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The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday January 18, 2006 - 3 Defence minister calls Tory military plan 'dangerous By Melanie Cummings SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER While Canada's Minister of National Defence, Bill Graham "respects" Conservative Leader Stephen Harper' s idea to have sol diers patrol urban neighbourhoods across the country, it' s "contrary to the purpose of a modem military." The Toronto Centre MP spoke in a pep rally Saturday at Liberal candi date Bonnie Brown' s election head quarters. About 100 supporters, including MPP Kevin Flynn and former Oakville mayor Harry Barrett, gath ered at her Fourth Line and Speers Road campaign office before heading out on a day-long, town-wide doorto-door blitz.' Although the Liberal Party can celled an attack ad on Harper' s pro posed use of Canadian military, wide spread circulation across the Internet has generated a backlash against the party. The visual ad begins with an out of focus headshot of Harper accom panied by an ominous drumbeat heard in the background. As his image comes into sharp focus, a voice-over states `Stephen Harper actually announced he wants to re^m M artin ROW N -- LIESA KORTMANN / OAKVILLE BEAVER RALLYING THE TROOPS: Defence Minister Bill Graham rallies the troops at Oakville Liberal candidate Bonnie Brown's campaign headquarters befqre sending them away on a door-to-door campaign blitz, Saturday morning. increase military presence in our cities. Canadian cities. Soldiers with guns. In our cities. In Canada. We did not make this up. Choose your Canada.' While Graham said he has heard no negative feedback from voters about the ads, others protest that it shines a negative light on Canada's military personnel. The majority of the backlash stems from Canadian men and women of the military, who took its meaning to somehow suggest that soldiers are a threat to Canadian cities. "The ad suggests more than that," said Graham, referring to mar tial law, which was has only been invoked in Canada three times, dur ing both world wars and more recently by the Liberals in October 1970, during Quebec's violent FLQ (Front de Liberation du Quebec) cri sis. At that time, the military only assisted police and guarded govern ment officials and buildings. But the Tories denied such an intention and said a permanent mili tary presence in major Canadian cities is more of an emergency aid. Military have responded in the past to natural disasters such as ice storms in Ontario and Quebec, floods on the Prairies, and hurricanes in Atlantic Canada. "I respect our troops too much to disperse them into little pockets across the country," said Graham. "This would be a dangerous move on any government's part." During Graham's time as minis;s ter of defence he secured the largest increase in defence spending in a generation -- $13 billion in new funds to be spent over the next five years. As far as using disparaging cam paign tactics to gain voter favour, Graham said that the Liberals are simply using words Harper already said to prove their points. Green Party candidate steals spotlight at debate By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF People attending Monday night' s Halton riding debate may have expected a showdown between the Liberal and Conservative candidates but soon witnessed a showcase for the Green Party's Dr. Kyle Grice. It helped that Liberal Gary Carr' s main foil, Conservative Garth Turner, had a prior engagement and was an hour late and that the evening was hosted by the Halton Chapter of Fair Vote Canada and Oakville Green Conservation Association. Yet even after Turner appeared, however, Grice's passion ate regular-guy persona, new ideas and humour stole the show. Anwar Naqvi may have stressed that the NDP was the third alterna tive to the "old-line" Liberal and Conservative parties (what he called "bad and worse") but Grice painted Green as a truly fresh start for the country. Vote for something, he explained, not the lesser of two evils. At one point, after Naqvi and Carr addressed their support for eco-friendly products, Grice prompted one of the biggest laughs from the small crowd inside River Oaks Community Church. "It' s nice to hear them stealing from our platform," he said, adding * that the Green Party doesn't care if it wins a seat as long as its ideas are implemented'. When Turner did show up - in time for a question on guns and vio- Anwar Naqvi NDP Gary Carr Liberal Party ivyie urice Green Party v ja i u i m in e i Conservative Party lence - the debate took a turn for the acrimonious. In fact, after Naqvi characterized tuition breaks as an investment in Canada' s children and future - not simply an expense Turner struck the evening's only truly low blow when he said that was "one of those rare cases when Anwar makes sense." This prompted groans from the audience. When asked what they would do to restore faith in the electoral process, Turner said .that while pro portional representation is a reform that has to happen, electing better MPs is really where change begins. Carr responded by saying that he has always been a strong, free-mind ed MP who has voted against his government nine times - unlike Turner, a former Progressive Conservative MP, who did not stand up and be counted when former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney "destroyed the country." "I'll put my record up against yours any day of he week," Carr added. Earlier in the debate, before Turner's arrival, the issue of reform ing Canada's electoral system saw Grice outline how participatory democracy is one of the Green Party's six key principles along with ecological wisdom, non-violence, social justice, sustainability and diversity. "We are fundamentally grounded to this," he said. "Green Parties around the world are dedicated to this." Naqvi said he feels "very bad" about the current process. `We are the victims of this sys tem," he said. "What kind of democ racy is this? We need reforms." Carr maintained that for far too long, MPs and MPPs have simply been "sales reps for government policies" instead of true advocates for their constituents. "If you take power away from the MPs you take power away from the people," he said. "You have power when you have an MP who stands up." When accused by one questioner of flip-flopping on the same-sex marriage issue, Carr maintained he never said he'd support the bill, but now that it's law, he doesn't believe the Conservatives can reverse that decision. Naqvi said as far as he's con cerned, the matter is settled. Grice echoed that position. As far as guns go, Grice was adamant that people kill, not guns. That said, he's alt for tougher mini mum mandatory sentences, but made it clear that finding ways of preventing crime is key. `Victims will be served best if they're not a victim in the first place," he said. Naqvi, too, came down hard on perpetrators and also said its root causes qiust be addressed. "It' s better to prevent crime than investigate crime," he said. Turner said that while the other candidates are "right in a way," he also stressed a balance between deterrence and fixing the roots of violence - with an emphasis on coming down hard on criminals first. Carr's sentiments echoed the others but he said he still supports the Liberal handgun ban, a stance the other candidates said simply hasn't worked. -O n the matter of childcare, Carr said his government originally ear marked $5 billion for children which includes 500 new spaces in Halton alone - a dollar figure which will be doubled. "This is the first national social program since Medicare," he said. Grice maintained that it's not only essential to look at childcare but also a system that allows more parents to stay home during their children's formative years. Other supportive measures - ranging from flexible work schedules to dropping GST on children's products - are also part of this balance. Naqvi explained that the NDP is committed to a new Childcare Act that would provide 200,000 spaces over four years and increasing child benefits.