Letter to the editor...An examination of Fanshawe's debate
In case you did not know, all the candidates for the upcoming election appeared at Fanshawe last Wednesday for a debate to address student issues. We had a great student turn out, and we followed that up with a good old fashion debate.
The contenders vying for our vote were Mary-Lou Ambrogio for the conservatives, (who did not actually make an appearance), Daniel O'Neail for the Green Party, Jacquie Gauthier for the Liberal and the incumbent Irene Mathyssen for the New Democratic Party (NDP).
The biggest concern of the student population was graduating with over $60,000 in debt.
The Green Party would like to end the taxing of education, increase funding and refund 50 per cent of tuition back to students upon graduation. The Liberals are looking into an up front education grant, a guarantee of at least a $5,000 loan available to students regardless of parental income, that are two years interest free, and when interest is charged to cap the interest at 0.5 per cent above prime. The NDP stand is an increase of federal Money transfers to the province and earmark that transfer for education, make the federal government take on their fair share and provide not only a $1000 grant to students but to revamp the student loan system. The Conservative Party stated that the government has no control over what post secondary institute charge for tuition but they have already given $1.7 billion in student grants.
Same-sex couples and adoption was the next issue.
Both Daniel O'Neail of the Green Party and Jacquie Gauthier of the Liberal agreed that they accept same sex couples and their right to adopt. Irene Mathyssen of the NDP stated that human rights are not a buffet where you can pick and choose what you like or don't. Same sex couples have the same rights as every other Canadian and most important issue is placing a child in a good loving home with a positive and nurturing environment. The most entertaining answer came from the Conservative stand in, who stated that this is a “closed issue.” Nevertheless he appeared as if he was about to jump out of his skin.
Gas tax was the next concern of the Fanshawe student body.
Our Conservative representative stated that the government does not control the price of gas only the taxes on it. (I think he misunderstood the question.) Liberal candidate pointed out that this was in fact not true and that her party will change the taxes to help combat the pricing and to stop petroleum price fixing. Our Green Party candidate was blunt with a NO! Canadians need to pay for the privilege of destroying the environment. His party will in turn focus on alternative fuel means. The NDP party is going to create a commissioner to review and regulate the oil industry within Canada as a whole. The goal will be to stop “pump shock” like more then a 10-cent jump overnight.
Concern over declining tourism in London
Once again the Conservative rep entertained us with his inability to see what the question was asking, making this a municipal issue. Irene explained that for every dollar invested in tourism seven dollars is made for the community. The NDP would like to see an end to credit card companies charging business for the opportunity of having their customers charge it. (Really why should the small business owner be charged a fee when we all know the credit card industry makes billions on interest alone.) The NDP also want to take the $14.5 billion that was given to big business and give it to smaller business to help on a more local basis for cities like London that have so much to offer tourists. Jacquie loves the amazing Arts and Culture that London has and knows that the Liberal's understand that with the rise of the Canadian dollar over the American we must make Tourism more palatable, with better promotion. (She however did not get into what the plan is.) Daniel added that we also have the John Labatt's Centre along with our Arts and Culture the Green Party would like to see a rail system that hubs in London to offer the smaller cities in the surrounding areas the opportunity to make a quick stop in to enjoy the Culture London has. (Although he did state it would take 10-15 years to complete.)
My thoughts, well I can say this debate was much better then last time we had an all candidate meeting where NDP — Steven Maynard was head, shoulders, body and legs above the rest. This time around we had four candidate, of which Mary-Lou Ambrogio did not show up and left a puppet to not answer the questions directly. We had Daniel O'Neail the Green party member that in true form worked the environment into every question, and we can tell this is his true passion. We had Liberal Jacquie Gauthier who was unafraid to answer any question asked to her, and made that occasional pot shot at the Conservative Party. She lost points with me because she would often refer us to her website for more information (but this is her first time as a candidate.) Then finally we have our current Federal Member of Parliament Irene Mathyssen who has both the grace and the wisdom that only experience can bring. She managed to answer the questions and even slipped in some interesting bits about the Climate Change Act, tourism dollar and gay couple adoption.
As a Canadian you have the advantage of being able to vote, a right our forefathers fought and died for. So don't let Strategic voting scare your into voting against a party, but rather let you own knowledge guide you to vote for the decision that you think will be best. Let your voice be heard.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
The contenders vying for our vote were Mary-Lou Ambrogio for the conservatives, (who did not actually make an appearance), Daniel O'Neail for the Green Party, Jacquie Gauthier for the Liberal and the incumbent Irene Mathyssen for the New Democratic Party (NDP).
The biggest concern of the student population was graduating with over $60,000 in debt.
The Green Party would like to end the taxing of education, increase funding and refund 50 per cent of tuition back to students upon graduation. The Liberals are looking into an up front education grant, a guarantee of at least a $5,000 loan available to students regardless of parental income, that are two years interest free, and when interest is charged to cap the interest at 0.5 per cent above prime. The NDP stand is an increase of federal Money transfers to the province and earmark that transfer for education, make the federal government take on their fair share and provide not only a $1000 grant to students but to revamp the student loan system. The Conservative Party stated that the government has no control over what post secondary institute charge for tuition but they have already given $1.7 billion in student grants.
Same-sex couples and adoption was the next issue.
Both Daniel O'Neail of the Green Party and Jacquie Gauthier of the Liberal agreed that they accept same sex couples and their right to adopt. Irene Mathyssen of the NDP stated that human rights are not a buffet where you can pick and choose what you like or don't. Same sex couples have the same rights as every other Canadian and most important issue is placing a child in a good loving home with a positive and nurturing environment. The most entertaining answer came from the Conservative stand in, who stated that this is a “closed issue.” Nevertheless he appeared as if he was about to jump out of his skin.
Gas tax was the next concern of the Fanshawe student body.
Our Conservative representative stated that the government does not control the price of gas only the taxes on it. (I think he misunderstood the question.) Liberal candidate pointed out that this was in fact not true and that her party will change the taxes to help combat the pricing and to stop petroleum price fixing. Our Green Party candidate was blunt with a NO! Canadians need to pay for the privilege of destroying the environment. His party will in turn focus on alternative fuel means. The NDP party is going to create a commissioner to review and regulate the oil industry within Canada as a whole. The goal will be to stop “pump shock” like more then a 10-cent jump overnight.
Concern over declining tourism in London
Once again the Conservative rep entertained us with his inability to see what the question was asking, making this a municipal issue. Irene explained that for every dollar invested in tourism seven dollars is made for the community. The NDP would like to see an end to credit card companies charging business for the opportunity of having their customers charge it. (Really why should the small business owner be charged a fee when we all know the credit card industry makes billions on interest alone.) The NDP also want to take the $14.5 billion that was given to big business and give it to smaller business to help on a more local basis for cities like London that have so much to offer tourists. Jacquie loves the amazing Arts and Culture that London has and knows that the Liberal's understand that with the rise of the Canadian dollar over the American we must make Tourism more palatable, with better promotion. (She however did not get into what the plan is.) Daniel added that we also have the John Labatt's Centre along with our Arts and Culture the Green Party would like to see a rail system that hubs in London to offer the smaller cities in the surrounding areas the opportunity to make a quick stop in to enjoy the Culture London has. (Although he did state it would take 10-15 years to complete.)
My thoughts, well I can say this debate was much better then last time we had an all candidate meeting where NDP — Steven Maynard was head, shoulders, body and legs above the rest. This time around we had four candidate, of which Mary-Lou Ambrogio did not show up and left a puppet to not answer the questions directly. We had Daniel O'Neail the Green party member that in true form worked the environment into every question, and we can tell this is his true passion. We had Liberal Jacquie Gauthier who was unafraid to answer any question asked to her, and made that occasional pot shot at the Conservative Party. She lost points with me because she would often refer us to her website for more information (but this is her first time as a candidate.) Then finally we have our current Federal Member of Parliament Irene Mathyssen who has both the grace and the wisdom that only experience can bring. She managed to answer the questions and even slipped in some interesting bits about the Climate Change Act, tourism dollar and gay couple adoption.
As a Canadian you have the advantage of being able to vote, a right our forefathers fought and died for. So don't let Strategic voting scare your into voting against a party, but rather let you own knowledge guide you to vote for the decision that you think will be best. Let your voice be heard.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
