Talking and laughing with a handful of students at a local pub on Tuesday night, and dipping his famous moustache into a glass of red wine, Jack Layton joked he couldn’t imagine Stephen Harper in a similar setting. The NDP leader has a knack for talking to young people that’s coming in handy on a current campus tour that has him crisscrossing the country from Dalhousie to UBC.
Layton and NDP MP Olivia Chow, Canada’s most famous political couple, are touring universities while parliament is out of session in an attempt to shore up support for a federal election that, Layton hinted, could come as early as next spring.
In a short speech at Hart House on Tuesday, Layton stuck to a few key themes, criticizing the Harper government’s policies on the environment, post-secondary education, and the war in Afghanistan.
At the forefront of his platform is a radical restructuring of Canada’s energy policy to make use of renewable resources, including solar power. “Imagine we had a million rooftops [equipped with solar panels], and when the sun is shining reasonably forcefully, we’re power generators instead of power consumers,” he said. “This is possible. All it takes is a bit of vision, a bit of investment.”
The NDP leader is hoping that his views on energy conservation and global warming will strike a big chord with Canadian voters. The election in the spring could “be the first election where the issue of climate change and the environment becomes the decisive issue in an election campaign,” he said.
On Tuesday, Layton characterized the country’s education system as dilapidated, and said that public money is invested in producing graduates who often end up unable to do what they were trained for.
Last week, the NDP unveiled a new plan for education funding, aimed at reducing the financial burden on Canada’s students. The party is pushing to scrap two existing student grant plans-the Canada Education Savings Plan and the Textbook Tax Credit-and use the money to give $1,500 to every student with Canada Student Loans.
The party says the plan would also bolster federal funding for post-secondary education, allowing universities and colleges to freeze tuitions.
At the end of his speech, Layton restated his position on Afghanistan, which advocates the use of diplomacy over military action. It’s a platform which has upset many Canadians because it involves negotiating with the vilified Taliban.
“The mission is wrong because it’s completely out of balance,” said Layton. “We’re spending nine dollars on the war we’re fighting in the South [of Afghanistan] for every one dollar we’re spending on humanitarian aid and reconstruction.”
After the speech, Layton, Chow and two dozen supporters retired to the Duke of York to give students a chance to “meet the man behind the moustache” while wetting their whistles. On-hand were the leaders of U of T’s NDP club as well as at least three members of the SAC executive.
Layton lent his ear to SAC chairperson Jen Hassum for ten minutes to discuss education funding. The third most powerful man in the country told Hassum not to hesitate to contact him any time.
“You’ve got privileges,” he said with a smile.
