Anyone who thinks young Canadians are apathetic about politics should have seen the hundreds of students who crowded into Wallace Hall on Tuesday evening for the Kingston and the Islands all-candidates debate.
The 150 seats were full by 5:10 p.m. for the 5:30 debate, with dozens more students and Kingston residents standing to watch as the six candidates for the Kingston and the Islands federal riding sparred over issues ranging from post-secondary tuition to softwood lumber to electoral reform.
The debate was attended by all of the candidates running in the Jan. 23 federal election: Lou Grimshaw of the Conservatives, Rob Hutchison of the NDP, current Liberal MP and Speaker of the House Peter Milliken, Don Rogers of the Canadian Action Party, Karl Walker, an independent candidate and Eric Walton of the Green Party.
University Rector Grant Bishop mediated the first half of the debate, and ASUS President Bradley Hammond mediated the second half.
Bishop said he was impressed and encouraged by the large turnout.
“It is clear to me that what we have here is not necessarily a non-partisan crowd, but a partisan, active and interested one,” he said.
Each candidate was asked to give a two-minute opening statement.
Rogers kicked off the debate with a critique of the competing parties.
“The other parties say they will defend post-secondary accessibility, health care, the environment,” he said. “How can they? They won’t even defend Canada.” Rogers went on to emphasize his own party’s platform.
“We dig down to the root issues: one is sovereignty; secondly we must maintain control of our monetary situation; and finally, civil liberties,” he said.
Speaking next, Grimshaw focused on the importance of the current election to Canadians.
“General elections are always important, but this one particularly so,” he said. “It is an opportunity for the people to hold their elected officials accountable, and a time for renewal.” Grimshaw said his party presents a balanced and moderate platform.
“The Conservative platform tries to do the greatest good for the greatest number,” he said.
In his opening statement, Green Party candidate Walton said Canadian voters shouldn’t see their choice as limited to two federal parties.
“The real choice is very different from whether one votes Liberal or Conservative,” he said. “We need to consider the unraveling of local communities and economies, and the failure of these traditional parties to respond to those problems.”
Walton also said he sees potential for improving the quality of the environment in Canada.
“I have a deep optimism in the potential of our species to improve the quality of our environment,” he said.
NDP candidate Hutchison criticized the Liberal government’s track record.
“While others played games in Parliament, Jack Layton and the NDP rolled up their sleeves and got to work,” he said. “The Liberals break so many promises, they don’t know what to believe.”
Hutchison briefly outlined his own party and its policies.
“The NDP wants to invest in students, make the government accountable, and get serious about the environment,” he said.
Liberal incumbent Peter Milliken, who has represented Kingston and the Islands since 1988, focused on what he called impressive progress in post-secondary assistance.
“Since 2001, Queen’s has received an excess of $6 billion for important research,” he said. “The government has made a commitment to making post-secondary education possible and accessible for all students.”
Walker, the only independent candidate in the riding, said he wants Kingston residents to stand up for their rights and criticized the federal funding of political parties.
“Four of these parties receive money from the government,” he said. “Your tuitions rise, yet we give political party handouts. This isn’t right.” Walker added the priority of the other candidates is not on Kingston.
“These representatives go to Ottawa and speak for Ottawa first and you second,” Walker continued. “50 per cent of this city doesn’t vote, and you can see why.” In his role as moderator, Bishop asked the candidates a series of questions about post-secondary education, accessibility and party stances on tuition and student debt. All of the candidates proposed initiatives to reduce tuition and debt stress for post-secondary students.
Milliken praised the proposed Liberal “50/50 Policy,” where the government would pay for half of first and final year tuition, with more money—to a maximum of $3000 per year—going to students in greater need.
Walker focused on cooperation between different levels of government to ensure the accessibility of post-secondary education.
“We need to establish relationships between the provincial and federal governments,” he said. “You know there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell that [those with lower incomes] will make it at university without government assistance.” Hutchison also emphasized federal negotiation with provinces, and said that the government should give directly to institutions.
“This allows universities to invest in operating funds so as to reduce the pressure to increase tuitions,” he said.
Grimshaw proposed scholarships as a major source of student funding.
“Our party has a fundamental belief in equality for all citizens,” he said. “We need to make maximum use of scholarships to help students with this issue.” Walton promoted the Green Party proposal to give tax benefits to those leaving endowments for post-secondary institutions.
“As a federal government, we can’t control how the provinces establish tuition,” he said.
Rogers said that addressing education accessibility didn’t get to the root of the problem, but ensuring Canadians have access to jobs would.
“We have to dig deeper and not look at these band-aid solutions of a grant here and a grant there,” he said. “We need to look at the economy and ensure that people have jobs to pay for education in the first place.” Following the debate on post-secondary tuition, Bishop opened the floor to audience questions. Although a wide variety of topics were discussed, gay marriage, Canadian sovereignty and international relations were mentioned repeatedly.
After being pressed for his stance on gay marriage, the crowd booed Conservative candidate Grimshaw when he said he was undecided on his position.
“The honest answer to the question is that I don’t know at this time [how I would vote],” he said.
All other candidates stated that they would vote in favour of gay marriage if Stephen Harper became prime minister and held a free vote on the definition of marriage.
Rogers said that to return to the traditional definition of marriage would be a step backwards.
“It’s not everyone’s choice of lifestyle, but heck, that’s what makes this country so diverse,” he said. “We’ve come a long way, let’s not go back.” Audience members also reacted loudly after a question was asked in French about whether each party, if elected as a minority government, would align itself with the Bloc Quebecois.
While Walton was applauded for his bilingual abilities, spectators jeered as Grimshaw struggled with his French answer. Only Hutchison chose to answer in English.
After an hour of audience questions, each candidate was given two minutes for closing remarks before the two-hour debate wrapped up. Spectators stayed behind to discuss issues with the candidates and amongst themselves.
Lisa Jorgensen, ArtSci ’08, said she enjoyed the debate.
“The most interesting discussions came from the question and answer period,” she said.
Phil Troop, ArtSci ’06, agreed.
“I was impressed with a lot of the student questions,” he said. “They got to a lot of issues and we covered a lot of ground.
“I noticed a real emphasis on social disparities, and I think the Queen’s community seems to be thinking progressively on a lot of topics.” Troop said he will vote for who believes is the best candidate, instead of along strategic party lines.
“I’ll be voting for Walton,” he said. “I agree with him that you should vote for the person, not the party.
“His answers made sense and he was very direct.” Jessie McCahill, ArtiSci ’06, said she found directness in answering questions important.
“I thought the most interesting issue was Mr. Grimshaw’s stance on homosexuality, because he really avoided the question,” she said. “He wasn’t really answering any of the questions.” Kingston resident Glenda Caulden expressed concern that citizens would cast strategic votes instead of voting for a specific candidate.
“I just hope that people don’t vote for a party where the candidate doesn’t express their own views, just so that the Liberals don’t win another government,” she said. “I think we need to stand up for ourselves and our beliefs, and vote for whomever best represents us.” McCahill agreed that strategic voting wouldn’t solve any problems.
“I think strategic voting isn’t going to make anything better,” she said. “I would like to think that my vote is important, but I think a lot of my peers are voting strategically.” Kingston resident and retired Queen’s mathematics professor Ian Hughes said he was impressed with Don Rogers of the lesser known Canadian Action Party.
“I’m a big supporter of the NDP, but Don Rogers put the issues better and emphasized the big topics,” he said.
Hughes added that he hoped a wider variety of federal parties would broaden the range of issues discussed by Canadians.
“The more and more people voting for NDP, Green and Canadian Action helps more people see how their policies might be helpful,” he said. “It’s a progressive thing.” Students not currently registered to vote in Kingston and the Islands can vote in their home riding by submitting a registration form to their home riding’s returning officer by Jan. 17. Those wishing to vote in the Kingston and the Islands riding must register a change of address with the returning officer either before the election or at the voting station. For additional information, voters can visit the Elections Canada website at www.elections.ca.
All final editorial decisions are made by the Editor(s) in Chief and/or the Managing Editor. Authors should not be contacted, targeted, or harassed under any circumstances. If you have any grievances with this article, please direct your comments to journal_editors@ams.queensu.ca.