Chloe Brown’s presence is approachable, she is personable and she offers honest conversations around power distribution, lack of transparency and policies in place which hinder full citizenship for residents of Toronto. Brown is a Rexdale native who has firsthand accounts of challenges faced by Torontonians – from the decline of Toronto’s public transit system to policies which hinder affordable housing for most residents. Her platform seeks to change the limitations these policies perpetuate; Brown posits, “there’s a level of trauma associated with living in Toronto. The cost of living is astronomical, the transit system is declining, housing affordability has hit record lows and millennials like myself are declining to have children because it just does not seem feasible”. Affordability in Toronto is one of the most discussed themes of this political race. The pool of candidates each offer solutions to this crisis; some suggest raising taxes, others endorse the usage of community resources to offset scarcity on a micro scale. Brown takes it one step further; make the policies work for Torontonians, first. The 3C Policy is how Brown demonstrates how the Toronto mayor can foster cohesion between community, connectivity and commerce.

The 3C Policy offers a pragmatic approach to developing communities by utilizing community resources and connecting residents. Community members will act as stewards who will learn the importance of civic engagement. These residents act as an advisory committee to determine how best to develop their own neighbourhoods. Brown calls it the Local Stewards Advisory Committee Program (LSACP). Connectivity sees the development of land by way of a community-driven approach and the amalgamation of many arts, leisure and entertainment departments. The consolidated department will be known as the LACE department. This plan reimagines Toronto as a year round experience, transforming the city’s waterfront and investing in spaces for art, entertainment and leisure activities to flourish and be affordable. This plan will also transform how library cards are seen and used. Brown suggests making library cards an access pass to leisurely activities and attractions. This new card would provide access to cultural events, professional development and social work and health care referrals.

Brown seeks to reframe how Torontonians perceive community safety and well-being. Looking beyond crime and policing, her policies aim to develop preventative measures to mitigate the effects of trauma and offer resources and early intervention strategies for those in need. Brown’s reasoning comes from Toronto’s excessive reliance on police intervention which has resulted in increased instances of police brutality, racial profiling and the criminalization of marginalized communities. Brown’s solution is to create a Public Health and Safety Commission which will work to support Toronto’s disabled community, their caregivers and practice restorative justice. Accountability is key in Brown’s platform, “elected officials must understand the limitations of policing and work to develop strategies which foster the betterment of Torontonians. Beyond this, we need to create a cohesive system of governance for safety. We need to modernize and consolidate the coordination of public safety services as many frontline workers are experiencing burnout while our crisis intervention efforts are ineffective”.

Brown further demonstrates her dedication to fostering real change. With housing insecurity and affordability key themes in this political race, Brown has developed the Housing First Strategy to End Homelessness. This strategy pulls from successful international initiatives which saw homelessness and harm reduction significantly plummet in parts of the United States, namely New Jersey and Salt Lake City, Finland, Portugal, Switzerland and Amsterdam. Brown’s Housing First policy seeks to provide residents with adequate shelter regardless of mental health, ability or income.

When asked how she felt about the data related to polls, Brown declares two things, “polls are not equitable due to its process” and there is tremendous bias in “[choosing] candidates based on name recognition and not their platforms”. The archaic nature of landlines is something many millennial voters cannot relate to. This demographic is reluctant to answer their phones in an effort to avoid spam calls. Instead Brown, “is not worried about polls as the demographics [she] is campaigning for has been neglected by our electoral system for decades. [She] is prioritizing the neglected and unheard”. Though millennials make up much of Brown’s voter pool, she offers seniors her Campus of Care plan. This strategy encourages respect of older citizens by providing businesses and employers with age friendly resources with the goal of creating an age friendly neighbourhood. Brown was inspired by the Dementia villages in British Columbia, which supports the social inclusion of the elderly who have memory-related conditions.

Brown offers, “[she] is not a politician… [she] is just tired of watching the direction Toronto is moving in and [she] knew [she] had to make a change”.  Stay up-to-date on Brown’s next stop on the campaign trail using her Instagram @ChloeBrown4to. Find out more about Brown’s platform by visiting her website.

The post Chloe Brown: Prioritizing the Neglected and Unheard appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

In the leaked document, Justice Alito starts off his argument by stating that “for the first 185 years after the adoption of the Constitution, each State was permitted to address this issue in accordance with the views of its citizens.” In other words, each state should have the right to make its own laws about abortion and whether women should have agency over their own bodies. This type of statement makes one wonder what other rulings could be overturned. Could states make their own decisions on a variety of other topics like gay or interracial marriage?

Canada, much like the States, has made abortions legal, simply by saying they are not illegal. There is no federal abortion law in Canada. Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vowed to legislate a woman’s right to a safe and legal abortion this week, will it actually happen? Abortions have been decriminalized since 1988 in Canada, so what is taking the government so long to create a federal law protecting that right? Could Canadian provinces start creating their own laws about how and when women can get an abortion? The short answer is yes. The long answer is yes and if you look at accessibility of abortions in this country, you might say that they already have.

Like all health care in this country, access is an issue. Looking at New Brunswick, for instance, the only publicly funded abortion clinics are in three hospitals located in Moncton and Bathurst. Anyone outside of these locations has to travel in order to get the procedure done. For reference, if Toronto had no publicly funded abortion clinics and we had to travel the same distances, it would be like driving from here to Sarnia or London, depending which of the three clinics might have an available appointment.

In a memo to federal Conservative MPs, interim leader Candice Bergen’s office instructed MPs that the party would not comment on the leaked court decision. With the Ontario election coming up, it is probably a good idea for MPPs to not make this a hot button topic as well. Without the protected right for a safe and legal abortion, Ontario could easily change its tune, especially with the current government fielding many pro-life candidates.

If you think that anti-choice is not something that has much traction here, then I suggest you really look into the Ontario politicians supported by the anti-choice Campaign Life Coalition. Sam Oosterhoff, for example, is very vocal about his anti-choice views, even speaking at an anti-choice convention last year called “Gen Z: Challenging Abortion In Politics,”.

The incumbent of Niagara West and the Ford government have been praised by the Wine Growers of Ontario for their creation of the VQA Wine Support Program that gave the region’s wineries, small cideries and small distilleries millions of dollars in COVID relief and recovery funds. This public praise was renewed when the government extended these programs into 2022/2023 while many other measures to protect and help Ontarians through recovery have been removed, including protections for students.

When Wine Growers of Ontario support people like Oosterhoff, does this mean they also agree with anti-choice legislation?

Unfortunately, this reporter was unable to get a statement from the company, but normalizing people who wish to bring their anti-choice views into politics doesn’t look good on an organization that represents so many local businesses.

For now, pro-choice citizens need to press Trudeau and federal Liberal MPs to make good on their promise and work towards the goal of making abortions safe, legal, and more accessible to all.

The post Ontario’s anti-choice candidates are not to be ignored appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

In keeping with the average 18-month lifespan of a minority government, the Liberal party called for an election just shy of 2 years into their government.

To speak about the most pertinent issues on Canadian voters’ minds, the future of Canadian politics, their respective parties’ platforms, and the success of the last 6 years with the Liberal government, 2 candidates running against each other for MP of a riding in the GTA, Etobicoke-Lakeshore, were interviewed. Throughout these conversations, the Liberal, the Honourable James Maloney MP, pushed strongly for widespread traditional issues within Canadian politics and confidence in the incumbent government, while the NDP candidate, Sasha Kane, fought for radical change in response to population-specific disparities within Canada.

A main risk factor of lower voter turnout during this election is the lack of time for citizens to learn about each candidate and their platform given the short election period. In the 2019 federal election, Ms. Kane noted that there appeared to be far more time to converse with constituents, while she feels that the fast pace of this election has not allowed for her to meet as many people as she would like to. However, on the contrary, Mr. Maloney would argue that the illusion of a longer election period in previous years only existed due to the fact that a larger majority of citizens were aware that it was an election year given the 4-year duration of the government, and thus campaigning may have started slightly earlier. “Every election is fast-paced because you’re out on the ground, running around and meeting people”, he stated in response to questioning about the particular brevity of this one. He also defended that “this election should not come as a surprise [given the average 18-month duration of a minority government] for people who have been following the media”. However, this begs the question, that for those in the country who are less politically oriented, how will this timeline affect their engagement, as well as their cooperation with the incumbent’s calling of an election?

Unlike other shorter-notice elections, however, there is a factor at play that has the potential to resonate with the less politically apt population, or even those who might be inclined to believe that the Liberals are trying to rush an election for personal gain. This factor of course, has been the COVID-19 pandemic, whose infection rates are on the rise again. Due to the Liberals’ minority government, had they returned to resume government in September, it is reasonable to suspect that the opposition parties would have defeated the government, leading to an election in mid to late fall when it would likely be less safe to conduct one due to the projected increase in cases. By calling for an election slightly earlier in the year, voter education and engagement may be improved as the warmer season allows for constituents and candidates to meet in larger groups outdoors, hold events, knock on more doors, and most importantly, vote. Thus, by holding the election now, while it is sooner than expected and seemingly rushed, it will result in the most engaging and safe election possible. Though some parties maintain the belief that holding an election now might result in older populations “not voting as much because they may not feel comfortable enough to go out with Covid”, as Ms. Kane observed, as well as a closing of polling stations within churches and schools, there does not appear to be a more effective time to hold this election, unless voting and campaigning were to be moved fully online, which may compromise engagement in a much larger portion of the older population, as well as voter fraud and security.

There also appears to be a large disparity not only between which issues both parties focus on, but also surrounding their approach to change within these issues. During a conversation about the issues at stake for Canadians during this election, Mr. Maloney placed a heavy emphasis on the overarching issues that may come as no surprise, such as the pandemic and the economy, specifically how it pertains to recovery from the pandemic. He said, “we have to make sure that people are able to keep their jobs or get their jobs back, and that businesses are able to keep running so that the economy keeps moving. With regards to health and safety, everybody realizes that the pandemic’s not over, kids are going back to school, parents are nervous, everybody’s concerned about a fourth wave, and the best way to deal with this going forward is making sure that everybody gets vaccinated.” It became clear that the Liberal party’s platform is one that has remained fairly noncontroversial or divisive, as well as similar between elections, with 3 reliable pillars being the climate, the economy, and better healthcare. Mr. Maloney even admitted to the issues being similar to those of 2019 with magnification in severity: “There’s a lot of important issues that have become significantly more important due to Covid since the last election”.

One main theme that resurfaced time and time again, appeared to be a reassurance of the success of the status quo. Throughout this campaign, the Liberals have worked a great deal to gain confidence amongst Canadian voters, using debate opportunities to remind them of their accomplishments within the last 6 years, and how the country and Liberal MPs’ respective ridings have improved. With regards to the Liberal party’s handling of Indigenous communities, Mr. Maloney said, “Indigenous communities continue to be a big priority for our government, and we’ve put our work where our talk is. Perry Bellegarde, the outgoing chief of the assembly of the First Nations for 10 years, says that this government has done more in this area than any other government in Canadian history.” This type of lauding of the last 6 years points to the idea that Liberals themselves place less significance on change, or at least, less than their progressive opponents, and that they are more focused towards improvement. It also shows their belief that their plans have provided satisfaction to citizens thus far, as Mr. Maloney pointed to an example that he observed throughout the pandemic, saying, “some of the programs that we implemented to help small business through this literally saved them. They talk about the rent subsidy and the wage subsidy, a lot of those small businesses might not be here today without those programs. I think people are generally pleased with the way the federal government has responded to the pandemic and the programs we implemented to allow people to continue. Sure, we didn’t get everything perfect, I’m the first one to admit that, but we did a really good job.”

However, the NDP seem to press the Liberals on their more general issues, seeking radical changes within specific sectors of those issues. Of course, the issue that arises when we ponder the radical changes proposed, becomes if this is the right type of change and if it will improve the status quo. Unlike the Liberals, the NDPs have never been elected to parliament to form a federal government, and thus have no previous work to defend, leaving them tending to find fault in their opposing parties’ platforms in order to shape their own while having little history to receive criticism on. When asked about her and her party’s main platform focus, Ms. Kane was quick to bring up inconsistencies within the Conservative party including anti-abortion laws and conscience rights, as well as environmental unfulfilled promises of the last 6 years with the Liberals, saying, “I know that Erin O’Toole said that he is pro-choice and that abortions should remain available, but then he also says that he wants to defend the conscience rights of healthcare workers. To me, that just sounds like another way to restrict access to abortions to women”. Despite the Liberals’ environmental plan getting top marks from Simon Fraser University’s school of resource and environmental management’s Mark Jaccard and Climate scientist and UVIC Professor Andrew Weaver, Kane and the NDP believe more needs to be done. “when it comes to the Liberal party, I think the main issue is the environment because they claim to care about the environment when in reality they have continued to not meet the Paris agreement, and they bought a pipeline.” The Paris Agreement targets are set for 2030.

In addition to pressing their opponents on the environment and anti-abortion laws, the NDPs place a strong emphasis on affordable housing and affordable social programming in general, specifically for millennials and young adults struggling after post-secondary. “Right now we need immediate rent relief before the end of the year, and making affordable housing is so important because housing is a human right, and right now the federal government defines affordable housing as less than 30% of household income pretax. Increasing affordable housing presents an opportunity for people to live in the city as well as build green housing, and build communities through social programs like free summer camps, daycare, therapy, and family services”, Ms. Kane pledged. By continuing to zero in on specific areas of larger issues and propose thorough but often radical solutions, the NDP seems to garner strong support from those who they target, but unlike the Liberals, create controversy by stirring up more opposition from those who would bear the brunt of said changes, such as those in the fossil fuels industry, supporters of healthcare workers’ freedoms such as conscience rights, and of course, high taxpayers.

A large driver of the divergence between the aims and views of the 2 parties is the age demographic, both the ages which they target and their ages themselves. It’s no secret that Liberals tend to win over older voters while NDPs younger voters, but the average Liberal MP candidate is actually 13 years older than the average NDP MP Candidate across the major cities in Canada. Both of these qualities speak to different strengths, with Liberals leaning towards more experienced candidates who know their ridings more thoroughly. As Mr. Moloney said, “I’m a local guy, I grew up in Etobicoke-lakeshore, I still live in Etobicoke-lakeshore. I’ve lived in this riding since I was 11 years old, I went to grade school and high school here, and that makes this job something very special to me, it’s an honour to represent a community that I’ve been a part of for so long. I want people to know that they have a strong local voice to understand the riding”, attesting to his insights into the evolution of his riding and Canadian voters’ needs as a whole. On the flip side, Ms. Kane is 23 years old, just out of post-secondary. This reliance on youth can be very beneficial, as it can invite fresh perspectives, idealistic thinking, and greater physical and mental agility in order to perform the job. Ms. Kane spoke to her party’s goal of empowering the next generation, saying, “we need to tell them their vote matters, tell them that they’re the future of this country, they need to be heard, what they say is important.” However, it can also invite naïveté, as well as an inability to commit a sufficient amount of time to the job as younger adults tend to be less financially established. Ms. Kane mentioned earlier in the interview that she had not been able to canvas as much as she would have liked to, saying, “I work full-time, so I can’t dedicate as much time as I would like to going out and meeting people and answering their questions”.

The difference in age demographics surely impacts election results, but it also impacts the aforementioned issue of the way to go about change, and even more broadly, the parties’ views of the importance of democracy. Throughout the NDP platform as well as during the interview, reformist changes such as the criminalization of conversion therapy, universal pharmacare and dental care, lower climate targets even given Canada’s inability to meet the previous ones, and electoral reform were all mentioned. Ms. Kane also referenced a debate with her opponents, saying that she experienced a sense of urgency about the incumbent winning the riding again, taking issue that, “he said that Etobicoke is doing quite well, but you can see that people aren’t doing well. Like, I’m not doing well, my friends aren’t doing well [financially].” Meanwhile, when asked the same question, Mr. Maloney said, “When I go up to somebody’s door, I tell them, ‘look, you really should go vote, even if you don’t vote for me, because the government is the most important institution in our lives.’”

This all ties into say that the Liberals are a party that more strongly values experience, knowing your community, and focusing on issues to appease the whole of Canada, even if that diplomatic nature comes at the expense of full execution. Meanwhile, the NDPs are a party that looks to youth to lead the way, placing an emphasis on the future with a plan that they carry with the utmost confidence.

As you cast your ballots this September, looking into the future and debating the issues that are most pertinent to our nation at this point in time, we must ask ourselves a question: Do we trust the status quo and its government’s experience enough to allow them to guide us through this next term with improvements, valuing its ability to provide reliability and stability for a large cross-section of our population, or are we willing to take a gamble for a radical change, in hopes that it will bring prosperity and innovation to strengthen our soon to be young adult population, providing them with the resources to support our country.

In the long run, whomever we are led by, whichever strides we as a nation chose to take to tackle the issues of our past, present, and future, the democracy in our free, Canadian society, is the most important factor in our freedom, far exceeding the importance of one party being in power or their platform being implemented. “The government was around long before us and it’s gonna be around long after us, so people need to participate and to vote”, said Mr. Maloney.

The post The Federal Election through a Toronto Riding – What Canadian Voters Need to Ask Themselves appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

So I rarely voted. And regardless of which party was in power in what jurisdiction, it usually seemed to me that scandals and dishonesty, half-truths and deliberately misleading doublespeak were the consistent order of business for governments and politicians.

I now realize, to my considerable embarrassment, and notwithstanding my arguably justified cynicism, that I was wrong to not vote. More importantly, I know how I was able to be so ignorant with impunity: my indifference was a product of my immense privilege. To borrow a phrase from the late John Kenneth Galbraith’s wonderful 1992 book, I am part of the culture of contentment.

It is now, and has always been, completely safe for me to allow the status quo to continue, quite irrespective of who is or was governing. My privilege is secure as a white male professional. I can continue to thrive if my taxes go up. I will continue to prosper if social programs are cut, and my taxes go down.

I have realized though, shamefully late in the game, that it’s not about me. It’s not about any of us privileged, pampered, white, upper-middle class men who worry about how much taxes we pay, or about interest rates, markets, and the threat to our way of life posed by “immigrants.”

It’s about our children, to be sure, but even they for the most part have little to worry about, except inasmuch as our excesses and those of the generations before us (who at least didn’t know better) have imperilled the planet we will bequeath them.

But mostly it’s about all the people who haven’t been so lucky, who perhaps chose their parents less carefully, or who elected to be born in more tumultuous parts of the world. It’s about the countless millions on the planet, both in North America and abroad, who, like our ancestors before us, need to start over, or in some cases simply start, who deserve a chance to grab the ring that most North Americans had handed to us, or at any rate placed close enough that we need only reach a bit for it.

In America, Trump debases the very concept of democracy, not the least by maligning the media, thus undermining the informed citizenry that is a pillar of a working republic. In Alberta, the newly formed United Conservative Party is being led by a fear-mongering putative Christian who is trying vainly and loudly to take Alberta back a few decades; to Leduc in the 1950s, when air was clean, sex was dirty, and money talked. In Ontario, an oafish conservative boor has been forced underground lest his presence contaminate and scuttle the national campaign of Andrew Scheer’s deliberately no longer progressive Conservative Party of Canada. Mr. Scheer, whose Christian zealotry rivals that of Mr. Kenney, appears to be trying to out-do his predecessor and some say puppet master, Stephen Harper. Andrew Scheer genuinely seems to believe we can make Canada great again by cutting billions in spending, and mumbles with his fingers crossed that the conservative wet-dream of a balanced budget can be achieved without more taxes. Although the emboldened so-called conservatives in Canada, like Trump and his quislings, would have us fear “liberals,” fear deficits, fear our neighbours, and fear the “other,” I am afraid of something worse. I am afraid that if we don’t soon appreciate the failure of trickle-down neo-conservativism, the lovely but demonstrably false myth that self-serving rugged individualism will yield a cohesive and compassionate social fabric, we will pay, or actually, our children will pay. Their privilege will no longer protect them. The I hear a rumbling, and it’s the pounding of fists on the windows of our air-conditioned limousines. It’s the disenfranchised multitudes, alienated by the policies that protect us and disempower them, as they grow in number and frustration, in the hot dirty waste from our production, our progress.

My biases are clear: raise my taxes if it will help, but leave more oil in the ground, negotiate a fair price for the land and resources we’ve stolen, and welcome others to this broad great continent, not as temporary workers by means of whom to keep costs down, but as builders of a future, a future that can, if we let it, if we are willing to pay for it, be as bright as that delivered by and to our grandparents and their parents, when they arrived anew.

Vote. If you’re tempted to stay home, don’t, but vote so others may enjoy that which too many of us take for granted. Staying home is not a protest, it’s a privileged washing of hands. Vote like it matters, because it does.

The Elections Canada website has a lot of info for voters.

Find Out About Candidates | Ways To Vote | Voting Away From Home | Accessible Voting | Check If You Are Registered

The post On October 21, Vote Like it Matters. Because it Does. appeared first on Toronto Guardian.

Fellow Canadians. I have a few questions for you.

Are you worried about the 2019 election?

Are you worried about what the consequences will be from this election? Are you worried about the dishonesty, deceit, and division that can result from this campaign?

Are you scared?

If any of the answers are yes: Good.

We have to come to terms with the challenges ahead of us. We have to prepare ourselves for the ugliness that will mark the 2019 campaign. It has already been an ugly campaign, and it will get more negative. We have to steel ourselves for what it is going to take to be heard over the static.

It isn’t insurmountable. We know what we have to do. It is okay to feel fear, to feel overwhelmed. It is only natural to feel this way heading into an election with stakes this high. Do not let Canadian media understate the importance of this election. We have seen what happens in Ontario when apathy reigns. Engage those who do not vote on social media, call people that you know and ensure that they know when and where to vote, offer rides to the polling stations. Do whatever you can.

Take a deep breath. There is always a path from helplessness to hope. Sometimes that hope is harder to find.

This is where political engagement has to move from social media to the streets. When we have to put the phone, laptop, or keyboard down and reconnect with the issues and local concerns that will inform the election.

If you are scared? Contact your party’s local riding association, and see what can be done.

Are you worried? Volunteer in your riding. Make phone calls, bang signs into the ground, knock on doors.

Find out who the Liberal, Green, NDP, PPC and CPC candidates are in your riding. Find their social media, start combing through their posts looking for offensive or untrue posts, inconsistencies, etc. It is never too early or late to start opposition research.

Educate yourself on important local/national issues and where each candidate stands. Knowledge is currency. Knowing the issues inside and out make you extremely effective on Social Media and in any campaign role you occupy. Challenge their fiction with facts.

Learn the record and platform of all parties inside-out. Learn the costing, the process, the short and long term goals, and any possible relevance it has to your specific riding. Politics is a participatory activity; it is open to all of us. Campaigns matter, and the campaigns with the best ground game often win.

We all have the power to make a difference in the upcoming election, you are able to have your say long before you vote.

It is okay to be worried, scared, and overwhelmed – take that negativity and turn it into positive action.

This past Friday, the students and youth in Canada took to the streets to demand action from not only Canada’s political class but from their parents, uncles, aunts – and those who sometimes take the simple act of casting a ballot for granted. We owe it to those who come after us to make our stand.

I have been a part of winning campaigns, and losing campaigns, and have felt the joy and despair that both bring and it has always given me far more than I have given it: lifelong friends, networking, employment opportunities, and that satisfaction that being part of something greater than yourself gives. I was always proud to have been there.

For those who say that your vote doesn’t count? Casting a ballot does not have to be your only act of political engagement in the 2019 election.

I am ready. Are you?

You may think I am naive and overly idealistic. I don’t care.

I’d rather get back to cleaning the mirror instead of talking to it.

The post Dear Canadian Voters appeared first on Toronto Guardian.