JCI Debate – Why Each St. Catharines Candidate Can Best Represent Youth in Niagara

(from https://niagaranext.wordpress.com/2015/)

Heading into tonight’s JCI Federal Election (7:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn on Ontario St.), I asked five members of the emerging generation why the candidate they support is the best choice to represent Niagara.

This debate promises to be an interesting one, in particular as it features all five registered candidates.

Question: Why do you think [Party] and/or [Candidate] is the best choice for young people in Niagara and/or Canada?

...

Drew Garvie – (Communist Party of Canada, Saleh Waziruddin, 0.3%, 0.2%)

Saleh Waziruddin is the best choice for young people because voting communist demands a youth and student agenda. St. Catharines-Niagara has some of the worst unemployment rates in Ontario and Canada, and youth unemployment is double the average rate. The average undergraduate in Canada graduates $27,000 in debt and in Ontario it’s even higher. Our generation is the first since WWII which will have a lower living standard then their parents’ generation. Under Harper, Canada has become a voice for oil corporations in international climate negotiations. Saleh and the Communist Party think that education is a right and that youth should have decent jobs with higher wages. We support the elimination of tuition fees, the establishment of a living stipend for students, and the cancellation of all student debt. We demand that the minimum wage federally and provincially be raised to a living wage of $20/hr and that youth unemployment be eliminated through massive public green job creation, building affordable housing, expanding infrastructure, social services and funding for arts and culture. We would facilitate the unionization of young workers with a new Labour Bill of Rights.

We need to scrap CETA negotiations and the TPP and withdraw from NAFTA. Free trade has resulted in huge job loss in manufacturing that used to be the backbone of communities such as St. Catharines. Saleh is taking a strong stand against corporate greed by saying that if profitable companies don’t want to produce in Canada, we can take over the plants and the government can run them under democratic control. Saleh is a consistent fighter against racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia and the Communist Party of Canada demands full equality. The Communist Party supports closing the Tar Sands and expanding public green energy, as does the environmental movement. This is the kind of bold agenda, demanded by the youth and student movement, that can move Canada in a new direction. Voting for Saleh is a recognition that there will be a long-term fight for this future, but that voting for these policies is a small step towards the necessary goal of a socialist Canada.