This article is a part of a Narcity series breaking down the highlights of what you need to know about where Canada's Political Party Leaders stand on issues important to millennials. Each leader was contacted by Narcity for comment. You can read more of our coverage of Canada's 2021 Federal Election here.
As we count down the days to the 2021 Canadian Federal Election, Annamie Paul, Leader of the Green Party of Canada, spoke to Narcity about why she wants the county's vote on September 20.
Ahead of election day, the party has shared its vision for what a future under its leadership could look like, outlining the issues most important to the Green Party. Here are some of the highlights.
1. Housing
Paul said the Green Party believes that reinvesting in measures such as co-op housing, not-for-profit housing, social housing, and community supportive housing is one of the ways to ensure quality and secure housing for everyone.
The party also wants to incentivize the creation of purpose-built rentals while working with the provinces to prevent renovictions and rent prices from increasing to levels that would force someone to leave.
Paul said that real estate should be viewed as a place to live rather than a commodity, and that the party plans to look into the regulatory side of the issue to take the speculation out of housing, as that drives up the cost of ownership.
The party has promised to create a National Housing Strategy to ensure every Canadian has a place to call home.
2. Jobs
The Green Party says it intends to invest in the green economy in order to create stable jobs for Canada's middle class.
The party supports establishing a Guaranteed Livable Income to ensure each Canadian can live with dignity and independence.
"We also want to make sure that you know, people have a truly living wage, and certainly, if it's a living wage, it has to be one that allows housing to be affordable," Paul told Narcity.
3. Climate Change
Not surprisingly, climate change is one of the most important issues for the Green Party, which believes that ambitious change is the way forward.
According to Paul, it's crucial for people to vote for representatives who are committed to climate action and who will go to parliament every day thinking "how can I work with my party and across party lines and with civil society and with the international community to get greenhouse gas emissions down as quickly as possible?"
She said that entire sectors of the Canadian economy need to be transformed in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent even further warming of the planet.
The party has pledged to reduce emissions by 60% by 2030 and to zero by 2050.
4. Tuition & Student Debt
The Green Party advocates for post-secondary education being universal and tuition-free. It has also promised to eliminate the federally held part of student debt.
The party has said that Canada lags behind other countries in terms of making post-secondary education accessible and that some form of higher education is almost essential for today's labour market.
5. Vaccine Mandates
While the Green Party is incredibly supportive of vaccination and believes that anyone who is eligible to be vaccinated should be, Paul believes a mandate is an impossibility.
"A mandate means that everyone has to have it," Paul told Narcity, while noting that for some, vaccination can be contraindicated depending on their medical situation.
"We believe that vaccination is absolutely critical to our fight against COVID and ending this pandemic," she said. "We also know that it's important as soon as possible to develop, along with the other levels of government and in consultation with public health officials, and being guided by public health officials, to develop an alternative for those people who cannot be vaccinated. And it seems like what has been most effective in other countries has been to have easy access to rapid testing for those people."
6. Other Priorities
Along with these issues, the Green Party is also prioritizing ending colonialism and oppression of Indigenous peoples, demanding democratic reform, green transportation and infrastructure, supporting small businesses, international relations and defence, and defending our fresh water.
The Green Party also says it plans to introduce pharmacare as well as basic dental care into Canadian national coverage.
When asked why millennials should vote green, Paul told Narcity: "Whatever your age, and whatever circumstances you're either born in or find yourselves in, that we have everything that it takes in Canada to ensure that every single person can live with dignity. We're just hoping that people will be attracted to what we are offering because we believe that it's very much matched to this moment in our country's history."
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