Political Alternative

Since the election is seven days away (remember to vote!), everyone’s heard about the top three parties. Always in the news, it’s how the Top Three Parties are doing. Who will win? Will it be a minority? Will a particular party bottom out? But no matter the discussion, it’s always the same three.

Liberal, PC, NDP. NDP, PC, Liberal.

For many parts of the province, this is the truth of the matter. There are only three parties running. But in Toronto Centre-Rosedale, there are several choices available to match the needs of the diverse riding.

Toronto Centre-Rosedale’s history is convoluted. It’s a merging of several different ridings, spanning from the well-off neighbourhood of Rosedale, to the heart of the financial district. It also covers Queen’s Park itself, one major university and some of the poorest areas in the city. One of those areas includes Regent Park, an area in need of proper care from the province and the city (which is a whole other issue for another day).

Here are the issues Regent Park is facing:

Funding

Sure, everyone and their mother will be looking for money, but Regent Park is one of those areas that stands to benefit from what they can get. Programs like Pathways to Education, Better Beginnings, or even the revitalization plan itself could use the money to advance their programs. When I was down in Regent Park today, I saw Nelson Mandela Public School having its outside being replaced, and the sign on the project said that it was to be complete in “October 2005.” Money would help speed those things along.

Health Care

It’s not just wait times that are critical here – it’s the level of service and care that is given to the people in this neighbourhood. It’s making sure that street health teams are available to those who cannot go to a clinic or a hospital. It’s creating a comprehensive drug plan for those whose income is below a liveable amount in Toronto, which brings me to my next point…

Minimum wage

Several of my classmates have quoted the average annual income in Regent Park. An increase in minimum wage can’t hurt the people in this area.

There are several more topics this election that could stand to affect the people of Regent Park; education, public transit and religious schools, among others. So what does this have to do with the Top Three Parties?

Everything.

These parties are not the only choice for Regent Park. There are six alternate candidates, all of whom may be able to meet the needs of Regent Park better than the Top Three Parties.

Regent Park, meet your alternates (I’ll link where possible):

Mike McLean (Green): The semi-recognized fourth party in Ontario. They’ve never been elected, but they’re still pretty active. Mike’s website seems to be the one for the Green Party with his riding’s name at the top of the page. Also, there’s a typo on the Green website.

Johan Boyden (Communist): He’s run in the last couple of federal elections, but this is his first time running provincially. He holds to a lot of the classic communist ideas, like free health care, taxing the rich and tearing down the democratic system in favour of a communist one.

Michael Green (Libertarian): Running with the slogan “If it isn’t voluntary, it isn’t moral.” Has a pretty simple site with a family photo on it, and says he will increase transparency in business.

Philip Fernandez (Renewal Indepndent AKA Marxist-Leninist): Apparently the Marxist-Leninists (who are different from the Communists) are running under the title “Renewal Independent”. I don’t get it, but Fernandez says he wants to end racial profiling and challenge anti-terror laws.

The last two are Danish Ahmed, who is running for the Party for Special Needs, a new party he started this year when the election laws were changed. The other candidate, Gary Leroux, is running as an independent. I can’t find a political site for either one, so I don’t know where they stand on much of anything, but there is a place to start searching for these people.