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election 2021

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Patty Hajdu Wins In Thunder Bay-Superior North

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Thunder Bay-Superior North remains red after the 44th Canadian Federal Election.

Incumbent Patty Hajdu won the riding again Monday, holding off strong showings from first-timers Chantelle Bryson (NDP) and Joshua Taylor (Conservative).

During her election night event, Hajdu said regardless of the outcome, she was happy with how her and her team handled the past five weeks.

“I feel positive, I think we ran a really good campaign and I had some fabulous people around me,” says Hajdu. “I was really inspired to be part of a team that has a positive vision and we had a lot of fun and that’s always important on a campaign.”

Hajdu gave a speech after it was officially announced she had won the riding, stressing she will put the people first.

“There’s kind of a saying in Ottawa, there’s two kinds of politicians, politicians that want to be somebody, and politicians that want to do something, and I’m the kind of politician that wants to do things,” explains Hajdu, “I love this job, but I love it because it is such an opportunity to make a better future for the people that we all love. Our parents, our children, the next generation, the people that we see struggling, that’s what politics is about, it’s a tool, it’s a lever, it’s an opportunity to make our region and our country a better place.”

It is unsure whether Hajdu will retain her role as Minister of Health, though she did mention it was an honour to hold the position.

Meanwhile, Conservative candidate for the riding Joshua Taylor believes his campaign went well, and describes what the experience was like.

“Of course there was logistics, really trying to navigate exactly how the system works, getting all of the material printed and ready, and then just really trying to saturate myself in the riding so people became aware of who I was,” says Taylor. “Overall there was a pretty good reception, a lot of people still attribute a lot of stigma to being a conservative, but I think overall I was met with good reception.”

Taylor goes on to say this will not be the last time he represents the Conservative Party come election time.

“I’m absolutely going to be running again, I would say honestly it’s set in stone,” stated Taylor. “This time I’ll have more than about a month and a half to get people to know me, I’ll have according to Trudeau at least 18 months to get myself well known in the community. I’m still going to be going out to community events representing the Conservative Party trying to grow our membership.”

NDP candidate Chantelle Bryson was not available for comment.

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Federal Election Campaign: Day 30

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Just days to go until Canada picks it’s next government.

The leaders continued to pound the pavement Monday, and also attacked their opponents.

Justin Trudeau of the Liberals in Vancouver vowed to introduce legislation to make it a criminal offence to obstruct access to any building providing health services.

The leader also re-iterated his promise to protect businesses and organizations from a legal challenge should they decide to require a proof of vaccination from employees or customers.

Trudeau also went after Tory leader Erin O’Toole, “He is defending his candidate who went to visit seniors in an old-age home without being fully vaccinated. That’s not the leadership we need.”

The candidate in question was Michelle Ferreri, who’s running in the riding of Peterborough-Kawartha.

Earlier in the day, Conservative leader Erin O’Toole promised that if elected, he’ll expand the Canada Child Benefit to start at the seventh month of pregnancy instead of at childbirth, as well as allow new parents the opportunity to earn up to $1,000 per month without it affecting their maternity or parental leave payments.

O’Toole also reminded Trudeau that he’s no longer campaigning in 2015, “I’m a different leader (than Stephen Harper) and although I disagreed with Mr. Trudeau, I could respect him. I agreed when he talked about what unites us rather than divides us. I could understand when he talked about a better future that Canada could have, and I appreciated when he talked about healing the country’s rifts rather than exploiting them.”

Federal maternity and parental benefits allow parents to receive a maximum of $595 per week, which is equal to 55 per cent of their earnings.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh took his tour to both Sioux Lookout and Neskantaga First Nation, the site of a 26 year boil water advisory.

“There are grown adults that have not been able to drink clean water ever,” Singh stressed. “This is wrong, this should not be what’s going on and our commitment is to make sure we clean this water and that every community has access to clean drinking water.”

Singh went onto acknowledge that despite the fact it’s hard to make progress on the issue, especially in remote communities, there is no excuse for this being a ongoing problem under six years of a Liberal government.

Monday is the last day to vote at an advance polling station until 9:00 p.m.

You also have until 6:00 p.m. Tuesday to vote at any Elections Canada office using a special ballot.

Election Day is Monday, September 20th.

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Federal Leaders In B.C., ON For Day 22

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On the campaign trail today, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau makes an announcement in Markham, Ontario.

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole has an announcement of his own in Vancouver.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh discusses his approach to the pandemic in Ottawa.

People’s Party of Canada Maxime Bernier is also on the west coast with stops in in Kelowna and Penticton.

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Bernier Excluded From Leaders’ Debate

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The official Leaders’ Debates for this election will go ahead without the People’s Party of Canada Leader Maxime Bernier.

The Commissioner of the debates, David Johnston, announced that the French and English debates will feature the leaders of the Liberals, Conservatives, Greens, NDP, and Block Québécois.

The Commission invited leaders whose party met at least one of three criteria: having at least one Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, having received at least 4% of the vote in the previous election, or having received at least 4% national support in opinion polls within five days after the election was called.

The PPC didn’t meet any of those requirements.

The leader of the Maverick Party was also not invited on those same grounds.

The French debate is happening on September 8th, while the English debate will be held on September 9th.

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Singh Calls For Ultra-Rich Tax, Help For Afghans

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The Leader of the federal NDP is putting his support behind Afghans fleeing the Taliban.

Several people died at the Kabul airport today as thousands of civilians tried to get onto planes leaving the country.

Campaigning in Toronto, Jagmeet Singh says Canada needs to do everything possible to help Afghans, especially those who assisted the Canadian military.

“Every single one of them should have a path to coming to Canada, them and their families at a minimum. And we need to be allies in supporting the relocation and providing safe refuge for those who are fleeing what is, right now, a really dangerous and scary situation,” Singh says.

The Liberals have committed to settle 20,000 Afghan refugees, but Singh has called for the government to expand eligibility for that program.

At the same announcement, the party Leader opened his campaign with a promise to tax the ultra-rich.

He says he wants to hold that group accountable for misusing pandemic supports.

Singh says his government would “make sure any company that abused the system, that took public money and then paid out dividends to their shareholders or increased executive pay, that we’re going to stop that, make sure they reimburse [the government for] that, and re-invest into people.”

Singh says that money could be redirected to things like pharmacare, dental care, and mental health services.

On the COVID-19 front, he is pushing for faster vaccinations even now that Parliament has been dissolved for the election.

He says it’s possible and necessary for Canada to focus on getting all federally-regulated industries vaccinated, and ideally issue vaccine passports, by Labour Day.

A lot of experts are saying, if we don’t do everything possible to get all adults vaccinated, it’s really kids that are going to be at risk when the school year resumes,” Singh argues. “So we think this is a priority, we believe this is a priority, and we’re going to do everything we can to get everyone vaccinated.”