, the Ingenuity Canada _ initiative was spearheaded by Dennis Mills, the Liberal Member of Parliament for Toronto- Danforth. However, the Ingenuity Canada team is non- and encourages partisan ingenuity everyone, regardless of the political parties they associate with, to participate. So you have a great idea. What next? Submit it to Ingenuity Canada. From there, Ingenuity Canada will deter- mine whether a submission is legitimate or not, and pass on all the legitimate submissions to the appropriate Member of Parliament. Parliamentary tra- dition dictates that an MP is required to respond, and all responses will be posted on the Ingenuity Canada website. If you need a little incentive to partake in democracy, here it is: the people behind the top two submitted ideas will receive a $10 000 parliamen- tary internship. Democracy is participatory, and thanks to _ Ingenuity Canada, participation is within reach of all Canadians. é 4 - Lae 2 wingeniosite www. ingenuitycanada.com Chris Drumm Sales Consultant Honda North 105 Brunswick Street Prince George, B.C. V2L 2B2 Sales: (250) 562-9391 Parts & Service: (250) 562-4744 Fax: (250) 562-5151 Email: info@ hondanorth.ca UNBC Student Runs For School Board Trustee By Sabrina Nessman Former District Student Advisory Council (DSAC) chairperson and UNBC stu- dent Derrick Williams has decided to run for school board trustee. Williams is attending UNBC this fall pur- suing an undergraduate degree in biology. Williams served four years on DSAC, this last year as chairperson and the year previous as vice- chairperson. Since DSAC’s creation in 1998 Williams has “participated on several com- mittees involving the gover- nance of School District 57, including last year’s District Configuration Committee and Expanded Committee of the Whole, where education shareholders raised budget issues” Williams’s highly activist spirit led him into the middle of a hot topic last year when he applied for Intervener Status on behalf of BC Student Voice, (a provincial organization of students, whose opinions are used to represent B.C. stu- dents on a variety of issues) during teacher job action. Even though his attempt to aid the Labour Relations Board in UNBC student | Jenny Taylor is run- | ning for a Prince George School | Board Trustee posi- | tion. Taylor is cur- rently working towards a certificate in Public Administration, and is planning to gradu- ate in May. “My moti- vation [for running] is | being proactive; | want to be involved [ before my children are in school,” said Taylor in the School District 57 DPAC Question to Candidates forum. | This is her second time running for the position. For more information, you can contact her at jen- nyanny @ shaw.ca their deliberations failed, Williams admits disappoint- ment with the decision but says he learned several things | about politics and how to fol- low process. Williams, perhaps the most experienced of any newcomer vying for a seat on the School District 57 Board of Trustees knows first hand what students need and believes that this will give him an edge that the oth- ers probably don’t have. Williams says “In a time where curriculum is getting harder and harder, students need more help,” which he is com- mitted to getting for them. If elected he guarantees that he will encourage administrators to adopt a zero-tolerance stance on bullying and harass- ment in schools, and will encourage schools that toler- ate smoking to implement a “phase-out” program to help prevent students from using tobacco products. Williams would also like to see that the “Education Showcase” is made an annual event saying that “it is important to recog- nize the diversity of talents and abilities students have.” In regards to budget shortfalls Williams says he will work with the schoo! district administra- tors to come up with creative solutions to reduce the deficit, he plans to use other school districts as resources for ideas. Williams says he will “use common sense and process to make decisions” and won't “hold any education shareholder higher than the other” ensuring that “every school, student and employee will be treated equally” promis- ing that each will be heard and taken seriously.