[d at DCC] Mr. Angus in the House.

[Robert Smits]

On Thursday 23 November 2006 20:10, Russell McOrmond wrote:
> Robert Smits wrote:
> > Yes. It looks very likely that we will be facing another federal election
> > in early spring - February or March is my guess. The Tories are extremely
> > frustrated in not having a majority and not being able to reveal their
> > true colours on a whole range of issues. I think copyright is just one of
> > them.
>
>    I disagree that Copyright is a partisan issue.  Remember that in the
> USA it was the Democrats (specifically a task force headed by Al Gore)
> that gave us the NII Copyright Protection Act of 1995 (it failed), which
> lead to the 1996 WIPO treaties, and then the USA passing their DMCA
> (signed by Clinton).

I think you've misunderstood me. I'm not suggesting copyright is, or should 
be, a partisan issue. What I do suggest is that because the tories are so 
frustrated at not being able to reveal their agenda, an early election is 
more likely than not. 

However, based on what we've seen so far, I have deep concerns that the Tories 
will be even less copyright friendly than the Liberals.

>     This is not an issue that "the left" is better at than "the right".
>   The Liberals couldn't push through C-60 because they too were in a
> Minority government situation.

I agree with the conclusion, though I don't think I'd describe Liberals as 
"left" on anything. 

>    Mr. Angus as an individual in the NDP is as strong as he is because
> he is himself an independent creator, not because of his party.  Prior
> to his getting elected the past NDP Heritage critic, Wendy Lill, was far
> more a copyright maximalist than nearly anyone else in the house.

Thank goodness we've changed. I agree about Wendy, as she saw everything as a 
playwright and dealt with all copyright through that lens.

>
>    We need to remember this as we go forward, and to not allow external
> partisan issues to paint how we approach this.  We want support from as
> many parliamentarians as possible.

Agreed, but I wasn't suggesting that we do that. At this point, I certainly 
agree with, and fully support, a "non-partisan" approach on copyright. 



-- 
Robert Smits, Ladysmith BC Email bob at rsmits.ca