Ambiguity and the Candidates

This Wednesday Red River College students, and those who wanted to join, were invited to a mayoral forum at Red River College featuring Sam Katz and Judy Wasylycia-Leis (which I know how to spell off by heart now thanks to Journalism quizzes courtesy of Steve V). The mayoral forum was mediated by CJOB’s Richard Cloutier and aired live on CJOB. Cloutier investigated the candidates’ platforms through asking his own questions, taking polls and asking questions from the audience, and allowing for questions from he audience that were prearranged.

I personally had some great experiences at the mayoral forum. In a poll of who were affected by crime, I raised my hand, and Cloutier asked me to describe what had happened to me, and what I wanted to know from the candidates. I asked them what they were going to do about youth crime. I was quite nervous sharing my story and asking Sam and Judy my question, I hope it didn’t show in my voice.

In his response Sam said he blamed the revolving door policy and had gone to Ottawa to lobby for change.

Judy responded and talked about how the NDP caucus pushed for tougher laws, but that that is not the only part of the solution. She also said that she was there in Ottawa when Katz lobbied.

Shout out to cbcturner and bkives on Twitter who tweeted these answers. It was neat to see that someone had tweeted about my situation and my question.

I also remember Judy reiterating her point that she intended to increase spending for community clubs so youth don’t feel the need or want to enter a life of crime.

I was also interviewed by CBC and CJOB after the forum on how I felt about the answers to my question. I wasn’t overly satisfied with the answers to be honest. Their answers were vague, as was the entire forum. The candidates rarely gave specific detailed answers, but fit their platforms into the answer of most questions they were asked.

However, I did see Judy overhear my interview with CBC. I had said that community centers were a great idea, but how do we stop crime at night, like when my story had happened. Later, she did mention that there had to be community club programs at night to keep youth away from the life of crime.

Overall, the forum was exciting, nerve-racking, and tense; it was a very interesting event to be part of, even though politics isn’t something I am intensely intrigued by. I’m glad we had the opportunity at our school, and even though I didn’t find much out about the candidates’ plans, I did learn about their personalities, but I’m still pretty torn about who do vote for!