Episode 9 of “The Newsroom” includes Aaron Sorkin’s vision for the evolution of political leadership debates.
Yesterday’s Liberal debate in Vancouver might have benefited from Will McAvoy’s prosecutorial interrogation style to probe the candidates’ positions.
The Liberal party’s format of 20, 60 or 90 second sound bites didn’t really lend itself to an in-depth understanding of where the 9 candidates stand on complex issues.
Among the group of 9, George Takach and Marc Garneau continued to stake out claims to being the technology candidates.
From his opening statement, Takach clearly showed that his focus is on digital issues, calling for universal superfast internet access and a digital bill of rights.
Garneau reminded the audience that he too is a technology candidate, having circled the globe 350 times in space. He called for leadership candidates to set out their policy platform in the course of this race. “I have clearly outlined my policies on the issues that are important to Canadians including: the economy and jobs, trade and investment, sustainable development, Aboriginal partnerships and democratic reform.”
But it was Takach who kept returning to the role of digital issues in his vision for Canada.
For example, in responding to questions, Takach suggested high speed internet as a key component in reforming economic opportunities for First Nations. Via Twitter, he clarified that satellite and cellular will be part of the solution.
George Takach is seeking crowd sourced assistance in generating a Digital Bill of Rights. He sets out a number of starting points:
When participating in online activities, Canadians have the right to:
- Be free from surveillance not authorized by a court of law
- Be free from abuse of personal information
- Enjoy an open, uncensored, unobstructed internet
- Enjoy network neutrality and be free from traffic shaping and bandwidth throttling
- Enjoy anonymity, as long as they act responsibly
- Enjoy access to the Internet no matter where they live
What would you add, delete or change?
Will other candidates recognize the importance of digital issues in creating the platform for the Liberals in the next election?