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On Saturday, November 8, Simone Rolph of the Hope Standard sent me a list of questions from which she could develop a candidate profile of me which appears in the Hope Standard, Thursday November 13, 2008. Some of her questions are not relevant to the election and so I have not given the full detail. I have provided my complete answers to those questions for the reader below.
Accompanying the text are a series of links to various documents about me that the reader may find of interest. The Hope Standard would not put these on their website. Please use the links to get the full story on everything discussed below.
A good voter is one who is fully, not partially, informed.
RESPONSE TO SIMONE ROLPH, HOPE STANDARD, NOVEMBER 9, 2008
Q1. After the all-candidates meeting on Wednesday at the Hope Cinema, is there anything you would like to respond to or add to that meeting?
A1 I was very pleased at the turn out and level of discussion generated at the All Candidates Meeting. Unfortunately, one issue did not get the kind of examination I was hoping for. The recent Cuff Report is a serious indictment of the Mayor, the Council and their functioning and relationships with each other and District Staff. I mentioned in my presentation that there were problems; however, no more discussion was generated. I have placed a copy of the Cuff Report on my Website. <Click Here>
Q2 Can you tell me a little about yourself... what you do for a living, what community-volunteer work you have been active in over the last three years? Etc
A2 I am a retired Professor living on a pension income. During the past 25 years, I have been very active doing work with the community. Faculty members of post-secondary educational institutions are expected to become involved in community activities. Thus, they are already paid as faculty members. Hence, all of my work with community has been ‘volunteer.’ There are simply too many for me to list here. The Portfolio of Referred Documents Page on my website has 13 links to various reports about my interest in and involvement with community initiatives both as research and program development. Each of these can be accessed as they appear in the text below.
My research has all been about community issues ranging from victims of crime to, environmental issues, race relations issues, violence against women and many other issues all pertaining to social justice. ln one way or another, my contributions have meant working directly with community groups, community organizations, government, police forces, etc.
Examples would include:
• the background work to my research on crime, victimization, and policing in London, England for which I received a distinguished achievement award from the American Society of Criminology:
<Click Here>
• my work with the United Native Nations on Justice and Self-Governance;
• my work on Saturna Island over land-use designation disputes:
<Click Here>
• my work in producing a proposal to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada in partnership with community organizations for a Community, University, SSHRCC partnered Research Centre/Alliance:
<Click Here>
• my work on policing domestic violence and police accountability generally.
Q3 You have led very troubled yet remarkable life [sic] ? A web search on your name notes many accomplishments. Considering your difficult and abusive childhood, to being jailed for armed robbery to gaining your degree in sociology in prison and becoming a Criminology professor and author, your life seems unparalleled. Is there anything you would like to clarify from your past for the voters of Hope?
A3 It is true I got off to a shaky start in life. I was sent to prison at the age of 16 and I did not see daylight until I was 30. That was 30 years ago. While I had very little chance as a youngster, I take full responsibility for my actions. I am not proud of my 30 year old record; however, I am very proud of the way I was able to break free of the revolving door to change my life.
I am not sure what society expects from people they have incarcerated; however, surely I have surpassed the most ambitious of expectations. Some of your information is factually incorrect. I have assembled a series of documents on my web site for this purpose at the Tab 'Portfolio of Documents.'
I did not receive a degree in prison. In fact, at the completion of my first degree, I was in residence at the University of Saskatchewan where I graduated as the most distinguished graduate and received the President’s Gold Medal.
I have written about what led to my incarceration in the Green and White:
<Click Here>
I have given public talks about my past and my transition:
<Click Here>
As stated above, this was all over 30 years ago. As all of the articles above point out, I have worked exceptionally hard. Aside from being very diligent and resourceful, I have tried to give back over the past 30 years to the same community I violated so long ago:
<Click Here>
I believe my biography, although unusual, prepares me well for the elected office of councilor. I have demonstrated a commitment to the community and an unusual persistence in overcoming obstacles. Who has not made a mistake? When one learns from ones mistakes and betters oneself, it sets one apart from others who do not. I have paid the price and overcome the most difficult of scenarios. I think the voter would be well served with my representation.
Q4 Can you tell local voters what happened at York University regarding your employment and your lobbying efforts for a ventilated room to smoke medicinal marijuana as written up by CBC in 2006?
A4 There is really nothing to tell. I have a disability that requires me to use marihuana medicinally. I have a federal permit for such and according to the Employment Standards Act and the Provincial and Federal Codes of Human Rights, the employer has the obligation to make medical accommodation. While unusual, it is both legal and medically necessary and my employer fully agreed. Rather than have me medicate in public, they provided me with a ventilated room on campus. I am one of two professors in the world with this accommodation. The other is at the University of Toronto:
<Click Here>
<Click Here>
Aside from having a novel quality that the sensationalist media seized upon, my medical record has no relevance to this election and I am sure that you have not asked other candidates about their medical conditions.
If by this question and Question 3 above you are really meaning to ask about my ability to work effectively with local police on policing matters relevant to the community then please accept this as my response:
During the past 25 years, I have been doing research that often puts me in the position of having to produce critical commentaries about policing services and their accountability to the public who pay for them. This expertise will be useful both to the council and the local police board.
Due to my background and publication of so many articles critical about policing, the Voter may wonder how I would be able to function as a Councilor on the Police Board. Firstly, election to council does not necessarily mean that I would be active on the Police Board. I believe that those kinds of assignments will be determined after the newly elected Council meets. However, during the past 25 years, I have served with Police on Police Boards and many other initiatives. In England, I worked for the Islington Town hall where I reported to the Chief Executive. I was located in the Police Committee Support Unit where I gathered information about the public, policing and their accountability to the public for the Council’s Police Committee. In addition to working at the Council level, I was also required to attend community group meetings and give lectures to Police officers on Professional Development in the Holloway Road Police Station about the problems of policing violence against women. In addition, I acted as liaison for the Islington Authority and other Metropolitan London Authorities on police committee issues.
Over the years, I have had both police and aspiring police in my classrooms. Both groups consistently provide positive feedback on the way I am able to convey important and sensitive issues to them. For example, one day on Wallace Street I was confronted by a local RCMP officer who was a former student for whom I had written a letter of reference in support of his application to the RCMP. He stopped me to tell me how well my courses had prepared him for the field. In particular, he found my materials on violence against women particularly helpful in his daily work where he was forced to confront what he called ‘a mess.’
The media often ask me to interpret recent crime statistics noting how police interpretations often differ from public or criminological interpretations of the same statistics. Thus, while my opinions may differ, even at the point of analyzing statistics, I have done so cooperatively with police.
Please check with the police and I am sure that you will see that, despite often being a critic, the police have had no problem working with me either in such community-oriented capacities.
I have an unusual biography and, thus, an unusual world view; however, despite my ideological and political differences with some members of the community and some police officers, I have a proven track record. Despite my background and medical condition, I have been very effective at this during the past 25 years. By electing me, the Voter will have an unusual representative with a proven track record who is committed to allowing all voices to be heard. My accomplishments illustrate that I am capable of achieving similarly on behalf of the community as well. Members of the Hope District jurisdiction would do well to have someone with my biography representing them.
Q5 If elected, what are your primary goals for Hope Council for the next three years and how do you plan to accomplish them?
A5 There are only two things I hope to accomplish. If successful, these will guarantee a better relationship between the Council and the Community of the District of Hope. The Cuff Report identified a number of problems of council functioning (See Hope Standard October 2, 2008 for a summary).
Essentially, despite protestations from various persons on Council, the report identifies a lack of professionalism, lack of respect for others, lack of tolerance for differing points of view, etc. Such behaviours are not consistent with Liberal Democratic principles and the Council has lost public respect. The problem is that many people feel intimidated as a consequence and prohibited from being active participants in the Council’s political process. The result is political alienation and a lack of accountability.
It is my intention to ensure that council works to overcome the problems identified in the Cuff Report. In doing so, respect for difference will be re-achieved, and members of the Community will feel welcome to make their presentations to council in a respectful and accommodating atmosphere.
It is my greatest hope that the voters will elect a Mayor with the kinds of leadership skills necessary to overcome these difficulties; however, it is not all on the Mayor. Rather, the council must be a team of committed individuals who respect their leader enough to be led by the Mayor. I am a team player and will work well with whatever team is elected to help move the Council beyond its current impasse. In short, I have responded to Simone Rolph's call for new blood on the Council < Click Here >, and I will work hard to overcome these difficulties. It is only in this way that the Council can maintain community support in its Municipal Governance and be accountable for its actions. Democracy can only work if it is participatory. I intend to encourage many in the community to participate in their local government apparatus.
Q6 Anything else you feel is important to mention?
A6 I have taken up a lot of space answering your questions, and I do not want to try and guess what voter concerns might be.
Instead, tonight (November 13, 2008), along with several other candidates, I will be attending the ‘non-partisan’ meet and greet sponsored by the Coffee Break (454 Wallace from 7:00 until 9:00 pm) where I will be available to answer any questions of voters in a face-to-face informal environment. If you cannot make it, get in touch with me directly. You can do so directly from my website Contact Me.
You Be The Judge:
For a comparison of my answers to these questions, see the Hope Standard version. <Click Here>
EDITORIAL NOTE
Throughout, I have used term 'marihuana' instead of the term 'marijuana.' I do this because the spelling with an 'h' is used in the medical literature and formal terminology. The spelling with a 'j' is used in the legal and criminal formal terminology. (H for health, J for Justice) Unfortunately the archaic Editor's manual on this continent disallows any media person from spelling it with anything but a 'j'. This self-imposed media constraint has no merit on my website where you will find the term properly spelled in its proper contexts.
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