Have an idea for a story? Let us know! Contact: Mercedes Deutscher, News Editor Minews@theotherpress.ca (Y Marcel Aubut finishes in Olympic-sized trouble (Y Briny liquid water discovered flowing on Mars (¥ Toronto-based gold mining company leaks cyanide solution into Argentina river And more! Debates cause heavy changes in polls, spell trouble for NDP » A recap of week nine of the 2015 Canadian Federal Election Mercedes Deutscher News Editor MS news@theotherpress.ca poor performance by NDP leader Thomas Mulcair in last week’s French debate was the start of what resulted in a week-long decline in the polls for the NDP, while the Conservative Party and Liberal Party both fought to claim the top spot. Week nine of the election was kicked off with a debate regarding foreign policy, hosted by Munk, on September 28. The debate, which included the three leading Prime Minister candidates, touched on many of the topics that have been hot throughout the entire elections. One of those issues was Bill C-51, the controversial bill turned to law that increased the security capabilities of CSIS. Mulcair compared Liberal Party’s Justin Trudeau’s support of C-51 to the October Crisis in 1970, where Justin’s father, Pierre Trudeau, evoked the War Measures Act to temporarily give police power to arrest without the possession of a warrant. “Throughout this campaign in direct references and indirect references, both of these gentlemen have at various points attacked my father. Let me say very clearly: lam incredibly proud to be Pierre : Elliot Trudeau’s son and am : incredibly lucky to have been : raised with those values,” said : Trudeau. Prime Minister Stephen : Harper continued to uphold : his position regarding how to : handle terrorist in Canada, : particularly in regard to C-51 : and C-24. C-24 being the : bill passed into law during : the spring that allows for : the government to revoke : citizenship from those AD. : convicted of terrorism. “Why would we not revoke the citizenship of people : convicted of terrorist offences : against this country?” Harper : asked. Later in the evening, he : referred to C-51and said: “The : threat we face today is not CSIS, : it is ISIS.” In addition to controversial bills, the Munk debate touched : upon the Syrian refugee crisis. “One area where Canada is completely failing ... is in dealing : with the refugee crisis,” Mulcair : stated. “My own family, the Irish : side at least, came over during the : : potato famines of the 1840s and, : : you know what? In Quebec City, : people went down to the docks : and... took in the most miserable : : in the world. That’s Canada.” : Trudeau took a similar stance. Harper countered the arguments of Mulcair and : Trudeau by saying once again : that Canada cannot allow : refugees to flood into Canada and : : claiming that many countries : in Europe are regretting their : decisions to take as many : refugees as they did. Between the Munk debate on : Monday and the second French : language debate on Friday, policy : announcements remained rather : quiet from the leading three : parties. The Conservative Party : announced a goal of 700,000 : new homeowners in Toronto : in the next five years. The NDP : pledged a $32 million budget to : aid Nunavut residents with access : to healthier foods, in addition to : announcing a $100 million plan : to convert smaller communities : to cleaner energy sources. The >: Liberal Party vowed to invest : up to $300 million to Winnipeg : research facilities. As well, the Liberals further discussed : support for health aids, including : a discussion on how they would : legalize marijuana. The second French language debates took place on October : 2, and once again brought up the nigab issue. Both Trudeau : and Mulcair grew tired of the : issue and called it distracting, : while Harper and Bloc Quebecois : leader Gilles Duceppe continued : to discuss the issue as an attack : on the rights of women. Mulcair : used a pacifist approach as an : attempt to win over Quebec for : the NDP with tactics such as once : again bringing the October Crisis : into the debate. How votes matter » A question of representation Chandler Walter Humour Editor © humour@theotherpress.ca his may be the federal election that Canadians of the future look back on as the last to use the “old” system of voting. Electoral reform has been a hot-button issue for two of the three leading political parties in Canada, with the Conservatives holding back on advocating for any sort of change in the way we decide who runs the country. The party voted into power : this October would be done so : by the Single Plurality system, : also known to many as first- : past-the-post. To change that : system once in power would : : seem controversial to the elected : : party’s best interests, though : Antony Hodgson, the President : of Fair Voting BC, explained : the demerits of Single Plurality : Voting. “You can have the majority : of the population opposed to the : current government and they : still have complete control over : what happens,” said Hodgson. Hodgson stated that the : current federal government : was voted in with only 39.6 per : cent of the federal vote, though : those votes managed to elect a : majority government into power. : Section Three of The Charter : : of Rights and Freedoms states: : “Every citizen of Canada has : the right to vote in an election : of members of the House of : Commons or of a legislative : assembly and to be qualified for : membership therein.” Hodgson explained that : this is not merely the right to : cast a ballot, but is, as the courts : have interpreted it, the right to : effective representation. The issue is that with only : one representative for any : given riding, a person and their neighbour could have differing views, with only one of them ; ultimately being represented. Proportional representation : systems aim to work around : that. One way is by combining : ridings together, and having an : assortment of elected members : of parliament (or team) for : each. Another is by voting for a : specific party, from which the : number of MPs is proportional : to the percentage of votes cast in : favour for that party. According to Fair Vote : Canada, the NDP has backed : the mixed-member proportional : style of voting. This is a two-tier : system in which you can vote : first for the candidate of your : choice, and then use a second : vote towards another party. The : Liberals have not stated which : system of voting they would be : favouring, though promise to : evaluate the different systems : and begin enacting electoral : reform within 18 months of : forming government.