Ottawa

The next generation

The Prime Minister’s Office presently includes at least three former members of the student council at the University of Western Ontario and the student newspaper at Western has groomed some of the finest writers in Ottawa (Wells, Feschuk, Delacourt), so not only because student politics are fascinating experiments in democracy is it worth following the Gazette’s exhaustive election blogging. To wit.

The current social science president is the front runner going into the campaign because of his largest faculty on campus base and the lack of another widely-known candidate. His platform will likely be fairly safe — think Mike Tithecott’s last year — which is good for him because it gives us media types less fodder to grill him on. It’s bad for constituents (that’s you!) because they may not see much innovation or challenging ideas put forth, but no one ever remembers the platform anyway, so outside council chambers and the Gazette office the point is moot. Forgione is personable, clean-cut and prepared — at this stage he’s easily the favourite.

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