Tag: Politics

Toronto, Election, and LiveSaintJohn

While once again it is getting to be that time for my annual trip to Toronto. This year I am spending 5 nights in Toronto. I have not done up my itinerary yet, but top on my list of things to see is the Hockey Hall of Fame, a Mervisch Play, and Queen’s Square in Toronto. Wow, can’t you just smell the sweet scent of a Federal Election? Unfortunately, I’ll be in Toronto during the CSM but hopefully, the Election call will be shortly after I return. And when I return LiveSaintJohn.ca is going to get up and running. I will spend a little time adding content, and restaurant reviews.CIAO FOR NOW… CEFM

4 more days!

The conservative national convention next week should be very interesting. I’ve been looking forward to it for so long. I am leaving Saint John on Wednesday and will be returning on Sunday.I’ve been busy reading all the amendments and there are some I really disagree with but it should be interesting to hear what others think while I am in Montreal. To finish off I am going to add a letter that I sent around last week about the creation of the Young Conservatives of Canada, which I think with slight amendments in the future should be the best youth program of all the political parties in Canada. Greetings Fellow Conservatives, It is difficult to make a decision on this resolution. Clearly option “C” of maintaining the things as they are is not acceptable. It is defiantly very important to have strong youth involvement in the party. Option “A” of creating a Young Conservatives of Canada seems to be a reasonable proposal and better than option “B”, but has several obvious flaws. The first flaw is that it places the President as a voting member of the National Council, this further diminishes the impact of the provincial elected councilors, and…

Better Policy Needed to Deal with Bus Congestion

I have a concern I’ve noticed happening more often on buses over the past month or so. This effect is happening on the Hospital / UNB and East / West Routes. As the buses are approaching capacity there are normally about three to seven seats left in the rear of the bus, however many UNBSJ students will notice only that there are no seats in the front of the bus and will stand half-way between the front and rear doors, causing a backlog of people standing. I would suggest that the Transit Commission make it policy that all standers must stand in the back of the bus to make it clearer that there are free seats remaining. In addition, I would ask that you contact the University to send out an e-mail to students advising them of this.

Another Victom of the Curse.

Once again another aspiring politician was not elected because I voted for them. Here is the list so far: 2004 Federal Election Bob McVicar (Defeated) 2004 Conservative Leadership Belinda Stonich (Defeated) PC/Alliance Merger Voted Against (defeated) 2003 Federal PC Party Leadership Jim Prentice (Defeated) 2004 Municipal Election Myself (Defeated) 2003 Provincial Election Mel Vincent Jr. (Defeated) 2001 Municipal Election Derek Chase (Defeated) The only exception is when I voted for Elsie Wayne in the 2000 Federal Election.

After the election

Many people have asked me what was it like to run for Mayor of Saint John. The answer was that it was a time of a life time. I was privileged to meet everyone that I did meet. I now have a greater respect for Saint John and the issues about it. I thought that I knew a lot about Saint John from reading the news, and watching council, and working in the community. There are others that thought I would have been better off running for council, but with the total number of people running, and the fact was there where much better people who were running for council with the knowledge and ability to do this city well. To be quite honest the councillors that were elected were some of the best of the crop. Out of the 50 there was actually only about 17 that I thought were the best suited for the job and 9 of them were elected. Now back to the Mayor’s seat. Running for mayor provided me with the best exposure. I was mentioned on the Newspapers, Radio, and appeared on TV. Also, I had many people who would stop and talk to…

Last 3 Days

The last three days have been very interesting. I had the opportunity to meet with many Saint Johners, and received a lot of good feed back. I was saddened to learn that I was not considered by the Fire Department, as I believe my plan would benefit the Fire Department the most out of any candidate.

Royal Visit

It is a typical Friday morning in Uptown Saint John. There are a few people sitting around casually chatting to one another. The big issues on peoples minds are focused on what cuts the Mayor and City Council are going to make in their budget, that the one time great Saint John Flames hockey team are having their season opener later tonight, or that tomorrow is the first day of the long-awaited Thanksgiving Day long weekend. In all there is not much thought being given to the fact that in a small city an hour and a half to the north the queen is arriving. Earlier as I waited what seemed to be an eternity for the bank to open, an elderly man slowly entered and joined me in the wait. Casually I asked him what was his thoughts about the queen. “She is not of great concern,” he said gasping for air, “There are worse ways for the government to waste money, but I like things the way they are, and I would miss it if it was gone. She (the queen) is a magnificent person.” After leaving my table in Market Square, I took a stroll out on…

Bilingual Signs are Great Teaching Tools

Originally Printed in: Saint John Telegraph Journal (August 15th, 2002) Bilingual signs are great teaching tools Although it will cost some money, the new Official Languages Act although will be beneficial to all New Brunswickers. The best part of this is the part where all signs will have to be bilingual. The reason I say this is that it will greatly help the general public to learn more French in the majority English communities and English in majority French communities. When someone passes these new signs every day, after time they will have both the English and the French names memorized. I personally have learned more French from reading government building signs and food containers than 12 years in the New Brunswick school system. I think it will be very beneficial as long as they don’t take it too far and try to translate things like the Saint John sign on Fort Howe.

Student Senator Election Speech

Thursday 27 September 2001 Good Morning, Effective 4 pm on Monday the 24th of September, I declared that I was willing to accept the responsibility, and officially placed my name forward as a candidate for Student Senator. I am not saying that I am the best candidate for this position but that I am without doubt that I am the second best choice, and luckily you are not voting for the best person but the best TWO people. Moreover, it is for this reason that instead of telling you why I am the best candidate I will tell why I am not the worst candidate. First, I will tell you a little about myself. I am an aspiring politician from Saint John, New Brunswick. This is my first year here at St. Thomas and I am in the Journalism program. Second, you might be asking why is a first-year student is going for a position of such importance as Senator instead of going for something more basic like first-year rep? The Answer is that my philosophy is that if you wish greatness you must start near the top. Third, I feel that I have the time, dedication and enthusiasm to…

Commentary on TV Coverage of the “Attack on America”

Jour 1013- Intro. to Journalism Charles E. Frees-Melvin (920722) Thursday 13 September 2001 Subject: Commentary on TV Coverage of the “Attack on America” I woke up on a beautiful summer day, as usual, went to class and came back for a noon rest. I left my dorm room and went to see my neighbours in the next room, who watch movies all the time, I saw the WTC and Pentagon on fire and ask, “What movie is this?” They responded with a “Dude, this is real!” At that moment I returned to my room and turned my T.V. on to watch a day of coverage. Switching back and forth from: NBC/CBC/Global/ABC/CTV/CBS/FOX/CNN/&TBS. I found that most of the footage was from CNN but I was hooked on the commentary by Peter Mansbridge (CBC). Peter made me feel more secure in really knowing what was going on. It was also very helpful to have it from a Canadian perspective. I found that Lloyd Robertson (CTV) did not really have as of a heart touching production as Peter Jennings (ABC News). Some of the most questionable stuff I saw was the broadcast from Global National News where most questionably the showed the man…