All Candidates Forum: Appearances, Absence & Credibility on the Line

Attended the All Candidates Forum @ the Polish Community Centre last night, although I suppose that is a misnomer, since Salomon Rayek of the Conservatives failed to show. From coast to coast, Conservative candidates are in Stealthmode, so much so, a new website Harpocracy.ca has sprung up to maintain a running count of all of the neoConservatives who have been muzzled by their Brigadier General, Stephen Harper.

I really don't know what could be more shocking... during an election,
candidates are refusing to meet with constituents, refusing to explain their
parties' positions, refusing to participate in DEMOCRACY for heaven's sake.
Again, if this is their conduct during an election, what can any of
us expect if they get in? How can Canadians even consider voting for a party that conducts itself in such a way?

The Main Event

Candidates Present:

Kimball Cariou - Communist Party of Canada
Doug Warkentin - Green Party of Canada
Wendy Yuan - Liberal Party
Donna Petterson - Marxist-Leninist Party
Don Davies - NDP

Right off the bat, the format of the forum was not popular and a lot of people actually left gradually as it played out. It was designed so candidates pulled straws and sat at different tables (Children & Youth,Women's Issues, Immigration & Multi-cultural issues & Poverty Reduction & Housing) and a facilitated discussion took place amongst the parties at the tables.

The Candidates rotated to other tables and then reported out to the larger group. It was good to have some time with candidates, however, it was only one candidate, for a short time, with important discussion carrying on, but not reported on.

Question Time

The question & answer part of the evening also caused some frustration for those asking questions and the candidates. Individuals could direct a question to one candidate and then only one other candidate could get answer the same question. It was just not a succcessful way of proceeding, since constituents had very little
chance to actually hear the differences of the different party platforms.

No offense to the candidates for the Communist & Marxist-Leninist parties and I appreciate the fairness involved in inviting them, but this detracted from being able to hear from the real contenders in this election:

Don Davies, Wendy Yuan & Doug Warkentin.

The Performances

Right off the bat, Wendy Yuan's public speaking challenges became apparent when she was reporting out from the small group discussions. Anyone seeing her last night would have had to developed some serious misgivingsabout her experience and ability to speak in Parliament as our representative. She was not articulate, she said
"uh" almost constantly, isn't a quick thinker on her feet, her command and facility of English is still coming along, she wasn't able to connect with the audience, she was easy to throw off, she was evasive and quite simply was unable to discuss some of the issues.

Right off the hop, Ms. Yuan committed a cardinal sin of public speaking, especially in an election panel. When asked what her party's position was on the Security & Prosperity Partnership (SPP) and Canada's integration into the European Union, she told the audience she thought Canada's involvement with Europe was good, that the Liberal party didn't have a position on the SPP and that she would talk to the questioner "privately" on the matters. There was a collective gasp from the audience at that last bit.

Ms. Yuan also appeared to have sparked some serious anger and hostility from some of the Chinese Falun Gong members in the audience, when she was evasive in answering whether she had stated in a speech the previous day in the Chinese community that China's human rights issues were something they needed to handle internally. It was quite interesting that when the second Falun Gong person was attempting to ask her to confirm her previous answer that she was almost playing some sort of game and she asked him three times to repeat himself, as she didn't understand him. It almost
seemed like some sort of mocking of the man's English. Finally, another woman came over to explain and Ms. Yuan really offended this contingent, who were angrily stating that she was lying to the crowd and they have what she said on tape.I did not get the impression they would leave this one to die and I'd be worried if I were Ms. Yuan.

Now, what was interesting was Don Davies (NDP) followed up with some comments about meeting with a delegation of Falun Gong members in his office recently to discuss the issues, ensuring that the crowd got a glimpse of him as an inclusive and compassionate person, interested in the human rights of all.

Mr. Davies also made two promises to those in attendance.

1. He would never walk across the floor.
2. That he would always have an open door to his constituents.

Mr. Davies also "outed" Ms. Yuan, telling the audience that she rented an apartment in the Collingwood neighbourhood for appearances going into the election. Ms. Yuan had told the audience she, her husband and son had been living in a place in the neighbourhood for over a year. She called this a cheap shot by Mr. Davies, but he was following up with questions asked by a constituent - do you live in the riding, for how long & if you don't, why do you think you can represent the neighbourhood? It was in this set of questions that the frustration of the candidates with the format could also be seen.

There really wasn't a lot more that stood out for me. These were the impressions I was left with:

Ms. Yuan - Despite really wanting to be the V-K candidate, just does not have the leadership, or political experience, the
public speaking, nor credibility to represent this constituency. She also doesn't have the connection to the diverse people of the community and it is really difficult to understand how she would be able to represent the interests of all citizens
in the riding. Last night demonstrated that she has managed to let down, or even betray members of the Chinese community.

I think one of the things last night did for me was demonstrate that although someone can be a hard worker, "successful" (Ms. Yuan made sure we knew she was a successful businesswoman) and wants something really, really badly, doesn't mean they are qualified, or would be good at what they want. And when we're talking about something as huge as representing a constituency like ours, that means a lot.

Doug Warkentin - He came across as a sincere, bright and committed person. But, as his bio points out, he's more of a local leader and activist, he doesn't have the experience, or credibility to move into the big political leagues. We're lucky though
we have someone of his calibre living in V-K and working with us and on our behalf on local initiatives.

Don Davies - He came across as thoughtful, focused, intelligent, a quick thinker, and committed to representing the interests the wide range of citizens in the riding. I think in all honesty, his track record in the riding and the community, as well as his
performance last night demonstrate he is the best candidate to represent the interests and needs of Vancouver-Kingsway.

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Some other things - Someone actually stole my Don Davies - NDP sign right off my lawn last night and although I certainly can't say who it was, Salomon Rayek's people were leafletting in the neighbourhood yesterday as well.

And I have to say, his brochure leaves me VERY unimpressed with the following:

President of a local Electoral District Association for the Conservative Party. Lets be clear - Mr. Rayek has no ties to Vancouver-Kingsway at all. He's been involved with the Richmond-Delta East Conservative Association since at least 2006.
He doesn't live, or work in the riding and in fact is strongly tied to Richmond. I find this choice of language deceptive and unacceptable for a candidate running in this riding.

Also, Mr. Rayek's brochure informs us he is a "regular blood donor," which although that qualifies for my Laugh of the Day, it certaintly doesn't make me feel he's qualified to run to represent our riding in any way.

When one examines About Salomen Rayek, we can see he hasn't done one single thing in this riding, has no political, or community involvement (except with his synagogue, his "place of worship in the riding"), has no political, or community experience beyond holding positions within the neoConservative party. When you add on that he won't attend All Candidate Forums, he won't speak to local media, and he won't meet with constituents in public gathering, why on Earth would anyone waste a vote on this guy? And that is what a vote for Salomon Rayek would be - a waste of a precious Vancouver-Kingsway vote.

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Second All Candidates Meeting tonight

Date: Tuesday, October 7th 2008

Time: 7pm

Location: Collingwood Neighbourhood House
5288 Joyce (@ Euclid, just down from the Skytrain station).