The not-so-United States of America

The United States of America. Not only Canada’s neighbor, but also an influential and close friend to us in all regards. This past election, our friend is conflicted, divided, and in trouble. Thousands of Americans took to the streets to protest Trump’s presidential victory, chanting phrases like “No Trump! No KKK! No racist USA!”, with nearly half a…

Get Involved

“To young Canadians… I believe in you. Your energy, your vision, your passion for justice are exactly what this country needs today. You need to be at the heart of our economy, our political life, and our plans for the present and the future.” – Jack Layton Source Election day is just around the corner.…

The Aftermath of Scotland’s Failed Referendum

    The cheers and encouragement for Scotland subsided on the morning of Friday, September 19th, as the results for their independence referendum was announced. With  44.7% of votes saying yes to independence and 55.3% going against, Scotland’s dream of independence was crushed one again by indecisiveness. The referendum was held to decide whether or not…

Disenfranchised in Quebec

In the wake of the Liberal landslide of yesterday’s provincial election, as it turns out, not everyone was able to exercise their right to vote–enough to spark one person to create the Disenfranchised in Quebec blog, and other’s harrowing stories made the news. Most notably were five McGill students whom, even after providing utility bills…

Who are Canada’s mayors?

Each of Canada’s cities has a very different system for their mayor – some have parties, some don’t, some have a lot of visible corruption, and others seem clean. In the last year, in Canada’s biggest city, there have been scandals that revealed information previously unknown to anyone about Canada’s mayors. With all these changes occurring,…

Now What? Politics After “Jack”

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world. John Gilbert “Jack” Layton In his letter to Canada before his untimely death, Jack Layton keeps his spirit of hope and optimism and hopes that…

Vote… please?

Did you know that democracy doesn’t really work when you don’t vote? On May 2, it’s your chance to take a stand by simply crossing a small X on a paper. Check out elections.ca for your polling station and don’t forget to vote. There are millions of young people all around the world who long…

Opportunity for a Mock Federal Election!

Is your school participating in the Student Vote? Well if not, ask a teacher and start a committee dedicated to emulating a real election. And if you’re lucky enough and are of age by May 2, then be awesome and vote! It’s important to go out there and cast your opinion on the candidates; countries…

Bishop Carroll Votes

As a member of the team of student volunteers who ran the Bishop Carroll mayoral election on Oct. 18, I can say it was a valuable experience. It was so inspiring to see students take interest in civic responsibility and democracy. Volunteers went around to homerooms and distributed and collected ballots. We counted them at…