Kevin Potvin

Last updated

Kevin Potvin (born 1962 in Port Arthur, Ontario) is a newspaper publisher and columnist, small business owner, and politician based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He founded and runs the Magpie Magazine Gallery, a retail store on Commercial Drive, and The Republic of East Vancouver, an alternative bi-weekly newspaper. Since 1995 he has written a regular opinion column in the Vancouver Courier. His forays into electoral politics have proven controversial, particularly because of his views on Canadian and American foreign policy.

Contents

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 the fall of 2006, he was elected president of the Grandview-Woodland Area Council.

On 15 April 2007, Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada, issued a release stating that 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 following the September 11 attacks (see below). May cited Potvin's remarks as "antithetical" to Green Party values. [1]

Controversies

Globe and Mail report

On May 6, 2006, The Globe and Mail printed an article [2] on the debate over Kevin Potvin's entry on himself. Potvin told The Globe and Mail that he created the entry as part of his political campaign to get elected to Vancouver City Council.

Regarding Potvin's claim that his work had appeared in Harper's Magazine and The Atlantic Monthly , 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." [2]

According to the newspaper, when asked about his Wikipedia entry, Potvin "disagreed that it was misleading, or that he inflated his résumé." Potvin said that he did not know the identity of the editor who added the "investigative reporting" accolades to the Wikipedia article. "'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.'" [2]

Potvin wrote a rejoinder in The Republic claiming that the Globe and Mail article was motivated by its author's personal dislike of him and his criticism of the journalism taught in journalism schools. In making his case, Potvin pointed out that while the article was ostensibly about the accuracy of Wikipedia, the encyclopedia was mentioned 12 times in the article compared with 26 references to himself, "who is, on the national stage, a nobody." The editor of the Globe and Mail, however, rejected Potvin's arguments and refused to print a retraction. [3]

Potvin has also been a contributor to the Globe and Mail. [4]

Remarks about 9/11 attacks

On April 12, 2007, Public Eye Online reported [5] 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" [6]

Potvin subsequently told the 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." [7]

In regards to 9/11 conspiracy theories, he has stated that he does not believe the official version of the events on September 11, 2001 is any more credible than alternative explanations. [8]

Related Research Articles

<i>Macleans</i> Canadian weekly news magazine

Maclean's is a Canadian news magazine that was founded in 1905, reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian perspective on current affairs and to "entertain but also inspire its readers". Its publisher since 1994, Rogers Media announced in September 2016 that Maclean's would become a monthly beginning January 2017, while continuing to produce a weekly issue on the Texture app. In 2019, the magazine was bought by its current publisher, St. Joseph Communications.

Kelvin Calder MacKenzie is an English media executive and a former newspaper editor. He became editor of The Sun in 1981, by which time the publication was established as Britain's largest circulation newspaper. After leaving The Sun in 1994, he was appointed to executive roles in satellite television and other broadcasting outlets, as well as being involved in a number of publishing enterprises.

Bob Ryan Sportswriter from the United States

Robert P. Ryan is an American sportswriter, formerly with The Boston Globe, and author. He has been described as "the quintessential American sportswriter" and a basketball guru, and is well known for his coverage of the sport including his famous stories covering the Boston Celtics in the 1970s. After graduating from Boston College, Ryan started as a sports intern for the Globe on the same day as Peter Gammons, and later worked with other notable Globe sportswriters Will McDonough and Leigh Montville. In early 2012, Ryan announced his retirement from sports writing after 44 years, effective at the conclusion of the 2012 Summer Olympics. His final column in the Globe was published August 12, 2012.

Allan Fotheringham Canadian journalist

Allan Fotheringham was a Canadian newspaper and magazine journalist. He was widely known by the nickname Dr. Foth and styled himself as "the Great Gatheringfroth". He was described as "never at a loss for words".

Andrew Coyne

James Andrew Coyne is a Canadian columnist with The Globe and Mail and a member of the At Issue panel on CBC's The National. Previously, he has been national editor for Maclean's and a columnist with National Post.

Kevin Myers is an English-born Irish journalist and a writer. He has contributed to the Irish Independent, the Irish edition of The Sunday Times, and The Irish Times's column "An Irishman's Diary".

Timothy Noah American journalist and author

Timothy Robert Noah is an American journalist and author. Previously he was labor policy editor for Politico, a contributing writer at MSNBC.com, a senior editor of The New Republic, where he wrote the "TRB From Washington" column, and a senior writer at Slate, where for a decade he wrote the "Chatterbox" column. In April 2012 Noah published a book, The Great Divergence, about income inequality in the United States.

The Republic was a liberal local newspaper, published fortnightly from 2000 to 2009, in East Vancouver, an area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) is an American non-profit pro-Israel media-monitoring, research and membership organization. According to its website, CAMERA is "devoted to promoting accurate and balanced coverage of Israel and the Middle East." The group says it was founded in 1982 "to respond to The Washington Post's coverage of Israel's Lebanon incursion", and to respond to what it considers the media's "general anti-Israel bias".

Adrian Dix Canadian politician

Adrian Dix is a Canadian politician serving as the current Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Vancouver-Kingsway in British Columbia. In addition to serving as the current Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Vancouver-Kingsway in British Columbia, Dix is also serving as the current Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs in British Columbia and the current Minister of Health in British Columbia. He has also served as the leader of the British Columbia New Democratic Party from 2011 to 2014. He was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia in the 2005 provincial election. Dix's decision in 2013 to be replaced as leader came following the party's disappointing result in the May 2013 provincial election which the BC NDP lost despite a 20-point lead in the polls prior to the election campaign.

Essjay controversy Controversy over a Wikipedia user and Wikia employees identity

The Essjay controversy centered on a Wikipedia editor who went by the username Essjay and who was named Ryan Jordan. On Wikipedia, he falsely presented himself as a university professor of religion. He was active from 2005 to 2008, and was elected to top positions of trust by the community, including the rank of administrator and arbitration committee member. In July 2006, The New Yorker published an article about "Essjay", and mentioned that he was a university professor of religion. The New Yorker later acknowledged it did not know his real name. The controversy came to involve Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales who, after initially defending Jordan, eventually asked for his resignation in March 2007.

Bert Archer is a Canadian author, journalist, travel writer, essayist and critic.

Mark Bourrie is a Canadian lawyer, blogger, journalist, author, historian, and lecturer at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. His work has appeared in many Canadian magazines and newspapers. In 2020, his historical biography of Pierre-Esprit Radisson, Bushrunner: The Adventures of Pierre Radisson, won the final RBC Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction to be awarded.

Rachel Marsden Canadian journalist (born 1974)

Rachel Marsden is a conservative political columnist, television commentator and university lecturer, originally from Canada but now based in Paris. She is also the CEO of Rachel Marsden Associates, a PR and media consultancy firm. As of March 2016, she hosts a French-language geopolitical talk show on Sputnik News from the network's Paris studio four times per week. As of 2020, she is also a nationally ranked competitive swimmer at the masters level in France in the 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m freestyle, 50m butterfly, and 200m individual medley and also in Canada.

DeSmogBlog Blog focusing on topics related to global warming

The DeSmogBlog, founded in January 2006, is a blog that focuses on topics related to global warming. DeSmogBlog opposes what it describes as "a well-funded and highly organized public relations campaign" that it says is "poisoning" the climate change debate. The site was co-founded by James Hoggan, president of a public relations firm based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Douglas Coupland Canadian writer and graphic designer (born 1961)

Douglas Coupland is a Canadian novelist and artist. His fiction is complemented by recognized works in design and visual art arising from his early formal training. His first novel, the 1991 international bestseller Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, popularized the term such as McJob. He has published thirteen novels, two collections of short stories, seven non-fiction books, and a number of dramatic works and screenplays for film and television. He is a columnist for Financial Times. He is also a frequent contributor to The New York Times, e-flux journal, Dis, and Vice. His art exhibits include Everywhere Is Anywhere Is Anything Is Everything which was exhibited at the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Royal Ontario Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art, and Bit Rot at Rotterdam's Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art and the Villa Stuck.

Larry Sanger American Internet project developer and Wikipedia co-founder

Lawrence Mark Sanger is an American Internet project developer and philosopher who co-founded the online encyclopedia Wikipedia along with Jimmy Wales, for which he coined the name and wrote much of its original governing policy. Sanger has worked on other online encyclopedias such as Nupedia, Citizendium, and Everipedia.

Wikipedia Seigenthaler biography incident Hoax in a Wikipedia article about journalist John Seigenthaler

In May 2005, an unregistered editor posted a hoax article onto Wikipedia about journalist John Seigenthaler. The article falsely stated that Seigenthaler had been a suspect in the assassinations of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.

Dan Wootton New Zealand journalist and broadcaster

Daniel John William Wootton is a New Zealand-born journalist and broadcaster. He was executive editor of The Sun newspaper. In 2007, he joined the News of the World. In 2013, he joined The Sun on Sunday and became editor of the Bizarre column the following year. In February 2016, he became associate editor of The Sun and in March 2018 was promoted to executive editor. In 2021 Wootton left News UK to join MailOnline as a columnist and present a show on GB News.

Sarah A. Hampson is a Canadian author, columnist, and journalist. Since 1999, she has been writing for The Globe and Mail, a national Canadian newspaper, with her Interview column being nominated for a National Newspaper Award in 2000. Hampson joined The Globe and Mail as a permanent columnist and has been publishing multiple columns since then, including Generation Ex.

References

  1. ↑ "May, candidate have 'irreconcilable differences'". CTV. April 15, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  2. 1 2 3 Rupp, Shannon (2006-05-06). "Working through Wikipedia's vanity fair". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  3. ↑ Potvin, Kevin (May–June 2006). "The Globe and Mail savages The Republic, but why?". The Republic. Archived from the original on September 29, 2006. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  4. ↑ Potvin, Kevin (October 19, 2005). "Neighbourhood commercial districts: A rescue plan for small business in Vancouver". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  5. ↑ Holman, Sean (April 12, 2007). "Potvin reacts to his "revolting confession"". Public Eye Online. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  6. ↑ Potvin, Kevin (November 28, 2007). "A revolting confession". The Republic. Archived from the original on April 21, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  7. ↑ "Green party candidate says pro-9/11 column just symbolic". CBC. April 13, 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-28.
  8. ↑ , online video at Sunday Magazine. Retrieved 28 April 2007. Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.