Canada’s 34 NCMPs (New Copyright MPs)
p2pnet news view | Politics:- While copyright reform is unlikely to emerge as a top legislative priority in the current economic environment, there is little doubt that the Conservative minority government will return to the issue (whether Jim Prentice leads that charge as Industry Minister or shifts to Foreign Affairs is a separate matter).
With that in mind, having Members of Parliament who will speak out on the need for a balanced approach to copyright that preserves user rights is essential.
Coming out of last night’s election, 34 candidates who supported the copyright pledge during the campaign were elected – 11 Liberals and 23 New Democrats, covering 8 of 10 provinces (only NB and Saskatchewan do not have a copyright MP).
In some ridings – particularly Edmonton-Strathcona where Conservative Rahim Jaffer lost to the NDP’s Linda Duncan – it is certainly possible that copyright swung enough votes to help make the difference.
Looking ahead, the tens of thousands of Canadians who support fair copyright will look to build on this solid base of support so that fair copyright receives wide support in Parliament.
The New Copyright MPs »»»
Carolyn Bennett, Liberal MP, St. Paul`s, ON
Ujjal Dosanjh, Liberal MP, Vancouver South, BC
Glen Pearson, Liberal MP, London North Centre, ON
Joyce Murray, Liberal MP, Vancouver Quadra, BC
Marlene Jennings, Liberal MP, NDG-Lachine, QC
Paul Szabo. Liberal MP, Mississauga South, ON
Gerard Kennedy, Liberal MP, Parkdale-High Park, ON
Frank Valeriote, Liberal MP, Guelph, ON
Shawn Murphy, Liberal MP, Charlottetown, PE
Mike Savage, Liberal MP, Dartmouth-Cole Harbour, NS
Bonnie Crombie, Liberal MP, Mississauga Streetsville, ON
Charlie Angus, New Democrat MP, Timmins-James Bay, ON
Olivia Chow, New Democrat MP, Trinity-Spadina, ON
Libby Davies, New Democrat MP, Vancouver East, BC
Bill Siksay, New Democrat MP, Burnaby-Douglas, BC
Dawn Black, New Democract MP, New WestminsterCoquitlam, BC
Irene Mathyssen, New Democrat MP, London-Fanshawe, ON
Wayne Marston, New Democrat MP, Hamilton East – Stoney Creek, ON
Jean Crowder, New Democrat MP, NanaimoCowichan, BC
Denise Savoie, New Democrat MP, Victoria, BC
Judy Wasylycia-Leis, New Democrat MP, Winnipeg North, MB
Pat Martin, New Democrat MP, Winnipeg Centre, MB
Alex Atamanenko, New Democrat MP, BC Southern Interior, BC
Paul Dewar, New Democrat MP, Ottawa Centre, ON
Chris Charlton, New Democrat MP, Hamilton Mountain, ON
John Rafferty, New Democrat MP, Thunder Bay Rainy River, ON
Niki Ashton, New Democrat MP, Churchill, MB
Don Davies, New Democrat MP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Jack Harris, New Democrat MP, St. John’s East, NF
Megan Leslie, New Democrat MP, Halifax, NS
Bruce Hyer, New Democrat MP, Thunder Bay Superior North, ON
Carol Hughes, New Democrat MP, Algoma Manitoulin Kapuskasing, ON
Linda Duncan, New Democrat MP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB
Malcolm Allen, New Democrat MP, Welland, ON
Michael Geist
[Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. He can be reached by email at mgeist[at]uottawa.ca and is on-line at www.michaelgeist.ca.]
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October 15th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Not a conservative amongst the bunch, no real surprise I guess
And no BQ members ? Not translated to french ? Or they are just more worried about trying to leave Canada?
October 15th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
That’s sad. Voter turnout was down 6%, Liberal Party seats down, and the Conservatives (who everyone hates) gained more seats.
Worse than that, apparently Harper got re-elected.
On the good side, 34 MPs in office that will fight the MAFIAA is definitely good news.
Don’t know why voter turnout was down when there were more reasons to vote now than any election in the past. Oh well, looks like the Conservatives will continue screwing over Canada for quite some time.
October 15th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
How many MPs are there in Canada? Is 34 a sizable amount?
October 15th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
308.
October 15th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
It should be noted the party line for the NDP is firmly against C-61 and is seems to be much more pro-consumer than the Cons and the Libs. The Libs aren’t as open as the NDP, but they are far and away better than the Cons and don’t like C-61 either. I don’t know the Bloq’s line on it, however, but I would suspect the are between the Cons and the Libs, but probably leaning more towards the Libs. I suspect the only way it will pass in its current language would be if Mr. Harper were to make it a confidence motion, which wouldn’t shock me.
Now, speaking of the Cons take on the issue, I was able to have a frank discussion re: C-61 with my local MP, a Con. He’s not all that knowledgable on the bill, but is aware that there are problems with the current text of it, and he assures me that the PTBs driving the bill are also aware of the problems and *may* try to find a more sensible balane before re-introducing it.
@an Arse: We should count ourselves lucky. The only reason we didn’t get a majority Cons gubment is directly related to Harper’s ham-handedness with issues important to Quebec in the days leading up to the election. The comment he uttered about “normal Canadians don’t care about the arts” went over like a lead balloon in QC. If the Cons had been as successfull in QC as they were on ON or NB, it would have been a much different picture.
Bonus to come from this election, there’s going to be a major shakeup in the Liberal party. Either they turf Dion or, I suspect, there may be some defections to the NDP or Green parties.
October 15th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
Dear an Arse
The general consensus is that nothing much has changed, despite a C$30 million expenditure of tax payers’ money on this election. As a person who has never voted before I can tell you I was motivated enough to cast my vote to make sure Harper didn’t get his majority.
And on the question of the low voter turn-out, I’m not surprised people are apathetic when a 1.37% voter swing can give the Conservatives an extra 20 seats in parliament and yet the Greens didn’t get any seats with a 2.33% gain in votes. I think the biggest message of this election is that Canada needs proportional representation. Then the nearly one million people who voted for the Greens will feel that their votes really counted. And perhaps many others might be encouraged to vote feeling the same way.
Finally, as tinfoil pointed out, Quebec played a key role in stopping the Conservatives from potentially taking the whole country. That they are a people onto themselves, nobody can deny. And, it’s deliciously ironic that Mr. Harper himself initiated his own downfall in that province. A heartfelt thanks to Newfoundlanders as well.
October 16th, 2008 at 10:11 am
Liz,
It should be noted that the election did not cost C$30 million. Rather, some estimates have it at closer to C$300 million. As the final figures aren’t in, it’s impossible to get an exact figure just yet.
http://election.globaltv.com/analysisdetail.aspx?sectionid=221&postid=50947
October 23rd, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Funny that many that complain about the Conservatives support for a new copyright bill have forgotten that the Liberals started this move. They brought out bill C-60 which was defeated when the Liberals lost power.
http://www.innovationlaw.org/projects/dcr/reform/timeline.htm
If you don’t like the bill. Talk to your fiends, neighbours, relatives and anybody else you can to write to their MP to put a stop to this.
As far as the election is concerned. I think it was a good time to call an election. At least we have a government in power that won’t need to call an election (unless forced to by the opposition) during the worst recession/depression in many of our lifetimes. The last thing we need is an election called during a major time of crisis. You don’t get good government then.