Q: I understand that you once met Pierre Trudeau. How did that happen?
A: It was in Whistler in 1990 or ’91. I was working as a busboy at Sushi Village, and Mr. Trudeau came in for dinner. I had the opportunity, and honour, to clear his table at the end of the night. I told him how pleased I was, and he asked me a few questions about what I was doing. I mentioned that I was an aspiring professional snowboarder. He wished me all the best and signed a napkin. It was a really great experience.
Q: Do you still have the napkin?
A: Don’t. It might pop up somewhere, but I haven’t seen it lately.
Q: What do you think of Michael Ignatieff?
A: Well, I think Michael Ignatieff has been a great leader for the Liberal party, and we’re looking forward to the next election campaign. I know the issues are important ones, and as far as I can tell he’s doing a great job of putting those issues on the table and making sure that a great Canadian tradition is carried on.
Q: There’s a new Angus-Reid poll that suggests only 15 per cent of Canadians approve of Ignatieff’s performance as Liberal leader. Why do you think he’s in such difficulty?
A: That’s a great question. But right now, I’m not prepared to talk about Mr. Ignatieff’s popularity. I don’t feel like I have enough information to make a comment on that.
Q: Okay. But you say that you think he’s doing a great job. What is it that he’s doing right?
A: He’s addressing some of the issues that are important to Canadians. For example, calling for equal pay in the workforce for men and women. I think that’s a standard that Canada should take on to set a world example. I think the fact that we’re one of the worst performing countries in terms of the environment is unacceptable. Canada is known as a green, great outdoors sort of country, and the fact that we are contributing more to greenhouse gases than most civilized nations is embarrassing, frankly.
Q: What would you like to see Canada do on the environment?
A: I’d like to see some more sustainable energy—wind power and solar power. Those are flourishing industries and could create a lot of jobs in areas of Canada where there hasn’t been a lot of economic activity. Places that are in the middle of nowhere, where there isn’t a lot going on. Aside from energy, we have the issue of logging. At this point in time, we’re bucking up trees, sending them overseas whole to be cut and processed in foreign mills. That’s not good. We’ve got to protect our jobs here in Canada. Specifically here in the Okanagan-Coquihalla riding.
Q: Are there other issues that you feel strongly about?
A: Absolutely. Affordable child care is one of them—helping out young families. The children are the future. And I think the seniors’ health care situation has to improve. I’ve always maintained that a healthy senior population equals a healthy youth population, as the elders are the ones who teach the youth. If you have a healthy senior population, it just transcends all the way down the line.
Q: What about youth issues? What would you do to try and get young people more involved in Canadian politics?
A: What I’m doing right now—stepping up to the plate and taking a stand against the current political way of thinking. And basically informing young people that voting is important, one vote can make a difference. If we can all get together and vote one way or another, I think democracy in Canada would work a lot better, and represent Canadians in a much broader way. My message to younger Canadians, and I mean 40 and under, is that complacency is not acceptable. We’re sending our Canadian soldiers overseas to create a democracy in a foreign land, and a lot of them are paying the ultimate price. And we can’t even bring ourselves to vote here, when we have that right and privilege? To me, that’s unacceptable.
Q: Have you been a regular voter?
A: No I haven’t. I’ve voted on a couple of occasions in the past, but I’ve been in exactly the same situation as most young people. I’ve not cared about the politicians running for office, and they’ve basically not reached out to our demographic. The messages have been geared to an older generation.
