Digital Copyright Canada

Elections Canada Electoral district profile (Links to Map, Past Candidates, and Past Election Results)

Member of Parliament for Burnaby-New Westminster / Burnaby - New Westminster

Name: Peter Julian
e-Mail: <Julian.P@parl.gc.ca>
Party: New Democratic Party

There is now a first issue of This Week in Vancouver, intended to be the weekly newsletter of Vancouver Fair Copyright. It includes a link to their MP Meetings which describes what meetings have already happened.

There was a skit this evening on the Rick Mercer Report titled "38th Parliament, First Session transcripts, sung by a choir" that involved a choir singing passages from the hansard (Transcript of things said in the Canadian house of Commons). One of the lines read was of MP Peter Julian tabling the first batch of petitions saying "The petitioners also call upon parliament to ensure that users are recognized as interested parties and are meaningfully consulted about any proposed changes to the copyright act"

I have to wonder -- is there someone involved with the RMR that would consider talking to us about copyright as "preaching to the choir"? Maybe having the petition sung on national television will convince more people to sign.

Here are the preliminary results for the ridings we were watching closely. There are some very positive outcomes for us, especially in the two top ridings we were watching. This is hopefully an indication of a positive future for creators and users of "works of the mind".

General results from the Library of Parliament.

Parkdale--High Park

Peggy Nash wins the election, unseating Hollywood's member of parliament, Sarmite Sam Bulte.

Timmins--James Bay

Independent writer, broadcaster and musician Charlie Angus retains his seat. This is an important win for Canadian independent creators.

Durham

Bev Oda, possibly the new Minister of Heritage.

Jeanne-Le Ber

Liza Frulla, past Heritage Minister, looses her seat.

All Candidates Debate
7502 2nd Street Burnaby
Thursday 19th January 7:30
according to the blog of the Green Party Candidate.

http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/6836/1997/1600/Pubcrawl.jpg

New west Chamber of Commerce is holding an all-candidates meeting at the Burr Theatre 6:30pm - 8:30pm Tuesday Jan 17th.
Website

I received a phone message from Peter Julian, incumbant and NDP candidate.

Essentially, he reminded me of the work we've done together on this and confirmed that his stance on these issues hasn't changed.

I received a reply to my copyright questions from Scott Janzen, Green Party candidate :

Thank you for your interest in my campaign. Feel free to post my responses verbatim.

1. I believe that anyone who owns a computer should have complete control on which programs are installed on their machine and that all installed software should disclose any programs contained in the installation that may restrict or control the functions of the owner's computer.

2. Once any media is purchased, it is ridiculous to expect to control the way in which the media is enjoyed by the consumer. If you buy a DVD in Canada and travel to the UK, you should be able to enjoy your purchase in the UK. If you have purchased music over the years and wish to enjoy your investment on your new iPod, then you should not be restricted to do so. Any company that attempts to control its customers is doomed because we don't want to be told what to do, least of all by companies we pay to have the "priveledge" of using their product. The next "control" might be restriction of reading the newspaper in the bathroom. How far do we want to go with this?

The following ridings are considered to be of special interest to our community.

Parkdale--High Park

Close race between Peggy Nash and Sarmite Sam Bulte. Ms. Bulte is a close friend of the incumbent foreign intermediaries, and possibility to become the next Heritage Minister if the Liberals form the government. She is seen by our community as one of the greatest threats to Canadian creativity, especially independents and creators using alternative methods of production, distribution and funding. Anyone with ties to this riding should do what they can to support Ms. Nash and ensure that Ms. Bulte does not win her seat.

Timmins--James Bay

Riding of independent writer, broadcaster and musician Charlie Angus. He was also the NDP Heritage critic. It is important that this independent creator, who understands the competitive issues in Copyright, is in the next parliament. He was sent signatures to the Petition for Users Rights which he offered to table for us, but this did not happen before the election was called.