I have to admit that this is a great photo opportunity that the CFS held recently in Toronto.  It really appeals to the base of the CFS.  Here is the picture by Mike Ghenu of The Varsity at UofT.

In terms of the quote from the CFS, I respectfully disagree.  Compared to Ontario’s most recent governments prior to McGuinty (the NDP of Bob Rae and the Conservatives of Mike Harris), the current premier is treating students much better measured by the rate of tuition increases than either government before him.  Tuition went wildly out of control under the NDP and then kept skyrocketing under the Conservatives.  Now, it is under control and predictable.  Of course, I am not happy with the 4.5% average increase per year right now, I rather have it only go up by inflation but I also have perspective of the recent past and am somewhat thankful it is not as bad as it has been in recent memory.

On the whole, I give the CFS credit for a great photo-op and getting their message out. …

Garth Turner, the MP for Halton has an amazing website over at www.garth.ca
He puts up video on a daily basis. Here is one:

It is very informative. If only more MP could do this. …

Yes, that is right.  Shawn Hunsdale has decided to ”resign” except for the slight detail that he was impeached already so there was nothing for him to resign from.   

One of the comments asks who represents the CFS at SFSS now?  Their new hire, the CFS Vice-Chair will make sure that CFS remains firmly in control of the SFSS.

Read shawn hunsdale has resigned at SFSS Democracy Now …

Greco: Short, to the point, effective. 30 seconds.
McHattie: long length semi-effective. Repeated points stated already. Opened new points on transit. Made the mistake of saying “next three years”. The term is now four but I always make the same mistake myself.
Spencer: no one was listening to him really. He spoke well a the beginning. Middle was good. End was a little lost. But it was an improvement over his performance during the debate.
Interesting note, Spencer was the only candidate wearing a tie. …

The next question came from another staff member. It was directed at Mr. Spencer. ‘I have donated to McHattie in 2003 and now. What kickback do you expect I will get after the election’
Resulted in a firefight between Mr. Spencer and the one professor that asked the question.
Another bunch of time wasted. …

Question about election sign article in the Spectator entitled “Signs don’t always translate into votes“
Specifically, it was a question expressing anger at a quote from the paper in relation to McHattie:

At the doors, McHattie said he’s noticed an ethic divide, with many Italian and Portuguese voters supporting Greco. There’s also a misperception that he only cares about the environment, said McHattie.

McHattie answered that it was based upon what he was hearing from his campaign canvassers.
Greco and Spencer jumped onto McHattie. …

He threw out some numbers. The base of his question is that students like living in Westdale and that has much as housing is built on Main St W or Downtown, students will want to live in Westdale. What would you do as a candidate to promote living in Westdale.
Fred Spencer, had started his answer well. Took too long. Went onto a tangent. Moderator, just looking. Finally intervened.
Brian McHattie, talked about working with absentee landlords to get them to do their jobs.
Fred Spencer attempt to add remarks after McHattie. People in the audience told him no, then the moderator intervened.
Tony Greco, well answered and quick. …

There is now only one student that is not with a campaign or an MSU-type present.
Compare this to the debate in January (Federal Election) where there an overflow crowd that one could not find space to even sit on the floor. …

Fred Spencer is wasting a lot of time here. I have decided to speak up.
John Popham has asked a good question. He has asked what future initiatives the candidates have to improve the community for all residents.
McHattie had a good answer.
Greco had a good answer has well.
Spencer had a good answer. Impressed with his decision of Dundurn Castle. Correction: he has sort of lost it, here by going on with his personal tangents again.
Fred Spencer has accused me of being a McHattie “fan” based upon my intervention into the mess of a debate by saying when he went on a personal tangent (Mr. Spencer that is); “Lets focus on student issues” …

Tony Greco
Overall, a nice design. Good bullet points. Not much detail, just the normal politicial lines. He does have a picture with Terry Cooke which is concerning as Terry Cooke’s politicial elite have been responsible for the vast majority of the problems in Hamilton.
Brian McHattie
An alright brochure. Plays to his strengths. Good bolding of points. There is not much in the brochure that attracts me. There is encouragement to go to his website.
Fred Spencer
No materials.
There are now five students present. Correction, only four students.
There is now a debate between a questioner and a candidate. The moderator has lost control of the session.
Now the questioner (who is not a student) and one candidate are going at each other. The moderator is just standing there looking, trying to figure out what to do. We are wasting a lot of time on this little debate.
Now there are two candidates and this guy agruing. This has been going on for 8 minutes now.
Finally one of the people in the audience has spoken up trigging the moderator to do something. …

He has been going on for a very long time.
Kyra Machen who is the moderator should be intervening. She is not. Come on! Lets more on. …

All the candidates seem to believe that Quarters makes money that supports student services and life here at Mac.
Actually Quarters lost $200,000 (yes $200,000) in the last year that audited statements were released.
Just a detail that I had to note. …

There are now 3 students who do not fall into the categories stated before. …

I am currently at the Ward One Councillor Debate in Gilmour Hall. The turnout is extremely poor. Just the MSU-types, MSU-staff, University staff, and campaign teams. I actually one see one student that does not fit into the above categories. It is too bad, clearly a reflection of the last minute organization of the debate and lack of long-term promotion of the event. Students on campus vote on Wednesday. The vast majority of them have no clue because the MSU Vice-President Education is asleep at the switch on this issue. We have had no mayoral debate. That is a complete shame. One only has to look at Saskatchewan and Manitoba where there are also Municipal Elections this year to see what Student Unions can do.
There was also a well attended Mayoral debate at the University of Toronto organized by their Student Union.
Tony Greco -
“Too Much talk not enough action in the last three years”
“Built respect on both sides”
“Built more residences downtown for students”
“Keep Quarters (student union bar) open”
Brian McHattie
“Popham (MSU President) doing great job with the rest of Executive”
“Attract more business to Hamilton” “Triple-Bottom line approach – business attracted to economic, environment, and social bottom-line. Fair wages, good benefits, control emissions, strong business bottom line to be successful. Dofasco is a excellent example of this.”
- more local purchasing
- more working with credit unions to increase local investment
- focus on local small businesses “a lot less risky to invest in small business than to spend more chasing big multi-nationals which do not have Hamilton’s interests in mind”
- need to work to keep McMaster (and Mohawk, and Redeemer) students in Hamilton when they graduate
- in favour of keeping Quarters open. …

Titus has the wording of an affidavit by Andrea Sandau. It is shocking.
Read it over there: http://www.studentunion.ca/2006/10/andrea-sandau-university-relations.html …