www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, April 10, 2015 | 34 Critique of PM Harper's leadership topic of author's latest book by John Bkila Oakville Beaver Staff Artscene "Connected to your Community" P rime Minister Stephen Harper gets a failing grade for his democratic leadership, according to author and former Oakville resident Michael Harris. That's the topic of the 67-year-old investigative journalist's latest book, Party of One: Stephen Harper and Canada's Radical Makeover. His criticism of the current government and Harper is the reason the Oakville contingent of the multi-partisan group Reclaim Our Democratic Canada (RODC) invited Harris to speak in town Wednesday (April 15). The free event starts at 7 p.m. at the 707 Galaxy Banquet Hall, 475 North Service Rd. E. "We invited him (Harris) to speak because we feel (his book) is an important critique of our current government," said Judy Rivard, RODC treasurer. "We're concerned of the direction the government is taking the country in and Canada's role in the world. We feel there is a deterioration of the Canadian democratic process." It's a sentiment Harris shares; stating Canada has undergone a radical makeover under the current government. "The premise (of the book) is really taking the Prime Minister's own advice. He said, `don't listen to what a politician says, watch what they do'," Harris told the Oakville Beaver. "And this book is a very close analysis of what he has done, heavily Michael Harris documented... this is a dissection of what exactly has been done. I think it's the only full record that exists of what he's done." A former parliamentary correspondent in Ottawa and bureau chief for the Globe and Mail, Harris has been an investigative journalist since 1986 and now is a national columnist for the Ottawa-based news website iPolitics. He's written eight non-fiction works, three of which have been made into films, and one children's book. Harris said his reasons behind writing Party of One was a result of the alarms that were being sounded from certain individuals stating the Canadian parliamentary system was on the brink of disfunctionality and in crisis. Those individuals included Peter Milliken, the longest serving speaker of the House of Commons; former auditor gen- eral of Canada Sheila Fraser; and Robert Marleau, former information commissioner. "(They) said our democracy needs to be restored. The implication was, if you have to restore something, it means it's gone," said Harris. "I took a good close look and came up with their reasons for saying that in detail and watched what they had done in a lot of other files. "I'm of the opinion that if Canada is to be what it used to be and what a lot of people worked to make it, then the stuff that this prime minister has done is going to have to be reversed...." In addition to discussing the premise behind his book and its themes, Harris said he wants those who attend the Oakville talk to realize no matter what government is in power, what will kill democracy is the country's diminishing voter turnout. "I want them to realize that one of the reasons our democracy is failing -- and probably in the end it'll be the fatal one if it keeps going this way -- only 60 per cent of us vote anymore.... It's just like in grade school, that's not a very good mark," he said. "I know politics can be depressing, I know it can be discouraging, but the only way to fix politics is for the people to take it back and get involved, no matter who they support. "I'd be happy if we could move the voter turnout from 60 to even 65 (per cent) -- that would be a big, big improvement," Harris added. Sean Reyes, former Oakville resident and Christian music artist, recently won a pair of awards from the Akademia Music Awards. | photo by Christa Hann, courtesy of Christa Hann Photography Akademia Music Awards recognizes Sean Reyes Former Oakville resident and Christian music artist Sean Reyes recently won two awards during the Akademia Music Awards. Held last month in Los Angeles, Calif., the awards presentation recognizes excellence in music throughout the world. Reyes won best Christian rock song for his tune Your Love Reigns, while Guide Me Home took best Christian acoustic rock song. Reyes, who previously lived in Oakville for 25 years and is now a resident of Guelph, has spent the last year and a half fine-tuning his craft. "His message of faith, hope, love and laughter has been a divine mission since a brutal attack in 2009 caused a traumatic brain injury and left Sean fighting for his life," stated a press release. "Late 2014 led to new opportunities for Sean as he was contacted by the A&R department of The Extreme Tour and asked to meet with them this May to consider joining their 2015 Summer/Fall Tour roster." The Extreme Tour, now based in Nashville, Tenn., began in Idaho as a grassroots cultural outreach project. It is a faith-based effort that uses extreme sports and music events to reach at-risk youths with services that would help them make positive decisions. The Extreme Tour reaches more than 100 North American cities per tour. Art Odyssey returns to showcase artwork of HDSB students Students of the Halton District School Board (HDSB) want to take residents on an Art Odyssey tomorrow (Saturday). The fourth art competition, held at Pine Grove Public School (529 Fourth Line), allows students to showcase their talents in visual arts and helps raise awareness of the importance of art education in schools. Held from noon to 4 p.m., this year's competition will feature more than 400 pieces of art from students in Grades 4-8, representing 29 Halton schools (12 of which are from Oakville). Students' works are scored by a panel of judges to determine a first, second and third place winner in each of the different categories, divisions and geographical areas. More than 140 medals will be handed out and 21 pennants will be awarded to schools -- pennants are awarded to schools that get enough of a medal count to place first, second or third in its particular division/area. "The competition exists to help promote visual arts within the community and the school board, and to provide a venue for creative, technical, and designoriented artists who require a more rigorous process than typically provided within the context of a typical art show," said Martin Kay, Art Odyssey organizer and art teacher with the HDSB. For more arts news and photo galleries, visit oakvillebeaver.com / insidehalton.com