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Before we concluded our interview, Hannah Martin shared a poem from the late Mik’maq poet and songwriter Rita Joe.
“I am the Indian/And the burden/Lies yet with me.”
Martin, too, is Mik’maq. As a First Nations person, and a member of the McMaster Indigenous Student Community Alliance, she personally identified that burden as a distinct responsibility to educate, and to make real the long history of the overlooked injustices of indigenous people across Canada.
The federal government’s work in addressing the issues faced by Indigenous communities across Canada has largely been seen as inadequate. The 2015 Truth and Reconciliation commission pointed out the failure to meet proper Indigenous curriculum standards throughout the country. Education on Indigenous culture, as well as the historical atrocities committed against Indigenous peoples, is only recommended and not mandatory in the public education system, even in a time where residential school survivors and victims of the Sixties Scoop — the practice of taking Indigenous children from their families and putting them in the foster care system — are still facing the repercussions of these tragedies.
Martin and her colleagues are frustrated, but also deeply driven to promote dialogue around MISCA’s latest initiative: mandatory Indigenous courses at McMaster University.
The petition
The Change.org petition was drafted by the student community association as a means of addressing the gaps in Indigenous awareness and education. Similar student movements have been successful at implementing an undergraduate Indigenous studies credit requirement at both Lakehead University and the University of Winnipeg. Preliminary discussions among the faculty of Indigenous studies have already begun taking place.
“I think a lot of what is wrong with Indigenous relations in this country is that it has been simplified for people.”
MISCA’s petition is calling for the implementation of mandatory Indigenous courses in recognition of the University’s location on historical Haudenosaunee land. The association also considers it an integral part of the reconciliation process recommended by the Truth and Reconciliation Council’s Calls to Action.
Educational structure
The logistics of implementing a required Indigenous studies credit have yet to be worked out by the University, the Faculty of Indigenous studies and MISCA’s members. While the latter two are looking to the University of Winnipeg and Lakehead University for guidance, the requirement will only begin for students enrolling in the 2016 fall school year, so the results remain to be seen.
In Winnipeg, students will be able to choose from a list of three-credit courses spanning across departments that will fulfill the requirement. Lakehead has offered a similarly flexible approach, as there is a significant number of pre-existing courses that have a minimum of 18 hours of content related to Indigenous issues ranging across different departments. Lakehead has explicitly committed to adding no additional costs for the students that need to fulfill this requirement.
Both universities have pushed themselves away from the implementation of a mass, one-size-fits-all course, and similar attitudes have been shared by members of MISCA and the Faculty of Indigenous studies.
McMaster’s Indigenous Studies’ Academic Director Dr. Rick Monture identified several concerns with the implementation of mandatory Indigenous courses. Monture said that the discussions have only begun to take place, and it is too early to tell where the additional resources needed to provide a greater range of Indigenous courses for different faculties could come from. Furthermore, the faculty is weary of potential tensions that could arise by making Indigenous studies a mandatory academic components, and wants to avoid creating potentially detrimental learning environments. While Monture and his colleagues are happy to be discussing the possibilities of this initiative with the University, he personally recognizes the difficulty of working with professors’ academic freedom and the limited scope of their own expertise.
“I think that sort of points to a big issue of people thinking that teaching Indigenous stuff is simple and that it’s kind of an easy fix to a big, big problem that’s been festering or has been in process for several decades now. How do you untangle all of that complex history, Canadian history and political history and social history, again, into a three unit course? Yeah, any little bit would help but I don’t want people who would be leaving that course to think that they understand these things now because I think a lot of what is wrong with Indigenous relations in this country is that it has been simplified for people,” stated Monture.
“The media has simplified things, elementary and secondary and post-secondary curriculum pays very little attention to Indigenous stuff so people don’t think that there is anything they really need to know … When you present them with something more complex, it confuses people, so we need to be very thoughtful of how we move forward with this.”
Despite the pragmatic difficulties, members of MISCA are still confident that Indigenous applications have the potential to be valuable for a wide range of disciplines under a more faculty-oriented model.
Last week, the Global Engineering Conference included a presentation from MISCA with a guest speaker that addressed the need for developers to speak with Indigenous peoples across the world about matters of land. Earlier this year, an Indigenous Health Conference united Health Sciences students and professionals to discuss some of the unique health challenges that face Indigenous communities.
“It’s my responsibility to carry that knowledge on to make sure no one forgets that it’s happened. That’s like the greatest fear of our people … we’re not mad, we just want people to be aware of what happened, we want people to be aware of the truth.”
The petition has been received with mixed receptions from the student body, but as current MISCA Secretary Treasurer Gail Jamieson explained, the lack of knowledge that has come up time and time again in conversation has only led to the group believing more needs to be done to educate more people about these issues.
“Every city has people with addictions, but it’s funny how non-Natives will point at you, and point out everything wrong in the community, and not ask … why has this happened. I think education is a really big part of that. You can’t help anybody or support anybody unless you know why, and I think Canada really has to look at that,” explained Gail.
Three-year-long MISCA member Evan Jamieson-Eckel explained that individuals would often object to the notion of increased Indigenous education, largely pointing at a variety of real and stereotypical associations with Indigenous culture and contemporary issues. He said that the importance of this history is for all Treaty peoples, which explicitly includes non-Indigenous individuals.
“Even when treaties are being brought up, it’s not like we want these things for ourselves. The treaties are between native nations and Canada. That’s everyone, everyone is a treaty person that’s one thing you’ll hear a lot too. That’s what people need to realise too. We’re all in this together right? And that’s what we’re trying to push. We can’t get to the point of reconciliation without looking at the past and learning from it and how to best move forward with that information.”
The grade school gap
Still, the necessity of mandatory Indigenous education at the post-secondary level ultimately stems from a lack of mandatory curriculum at the grade school level. MISCA has officially supported and began to circulate a petition started by KAIROS, a human rights advocacy group, that demands more vigorous implementation of age appropriate K-12 Indigenous education in accordance to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action 63. The curriculum would include studies of residential schools, Treaties, and contemporary and historical Indigenous contributions to the country.
“Maybe eventually it wouldn’t have to be mandatory once all these ones that have been taught in public school catch up to your university grade and maybe more people would love that subject and want to learn more and want to take it when they are in university as an elective. But for now, I think it has to be mandatory because there has been a lack that the government has done, and they’ve lied about the true history of Canada,” explained Jamieson.
Encouraging dialogue
While it is highly unlikely that a single, three unit course could be a satisfactory means of implementing this mandate, advocates will need to carefully look to Lakehead University and the University of Winnipeg more integrated model in the coming school years to evaluate the pre-existing models.
Nonetheless, the logistical complications should not prevent serious consideration about the state of Indigenous education in post-secondary institutions and especially grade schools where this part of Canadian culture and history is actively overlooked.
Despite the frustration, and despite the determination to promote this initiative, time and time again, the members of MISCA showed that above all else, they want to be heard. They were ready for both constructive input, criticisms and concerns, but they are also bracing themselves for outrage, confusion and outright rejection.
Hannah Martin left with a final anecdote about the personal responsibility she feels to her people and culture, and Canadian society as a whole.
“It’s my responsibility to carry that knowledge on to make sure no one forgets that it’s happened. That’s like the greatest fear of our people … we’re not mad, we just want people to be aware of what happened, we want people to be aware of the truth. It’s a huge responsibility for us to try to educate people every single day, and that’s a responsibility I carry with me every day and I will until I die.”
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By: Rafik El Werfalli
For over 60 years, the Indigenous population of Canada has been denied the freedom of choosing where to live. Under a government-run “pass system,” Indigenous peoples were forced to live on reserves. Any who wanted to leave required written documentation — a pass — issued by their reserve’s government-appointed “Indian agent,” that outlined the reasons for and duration of the leave.
First introduced by Sir John A. Macdonald in the 1880s, the pass system restricted the rights of the Indigenous people of Canada and was implemented without going through Parliament.
Alex Williams’ new documentary film, The Pass System, explores the history of the government effort to further segregate and limit the freedoms of Indigenous communities. Williams highlights the different perspectives on the discriminatory system and includes stories of First Nation Elders from these Indigenous communities that illustrate the impact of the system on their lives.
Williams was raised in Treaty 6 territory, Saskatchewan, and grew up in a society that he saw as racist. Growing up in a low-income neighbourhood, he witnessed many people that were pushed out economically. According to Williams, “social and structural racism” was common in his hometown.
“[The pass system] was intended to keep people of colour out and control the indigenous population, restraining and confining them to reserves as much as possible,” he explained.
Ian Mosby, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History at McMaster University added, “Canada has a problem with their attitudes towards indigenous people, not just the government, but also Canadians themselves. We need to really look deep down at dealing with this issue and dealing with the structural racism that Indigenous people faced and are currently facing.”
“Canadians in general have been taught a very selective version of their history and many historians have been working to change that.“
Williams agrees with Mosby. “Canadians in general have been taught a very selective version of their history and many historians have been working to change that,” said Williams. “I am hoping that it can be some help in understanding the roots of this very Canadian kind of racism, colonization and genocide.”
Mosby added that many Canadian aren’t aware of their past and don’t realize the true scale of racial segregation and discrimination that Indigenous people have and continue to experience.
The film has received wide coverage, including from the Toronto Star and CBC. The film has screened at numerous locations including the Toronto International Film Festival, Vancouver International Film Festival and at least 20 more screenings across Canada.
“This is a story that I think is really important for people to know, and hopefully come to this documentary, and hearing from the director, people will start to get a sense of how much they don’t know about Indigenous people” said Mosby.
The Pass System will be screened at McMaster University on Mar. 4 at 2:30 p.m. at the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery (MDCL) in room 1105.
Photo Credit: Toronto International Film Festival
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By: Saad Ejaz
Are Canadians more polite than Americans? A new study conducted by two McMaster researchers claims that there is some truth to the stereotype.
The study analyzed over three million geo-tagged tweets in Canada and the United States between February and October 2015. Removing words such as “a”, “the” and “to”, the researchers sorted the remaining words into word clouds, with the words that are more commonly used in the middle in larger text, while less commonly used words on the sides in smaller text.
Based on the word cloud, the most common words in Canada’s word cloud include “great”, “amazing”, “beautiful” and “favourite.” Other prevalent but less commonly used words include “awesome”, “nice”, “praise”, “congrats” and “enjoy.” There were no offensive or questionable terms in Canada’s word cloud.
Meanwhile, the American word cloud was the complete opposite. Negative words such as “hate”, “hell” and “damn” were favoured more by Americans, along with other profanities and racial slurs that have been blurred out in the graphic. Other less commonly and mildly negative words used include “tired”, “annoying”, “hurt”, “bored” and “dumb.”
The two Ph.D. candidates Daniel Schmidtke and Bryor Snefjella explained that their interest started with the question of border regions. “We thought that this was very interesting to study linguistically […] you have two places that are very close together and you have language differences at a border,” said Schmidtke.
The pair began their work by compiling a large amount of raw text and used different linguistics and computer science techniques to cut out words.
“Nicely, one reason we get such a nice crisp result is that this particular statistic we are using is good at both correcting the relative proportions — there are more Americans than Canadians — and helping with some of the tricky things such as word frequency distributions,” said Snefjella.
Schmidtke and Snefjella have both analyzed a number of different border regions. These include East and West Germany, Scotland and England, Netherlands and Belgium, the U.S. and Canada. They mentioned that they have not seen such a distinct difference in language as between the U.S. and Canada. “I think what’s most interesting is that we evaluated a number of different border regions … and you only see this divide in positivity in the language with Canada and the US in this particular way,” said Snefjella.
“You only see this divide in positivity in the language with Canada and the US.”
The study gained worldwide attention almost overnight, which was a huge surprise to Schmidtke and Snefjella. “I think it just seems to hit a nerve in general. I knew it would be of interest to people but not of such huge public interest,” said Schmidtke.
Schmidtke and Snefjella work in linguist Victor Kuperman’s lab and the Sherman Centre for Digital Scholarship at McMaster University.
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Interview: Vincent Samuel - Conservative Party
Interview: Peter Ormond - Green Party
Interview: Filomena Tassi - Liberal Party
Interview: Alex Johnstone - NDP
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By: Michael Klimuntowski
I don’t blame students for suffering from a bad case of Harper Derangement Syndrome. Heck, if I had gone to the MSU’s Panel Discussion last week undecided and heard Professor MacQueen suggest the Conservative Government staged the Ottawa shooting to pass Bill C-51, I too would vote anybody but Conservative. And if I only relied on The Silhouette as my source of news I’d participate in Professor Clark’s asinine “Hospitality Project” and be regular pen pals with Omar Khadr.
Fortunately, I made my mind up long ago and only sparingly follow our school paper. Let’s discern the radical spin from the facts.
Prime Minister Harper’s legacy is the envy of the world. He has implemented lower consumption taxes, lower income taxes at all brackets, lower small business tax rates, lower corporate tax rates, pension and income splitting for families and seniors, and the lowest federal tax burden on Canadians from every walk of life in nearly 50 years. Furthermore, a 2014 study published by The New York Times stated that “median income in Canada has climbed by 19.7 per cent since 2000.” These are all tangible results felt by our families.
Furthermore, our Conservative government has remained attuned to the fact society is changing. In order to remain competitive in an increasingly globalized economy our government has signed 39 new trade agreements since 2006. This has opened half the world’s economy for business for Canadians.
You may hear claims that Prime Minister Harper doesn’t care about the youth, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Multiple initiatives taken on by our Prime Minister will directly impact our generation. On the horizon we can expect to benefit from increased contribution limits to TFSAs, an increased first-time RRSP withdrawal, and a sounder Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement that will be there when our time to exit the workforce comes. Programs such as the Job Grant have earmarked hundreds of millions of dollars to train Canadians for existing or better jobs, allowing for an easier transition into the workforce.
Under Prime Minister Harper we have seen our country ranked one of the happiest (despite “angry Tom”), most reputable, and most admired in the world by groups such as the Reputation Institute, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN). We have also seen the best job growth since the 2008 recession.
In addition to our domestic prosperity, our government has gained the admiration of our allies through bold foreign policy stances. It was only several months ago when Stephen Harper made headlines across the globe for his comments at the G20 in Australia, telling Vladimir Putin to get out of Ukraine.
Last week’s Munk Debate on foreign policy further highlighted the stark contrast between the Prime Ministerial candidates. When Justin Trudeau was asked how he would deal with Vladimir Putin, the audience burst into laughter before he even answered the question (maybe they expected another hockey-related wisecrack?). Do we really want the divorced-from-reality Liberals confronting the geopolitical challenges of our time?
Over the last nine years Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s leadership has been repeatedly tested by challenges at home, financial turmoil and global conflict. What voters will decide in just a couple weeks is whether our country today faces a more promising future.
As Mulcair’s NDP move to the right, willing to say anything to come to power, and Trudeau’s Liberals move to the left, offering platitudes and cynical “progressivism,” the Harper Conservatives will continue to stand firm on their record and at the helm of our more promising Canada.
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By: Bianca Caramento
I entered university as a die-hard New Democrat. Now I’m the president of the McMaster Young Liberals. What the hell happened? My guess: philosophy.
Studying philosophy involves what most people would call “hairsplitting.” Minute details are endlessly debated. Everyday assumptions are constantly challenged. Basic “truths” are subject to intense scrutiny. For instance, philosophers might ask why we believe that what goes up will indeed come down, just because it has every time before. Simply put, nothing is sacred in the field of philosophy because no belief is taken at face value.
So, how does the Liberal Party emulate this modus operandi and why is that a good thing?
Many people give the Liberals flack for not abiding by a particular ideology. In fact, the party is often referred to as “The Big Rent Tent” because its members hold wildly different political views. There remains one constant, however. As a rule, Liberals place debate, critical discussion, and evidence-based decision making before all else.
Much like the study of philosophy, Liberals challenge and debate just about everything. In NDP circles, chances are you won’t hear anyone question the need to regulate capitalism or provide social assistance. They may debate how they ought to, but it is unlikely they will debate if they ought to. Among Liberals, these policies, along with all others, are subject to critical discussion.
In the Liberal Party, a policy’s merit does not stem from its alignment with party values, but from its ability to reflect existing reality and best address the problems at hand. This method of policy making is content-neutral. It may result in a highly left-leaning platform; it may not. What matters is that the resulting policies have withstood rigorous debate.
Political philosopher, John Stuart Mill, provides convincing justification for this form of policy development in his discussion of free speech. Mill argues that without the freedom to debate and challenge existing views, two things happen. First, we end up with blindly accepted truths that we cannot fully understand nor defend. Mill refers to this as “dead dogma.” Secondly, we miss out on the opportunity to adapt, improve and strengthen our beliefs by virtue of having to defend them with others.
This translates rather seamlessly to Liberal policy development. By staying committed to an ongoing discussion of each policy’s merit and efficacy, no matter what it may be, the Liberal Party seeks to implement the best possible solution, instead of the solution that simply fits an ideological framework. The philosophy nerd in me can’t help but appreciate that.
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Special thanks to Michael Beattie, Bianca Caramento and Christine Yachouh for helping us acquire these letters.
From Vincent Samuel, Conservative candidate Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas
From Elizabeth May, federal leader of the Green Party
From Filomena Tassi, Liberal candidate in Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas
From Thomas Mulcair, federal leader of the New Democratic Party
Dear students,
Although this is my first time running for public office, I have helped out in local campaigns for many years –and if someone ever tells you your vote doesn’t matter, know that I’ve seen people win elections with as few as 11 votes.
Your vote definitely matters.
I came to Canada in 1989 with my wife and daughter, and have lived in this riding for over 20 years. Like you, I had the privilege of studying at McMaster University, from where I graduated with a BScN. Working in healthcare in our riding allowed me to get to know and advocate for folks from all backgrounds, ages and walks of life.
You’re probably wondering why the Conservative Party?
Over the past decade, Conservatives have introduced measures that are helping Canadian students just like you, gain improved access to post-secondary education and the training they require for high quality jobs.
Here’s some of the ways we’ve done this:
We are building on these measures by:
What is not lost on us is that although Canada boasts high levels of post-secondary achievements, too many graduates are unemployed or underemployed. That is one of the reasons our Government has also taken steps to promote education in fields where there is high demand from employers, so that Canadians can meet the realities of the job market.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, our government has created over 1.3 million stable, well-paying jobs and we have pledged to create 1.3 million more. Another great accomplishment we’ve had more recently is our partnership in the Trans Pacific Partnership. One in five Canadian jobs are linked to export and trade, and this agreement means the creation of many more of these well-paying, high skilled jobs.
Lastly, we have developed specific initiatives to help young Canadians make a successful transition into the labour market by:
And by enabling Canadians to save more for their child's education by increasing the lifetime limit on RESP contributions, increasing the annual Canada Education Savings Grant amount, and expanding RESP access to part-time and apprenticeship students
These measures specific to students, as well as those for all Canadians including our low tax, balanced plan for the economy are why I am proud to be your Conservative candidate.
Elections should be about more than rhetoric, they should be about responsible leadership. Leadership requires being able to look at all aspects of life and deal with the issues that matter to all Canadians. On October 19th, I ask you to vote for the proven leadership of our Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and vote for me as your Member of Parliament.
I look forward to representing you.
Sincerely,
Vincent Samuel
Dear McMaster Students,
There’s good reason for you to feel disillusioned with politics. We face runaway climate change, pipelines, student debt and skyrocketing fees, unemployment and underemployment, unaffordable housing, an unconscionable gap in quality of life between Indigenous people and non-Indigenous people, and a wealthy country where citizens still live in poverty, yet youth are offered the same stale ideas from parties presenting themselves as the only choice. While the oldline parties fight over the turf at the cutting edge of the status quo, the Green Party is offering new ideas. We need you to vote because not voting is a vote for the status quo.
I’m pleased to share some of these bold new ideas with you.
Climate Change
Climate change is both the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity that Canada has ever faced. While the consequences of failing to address climate change would be catastrophic, our transition to a green, sustainable economy will create good local jobs, shorter commutes, more livable cities, and cleaner air and water.
Our plan is to move to the virtual elimination of fossil fuel use in Canada by midcentury. Our shortterm target is 40 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, while we are calling for 80 percent reductions below 1990 levels by 2050. These are ambitious targets, yet the scale and urgency of this challenge demands nothing less. As Canadians, we will rise to this challenge and, in doing so, create a strong, stable, and prosperous economy today and for our children and grandchildren tomorrow.
Given climate realities and volatile international oil prices, expanding oil sands production is simply not on. Most of the bitumen in the Alberta oil sands must remain in the ground.
Climate and energy are two sides of the same coin. We urgently need a comprehensive, sciencebased national climate strategy to address rising sea levels, drought, extreme weather events, changing rainfall patterns, increased forest fires, melting permafrost and crumbling Arctic infrastructure.
A robust Canadian Climate and Energy Strategy begins with eliminating all fossil fuel subsidies. Canada currently provides more than $1 billion dollars a year in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, meaning, on a per capita basis, Canadian taxpayers provide more handouts to the fossil fuel industry than almost every other country in the G20.
Next, we must work together to put a national price on carbon. In the complete absence of federal leadership, the provinces have taken up the challenge of climate change on their own. Although some progress has been made, notably in British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec, this patchwork of climate strategies is an inefficient way to tackle an issue that faces all Canadians. The Carbon Fee and Dividend Plan is the smartest, most efficient, and most effective way to shift away from burning fossil fuels. We will place a fee on carbon, and pay the funds it generates directly to every Canadian over age 18 in the form of an annual carbon dividend. This plan will defend our climate, diversify our energy mix, grow our economy, and ensure energy security for Canadians.
The Carbon Fee and Dividend Plan is the smartest, most efficient, and most effective way to shift away from burning fossil fuels. We will place a fee on carbon, and pay the funds it generates directly to every Canadian over age 18 in the form of an annual carbon dividend. This plan will defend our climate, diversify our energy mix, grow our economy, and ensure energy security for Canadians.
Pipelines
Every pipeline – whether it’s Enbridge’s Northern Gateway, KinderMorgan’s expansion through Burnaby Mountain to the Burrard Inlet, Energy East, or Keystone XL, are all about one thing: getting raw, unprocessed bitumen to coastlines.These pipelines and supertankers are premised on a risky economic strategy. We have already seen how Harper’s strategy of putting all our eggs in the bitumen basket has hurt our economy. On top of that, one accident could cripple the entire billion dollar fisheries and tourism industry upon which our coastal communities depend.
The Green Party opposes any and all pipeline proposals that involve the shipping of diluted bitumen. Moving diluted bitumen is just not worth the risk. Green MPs will continue to challenge the deeply flawed pipeline review process and to seek ways to stop this risky pipeline.
Post-Secondary Education
Whether Germany, Austria, Norway, Sweden, or Finland, many of the world’s most successful economies have proven that expanding the public education system to include postsecondary increases prosperity, equality, productivity, and economic competitiveness.
We will start investing in Canada’s future by abolishing tuition fees for students without adequate financial means, including removing the inadequate 2% annual cap on increased funding for post secondary education for all First Nations and Inuit students. Through consultation and collaboration with provincial governments and universities and colleges, by 2020 we will abolish tuition fees for postsecondary education and skills training for Canadians, guaranteeing that income is never a barrier for
qualified students. It is widely recognized that Canada’s success depends on an educated population, yet we burden youth with tens of thousands of dollars in student debt.
As our plan to abolish tuition fees is being phased in, we will invest in the success of current students, jumpstart the Canadian economy, and give our graduates a handup by implementing a debtforgiveness program. Our plan will eliminate any existing or future student federal debt above $10,000. We will abolish charging interest on new student loans and will increase available funding for bursaries.
Youth Unemployment and Training
It is unacceptable to the Green Party, and should be unacceptable to every Canadian, that the unemployment rate among Canadian youth is twice the national average. The actual youth unemployment rate is likely much higher as many young people have given up on finding that first job and are no longer counted.
Investment in Canadian skills, training, and education is a proven means to create real jobs, and is the backbone of Canada’s future as a sustainability superpower. But for many young people just getting out of school, they face a Catch22. They cannot get hired in new jobs because they lack experience. But unless they get that first job, they’ll never have experience. Greens will create a national Community and Environment Service Corps, which will provide $1 billion/year to municipalities to hire Canadian youth to do work that needs to be done.
Housing is simply unaffordable for too many Canadians. The Green Party is committed to equitable and accessible housing for all. To this end, Green MPs will implement a National Housing Strategy based on Housing First principles, quickly moving people experiencing homelessness and providing additional supports as needed. As part of this strategy, we will advocate for increased funding and ambitious affordable housing targets, both the construction of new units and the restoration of existing housing.
Affordable Housing
Greens will leverage all policy tools at our disposal to facilitate this expansion in federally subsidized housing, including by providing significant subsidies, capital grants, credit and loan guarantees for non profit housing organizations and cooperatives, and needed changes in tax and mortgage insurance regulations. We will also provide support for energyefficient upgrades to social housing, and provide rent supplements or shelter assistance for an additional 40,000 lowincome households per year for the next decade.
Support strong First Nations and Indigenous communities
We need to move to implement the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The path to justice, healing and reconciliation begins with accepting a painful truth: the horrors of the residential school system constituted a policy of cultural genocide. There is no way to undo the damage nor to
compensate for the grief and loss of many generations of children and families. The truth is hard to absorb, but absorb it we must.
True reconciliation will take time, and while we work to build a new, nationtonation partnership based on mutual respect and understanding, there are urgent and important steps that must be taken by the federal government to put the relationship on firmer footing.
We begin by recognizing indigenous rights and title, and will negotiate in good faith to settle land claims, establish treaties and selfgovernment arrangements, and move to repeal the Indian Act should that be the consensus of First Nations. We will respect the rights of First Nations to take leadership of development projects on their traditional territories.
Creating opportunity for indigenous communities and their people means ensuring access to quality public services for all First Nations, Metis and Inuit. It requires adequate funding for housing, education, and health care, both on and off reserves. We will work to expand rural health care infrastructure by investing in telehealth and mobile medical units, to ensure indigenous communities have access to critical care.
The ongoing crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women must be urgently addressed. We will launch a national inquiry and work to ensure that structural violence against indigenous communities is addressed.
We also recognize the critical importance of defending languages and cultures, and will provide new federal funding for culturally appropriate education in traditional languages.
Poverty
The Green Party plans to introduce a Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI) to ensure no Canadian falls below an income level necessary to live with dignity. A GLI would provide a regular payment to every Canadian, at a subsistence level above the poverty line, to meet Canadians’ basic needs while encouraging additional income generation. For higherincome Canadians, the amount of the GLI is merely taxed back in whole. A GLI would empower those living in poverty and free service providers to focus on the root causes of inequality. We believe it is time to advance bold ideas like a GLI. Nevertheless, it will take time for study, reflection, and support from all levels of government. We are committed to opening dialogue on the idea, while pursuing short term measures to make progress immediately.
We need you to vote. Find a friend who didn’t vote last time, and get them to vote too. I encourage you to go to the returning office even ahead of the advance polls. You can be sure to be registered and even vote any day until advance polls start on Thanksgiving. The unfair elections act will make it harder for students to vote, so please go early.
You have the power to turn these bold ideas into our shared reality. I know that we share the profound faith that together, through hard work, compassion and cooperation, we can build a better future. When youth vote, everything changes.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share some of our ideas with you.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth May
Photo Credit: Patrick Doyle / The Canadian Press
Dear Students of McMaster University,
Thank you for this opportunity to share the NDP plan to make post-secondary education more accessible.
New Democrats know that improving access to post-secondary education is an integral part of building a fairer, more equitable society where nobody is left behind. When we invest in education and skills training and create jobs for youth we can all reap the benefits.
I’ve met with too many students who are graduating with more debt, fewer job opportunities and a more endangered environment. They’re tired of wondering how they’ll be able to buy their first home when they’re drowning in student debt.
New Democrats believe that cost should never be a barrier when accessing post-secondary education; and all Canadian students deserve the opportunity to attend accessible and high-quality public post-secondary institutions. Young people have a vital role to play in shaping this country’s future — your future. I know this firsthand; I’m proud to be working with a strong youth caucus who are bringing new energy to Parliament
Hill. Members of the NDP youth caucus have introduced:
Our youth caucus is working on issues that matter to young Canadians and proving what’s possible when our elected officials actually reflect our society.
The NDP is offering a positive vision for all Canadians. We believe that together we can build the Canada of our dreams— a Canada where everyone belongs, and no one is left behind. This fall Canadians once again have the opportunity to choose hope and optimism over fear and cynicism.
Please accept my best wishes for a successful school year at McMaster!
Sincerely,
Tom Mulcair
Photo Credit: iPolitics
