The Liberal’s campaign centre-left and govern centre-right, media pundits observe.
Despite new promises being made by Trudeau, and despite a new liberal image, those familiar with the history of broken promises and corruption within the Liberal party are less likely to ride with the red tide.
“Little will change if affordable post-secondary education is rarely, if ever, addressed on the campaign trail or in the legislature,” says Jessa McLean, president, Amnesty International at York.
“As Canadians, we shouldn’t hold our breath for the real change now promised by Trudeau’s Liberals. This is the same party that voted alongside the Conservatives, fully supporting most of Harper’s worst legacies. Bill C-51 being the most egregious.”
“We all know the implications of a majority government in Canada,” says McLean. Carte blanche for four years, she adds.
Although students can hope that Trudeau will not employ the tactics of shoving all-encompassing omnibus bills down citizens’ throats, the Liberals are now in a position to pass any legislation they please.
“One can literally only hope now that some time is spent on undoing much of the damage Harper has done to our environmental regulations, global reputation, and indigenous and government relations.”
Willem Hart, president, campus Conservatives, says the election result is not the worst-case scenario for his camp. Even in a defeat like this, the Conservatives captured almost a third of the popular vote with 99 seats.
A sizable block of Canadians support us and the Conservative party is still an active presence on the Canadian political scene, he adds.
“It was nice to see so many young Canadians get active in local campaigns to make a difference in the country and take their civic duty seriously. After all is said and done, we all love this magnificent country of ours and we are lucky to live in a country as free and democratic as Canada.”
Steven Mulholland, fourth-year human rights and equity student, says the split between the Conservatives and Liberals is telling and will have an impact on this year’s student elections.
“Overall, I think most York students are better off under Trudeau as he has promised to invest in youth,” says Mulholland. “This remains to be seen in practice. Overall, I would say that I saw more participation and voter turnout than I have in any election I have been old enough to vote in.”
Mulholland hopes the youth spending program will become a reality. Trudeau said he is going to invest a lot of money in job creation, though most of it is in sectors I am not involved in, says Mulholland.
As well, he is going to increase student grants for low-income families, which I fall under.
However, his father Pierre created Katimavik, a youth job training program, which was scrapped under Harper.
“I was one of the last people to be able to go on the program, which was a government paid nine-month cross-Canada volunteer experience which helped me land jobs afterwards. Justin wore the logo on his arm for the [Patrick] Brazeau fight. I do hope he will bring it (Katimavik) back as it positively impacted many young Canadians.”
Ryan Moore, News Editor
Palak Palak, Contributor
