Controversial plans, French debate reopens

nigab and Senate controversies

» A recap of week eight of the 2015 Canadian Federal Election

Mercedes Deutscher
Staff Reporter

W<« eight of the election
started off with a
promise by Liberal Party leader
Justin Trudeau to cancel the

Conservatives’ plan to spend $44
billion on F-35 fighter jets. The

 

one that has garnered criticism
from Canada’s allies for being too
expensive and time-consuming.

instead purchase less expensive
jets and invest money saved into
the Royal Canadian Navy.

The NDP began the week
with Thomas Mulcair being
placed under increased scrutiny
over the party’s childcare plan,
due to the leader’s lack of
information given about the
plan to the general public. Some

information has been shared with : Harper brought up the issue of

: the niqab during the debate.
: The Conservative Party wishes

journalists, such as the costs of
the program, $5 billion dollars,
or that there will eventually be

: It.

: one million spaces available.

: However, when pressed for

: more information, such asa

: timeline, or how the plan will

: involve provincial governments,
: Mulcair responded toCTV that —:
: “everybody can go online and find :

49

On September 24, the

: campaign’s first French-language:
: debate took place, and it involved :
: all five federal party leaders, :
: including Bloc Québécois leader

plan has been a controversial one, : Gilles Duceppe.

The debate involved a lot

: of offence towards the NDP,
: as Mulcair found himself on
Trudeau says that his party would : the defensive, particularly in

: regards to Quebec sovereignty.

: Duceppe accused Mulcair of

: being inconsistent with his views
: on sovereignty, saying that both

: his English and French campaign
: contradicted each other. Trudeau
: then criticized Mulcair’s support
: of Quebec sovereignty if it were

: to occur.

Prime Minister Stephen

: to introduce the issue before

: the Supreme Court, hoping to

: overturn a court ruling that a

: woman may wear the niqab

? face veil during a citizenship

: ceremony. The statement was

: agreed upon by Duceppe, who

: said that a majority of Quebec

: was in agreement that the niqab
: should be prohibited during a

: citizenship ceremony. Trudeau

: and Green Party leader Elizabeth
: May opposed, both stating that

: right to choose whether or not to
: wear the nigab. Mulcair took the
: opportunity to accuse Harper of

: bringing up the issue of the niqab :
: asa means to avoid challenging
; economic questions,

: another topic of the debate,

: with the leaders taking several
: different approaches. Harper lead :
: on the promise to not nominate
: any more senators while the

 

they believed it was a woman’s

The issue of the Senate was

Image via www.huffingtonpost.ca

provincial governments discussed

: how they would like to see
: the Senate reformed. Trudeau
: pointed out to Harper that

the Conservatives had broken

: similar promises before. Mulcair

: looked to Canadians to work with
: their provincial governments

: in order to abolish the Senate.

: Duceppe made a push for Quebec

sovereignty as a solution to

: problems within the Senate.

 

Federal minimum wage to $15 sparks squabble during debate

» Are you due for a raise?

Chandler Walter
Humour Editor,
SS humour@theotherpress.ca

mid the torrent of

interruptions, arguments,
and general chaos that impeded
the Federal Leaders’ Debate
last Thursday, the matter of the
NDP’s proposed $15-an-hour
federal minimum wage was
brought up and dropped over
the span of a few minutes ina
conversation between Liberal
leader Justin Trudeau and NDP
leader Thomas Mulcair, with
incumbent Stephen Harper
watching the exchange from the
sidelines.

With the raise being a staple
in the economic plan for the NDP,

NDP platform.

“Ninety-nine per cent of
Canadians earning the minimum
wage aren't going to be affected
by Mr. Mulcair’s puff of smoke,”
Trudeau said in response to

will “give a raise to over 100,000
people earning the federal
minimum wage or less.”
Stephen Phillips, a political
science professor at Langara

between provincial and federal

: minimum wages.

He said that around go

: per cent of Canada’s workforce

: participates in jobs in which the

: provincial government regulates
: the minimum wage. Because of

: this, those go per cent would not
: see a raise from the NDP.

“When Mulcair says he’s

: going to raise the federal

: minimum wage to $15 an hour,

: and he admits this, he’s talking
: about those workers who are

: employed in federally regulated
: industries, which is only about

: 10 percent of the work force,”

: Phillips said.

Those receiving the federal

: minimum wage are workers at
: places such as chartered banks,
: national airlines, national

Trudeau was quick to criticize the : railways, and post offices.

Phillips points out that in

5; 1996 the government under

: Jean Chrétien tied the federal

: minimum wage to the prevailing
: minimum wage in any given

: province. This effectively ceased
Mulcair’s statement that the NDP : the existing uniform federal

: minimum wage, a policy that the
: New Democratic Party is hoping
: to revive.

This is of considerable

: concern for those living in BC, as

College, explained the distinction : the minimum wage is one of the

: lowest in the country (although

: it was recently raised to $10.45 on
: September 15), and it isa main

: concern to students, like Langara :

: College’s Alex Mundy.

When asked what he

: considered to be the most

: important issue for youth and

: students in this upcoming

: election, he replied: “The cost of

: living, whether that includes cost :

: of housing or cost of education,
: and finding a job that hasa
: decent wage.”

Mundy was aware that the

: promise of a federal minimum

: wage would not effect as many

: as it might seem, though notes:

: “It wouldn't be bad to hear about
: it more, though. A lot of people

: don't really follow the news all

: that much”

Phillips likened the possible

: effect of a raise in the federal
: minimum wage to a scenario
: between a unionized workplace
: anda non-unionized one. He

BAe eee ee

said that the unionized workers
receiving wage increases could
have an indirect effect on the
non-union work place, and may

; tempt them to raise their wages

i as well, so as to not lose workers
¢ to the higher paid jobs.
? Only time will tell whether this

? wages, although Mulcair hopes

: the policy will be good for all
? will have any effect on Canadians’ : Canadians: “A $15 an hour federal
= minimum wage is not only good

: for [federally regulated workers],

 

Image via www. huffingtonpost.ca

: it’s a good signal to the provinces
: to do the same thing, to bring up
: a living wage.’