Fault in media

As a Canadian I found Gina Quilici’s column (Sept. 19) really well done. It sure is frustrating for us Canadians to find out that you do not even know basic political facts about our country. A few of weeks ago I was visiting my girl friend who attends Northern and was surprised to find that her siblings could not name the Canadian prime minister.

However, I do not think that it is really the fault of American university students. You all seem interested enough, but when your newspapers, television news and radio never talk about my country, how are you supposed to know Canadian facts? The reason Canadians know so much about the U.S. is because your country is reported on daily in Canada. Every day we hear different stories regarding George Bush. If one did not know who your president was, one would have to be really stupid.

It seems to me that the key is for your news organizations to change their focus, and not simply limit their international news to “drug running dictators.”

By the way, the prime minister of Canada is Brian Mulroney. We also have two other national parties, led by Ed Broadbent of the New Democratic Party and John Turner of the Liberal Party.

Ben Cashore

University of Toronto