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| ===Remarks about 9/11 attacks=== | ===Remarks about 9/11 attacks=== | ||
| On ], ], ] reported<ref>Sean Holman, , ''Public Eye Online'', ] 2007</ref> that Potvin had written an article in ] about the ] in which he reported his reaction to the planes hitting the twin towers. He wrote, "When I saw the first tower cascade down into that enormous plume of dust and paper, there was a little voice inside me that said, 'Yeah!' When the second tower came down the same way, that little voice said, 'Beautiful!' When the visage of the Pentagon appeared on the TV with a gaping and smoking hole in its side, that little voice had nearly taken me over, and I felt an urge to pump my fist in the air"<ref>Kevin Potvin, , ''The Republic of East Vancouver'', ] 2002. Retrieved ] 2007</ref> |
On ], ], ] reported<ref>Sean Holman, , ''Public Eye Online'', ] 2007</ref> that Potvin had written an article in ] about the ] in which he reported his reaction to the planes hitting the twin towers. He wrote, "When I saw the first tower cascade down into that enormous plume of dust and paper, there was a little voice inside me that said, 'Yeah!' When the second tower came down the same way, that little voice said, 'Beautiful!' When the visage of the Pentagon appeared on the TV with a gaping and smoking hole in its side, that little voice had nearly taken me over, and I felt an urge to pump my fist in the air"<ref>Kevin Potvin, , ''The Republic of East Vancouver'', ] 2002. Retrieved ] 2007</ref> Potvin subsequently told the Canadian Press, "If you read the story that I wrote, you'll notice that I'm talking about it on a symbolic level...I go to great pains to make clear that I'm not talking about the deaths of anybody. After all, as you can imagine, I'm a human being. I'm a father, I'm a hockey dad, I'm a businessman, I'm a community leader. I'm obviously not going to be revelling in the deaths of anybody." <ref>Canadian Press, [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/04/13/green-column.html?ref=rss Green party candidate says pro-9/11 column just symbolic, ''CBC News'', 13 April 2007.</ref>. | ||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 20:22, 20 April 2007
Kevin Potvin (born 1962 in Port Arthur, Ontario) is a Canadian columnist, small business owner and politician. He currently runs the Magpie Magazine Gallery, a small business, and The Republic of East Vancouver, an alternative biweekly magazine, both founded by him. Since 1995 he has written a regular opinion column in the Vancouver Courier.
Politics
In 2005 Potvin ran for councillor in the Vancouver municipal election. He received 10,806 votes, placing 22nd in the polls (with the first ten being elected to council), gaining the most votes for an independent.
In fall 2006, he was elected President of the Grandview Woodlands Area Council.
On 15 April 2007, Elizabeth May, Leader of the Green Party of Canada, issued a release stating that Mr. Potvin would not be allowed to run as a candidate in the riding of Vancouver-Kingsway. The decision was made after a controversy developed over an article Potvin wrote after the September 11th attacks (see below). The Green Party cited Potvin's remarks as "antithetical" to Green Party values.
Controversies
Globe and Mail report
On May 6, 2006, The Globe and Mail printed an article on the debate over Misplaced Pages's reliability based on Kevin Potvin's entry on himself. According to The Globe and Mail, Potvin created the entry as part of a publicity campaign to get elected to Vancouver City Council.
Regarding Potvin's claim that his work had appeared in Harpers and the Atlantic, the paper said, "According to Harper's magazine, Mr. Potvin had a letter to the editor printed once, in November of 1992. The Atlantic could find no record of Mr. Potvin -- he says he wrote 'a substantial letter to the editor' in 1987, but the magazine does not archive letters."
According to the newspaper, when asked about his Misplaced Pages entry, Potvin "disagreed that it was misleading, or that he inflated his résumé. He also said that he doesn't know the identity of the contributor who (under the pseudonym 'bookandcoffee') added the 'investigative reporting' accolades to the original entry. 'But I have my readers,' he added, 'and I think there are people who would say that. It's not a thing which you can be factually wrong or right about. I think I am an investigative journalist. I investigate. I write. But I think facts are just what people say they are.'"
Remarks about 9/11 attacks
On April 12, 2007, Public Eye Online reported that Potvin had written an article in 2002 about the September 11, 2001 attacks in which he reported his reaction to the planes hitting the twin towers. He wrote, "When I saw the first tower cascade down into that enormous plume of dust and paper, there was a little voice inside me that said, 'Yeah!' When the second tower came down the same way, that little voice said, 'Beautiful!' When the visage of the Pentagon appeared on the TV with a gaping and smoking hole in its side, that little voice had nearly taken me over, and I felt an urge to pump my fist in the air" Potvin subsequently told the Canadian Press, "If you read the story that I wrote, you'll notice that I'm talking about it on a symbolic level...I go to great pains to make clear that I'm not talking about the deaths of anybody. After all, as you can imagine, I'm a human being. I'm a father, I'm a hockey dad, I'm a businessman, I'm a community leader. I'm obviously not going to be revelling in the deaths of anybody." .
References
- Green leader won't endorse Vancouver candidate, CTV, 15 April 2007
- Shannon Rupp, Working through Misplaced Pages's vanity fair, The Globe and Mail, 6 May 2006
- Sean Holman, Potvin reacts to his "revolting confession", Public Eye Online, 12 April 2007
- Kevin Potvin, A Revolting Confession, The Republic of East Vancouver, 28 November 2002. Retrieved 13 April 2007
- Canadian Press, [http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2007/04/13/green-column.html?ref=rss Green party candidate says pro-9/11 column just symbolic, CBC News, 13 April 2007.