Mikkel Paulson
Party Leader
PPCA Representative
 Offline
Location: Edmonton
Posts: 982
Karma: 18
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« on: July 20, 2010, 03:54:42 AM » |
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Me
My name, obviously, is Mikkel Paulson. I'm a freelance web developer based in Edmonton, and in my off time (and quite a bit of my on time) I volunteer with the Pirate Party. Most of the press releases and mass emails sent out by the Party are either written or heavily edited by me. I sit on many of the committees and do my best to contribute what I can. I do technical administration, I do public relations, and I do whatever else needs doing when there is no one else to do it. When we found out on Tuesday night that Bill C-32 was due to be introduced Wednesday rather than Thursday, I stayed up until 4:30 am to write a press release because there was no one else to do it.
I'm an idealist. I believe that we have not only the ability but the responsibility to remake the world according to our ideals and to correct the injustices we see around us. There are all kinds of ways to do this. I have, at various times and with varying degrees of success, operated a BitTorrent tracker, a local "junk bank" to allow people to give and get used and unneeded things for free, and an open news media organization pre-Wikinews, all of which were intended to in their own way to provide solutions to problems that I had seen. I am currently in the process of developing a free-as-in-freedom public-domain service to compete with AP, giving independent and university newspapers a cheap, accessible source for breaking, stock, and historical imagery, and helping them to compete toe-to-toe against larger established papers.
I speak English, French, ASL, and Norwegian. I can get by in Newspeak in a pinch.
My background
I was born in Edmonton and have lived here for most of my life. I've studied political science, sociology, history, linguistics, computer science, and anthropology, trying out different majors and minors and trying to find the right fit for myself. Ultimately, I found the problem to be that I was interested in too many fields to choose just one or two, and that my time in university was neither advancing my career prospects nor particularly developing my knowledge and interest, so I withdrew from my BA programme in February 2010. Since then, I have been working as a freelance web developer.
However, I don't regret my studies. On the contrary, I find that they have opened my eyes to new perspectives and new problems that need solving. They've developed my ability to examine an issue from all angles, to think before acting, to understand without necessarily agreeing, and to articulate clearly and passionately.
I have worked for the Legislative Assembly of Alberta for 4 years, first as a page and then as a research assistant. Since then, I've done some work for the provincial opposition parties, including working on the campaign of a party leadership candidate and web development for partisan and inter-partisan organizations. I understand how the political scene works, and I'm willing to play the game when it suits, but I don't accept that this must be the way it should work.
My vision for the Party
As anyone who has dealt with me on a political or strategic basis will know, I take the political aspect of the Party very seriously. I believe that our first responsibility is to build a strong, stable, credible political force. That foundation may be years in the making. Once it is firmly established, we can start pulling publicity stunts and goofing off in moderation. Until then, we must present ourselves as a political party, not as a joke. Once they start laughing, they will never stop. We already walk a very fine line as a fringe party and one with a funny name to boot, and crossing over that line could be a catastrophic mistake from which the Party will never recover.
We have one chance at this. Now is our opportunity to make it happen.
My vision for the Party is not one with myself at the head. I am not so narcissistic as to believe myself to be the perfect leader. However, my vision for the Party is one in which we are successful and credible on the political scene, and, with respect, that's not something that I see happening with the commitment of our current leadership. If becoming Leader is the best way to bring this vision to fruition, then I am willing to do what I must to correct this specific problem in order to better equip this party to fight greater injustices in Canadian politics and Canadian society.
My vision for Canada
It should go without saying that I fully believe in the Party's ideals as laid out. I remain non-partisan at heart, and appreciate that our platform is one with appeal to supporters of all parts of the political spectrum. To that end, I do not support diversifying our platform beyond goals (eg. limited patent scope/terms) and consequences (reduced health care expenditures on pharmaceuticals). However, I do believe that we need to stress the consequences at least as much as we do the goals. "Wouldn't it be great to cut our health care costs by over a billion dollars per year without impacting the level of care? Well we can, through patent reform."
I believe in a country where all voices are able to be heard, certainly those of our supporters, but also those of other fringe parties. To that end, I believe that the Pirate Party should approach other Canadian fringe parties with the prospect of sharing public relations resources, conducting joint press conferences, and coordinating activities. This would not involve compromising or coordinating platforms among any participants, but ultimately we are all fighting the same battle against the same opponents: to gain recognition as a legitimate political movement despite the best efforts of the major political parties. The more we can coordinate our efforts in this specific battle, the better off we all are.
I have raised this matter with the Directors to mixed reactions, and I observed that we should wait until after the election to discuss it seriously. By rights it should be discussed quietly until further refined as it is an extremely touchy political subject, but I cannot in good conscience advocate such a radical position without making it known before asking party members to decide whether or not they support my leadership. I don't believe that we should move ahead with it without a clear consensus among the members. It's a huge, gutsy political move, but it is exactly what we need to make waves and hopefully to build that momentum faster than any of us could alone. This is the way the game is played, and this is the way to rewrite all of the rules.
Again, I believe in doing whatever I can to achieve the goals I envision for the Party and the goals that I believe that we all share. Should I be rejected for leadership, I would also be honoured to be considered for the position of Director-at-Large. No matter what the will of the membership, I promise to do the best I can with what I am given and with what is available to me.
By my understanding, I would require one second for the position of Director-at-Large, and three for the position of Leader. The same person can second one or both applications, as they choose. Thank you in advance for your consideration and your support.
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