by Michael Erskine
OTTAWA---Reynolds (Rene) Mastin has some
good advice for the Prime Minister, so good in fact, that he is
taking home $70,000 in prizes from the Magna International, "As
Prime Minister, I would:" essay contest.
Mr. Mastin, a law student at McGill
University in Montreal, was already walking on air with the news
that he was one of the top 10 finalists heading into last week's
grueling panel interviews, but the announcement that he had
co-won the top slot with Maria Banda, of Toronto, really put his
spirits into the stratosphere.
"It has really been an amazing week,"
said Mr. Mastin, as he settled in to study for next week's exams
at his Montreal home Sunday. "They kept us very busy in Ottawa
all week."
Growing up on Manitoulin Island helped
to provide some of the intimate insight into his subject matter,
dealing with the endemic poverty evident in many of the First
Nations.
Although Mr. Mastin's family moved to
Sudbury, and his studies have him currently domiciled in
Montreal, his Island antecedents are strong. His father,
Reynolds 'Rene' Mastin grew up in Manitowaning, and is the son
of Kathleen (nee Reynolds) Mastin, of Manitowaning. His family
operated the oldest continously operating business on
Manitoulin, at least up until it was closed. There are few more
venerable names in Manitoulin history than that of Reynolds and
Mastin, and Reynolds Mastin bears both monikors.
His ideas, including selling reserve
lands to occupants for $1, to enable them to get bank loans, and
a social assistance program for off-reserve Natives that would
include drug and alcohol testing are controversial, but inciting
debate was one of his goals in writing the piece.
While Mr. Mastin admitted there were
serious flaws in the plans he outlined in his essay, avoiding
the debate on the real problems, he told the McGill Reporter,
would not do any good either.
"I think the moral worth of the country
is at stake," he said.
Working for a non-profit charity group
in Edmonton last summer, Mr. Mastin had the opportunity to work
on a couple of precedent-setting cases in Aboriginal law.
While there are high profile legal
issues that remain to be dealt with in Canada's Aboriginal
relations, he said, there are also issues closer to home, simply
making sure people have a roof over their heads.
The hard-working law student also had
some poignant ideas on foreign policy and regional development
and the enhancing of Canada's military to meet its changing
goals, that he developed in his essay.
Mr. Mastin said the Magna International
contest helped him to further his career ambitions, and was a
great aid to his current studies by exposing him to some of the
brightest young people from across the country. Each of the
people he has met, no matter what their other differences might
be, have one thing in common.
"All of them have passionate commitment
to Canada," he said.
There were 500 entries in the Magna
contest this year, first whittled down to 50 semi-finalists,
winning a $500 cheque, then down to 10 finalists, with a $10,000
payoff, and then finally the top slot, with a $20,000 cheque,
and a Magna International Internship valued at $50,000 to top it
off.
Mr. Mastin said he hoped to be able to
spend some of his internship working with De-ba-jeh-mu-jig
Theatre Group, a First Nation theatre company that recently
received a boost from the Mastin family with the donation of the
family store for a production centre.
"I seem to have talked to everyone about
that idea except Magna," laughed Mr. Mastin. "The only problem
that I can see is that one of the absolute requirements is that
you help with organizing next year's contest."
The Magna International Internship has
become more flexible over the years, explained Mr. Mastin. At
its inception, the internship had to be served at Magna's
headquarters.
"They are flexible about what the
internship entails," he said. "In the last few years they have
expanded the concept. It is about community building."
Politics and public service may lie in
Mr. Mastin's future, but right now he said he is concentrating
on his school work.
"I have four 100 percent tests coming
up," he said. "It's tough but not that bad. This year, however,
the four test happen to fall on four consecutive days. That adds
a bit of a challenge."
Mr. Mastin is on track to graduate in
June of 2005, so he has quite a bit of studying left ahead of
him. The McGill program is excellent, he noted, as it
concentrates on Canada's two legal systems, giving a solid basis
for International law as well.
It must be good, there were four McGill
students in the ranks of the 10 Magna finalists.
Mr. Mastin is looking forward to coming
back to the Island this summer, and his longer range plans
include articling in yet another province.
"I would like to go to Vancouver," he
said. The environmental and Aboriginal components of British
Columbia law strike a deep chord with Mr. Mastin. He admits the
weather is nice too.
"Ski and sail in the same day," he said.
As to what he is going to do with the
$20,000, Mr. Mastin said that was pretty much already decided
for him.
"Most of it will be going to pay off my
student debt," he said. "But maybe we can add some hot dogs to
the Kraft Dinner for a bit more flavour."
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