Saturday, October 01, 2005

Svend's return

The Globe has an extended story on the likely return of Svend Robinson to federal politics:
(I)t's sounding more and more likely that Svend Robinson...will run again in the next federal election.

"I'm pretty close," Mr. Robinson said in an interview. "It would take something pretty significant for me not to go ahead now. And I just don't see what that would be."

He will make it official in two weeks' time and when he does, the former New Democrat MP will announce he's running against Liberal MP Hedy Fry in Vancouver Centre...

In the past year, he has gone public with his mental illness, which runs in his family. For the longest time, he refused to say what type of mental illness he suffered from. He recently disclosed that it is bipolar disorder, a condition for which he was prescribed medication. He no longer takes it but continues to see a therapist once a month.

Mr. Robinson wants to use his voice to try to remove the stigma around mental illness.

From a partisan NDP standpoint, it's great to see such a talented organizer and politician back on the political scene. But the bigger story here is the personal one: having already done a remarkable amount of work toward breaking down barriers based on sexual orientation, Svend is now taking aim at another issue that's all too often completely misunderstood. And Canada will be a lot better off if he's as successful now as he's been in the past.

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