Digital Copyright Canada

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

Member of Parliament for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country / West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky Country

Name: John Weston
e-Mail: <Weston.J@parl.gc.ca>
Party: Conservative Party of Canada

Here is a list of the top ridings I'll be watching this election night, and why. Click on the ridings to get more details, articles, etc.

Timmins--James Bay

Obvious place to start the list, with incumbent Charlie Angus of the New Democrats expected to keep his seat. He is the incumbent MP who best understands technology law issues, whether it be Copyright or Net Neutrality. He has also been very successful in educating and working within his caucus to enable the NDP to have some of the strongest candidates in this election.

Hill Times journalists Abbas Rana, Simon Doyle and Harris MacLeod have assembled a list of 57 ridings in British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, where the parties won or lost by a margin of about five per cent or less in the last federal election. This is a superset of what Michael Geist called the Copyright MPs which won their riding by 10 percent or less in the last election and their riding is home to a university.

Blair Wilson of B.C.'s West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country riding crosses the floor to join the Green Party. Green Party press release

"Today we make history," said Ms. May. "I am grateful for Mr. Wilson's principled belief that the Green Party deserves a voice in Parliament and for his firm commitment to democracy. With a Green MP sitting in the House of Commons, it will now be impossible to exclude the Green Party from the televised leaders' debates in the next election."

Other reports: CTV, CBC

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.

Election 2006: Please add comments to discuss riding specific activities, links to candidate information, etc.

Incumbent information

West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast / West Vancouver–Sunshine Coast
MP: John Reynolds (Parliamentary Internet)

From Andrea Goldsmith:

Music File-sharing: What is your position on the issue of file-sharing in Canada--should it be illegal?

;:Criminal law is a poor way to deal with file sharing and it is a poor way to deal with marijuana. Deliberate violations of copyright law in Canada should be treated as misdemeanors at most, but civil law suits are the best way to deal with any systematic exploitation of artists. Laws to protect artists must be just that, not laws to protect their agents or publishers or heirs necessarily, and the law must protect even more strongly against misleading or abusive contracts that are preventing artists from realizing gains from the art they've created.