Talk:Steven Fletcher

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[edit] objection to wording in article

I object to the wording in the following sentence about Steven Fletcher:
"He is the first quadriplegic to sit in the House of Commons."
That is a particularly cruel joke: he can't exactly "stand" in the House of Commons, or "stand" for re-election, can he? :) Seriously though, I can't think of an alternative term. Are there any less offensive terms than "sitting" in parliament? Graham 06:58, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I have hopefully fixed that problem. The sentence now reads:

"He is the first quadriplegic parliamentarian in the House of Commons."
I have also changed "permanently disabled" to "having a permanent disability".
Note: My comments above were not meant to show any opinion I have about Steven Fletcher: I know nothing more about him than what is presented in the article. Graham 08:40, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Graham,

The phase "to sit in the House of Commons" was meant as a generic reference to membership in the house. It wasn't meant to refer to Fletcher's condition, although I can see how the phrase could cause offense. Thanks for catching this. CJCurrie 18:36, 13 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] CASA

I've corrected the CASA reference: although the source says "the director" (not president), he was one of five elected members of the board. I've also deleted the gratuitous reference to CFS -- we don't say that he's a CPC member, "a conservative rival to the NDP," for example.

Thank you for the correction. I don't agree that the CFS reference was gratuitous, though I also don't believe it's important enough to start an edit war over. CJCurrie 03:57, 28 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Picture Gallery

I'm somewhat concerned about this section, which seems unduly promotional. Do other readers think that it should be retained? CJCurrie 01:10, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

The picture gallery really ought to go. Watchsmart 08:01, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
No one seems to object. It's gone, unless someone really wants to put it back in. Watchsmart 03:33, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

I REALLY want to put it back is that claims enough to do so. OVMoney14:44, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

I think you might need to present a more convincing argument. CJCurrie 20:00, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

Well these are pictures marking significant events in his career and deserve the justice of Wikipedia. One would not fail to upload a picture of President Nixon and Chairman Mao on the Nixon page or a picture of Trudeau and Fidel Castro on Trudeau's page. Therefore I resolve to place these elements back on this page. OVMoney17:08, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

I don't think that the images from Fletcher's photo gallery are of quite as much significance as Nixon's visit to China. This really doesn't seem like sufficient grounds to return the images.
Btw, I think "Chairman Moa" went extinct quite some time ago. CJCurrie 22:41, 4 April 2007 (UTC)
(The error in the original post has since been corrected.) CJCurrie 23:52, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

The pictures serve the purpose of representing the extent of the work that the individual is doing of has done which provides information to the reader about the individuals significance. However, I understand your position and request that you allow the presence of the pictures accompanied by a few sentences explaining their relevance. OVMoney 14:24, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

The problem is that the Fletcher images were clearly intended as promotion. All MPs attend public ceremonies on a regular basis, yet we don't have galleries on their pages. I'm sorry, but I still can't allow this. CJCurrie 23:52, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

I'm afraid you misunderstood me. My intent is not to repost the gallery rather to use the same pictures in a topical format. These pictures are not just of Fletcher at ceremonies, these are pictures that have significance to the work that Fletcher is doing for Canadians and are of importance on issues such as Canadian foreign relations and Canadian policy on disabilities. Being the first quadriplegic MP_also makes it important to acknowledge Fletchers achievements to help breakdown barriers and eliviate social tabboos. On fear of sounding rude, this is not a simple suggestion it is a demand. OVMoney

I understand your motivation for wanting to return the images, but I don't believe the matter is quite as straightforward as this. Fletcher is an important figure in the quadriplegic community, to be sure, but he's also a partisan political figure. I fear that including too many images in this page would constitute a more of promotion.
It's possible, however, that some reasonable middle ground could be achieved on this front. CJCurrie 17:52, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

On that note, I propose the disregard of the picture of Fletcher and the Australian Prime Minister, disregard the picture of Fletcher and the prime Minister but include the picture of Fletcher and Rick Hansen, the Champion of Health award picture and the picture of Fletcher in Brazil. All pictures will be accompnied by short paragraphs to explain to the reader the relevance of the pictures as they apply to the parliamentary processes of Canada. OVMoney 16:52, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

I must support OVMoney's desire to put up a few photos of MR. Fletcher. While Wikipedia might be an innapropriate place for a photo gallery, it still makes sense to include certain photo inserts throughought the article as they relate to the article's content. This would be in line with general practice found everywhere on Wikipedia. itzikapter 08:48, 8 May 2007 (UTC)