Liberal

Issues such as the climate crisis, Truth and Reconciliation, mental health, and affordability cast a heavyweight on young Canadians. With the campaign slogan “Forward. For Everyone,” the Liberal Party will continue to champion a progressive agenda for Canada.                                                         

To address the climate crisis, the Liberal Party has been praised by climate scientists for their tangible plan to affordably reduce carbon emissions. This plan includes increased funding for Canada’s green energy and innovation sector, coupled with a focus on creating green jobs while continuing the work on our plan from the last election, which has us on track to exceed Canada’s original emission targets.

In addressing Truth and Reconciliation, it’s clear that more has to be done. While 68 per cent of boil-water advisories on reserves have been lifted, the Liberals will close this gap by increasing funding and expanding infrastructure and support to ensure all Indigenous peoples have equal access and equal opportunity.

The Liberals also plan to invest in increasing mental health support in Canadian colleges and universities, providing funding for 1200 new counsellors, including those who are trained to support students of colour.  

Further, if re-elected, the Liberal Party will permanently eliminate interest on all Federal student loans and not begin collecting repayment until the student is earning a minimum of $50,000 annually, alleviating the pressure to immediately pay back student loans.

If re-elected, the Liberal Party will continue the fight to support all LGBTQIA2S+ Canadians by re-introducing legislation to ban conversion therapy. The Liberals will also implement a federal LGBTQIA2S+ strategy that will provide $40 million over four years to fund and support LGBTQIA2S+ services and organizations. 

For the last year and a half, the Liberal Party has led Canada through the pandemic with a response strategy that put Canada at the forefront of the global pandemic response. Incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau ensured every Canadian could focus on keeping their family healthy, not about missing the next rent payment with the advent of the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). The Liberal government also championed vaccine procurement and procured a full dose for every Canadian two months ahead of schedule.

All in all, your voice matters. We can’t forge a brighter tomorrow together if we all stay home on Sept. 20. This election, cast your ballot for the Liberal Party of Canada to move forward for everyone.

Bruce Baker and Alastair Munro are fourth-year Politics, Philosophy and Economics students. They are respectively the president and the vice president of the Queen’s University Liberal Association.

Conservative

Voting Conservative on Sept. 20 is necessary to ensure you’re represented by a government that will support Canadians. While incumbent Prime Minister Trudeau called a snap election to advance his own political interests, the Conservative Party will secure Canada’s future. Under Erin O’Toole, the Conservative Party of Canada has a strong plan to address economic recovery, Truth and Reconciliation, and the housing crisis.

COVID-19 has been difficult for all Canadians. The pandemic has demonstrated the importance of having a secure and well-paying job to live and thrive in this country. If elected, the Conservative Party will implement a plan that will help the hardest-hit sectors of Canada’s economy.

The Conservative Party also has a plan to aid groups who were hit hardest by the pandemic, including young Canadians.

The Conservative recovery economic plan also includes a Main Street program that will seek to assist and protect small businesses across Canada.

O’Toole will also honor the commitment to Truth and Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, ensuring their treaty rights are respected and that the federal government works alongside the Indigenous Nations to tackle the systemic and socio-economic problems facing Indigenous communities today.

The discovery of mass graves at residential schools was a grim event that served as a reminder of the pain Indigenous children and their families are subjected to. The Conservative Party recognizes the path towards reconciliation is no easy task, but O’Toole is resolute in honoring Canada’s commitments of justice and integrity with Indigenous People.

With the goal of homeownership becoming a distant reality, O’Toole is also committed to tackling the housing crisis in Canada. A Conservative government will ban foreign investors who aren’t living in or planning on moving to Canada from purchasing homes.

If elected, a Conservative government will also provide incentives for first-time homebuyers by reviewing the mortgage requirements to make them more accessible and affordable for Canadians who want to purchase their own home.

Further, a Conservative government will build one million homes in the next three years to increase Canada’s sorely lacking housing supply.

Over the past 6 years, the Liberal government has failed to deliver on its campaign promises. While the Liberals are campaigning with the same platform they did in 2015, this election Canadians have the option to elect a Prime Minister that will govern with integrity and uphold its campaign promises.

On Sept. 20, vote for Canada’s recovery. To best secure the future, cast your ballot for Erin O’Toole. Vote for the Conservative Party of Canada.

Camilo Sebastian is a fourth year Political Studies student and President of the Queen’s University Conservative Association.

New Democratic Party

I want to offer both a message of anger and a message of hope.

Since the last election, the wealth gap has grown, the climate emergency has been ignored, justice and reconciliation have been swept under the rug, and our health care system has spent years in atrophy.

Over the course of the pandemic, wealthy Canadians saw unprecedented gains while millions of Canadians stagnated or fell further behind.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

As the NDP Candidate for Kingston and the Islands, I want to earn your vote with my vision for a Canada that I would want to live in.

Young Canadians entering the workforce face a tough economy. Seventy years ago, the average Canadian could find stable employment with relative ease, start and support a family on a single income, and enjoy their leisure time.

That’s not the case today.

Canada is a richer country than we were seventy years ago, while the middle class has suffered due to decades of policy decisions favouring the ultra-rich at the expense of everyday Canadians. We must do better. 

Canada needs to eliminate student debt, create a guaranteed liveable income, ensure that every Canadian has a roof over their heads, invest in public institutions, and properly tax the ultra-rich.

We need to support Truth and Reconciliation for the Indigenous peoples of the land we’re on. We need to stop making fifty-year investments in fossil fuel extraction while watching Canada combat forest fires. We need to stop electing multi-unit landlords who earn generous profits off of the continuation of our housing crisis. We need to stop handing taxpayer money to executives of large companies, only to watch them lay off staff and pay themselves handsome bonuses.

The race in Kingston is tight between the NDP and Liberal Party. In an election that few people wanted and nobody needed, we’re at a crossroads. We can continue along a trend of crisis, injustice, and instability, or we can bear down on these problems with heart and grit.

There’s room for hope as long as we remember the best of Canada’s values: we should care about one another and govern accordingly. The NDP has deep roots in the labour movement of the last century. That is a tradition that I hope to do proud, and I hope that I can earn your support this Monday.

This election, be ready for better.

Vic Sahai is a Queen’s graduate and federal NDP Candidate for Kingston and the Islands.

As part of our election Op-Ed series, The Journal reached out to the Queen’s NDP. The organization did not respond in time to contribute.