Rob Dekker, Progressive Conservative
Rob Dekker describes himself as a “red Tory.” This means Dekker considers himself a “fiscally conservative” candidate who has a strong social conscience.
According to Dekker, what Canada needs is a government that acknowledges the ability of the people to care for themselves.
“We should not be handing out responsibility to the government for the people, when people can certainly look after themselves, they have proven that many, many times,” Dekker said.
The main issue facing students is the affordability of post-secondary education, according to Dekker. He cited landline telephones in university residences as an example of unnecessary fees in which savings can be found.
“I think it’s on the universities and the colleges to make sure that their costs are in line, and that they are being fiscally prudent with their money . . . and making sure that the students are getting the best value for their money.”
Dekker said a Conservative government would cancel the 30 per cent tuition grant, as it adds a burden to Ontario taxpayers. He said these savings can be found elsewhere.
“We believe that lower tuition is available by ensuring tuitions are affordable and that the efficiencies are found within the universities and colleges, without having to give thirty per cent of the tuition back,” he said.
“We need to keep in mind that the 30 per cent tuition grant is a burden for every other taxpayer in the province, and that we have to ensure that we are not overburdening one section of the population of Ontario to benefit another.”
He said students have to see the big picture and look beyond the next couple of years and into the long term future.
“The 30 per cent tuition grant . . . it will be tough to swallow, but we need to make sure we are being fair to everybody across the board.”
Jennifer McKenzie, NDP
Jennifer McKenzie first became involved with politics through her children’s school board, but said she has come a long way since then.
An electrical engineer by trade, she gave up “high tech” work when her children were born. McKenzie said she became involved with school board politics to fix the problems she saw with the system, and that eventually led her to the provincial level.
“I’m now running for provincial politics because most of the barriers and most of the things I see wrong with education, public education in particular, are at the ministry or the provincial level, so I threw my name in about a year ago, and here we are now in an election,” McKenzie said.
According to McKenzie, the main challenges facing students are the cost of tuition and living, and the job market post-graduation.
“Students are leaving with very high debt because of tuition fees, but also because of rent and the cost of food and everything else that comes with being out from under your family home,” McKenzie said. “A key focus for the Ontario government is making sure our students are gainfully employed, but also that they have a sense that they belong to our society, and they are able to fully participate.”
Although the NDP have not yet released their education platform, McKenzie said student issues are a large concern.
The future of Ontario lies in making people feel like a true part of the democratic and economic process, McKenzie said.
“I think we need to value everyone in society, so people with disabilities, the youth, the elderly,” she said. “Everyone needs to feel like they belong here and are participating in the engine that is the economy and the society that is our democracy.”
Yasir Naqvi, Liberal Party
When Yasir Naqvi immigrated to Canada from Pakistan 25 years ago, the first card his family got was a library card. The second was a Liberal Party membership.
“Getting involved in the political process was taught to us as part of our civic duty,” Naqvi said. “You never sit back, you always give back to the community.”
A graduate of Carleton University’s Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, he came to Ottawa as a student and made it his home.
“Like a lot of students, I have that full experience of making Ottawa my home and falling in love with the city in terms of everything that it offers,” he said.
As current MPP for Ottawa Centre, Naqvi said he has already made huge changes to the Carleton University campus, highlighting the Canal and River buildings, as well as the renovated library.
“I think the project I’m extremely proud of, and I hear from students a lot about how excited they are, is the expansion of the MacOdrum Library,” Naqvi said. “I worked very closely with the students and the administration to get $16 million from the provincial government so that we have a state of the art library.”
Moving forward, Naqvi said a new innovation centre being developed to help foster relationships and collaboration between Ottawa’s young entrepreneurs and business people under one roof will be important.
“The province is investing $15 million in developing that innovation centre and all four colleges and universities are involved in that project,” Naqvi said.
The new light rail transit system is also going to be an important step for Ottawa, as phase one will connect Carleton and University of Ottawa to downtown, and phase two will connect Algonquin and La Cité, Naqvi said.
Kevin O’Donnell, Green Party
Kevin O’Donnell said he got lucky. As a student at the University of Waterloo in the mid-90s, he said it wasn’t hard for him to get a job as a software developer before he even finished his degree.
“I got lucky that I was in university when the Internet boom started,” he said. “I took a job in the summer after first year and just stayed, because it was the time to just be working.”
O’Donnell first got involved with the Green Party as a student in B.C. From there, his political involvement increased until the only remaining step was to put himself on the ballot.
O’Donnell said his core values match the fundamental values of the Green Party, beyond the hot button election topics that typically influence voters.
“The Greens—their language was people have to be looked after, and we have to look after the environment,” O’Donnell said. “That resonated with me a lot.”
O’Donnell said the biggest problem facing today’s students is the high youth unemployment rate once students graduate from post-secondary institutions.
The Green Party proposes a tuition freeze, but also plans to reallocate funds from economic development funds to create grants for entrepreneurs and small business.
O’Donnell said that through grants and loans, the Greens will give young people the tools to start a business.
“They come out of school. They have a network of friends. They know people. They have ideas. They have new ideas, and that is how the new Nortel will be created,” O’Donnell said.
The Green Party also supports proportional representation, which O’Donnell asserted will end many of the current problems in government, such as the representation of women in politics.
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