Miranda Whist

On March 25, the Conservative government of Canada fell after a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons. Students in campus political clubs are getting as actively involved as they can, even with exams only a week away.

Charmaine Borg and Matthew Dube, co-presidents of NDP McGill, have focused on re-electing McGill alumnus Thomas Mulcair in the Outremont riding. Mulcair is the only NDP MP from Quebec, and one of the two deputy leaders of the party.

“We want to get people involved and to vote, even if they’re not voting for us,” Borg said. “We don’t have the resources to pay people, like the Conservatives, but we have committed volunteers, which makes it more fun.”

A big issue the NDP faces is strategic voting.

“Many [voters] don’t vote NDP even if they agree with our policies because they figure we can’t win and we’ll never win if people don’t vote for us,” Dube said. “It’s like the chicken and egg question.”

A major part of the NDP’s platform is advocating for free university tuition on the premise that post-secondary education is a right and should be universally accessible.

Jack Layton, the NDP’s leader, also recently announced a proposal to put a cap on credit card rates, another reform directly relevant to university students. This proposal would limit the amount credit card companies could charge in interest, which is a huge issue for debt-accruing students.

Kathleen Klein, president of Liberal McGill, said her club is also working hard to publicize the Liberals’ platform and to get the vote out.

“We’re concentrating most on the Westmount-Ville-Marie riding, where most students live, but we also want students in Upper Rez, which is part of the Outremont riding, to vote Liberal,” she said. “What’s great for us as students is that we can choose to vote either at home or here in Montreal.”

The Liberals’ main student-related cause is their newly proposed Canadian Learning Passport, which would provide $4,000 to all Canadians about to attend accredited post-secondary institutions.

“The new program is basically tax-free money for every high school student which will be paid for by scaling back corporate tax cuts,” she said.

Conservative McGill however, is also working hard to seduce the constituents of the Westmount—Ville-Marie riding. Brendan Steven, principal secretary of Conservative McGill and editor-in-chief of the Prince Arthur Herald, was unhappy that an election was called but is eager to campaign all the same.

“Conservative McGill is working hard for Conservative candidates to get elected,” he said. “We are organizing election teams to go on door knockings, to get volunteers involved and working with riding associations.”