Don Rogers

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Don Rogers is a politician in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. He served for fifteen years as a municipal councillor in the Sydenham district, and has campaigned for the Canadian House of Commons. He was 62 years old as of 2005.

Rogers was born in Toronto, Ontario, and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Economics from the University of Toronto, and a Master of Arts degree from Carleton University.[1] He is a former distribution officer for the National Film Board of Canada and head of the audio-visual department at Royal Military College, and retired in 1996 (Kingston Whig-Standard, 26 June 2004).

Rogers was on the progressive wing of the council, and favoured a number of environmental initiatives. He supported managed growth and preserving the city's architectural heritage, and argued in 2001 that the pace of city development should be slowed (KWS, 30 June 2001). Rogers has sought to improve poor living conditions in the "student ghetto" area around Queen's University (KWS, 14 February 2001), and has argued that the student population should be spread out more evenly throughout the city (KWS, 26 November 2004). In 1994, Rogers was one of the first city councillors to participate in Kingston's Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Pride Day (KWS, 17 June 1995).

Rogers is known for his Canadian nationalism. In 1965, he attending the official unveiling of Canada's maple leaf flag. In 1990, he walked out of the Canada Day festivities at Kingston City Hall to protest the playing the American national anthem, which he described as a "desecration" of the national holiday (KWS, 3 July 1990). He also opposed the Meech Lake Accord, claiming that its passage would result in "nothing but a hollow shell [being left] for Canada" (KWS, 30 May 1990).

Rogers was not a member of any political party during his time on council, but joined the Canadian Action Party shortly after his defeat (KWS, 25 May 2004). His primary issue in the 2004 election was opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he described causing unemployment and taking power away from elected officials (KWS, 17 June 2004). He received 179 votes (0.33%), finishing seventh against Liberal incumbent Peter Milliken.

In recent years, Rogers has spoken out against a data-processing contract between his bank, Citizens Bank of Canada, and a firm in the American state of Georgia. He has argued that this arrangement could result in violations to his privacy and subject him to American laws such as the Patriot Act. In protest in late 2005, he made several minor transactions each day as a means of slowing the bank's computer system. His thirty-five page statement in November 2005 had 985 entries, and totalled $257.60 (KWS, 23 November 2005). He paid the bill in pennies (National Post, 7 January 2006). Rogers was later quoted as saying, "I don't want George Bush to know how many cases of Viagra I bought last month" (KWS, 14 January 2006).

Rogers campaigned for the Canadian Action Party again in the 2006 federal election, and finished sixth with 222 votes (0.36%). He argued for increased domestic food production to alleviate unemployment (KWS, 13 January 2006).

Shortly after the 2006 election, Rogers wrote an article for the Toronto Star newspaper about the first unveiling of Canada's national flag (15 February 2006).