On September 20, Canadians across the country will be returning to the polls to elect the 44th Canadian Parliament.
University of Toronto St. George Campus (UTSG) belongs to the riding of University–Rosedale, in which incumbent Chrystia Freeland, Steven Taylor, Nicole Robicheau, and Tim Grant, among other candidates, will vie for the riding’s seat in Parliament on September 20.
Liberal Party of Canada candidate Chrystia Freeland is the current Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. First elected as an MP for Toronto Centre in 2013, she was re-elected to serve in University–Rosedale in 2015 and again in 2019. Along with party leader and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Freeland supports proof-of-vaccination credentials, increasing clean and renewable power, and $10-a-day childcare.
Running against Freeland is Conservative candidate Steven Taylor, who worked as “a business lawyer specializing in privacy law and data protection” before entering politics, according to his biography. Taylor and party leader Erin O’Toole have pledged to “accelerate homegrown development and production of vaccines” by private corporations, increase rental housing investment, and “improve value recovery from plastics” in their party platform.
New Democrat Nicole Robicheau has “a background in humanitarian work” and has been “responding to natural disasters and conflicts over the past decade,” she told The Strand in an interview. Robicheau, who uses she/they pronouns, “identif[ies] as non-binary” and hopes to encourage diversity and “representation in the halls of power.”
When asked about their biggest priorities, Robicheau said “climate is huge.” In addressing why she’s leaving humanitarian work in favour of politics, Robicheau told The Strand that “[humanitarian work] doesn’t really address the root causes of why people already living in precarious conditions [and] who are marginalized are disproportionately impacted,” and that they hope to “tackle those same issues, but at the systemic or root cause level.”
Working together with party leader Jagmeet Singh, Robicheau said her main policy goals include “making it easier for refugees to come [to Canada]” and “mak[ing] equitable access to gender-affirming care across the country.” Robicheau “believe[s] in vaccine passports,” and doesn’t “have an issue with vaccines being required to do specific things.” On the subject of hate speech, Robicheau said that “there has to be a delicate balance between freedom of speech and hate,” but that they “support curbing hate speech for sure.”
Green Party candidate Tim Grant “was the chair of the most active Resident’s Association in the city and [was] on the board of the Harbord Village Residents’ Association for fourteen of those years,” he told The Strand in an interview, saying “it’s…not a stretch to say that I have more involvement in this riding… than all the other candidates combined.” Grant wants to “articulate to voters that… if they want climate action, [they] can’t be supporting a party that wants one or more pipelines.”
Grant is in favour of “climate action,” “guaranteed annual income,” and “a new deal for cities,” together with party leader Annamie Paul. Grant described his new deal plan, saying he wants “cities to have power the provinces can’t take away with a stroke of a pen,” and that “cities have to have more than ten cents on the dollar in order to do that.” When asked about vaccine passports, Grant said he “support[s] vaccine passports,” adding, “I’m sympathetic to the view that it is a challenge to people’s rights… everyone has a right not to be vaccinated, but they… don’t have a right to put people at risk.”
Grant called hate crime and hate speech “a serious problem that needs collective action,” adding, “you can express an opinion about somebody, but you can’t subject women or racial minorities to your degrading comments.” When asked how he would address the issue, Grant said “it’s obvious it’s not with the stick… we need education programs primarily to do that work and we need a federal government to lead provincial governments.” However, he also added, “we need stronger Criminal Code provisions against hate groups and against individuals who express hateful opinions or physical attacks on others.”
Those who intend to vote on September 20 can cast their ballot in the riding associated with their home address, which may be their current or childhood residence. First-time voters may need to register to vote at the Elections Canada website. In the past, students were permitted to vote at campus voting offices throughout the University; however, this program has been temporarily suspended due to COVID-19.
