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As a McMaster alumnus, Vincent Samuel is proud of the close ties he has with both the school and the community.
As the Conservative candidate for the Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas riding, Samuel is counting on both his personal connection with the community and the experience of the Conservative party as support for his election this Oct. 19.
"I think that hard work, education and the focused approach always helps. It's our job to make sure we create the opportunities and that is what we are doing ever since the Conservative Party came into power nine years ago," he said.
With regards to students, Samuel focused on the experience of the Conservative Party, along with citing examples of measures the party has previously taken to support students.
"Since 2012, we eliminated the interest on new and existing loans for part-time students, so that education can become more affordable," Samuel explained.
Samuel also described how the Conservatives have expanded the eligibility of the Canada Student Loans and Grants program for part-time and full-time students in time for 2016. This includes lifting a penalty on the amount of financial assistance students receive who are both working and receiving a student loan. The number of weeks a student must be enrolled to be eligible for a grant is also being reduced from 60 to 34 weeks to help students in practical skills programs and improving the transition from education to employment.
The Conservative government's main pull for students has been to promise $65 million to businesses and industries that will work with post-secondary institutions to better align school curriculum with the needs of employers. They've also committed to doubling the federal contribution to supplementary grants for low- and middle-income students who have a Registered Education Savings Plan.
Samuel explained that the Conservatives are aiming to help students beyond the issues of student debt, looking to expand the job market available to students when they enter the workforce.
"There must be an alignment to the job market. I know every year there are so many graduates, but they're not ready. Whatever they learn at school is not applicable in every market . . . so that's something that should be a key focus."
While other parties have put in more substantial plans to directly support students, Samuel argued that they are simply throwing numbers to create the impression they are addressing the problem.
"Some of the complex problems may have a very simple but wrong answer. One of the easiest ways — and what I think the other parties are doing — is they're throwing money around. That if the Conservatives have put in $5 million, let's put $10 million. If they're putting $10 million, let's put in $20 million. Just throwing away the money is not the answer, because the answer is to make sure that students have the right education, which can be used in real life."
Samuel explained, "If the focus is only to reduce the student debt, but not giving you a better or high-paying job, then it's not something that will go a long way in your life."
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Among other party values such as non-violence, social justice and democracy, the Green Party is predictably focused on the environment. The shift to sustainable energy use will be facilitated through the implementation of a carbon tax, the removal of fossil fuel subsidies and a support for the divestment movement on fossil fuels.
Peter Ormond, the Green Party candidate for the Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas riding, believes that it is time to redefine the system.
“Times are changing. I always say that seasons change, and so naturally the times are changing. We have to get aligned with the times. We have an older population, we have more diversity . . . let’s adapt to that.”
One of the ways the party hopes to do this is to shift focus to community sustainability. By raising corporate taxes, the party will be able to reallocate funds to municipal initiatives, such as water quality, public housing and public transit. The party also aims to facilitate the creation of jobs within the community, likely in green economy.
Another aspect of the Green platform is to have equal pay for equal work, or a Guaranteed Livable Income, though the specifics will be ironed out in detail in the future.
“I don’t know exactly, with the student factor in there, we would bring that [to] the table and discuss it,” said Ormond.
This is where the Green Party hopes to integrate collaborative discussion by opening up issues like equal pay to conversation within a new board, the Council of Canadian Governments. The Council will be chaired by the federal government and bring together the provinces, territories, municipal governments and indigenous people to discuss national strategies.
Ormond says that the Green Party does have a plan for tackling student debt, as they hope to abolish tuition for college, university and skill training programs by 2020.
“By relieving student debt, we are going to allow people to have the freedom to invest in things that make your life more beautiful . . . Instead of paying that money to the bank for the first ten years of their working life, they can invest in the economy.”
The Green Party has also taken a stance on several issues that caused a ripple of dissent within the student population. When it comes to the controversial Bill C-51, the Green Party sustains that such laws have no place in Canadian legislature. The Green Party has said that it will be looking to reverse Bill C-51 if elected.
Ultimately, the Green Party believes that the root of all of these issues is the environment. If we take care of our environment, the rest will follow.
“Energy is the economy, is the environment, ” said Ormond. “The thing we have to do is to have the mind shift.”
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By: Isaac Kinley
Alex Johnstone, the Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas candidate for the New Democratic Party, discussed her party’s plans to make living more affordable for the riding’s residents. She said that her party plans to raise the corporate tax rate by two percent, generating enough revenue to both balance the budget and facilitate increased spending.
Some of Johnstone’s major platform points include the NDP’s proposed $15 per day universal childcare, an investment in Medicare to reduce the cost of medications by 40 percent and investment in retirement, considering the large volume of baby boomers reaching retirement age. She said that she was personally most excited about the NDP’s proposals both to introduce a cap-and-trade system aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to repeal Bill C-51. “Our party and the Green Party were the only ones to vote against Bill C-51,” she said. “We are committed to repealing [it].”
To address student debt, the NDP plans to create interest-free federal student loans and invest $250 million in the creation of 74,000 new federal grants for students in need of financial assistance, according to Johnstone. They also intend to “crack down” on unpaid internships that aren’t related to the intern’s education and invest $200 million in the creation of paid co-ops and internships. Additionally, they plan to reintroduce the recently defeated Intern Protection Act, which would extend labour rights to interns, such as the right to refuse unsafe work.
The NDP’s $15 per day child care proposal has received criticism from Justin Trudeau, who said it isn’t necessary to provide services at that price to Canadians of all levels of income. Johnstone responded, arguing that the Liberal childcare plan does not involve the creation of any new childcare spaces and would therefore not contribute to the equitable administration of childcare services.
The existing childcare centres in Hamilton are concentrated in Ancaster, she said, and mostly absent in the poorest areas farther east. She likened the $15 per day plan to universal healthcare and education, saying, “[universal childcare] is another program that, just like [those two], is going to be a societal game-changer.”
Johnstone also criticized the Liberals’ planned tax breaks, arguing that $6 billion of Canada’s annual deficit is the result of tax breaks for families with children, including families with wealthy parents on the Sunshine List.
“It’s important to note that Trudeau’s system only targets the top one percent [of earners],” she said. “That still leaves the vast majority of people who are on the Sunshine List. They’re still benefiting [from tax breaks].”
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As the Liberal candidate in the Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas riding, Filomena Tassi believes that her party is best prepared to meet the needs of students on campus.
When asked about the work that best exemplifies the type of role she would embody as an MP, she highlighted her work as a chaplain over the past 20 years in Ancaster’s Bishop Tonnos Catholic Secondary School.
“In that role, I’ve had the opportunity to work with youth hand-in-hand throughout many difficult challenges. We’ve dealt with things like suicide, criminal charges, loss of a loved one … I’ve been able to see the resilience of our youth, and their sense of justice,” said Tassi.
Tassi believes that her experience with youth over her past twenty years has uniquely equipped her to manage and understand the issues that students have at McMaster.
Tassi also cited several of the campaign promises made by the Liberal party that have been targeted for students, including the plan to create a Prime Minister’s youth advisory council, which will consist of a non-partisan group of young people whose ages will range from 16 to 24.
However, one of the main pillars that the Liberal party is relying on for student support is the promise to push all repayment requirements for student loans until after a graduate is earning a minimum income of $25,000. This is in contrast with the NDP promise to phase out interest on student loans over the next seven years.
“We recognize that student debt can be crippling . . . I have two children now, who are in university, so I’m experiencing it first-hand,” she said.
Tassi also explained the Liberals’ goal of increasing the maximum Canada Student Grant to $3,000 for full-time, low-income students, and $1,800 for part-time, low-income students.
“They’re saying the average student debt is $26,000. This is why we want to work with students to try and ensure that the cost of going to school is lowered, and that when they graduate they won’t have to repay [right away],” Tassi said.
The Liberal party has promised a $1.3 billion three-year plan that, amongst a suite of various initiatives, will invest $300 million annually for creating 40,000 new youth jobs and 5,000 youth green jobs each year, as well as an annual $40 million to help employers create new co-op placements for students in science, technology and business programs.
“We’re just trying to bridge the gap from education to work,” she explained. “The real difference in our plan is that it offers fairness to the middle-class and those trying to get there, and job creation through investing now.”
While Tassi has dealt with some controversy after describing herself as a “pro-life” individual in an interview with the Hamilton Spectator last year, she is planning on supporting the party’s position on abortion if elected as MP.
“My position is this: a woman has a right to choose — that’s based on the Charter — and I will not vote against that right,” she explained.
“I’m a believer in the Charter . . . and secondly, in the separation of church and state. As an MP, my role is to represent the people, and that’s all of the people.”
