THEVOICE |

6

There are
no perfect
politicians,
voters must
choose

oter turnout in the Vancouver-
Langara riding was only 50
per cent in the 2013 provincial

election. In the entire province, only 47
per cent of registered voters between
the ages of 18-24 cast their ballots.
Why do B.C. resi-
dents seem not to
care enough about
provincial politics
to vote, but seem
to constantly com-
plain about the
decisions the gov-
ernment makes?

If you're the

OPINION

SYDNEY eligible voter who
thinks you don’t

MORTON want an NDP
government as

they have nothing to offer you other
than a raise in your taxes, don’t think
anyone is going to vote for the Green
party now that marijuana is going to
be legalized, don’t want to go back to
a Harper-esque government by inviting
the Conservatives into the legislature
and don’t want to see Christy Clark as
premier at press conferences for another
four years, what are you to do?

Politics has always been a balance of
trying to meet as wide of a group of vot-

“Provincial
candidates need to
appeal to issues that
address topics that
young voters care
about.”

ers as possible and voters need to identi-
fy which candidate meets most of their
principles. Not every political party is
going to satisfy voters all the time and
fulfill every promise they make. Vot-
ers need to go into the election willing
to compromise and accept that not all
their wishes will be met because there
will never be a candidate who will be
able to achieve it all.

Trudeau’s election to prime minister
has been credited to the young voter
demographic that provincial politi-
cians can’t seem to tap into. Provincial
candidates need to appeal to issues that
address topics that young voters care
about such as finding affordable hous-
ing in the downtown area, and being
a candidate that reflects the values of
young voters.

Christy Clark is out of touch with
voters. She has cut school budgets,
raised housing rates beyond affordabil-
ity for younger voters who want to live
in the downtown area and has become
a problem as shown in the B.C. Federa-
tion of Labour's attack advertisements.
But Clark is not the only choice and if
you get to know the other candidates
you could find one that agrees more
with your principles.

THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2017 |

EDITOR MICHELE PAULSE

Sunset the p

ancouver’s 4/20 rally needs a

reef and with marijuana ad-

vocates in Canada on the lip

of achieving hard fought for
legalization, the
city council and
park board should
lighten up. Find-
ing a place where
participants in
the 4/20 rally, the
city’s contribution
to the worldwide
celebration of can-

OPINION

nabis culture, can. =——————
have their smoke MICHELE
out has been in PAULSE

the air since last

March when the park banned the rally

from city parks.

There’s been enough time for the city
to problem solve to get a place for the
rally to happen = [—
and with the
event being less
than four weeks
away, organiz-
ers rightfully
plan to roll up
at Sunset Beach
again this year.

Organizers
have been taking over city-owned space
without a permit for 21 years — the ral-
ly was held outside the Vancouver Art
Gallery until it was force to move be-

“Residents might wish

to make plans to spend

the day away from their
neighbourhood.”

cause of renovations — and not having
a permit seems to agree with the kind
of illegality associated with the culture.

West End residents who live in the
— front yard of
Sunset Beach
had grievances
about traf-
fic congestion,
aromatic sea
air and _ noise,
last year, that
are valid. But
the complaints
about the 2016 rally were also relatively
mild for an event that attracted 25,000
smokers. With media warning residents

that 4/20 organizers plan to hold the

Viewpoints

lace for 4/20

event at Sunset, residents might wish to
make plans to spend the day away from
their neighbourhood and reduce their
frustrations.

Organizers can also do their part to
weed out problems that added to the
smoke out being an issue last April.
Everyone at the rally was old enough
to smoke and that means they were old
enough to clean up after themselves.
When the rally ends and the air thins,
city crews shouldn't have to walk the
beach to tidy up.

This year might be the beginning of
the end of 4/20 in Canada because after
July 1, 2018, there'll be less of a reason
to rally and pipe up about the country’s
marijuana laws.

| all

oy

First Nations voices needed

t’s about time
I that First Na-
tions people
are standing for

election to the

B.C. legislature.

In the upcom- |i)
ing provincial
election, all parties OPINION
have First Nation ——————————-
candidates for an SASHA
overall total of ZEIDLER

seven First Na-

tions hopefuls for office in Victoria.
That makes five more aboriginal can-

didates than in the last B.C. election.
This is an improvement but the num-

bers are still low.

Considering that First Nations peo-
ple make up 5 per cent of the popula-
tion in B.C., having only 2.5 per cent
of candidates being First Nations still
amounts to minor representation.

When he ran for prime minister, Jus-
tin Trudeau, who made several prom-
ises to First Nations people, attracted
an overwhelming number of votes from
aboriginal people.

Unfortunately, not many of those
promises have been acted on.

The lack of action by the federal gov-
ernment to First Nations people may
be why we have seen a spike in the
number of First Nations candidates in

the B.C. election.

However, much like Trudeau ensured
that women were better represented
women in his
Cabinet, First
Nations people
are making it a
point to be bet-
ter represented

“That makes five more
aboriginal candidates

First Nations people in Canada have
a long history of having their voices and
rights taken away.

Accurate
representa-

tion in politics
would allow
them to reclaim
power and to

in the May elec- than in the last B.C. make decisions
tions. . ” that affect their

All the First election. lives without
Nations candi- [_ _| having to fight
dates are quali- the govern-

fied for office so there needn't be any
assumptions that they might only be
called on to meet a quota.

ment.
Instead, they would be the govern-

ment.

The Voice is pub-
lished by Langara
College’s joumalism
department. Editorial
opinions are those
of the staff and

are independent of
views of the student

government and
administration. We
welcome letters to
the editor. They may
be edited for brevity.
Your letter must in-
clude your name and
phone number.

HOW TO DROP-IN
REACH US Room A226
Langara College
PHONE
604-323-5396 SNAIL MAIL
The Voice
E-MAIL 100 West 49th Ave.
thevoice@langara. Vancouver, B.C.
be.ca V5Y 226
WEBSITE MANAGING EDITOR
langaravoice.ca Melanie Green

CITY EDITOR PAGE 3
Bonnie Lee La Lauren Boothby
Madeleine PAGE 4
Sean Hitrec
CITY DESKER PAGE5
Emelie Peacock Kristyn Anthony
PAGE 6
PAGE EDITORS Michele Paulse
PAGE 1 PAGE7
Chelsea Powrie Stuart Neatby
PAGE 2 PAGE 8
Tanner Bokor Caitlin O'Flanagan

VIDEO EDITORS Cass Lucke

Bala Yogesh Sydney Morton

Clare Hennig Sam Mowers
Cassandra Osbome

REPORTERS Rica Talay

Duncan Anderson Christopher Thoroski

Laura Brougham Shoji Whittier

Jason Gilder Sasha Zeidler

Kurtis Gregory

Evan Hagedorn

Violetta Kryak

Sasha Lakic

CONTACT US
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langaravoice.ca

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@langaraVoice

Erica Bulman - The Voice instructor

ebulman@langara.be.ca