Massively [OT] Re: [oclug] tell your municipal politician ab

[Marc Fortier]

On Tue, 14 Aug 2001 bbarnett at L8R.net wrote:

>> SNIP <<
>
> I'm all for multiculturalism.  One thing that pisses me off though is when
> people are given citizenship when they can't speak English or French properly.
> What _really_ burns me up is if their kids (natural born Canadians) can't.
> Rare, but I've seen it.  I also feel that no one that has been given Canadian
> citizenship should be allowed to hold any public office or position (government
> paid or elected) for 10-20 years.  You honestly can't represent people in your
> district if you don't fully understand the laws, and there are a lot of
> cultural differences between countries that it takes years to pick up.  In
> fact, it should probably be 16 years, or whatever the provincial standard is
> for you to become an adult.  That way it can be applicable to ALL Canadians.
>
Whoa!  Now there's a radical idea!  Make sure politicians are actually
competent before you let them run for office?  I think it's a good idea,
but I'd prefer a different method for insuring competency.  Simply living
in the country didn't help Stock with his analogy of Canadians flowing
into the US like the water flowing over Niagra Falls.  :)  Of course his
bigger mistake was to blame his aide for the gaffe.

I think politics is important enough to make it's practitioners
professionals, and require that they go through some sort of educational
program (university level) and even have an aptitude test at the end.

Think about it.  Lawyers have to pass the LSAT first, study for 4 years or
so, then pass the bar exam.  Doctors are even worse off.  Why not put
future politicians through the wringer before we let them run for office?

		Marc
-- 
Marc Fortier
@home:	mfortier at conscoop.ottawa.on.ca
@work:	mfortier at site.uottawa.ca