Concordia student launches Liberal Party campaign

Press photo

Concordia political science student, Jordan Gentile, launched his campaign on Nov. 20 to become the official candidate for Member of Parliament of the Pierrefonds-Dollard riding for the Liberal Party of Canada.

Press photo

Over 50 people were in attendance at the launch. The goal of the launch was to enable members of the community to become better acquainted with Gentile. Gentile is the current Riding President for the Federal Liberal Riding Association of Pierrefonds-Dollard.

“I was very happy with the result of the launch,” said Gentile. “The people who attended were both optimistic and encouraging and I had the opportunity to make some valuable contacts.”

As a Member of Parliament, Gentile would represent each person of the Pierrefonds-Dollard district in Ottawa.

“[I’d] ensure that they have their collective voices heard,” said Gentile, who described this as the most important task. He wants to represent his riding in Ottawa rather than have Ottawa represent them in the riding.

“The only way to properly represent your citizens is to know them,” said Gentile. To ensure this, Gentile said he’d meet with them on a regular basis and spend all the time he could in his electoral district.

“A Member of Parliament does not just attend fundraisers or meetings, they need to bring policy from the riding level to the national level and I vow to do that from the first day I am elected,” he said.

Gentile explained his experience has been rewarding thus far with the support of his family and friends who have helped to get the campaign going.

Working as the Riding President of Pierrefonds-Dollard for the past two years, Gentile said he realized the people in his riding deserve better.

“I truly believe that I possess all of the qualities to represent Pierrefonds-Dollard to the level they deserve,” said Gentile.

As he explained on his website, Gentile’s main objective as Riding President is to show his community that the Liberal Party is still alive and relevant in the district.

“I realized the hard work needed to begin rebuilding this party and began to rebuild the party from the ground up—starting at my local constituent level,” wrote Gentile. “I will put just as much muscle into winning this nomination as I have in rebuilding this riding,” he continued.

Besides his role as Riding President, Gentile is Regional President for West Montreal for the Liberal Party—part of Justin Trudeau’s Leadership program—and was chief organizer for Équipe Denis Coderre candidates in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro district during the 2013 municipal election.

Gentile said his political science courses at Concordia helped him gain a wide understanding of the political field, including both the academic and personal aspects.

“The greatest help has been the teachers. Having professors who are experienced in the field of political science has allowed me to understand what it takes to be a politician and what adversities I might face.”

The next step for Gentile is to meet and sign up Liberal Party members from the Pierrefonds-Dollard district, as this is required for anyone presenting themselves for nomination. Once the date of the nomination election is announced, Gentile will bring his members to vote. The nomination candidate with the most votes then becomes the official candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada in Pierrefonds-Dollard for the next federal election.

“I am also going to take this opportunity to get even more known in the area because people need to know who their Member of Parliament will be,” said Gentile.

Those wishing to know more about Gentile can visit his website: www.jordangentile.ca

1 comment

  1. Jan. 24, 2014

    A signed hard copy of the following was sent, on Dec. 10, 2013, to the offices of Liberal Party of Canada and its leader Justin Trudeau.
    ……………………………………………………………………………………………

    December 10, 2013

    Thank you for the :

    ” Liberal Statement on Human Rights Day

    JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA-Liberal Rights, Freedoms, and International Justice Critic, Irwin Cotler, Issued the Following statement today on Human Rights Day:

    “Today, we commemorate the 65 th anniversary of the United Nations’ adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights – the Magna Carta of human rights – and Reflect on the essential rights guaranteed to every child, woman, and man across the globe…. ”

    It is in the above spirit that I write the following:

    An Open Letter to Justin Trudeau, Leader of the Federal Liberal Party :

    It is out of respect for the fundamental principle of democracy , the teaching profession , and your departed father, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau , that I write this letter.

    Three weeks ago, it was announced on radio , television and newspaper that Marcus Tabachnick (MT), former long-time chairman of the Lester B. Pearson School Board, is hoping to be the candidate for the Liberal party in the next federal election. Even though the official nomination meeting will be held next spring, a website has been dedicated for his run, and a pre-launch party was scheduled for Dec. 1.

    MT claims that he missed ” serving the community ” but what did he actually do for the community to make the claim ? As head of the Quebec English School Boards Association (QESBA), he was in a position to challenge laws which further curtailed English rights in Quebec. I witnessed lawyer Brent Tyler tell the Supreme in Canada on Dec. 15, 2008, that QESBA did nothing and remained mute for six years concerning the issue of access to English schools (Bill 104).

    Meanwhile, though, there appeared to be no hesitation for MT to say that he was ” embarrassed ” by the actions of the Pearson board’s teachers. This occurred during a labour dispute with the provincial government, dealing with their efforts to highlight matters that included being the lowest paid in Canada. Difficult to imagine a more inappropriate remark from a person who claims to represent an educational organization. As a former teacher yourself would you not that remark to be highly offensive and inappropriate for somebody claiming to represent the community ?

    I recall well the Council meeting of Dec. 19, 2005, when both the president and the former president of the teachers union, asking Mr. Tabachnick to reconsider his condescending remarks about the teachers, who were educating the 24,000 children of the community.

    What a perfect opportunity to show character and true leadership, but the Chairman said nothing to calm the matter.

    So, why did he really step down from his school board position? According to his biography, on the net, ” an unexpected business opportunity was offered ” and he “couldn’t say no” and so he claimed that he quit the board in late March 2011, ” to avoid a conflict of interest.”

    However, at the LBPSB Executive Committee Meeting on Nov. 18, 2013, approval was given for a payment toward the $5.4 million contract, between the board and the same business, for whom Tabachnick was “selling their services.”

    Mr. Tabachnick intends to run in the riding where I live. The irony lies in the fact that he may very well seek my vote , yet he deprived me of my democratic right to ask questions at the public question periods of the Council meetings, which I have been attending for 15 years.

    Nevertheless, since my loyalties are with teachers, and my present MP, Lysane Blanchette – Lamothe is a former teacher, and as you recently said , “I am proud to be a teacher,” I will certainly not vote for Mr. Tabachnick, if he’s the candidate.

    In fact, since I am retired, as a matter of high regard for your father , a proponent of civil liberties , I may very well offer my services, strictly as a volunteer, to any other Liberal candidate running in Pierrefonds-Dollard.

    That’s democracy.

    Respectfully,

    Chris Eustace

    ( constituent)

    13445 Purcell

    Pierrefonds, QC

    H8Z 3H9

    514 620-0726

    —————————————————————————————————–

    Global Montreal :

    http://globalnews.ca/news/974230/marcus-tabachnick-hopes-to-run-in-next-federal-election-for-liberal-party/

    Mea culpa : These names in the above post, following the write-up, were messed up : Lysane Blanchette-Lamothe , MP ; Russell Copeman , former MNA , and former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

    Furthermore, I wrote ” I’m surprised the Federal Liberal Party may have chosen him to be their candidate when the ” Provincial Liberal candidacy was yanked from Tabachnick.” – Suburban article

    To clarify, of course, the Federal Liberal Party did not choose MT to be the candidate to run in the Pierrefonds-Dollard riding at the next general election. As the headline to this write-up says : “Marcus Tabachnick hopes to run…” The date of The Suburban article is April 6,2011.

    —————————————————————————————

    This was a published Letter to the Editor of the Vaudreuil-Soulanges Gazette on Nov. 27, 2013

    Equal ink

    Re. LBPSB ex-chairman seeks Liberal nod (Gazette Vaudreuil-Soulanges, Nov. 20):

    As a constituent in the Pierrefonds-Dollard riding, I hope that any other potential Liberal candidates are provided with the same amount of ink given to Marcus Tabachnick, and that there is a scrutiny of his experience outside the narrow confines of the provincial world of the English school boards.

    Chris Eustace

    ……………………

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