Who would you spend an hour with?

Who are the candidates?
To add a little personal edge to this election, I approached each
candidate with the following question: "If for one hour you could hang
out with one person, anyone dead or alive, who would it be and why?"
Three of the four candidates were quick to get back with pretty
impressive responses. I thought St. FX might enjoy their opinions.

Matt MacGillivray
"This isn't too hard a question though; it would have to be Hunter
"Patch" Adams. In case you don't know who that is; he's the one the
movie Patch Adams (Staring Robin Williams) was based on. It's a really
great movie as well if you're looking for something to rent sometime.
I always found it inspirational how he took what was at the time an
often cold, unfeeling medical profession and saw the necessity to
bring joy to people's lives to inspire wellness. He also showed
interest in free health care (something we often take for granted in
Canada) starting the Gesundheit Institute which is "dedicated to
revolutionizing health care delivery by replacing what the Institute
sees as greed and competition with generosity and compassion"
(courtesy Wikipedia, lol). He developed "Humanitarian Clowning" as
well, where they send clowns to war zones, refugee camps, orphanages
and the like to try and bring some joy to the lives of children there.
So basically he dedicated his life to healing and bringing joy to the
lives of others, something I can't help but respect. He did this in a
very novel way and I just find him to be a very interesting character,
so I wouldn't mind hanging out with him for an hour.
I imagine you might have been expecting (or hoping for) someone
political, but I think this is better."

Scott Matheson
"[G]reat question! My answer would be Sir Paul McCartney. I've always
thought that he was the best member of the Beatles, he's a great bass
player, he was the leader of the Wings, he is an incredibly talented
overall musician, and he seems to be an all around good guy. I was
never a fan of the second wife - haha, I was always a Linda a fan. One
question I would have for him was who's idea was it to come to Canada
and protest the seal hunt - his or his ex-wife's? He certainly made a
fool of himself when he was talking to Danny Williams, so I hope it
was the latter. "

Pat Conners
"Someone I have wanted to meet for a long time is Nelson Mandela. I
read one of his autobiographies in grade 12 titled "A Long Walk to
Freedom." It's a story that has stuck with me. I'm sure you know his
story. But I find it remarkable that a man who spent almost his entire
life fighting for freedom for his people against a brutally racist
government would be filled with not an ounce of malice toward his
oppressors upon his release after 27 years in jail. Rather, he was
ready to forgive in order to build a better South Africa based off
equality of all of its people. That ability to forgive as part of an
effort to attain a higher goal is somewhat unbelievable. But it is
what makes him such an outstanding person. I would love to be able to
shake his hand."

Julia Clarke
MIA. Maybe lost in cyber space?
*******
Julia is NOT MIA. It seems I was the one who was MIA-F (moderately intoxicated and facebooking). Julia I sincerely apologize.
Her response is as follows:

"I thought about this for quite a while and I have decided that if I could meet with anyone at all for an hour, it would have to be Oprah Winfrey. Her success is an inspiration to any woman or person for that matter. She once said “ The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.” This is a philosophy I have come to live by. I realize that if there is something you want, you need to work at it until you achieve it. I want to do well in school and get a good job, I work hard everyday to get to that goal. I didn’t just wake up one day and decide I wanted to be Vice-President, it was something that brewed overtime. When I realized how much of a difference I could make, I knew this was something I wanted to do."

Matt, Hunter Adams has definitely touched my heart. A solid
do-gooder, but actually getting it done. Anyone who hasn't seen the
movie starring Robin Williams should really consider investing two
hours to laugh, smile, cry and learn about this passionate
humanitarian.
"It's humiliating that a person who kicks a ball makes more money that
a school teacher" –Hunter Patch Adams

Scott, I have to admit, I did loose a lot of respect for Sir
McCartney when he showed up on my homeland to protest something he
obviously was ignorant to. Must have been the new wife's idea. I
think he should stand a little more true to the following quote:
"Think globally, act locally"-Sir Paul McCartney

Pat, it is quite impressive how dedicated a man was to the fight for
freedom but at the same time holding onto peace. A pioneer of
democracy in South America, Nelson Mandela is a hero.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the
world." –Nelson Mandela

Julia, with reference to Oprah Winfrey I'm not sure how I feel. I do see a lot of charitable donations on her part, but she has so much control. I'm not sure if she's using it to her full potential. Maybe something you could talk to her about? I am enjoying her Barak Obama support tho.
“You know you are on the road to success if you would do your job, and not be paid for it.” -Oprah Winfrey


Until next time,
-sf