I will be voting for the first time on Monday, May 2nd for the General elections. I must admit that I'm not that knowledgeable in Canadian politics so voting is something that I felt that I should prepare for. Also, I must say that I'm not one of those people who brand themselves with the party they believe in. I'm not committed to one party because I have not really figured out what my political beliefs are. I believe that this is something that develops with experience and knowing what is important to one self. So first I asked myself the question: I am in my early 20s, a university graduate and has been working fulltime for almost a year now. What are the things important to me?
I know the struggles of being a student. The increasing tuition fees, the overly expensive books, the cost of transportation.. these are the issues I care about. My siblings are still in university and they are affected by the recent tuition fee increase. Yes, student loans exist but I know for a fact that finding a job right after graduation so you can pay off your loans is not always guaranteed. I was lucky to find a job right away and being able to pay a considerable amount to pay off my student loans but for sure it will still take me a number of years to completely pay them off. Affordability of quality education is important to me and to a lot of young people.
I am a foreign-born Canadian and I interact with minorities (cultural and ability-wise) on a daily basis so a party's plan to uphold equality and protect human rights is important to me. I am for creating a barrier-free Canada. I am for multiculturalism. I believe that all of us have the right to comfortably live in this country without the fear of discrimination.
And like you, I wish/want/hope for the waiting time for health care service to be reduced. Seriously, Canadians need this. I don't even need to explain why.
So what I did was I read the platforms and compared them. It took me the whole night but I think it's worth it to familiarize oneself with where these parties stand in issues relevant to each of us before we vote.
Official websites:
I found this website which compares the platforms. (unfortunately, no Green). I'm not sure how accurate this is so I would still suggest to still read from the official websites.
I have finished reading and I think I already know who I am going to vote for. Let's hope that the outcome will be good for Canada.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Tell me what you think!