Who will get your vote?

Colin Standish
Colin Standish

Liberal

By Colin Standish

ArtSci ’08

Queen’s Liberals President

Do you remember a time when you were in elementary school and weren’t able to go to class because teachers were protesting in front of your school?

Do you remember the days when hospital closures and emergency room waits that seemed to stretch for eons?

Do you recall that no more than four years ago, thousands of nurses and doctors packed their bags and left this province?

When the Liberal Party came to power in Ontario four years ago, this province was reeling from the mismanagement of successive NDP and PC governments. The narrow politics of division, which caused 26 million lost school days for our students, have been mended over the past four years in order to serve the interests of a unified Ontario.

Over the past four years, Dalton McGuinty’s government has increased funding for health care by $9 billion a year, reduced waiting times and kept hospitals open province wide.

Our own Hotel Dieu in Kingston, which was slated for closure, was kept open and was renovated under the Liberal restructuring plan.

For the environment and future generations, Kingston’s own MPP John Gerretsen spearheaded the greenbelt in the GTA region for the long-term sustainability of urban centres and wildlife.

With regard to housing, Minister Gerretsen’s housing ministry has introduced new laws empowering tenants to resolve grievances with landlords and brought back real rent control.

On Oct. 10, remember the past four years of a strong, healthy, efficient and cleaner Ontario and vote to keep this province moving forward together.

NDP

By Chris Horkins

ArtSci ’08

Queen’s NDP President

Why vote NDP? Simply put, it’s the most practical choice you can make when you cast your ballot on Oct. 10.

The Liberals and PCs seem to have lost touch with reality in this campaign. Both our Premier and newly minted PC leader John Tory have been promising billions here, billions there, everything short of bringing another NHL hockey team to southern Ontario.

In a strange turn of events, Howard Hampton and the NDP have produced the most practical, sensible and believe it or not, the most fiscally sound platform of all major parties in this election. Hard to believe? Well, it’s true!

The NDP is making six commitments to voters. We wanted to call them “promises,” but Dalton McGuinty kind of ruined that word for us:

  • A rebate on McGuinty’s regressive health tax for low and moderate-income families;
  • Raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour, while rolling back McGuinty’s $40,000 pay raise;
  • Protect the environment through a right-to-know law for toxic chemicals in our communities and everyday products;
  • A better funding formula for our public schools, expanding ESL and autism programs;
  • Rollback post-secondary tuition and freeze it at 2003 levels;
  • Stronger public health care through innovations in home and long term care and better certification of internationally trained doctors.

Think of them as six priorities for an NDP government, or six demands for NDP support in a minority situation. More NDP MPPs will mean these things will get done, because they’re the right things to do. Rick Downes is your candidate for Kingston and the Islands.

Progressive Conservative

By Dave Forsayeth, Comm ’08

Fraser Macdonald, ArtSci ’08

Queen’s Campus Conservatives

Dear Queen’s student body,

We’re asking you to support John Tory on Oct. 10 because he represents the leadership and the integrity Ontario needs.

One of the biggest issues our generation faces is climate change and more than 50 percent of Ontario’s CO2 emissions come from its coal plants. Dalton McGuinty promised in 2003 to close all of Ontario’s coal plants by 2007, but instead has closed none. John Tory will work towards meeting Ontario’s emission reduction targets and providing secure energy for generations to come.

Under Dalton McGuinty class sizes have not gone down, and university tuition has gone up. Making education better and more accessible to all Ontarians will be a major focus of a John Tory government, by increasing funding for education by $2.4 billion a year.

In the past four years, Ontario has slipped to last place in Canada for both GDP and job growth. Because of the high dollar, jobs in the manufacturing sector are being lost at a catastrophic rate and worst of all Dalton McGuinty has no plan to deal with the situation. John Tory will cut taxes, make Ontario a more attractive place for investors and use his proven experience of good fiscal management to get Ontario back on track.

John Tory has had success in both the public and private sectors, raising millions for charity, saving large corporations from bankruptcy and is known by politicians of all stripes as a man of his word. On Oct. 10, choose the leader who you think will take Ontario in the right direction. John Tory is the leader Ontario needs and we hope you will join us in electing a Premier whom Ontario can trust.

Green

By Jared Giesbrecht

Law ’08

Queen’s Greens External Relations

Three years ago, politics really depressed me. I was upset by the bickering and irritated by the professional politicians who sought out positions in various parties simply for the added prestige. But then, my friend suggested I check out the Green Party. I started looking into the Green Party and quickly realized they were doing politics in a very different way. I began to understand why they were the fastest growing party in Ontario. I realized the Green Party was made up of people committed to open and inclusive politics and, consequently, had a very positive and attractive message. I filled out their membership form and soon found myself being invited to participate more fully in their political organizing. Three years later, I’m more involved in the Green Party than ever and I continue to be impressed by my fellow Greens who work together to offer creative and practical solutions in a genuine and principled way. We are a group of people who understand how social, economic and environmental issues are interconnected and we recognize that it is more important to work together for the future than simply to win the current election race. We believe we need to balance the values of a strong economy and a healthy environment. And, importantly, we also realize education is not a social cost but a collective investment in our future, and are working to cap tuition. I hope you will check out the Green Party at www.gpo.ca or contact us at youth@greenparty.ca. I hope on Oct. 10 you will vote with your head and your heart. Most of all, I hope you will join our party as we work together to show how politics can be done differently.

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.

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