As an American who came to Canada for the sole reason of going to McGill and having unlimited access to poutine, Canadian politics are not my forte. Nevertheless, I consider it important to know what’s going on since I live here and am not looking to play into an ignorant American stereotype. Canadian and U.S politics are completely different- specifically the number of parties and the differing aims each one has if they are to be elected. Here is an introduction of the main parties using the cast of Mean Girls, because everything can always be related to Mean Girls.
- Conservatives: Stephen Harper as Regina George
Harper and Regina, you either love them or you hate them. Like Regina, he’s in charge and has been the Big Kahuna for a while- governing since 2006 and now running for another term (who knew this was legal? Why is this legal?). Being in office for so long and given low global commodity prices that seriously hinder the Canadian economy, he is often blamed for the current economic state (I love him though, hello 75 cents to the USD). He has both loyal followers (who to be honest I have not met yet but am 100% sure they exist) and people who just want him out. It seems that McGill students aren’t really fans– I’m looking at you my 57 Facebook friends who are attending ‘Stephen Harper Going Away Party.’
Harper’s platform foundation is really about the economy: how to recuperate and protect it. In order to accomplish this feat, he plans to keep the federal budget balanced and lower taxes for small businesses, families, senior citizens and workers, assuring that tax payers’ dollars will be used responsibly. Harper also aims to create 1.3 million jobs by 2020 which would add on to the 1.3 million he insists were created during the recession. Furthermore, he believes that homeownership is of utmost importance and believes that by providing people with new support to buy and invest in their homes, it will make homeownership less financially stressful and increase the overall number of homeowners in Canada.
- New Democratic Party: Tom Mulcair as Cady Heron
Mulcair isn’t new in town, but he has emerged as one of the most popular politicians in the whole country and is a serious rival of Harper’s (Does this sound like a Regina vs Cady stand-off to anyone else?).
Mulcair seems to really stress the importance of having values and living life based on these value systems. He is pretty direct in saying that as Prime Minister, he will “wake up every day focused on building the country of our dreams.” One of his goals is to provide affordable childcare and improve the public health care system. He plans to accomplish this by reinvesting money that he believes profitable corporations owe into childcare, pharmacare, and health care. He aims to make CEOs responsible and no longer allow for loopholes; Mulcair wants to govern with transparency. He also appears to be eco-friendly as the fight against climate change and holding polluters accountable for their actions are at the forefront of his platform. And like Harper, he wants to create more jobs and build infrastructure.
- Liberals: Justin Trudeau as Aaron Samuels
Let’s be real right now, Justin Trudeau is a beautiful human being. And before writing this article, that was about the only thing I knew about anyone running because I’m forced to watch 5 seconds of his escalator climbing ad. But like Aaron Samuels, Trudeau is not just a pretty boy. There’s more to him beneath that perfect hair and chiseled bone structure.
While many people consider Trudeau to be too inexperienced for office (#JustNotReady), he has a pretty comprehensive platform thus far. Trudeau has a plethora of promises (brace yourselves the list is pretty long): protecting Canadians rights to vote by restoring the integrity of the electoral process, investing in health and home care, and making home care a vital part of the health care system. In light of the recent refugee crisis and uproar over Aylan’s death after he and his family were refused entry into Canada, Trudeau specifically addresses being more compassionate to immigrants and expanding Canada’s intake of refugees from Syria by 25,000 through means of government sponsorship. His platform also mentions reinvesting in cultural and creative industries which will create jobs, growth in the economy and strengthen the Canadian identity. He also wants to cut taxes for the middle class in order to build a strong middle class; income between 44k and 89k will drop from being taxed 22% to 20.5%. To compensate for this decrease, he wants to raise taxes for the wealthiest 1%. His platform also includes creating jobs and opportunities for young Canadians (say goodbye to unemployment post-graduation!).
- Green Party: Elizabeth May as Ms. Norbury
Seriously, if I were a citizen of this fine country she would have my vote just for the sly, sassy peace sign she whipped out the other night during the third leaders’ debate. The time I’ve spent re-watching the vine is longer than the time I’ve spent writing a paper due tomorrow. Like Ms. Norbury, she’s funny, smart, and seems to be quite wise. We hope she isn’t a drug pusher though… that would be awkward.
May describes herself as an optimist who is a staunch defender of democracy. Her platform revolves around the economy, communities, government and climate. She narrows down her specific intentions within these broad topics. In regards to the economy, May plans to reduce its volatility by building sectors that benefit from the lower Canadian dollar like manufacturing, tourism, and cultural industries. She also emphasizes more R&D that will come from manufacturing and clean technology. Also, let’s praise her plan to slash Canada’s student debts and nix tuition fees (you lucky duckies!). May also wants to focus less on the global industrial food systems and more on local growers, farmers and producers. To build strong Canadian communities she plans to defend single-payer universal health care, implement a national seniors’ strategy, eliminate poverty and challenge inequality, and build strong First Nations and indigenous communities. May aims to defend coastal waters from pipelines and oil tankers, and implement a Canadian climate and energy strategy.
- Bloc Québécois: Gilles Duceppe as Kevin Knapoor
I was seriously debating whether or not to include Duceppe because like Kevin G, no one seems to take him seriously; they’re probably not winning any elections or Christmas talent show competitions. Their aim is to protect Quebec’s interests and promote Quebec sovereignty. Their unpopularity hasn’t seemed to deter them at all. This time around, their commitments are: an ongoing campaign for independence, revocation of the Clarity Act, continuing convergence of forces for independence, strengthening ties with Quebec immigrants, and promoting their independence project internationally.
They’re still running though, haters can’t bring them down!
You can check out the full platform of the parties here:
Conservatives: http://www.conservative.ca/media/plan/conservative-platform-en.pdz
NDP: http://www.ndp.ca/platform
Liberals: http://www.liberal.ca/backgrounders/
Green Party: http://www.greenparty.ca/sites/default/files/platform_english_web.pdf
Bloc Québécois: http://www.blocquebecois.org
Inform yourselves and go cast a vote, it’s one of the most important things you can do!
Images obtained from:
http://antidotemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/federal-leaders-compos…
https://38.media.tumblr.com/3a239f4a55cfa4d226199e4b37f6a968/tumblr_njd1…
http://lovelace-media.imgix.net/uploads/750/45678840-de3a-0132-c000-0a13…?
https://31.media.tumblr.com/58e0c676e2f6de543f88b262aacdf24b/tumblr_mluc…
https://31.media.tumblr.com/29acf53f711f16893dee8054988d3924/tumblr_n79v…
http://forevertwentysomethings.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Ms-Norbury…
https://38.media.tumblr.com/797a23e27f0e2bfd2ea0107b20973ba6/tumblr_no7s9lvBJW1tw07pqo1_500.g
***Disclaimer: the facts in this article are subject to change as the various platform campaigns progress. All information in this article is based on research from October 14th, 2015.***