Hi everyone,
Sorry I lied, this post isn’t about the oil and gas politics in Canada, but an extension of the last post. I did additional research for the Liberal party with analysis too, and realized that I should create a stand alone post for the Liberal party. The summary is from the last post, while the analysis is new.
Summary:
Liberal Party of Canada- the Liberal party is in the middle of the political spectrum, so it could be more left-leaning or right-leaning on issues, with this flexibility making it appealing to a large number of Canadians. Currently, there is a Liberal majority government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who won the election in 2015 (his father, Pierre Trudeau, was also Prime Minister, a considerable source of pride for many Canadians). His father is a bilingual French-Canadian and his mother Margaret is Anglophone, so he is fluently bilingual and appeals to both Francophones and Anglophones in his riding in Montreal. I think that Trudeau’s Liberal party has been more left-leaning compared to previous Liberal party leaders due to his election campaign promises (which he has achieved or currently implementing) of equal female representation in cabinet leader posts, legalization of marijuana, and overall promotion of feminism and gender equality, making them very popular with young people as well.
Analysis
Personally, as a millennial, I am happy with how student loan repayments are more flexible now than they were before (we start paying them back when we earn at least $25,000 a year, compared to the previous rule of having a six month grace period after graduation, in which interest does not accumulate). On the other hand, higher education is a provincial matter, not just a federal one, which means that there are differences between provinces. Ontario students will no longer have a six month grace period, but will have to pay back student loans immediately after graduation.
I would like to focus back to Prime Minister Trudeau after that digression on higher education. Although there has been a few missteps, such as the SNC Lavalin scandal, which I wrote about here, as well as the India trip abroad, and petty nonissues some have with him, such as the elbow incident (because we’re passive-aggressive Canadians) overall he has accomplished many of his campaign promises, so I am happy with a Prime Minister who seems to genuinely care about the people.
When I was in grad school, one of my acquaintances in Carleton University’s political management program (school for staffers but they don’t like it when you say that) mentioned:
“… look at how Trudeau dresses… he would wear dress shirts but roll up his sleeves for a more casual look so he could appeal to both business types as well as more left-leaning people.”
– my friend’s friend
In my opinion, this party represents Canada’s overall values the best, for example, their direction with higher education (Prime Minister Trudeau has a Bachelors of Education from the University of British Columbia). While education is not nearly free in the EU like it is for our millennial counterparts, tuition is heavily subsidized and substantially lower than it is for our cousins in the United States, where tuition is high compared to the rest of the world.
Now I will focus on the next topic, oil and gas politics in Canada. It’s a bit more complicated, so I need some time to focus and research. Hope you have a great weekend, and talk to you soon.
Sincerely,
Guest
