President's Message

The holiday season comes around with an almost depressing regularity; each December it feels like I just finished buying presents for Christmas when it is time to do it all over again. Regardless of what holiday you do or do not celebrate, we can all look forward to what may be the greatest regular celebration of living in a free and democratic society: electing those who govern us. I have had a number of interesting discussions with friends about who they were supporting and why, and I found it interesting that a lot of people's votes were not so much dependant on voting for the person/party of their choice, but for the person most likely to beat the person/party they did not want to win. It strikes me that something is intrinsically wrong with voting for second best to make sure third best (first worst?) does not prevail in a riding. It also seems wrong that in some centres, voters do not feel that their vote matters, especially when there is an incumbent destined to win by a landslide. Conservative in Wolseley? Stay at home. Liberal in Steinbach? Same thing. No vote should be considered a wasted vote, but it is hard not to think just that with the first past the post system. Is proportional representation or some variety of it an issue, at least provincially, MARL should look into? Maybe. Our strategic plan calls for us to examine ways to push the rights and liberties agenda in Manitoba instead of just responding to it. You will see from Michael Conner's report that our Charter and Legislative Review Committee is strong and doing well. If you have ideas that you would like this committee or our reinvigorated Education committee to look into, give us a call.

Still on the topic of elections, we saw on the first day on the hustings the leader of the Conservative Party suggest holding a free vote in the House of Commons on the issue of same-sex marriage. MARL has proudly supported legislation guaranteeing true equality for same-sex couples wishing to marry. As human rights advocates and civil libertarians, it is up to us to ensure when an opponent of equality comes asking for our votes we get our message across. Do not be timid at the front door or on the phone if someone is looking for your support. Ask tough questions and let your voice be heard, irrespective of who gets your vote. No right-thinking politician (ignore the pun for this to make sense) would call for a free vote on the question of whether interracial marriages should be considered "real" or "traditional" marriages, so why should it okay to do the same for gays and lesbians? Keep a vigilant and jealous watch for all of our human rights.

As you will see from our Executive Director's report, MARL is not taking part in the Asper Foundation Human Rights and Holocaust Studies programme this year. This means that MARL is saying goodbye to our coordinator for that programme, Dorota Praski. Dorota has been with MARL on a contract basis for five years and served the education programme and MARL exceptionally well. We will miss her effervescence, good humour, organizational skills and tremendous people-power. Thanks Dorota, and we look forward to working with you in the future.

MARL would like to start 2006 with a bang. One of our long-term goals to address the funding pressures that many non-profit organisations face is to increase our membership. We are actually hoping to double our membership, which will be easy with your help: when you are done with this newsletter, pass it on to a friend or colleague who shares your commitment to human rights and civil liberties, talk about MARL and encourage membership in MARL. It is because of our members that we have been able to accomplish so much in the last 26 years, and it will be because of our membership that we will be able to continue to do the work that is so important to us all. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and may your 2006 be healthy and peaceful.