2019FederalElection EDITORMISSY JOHNSON | THURSDAY, OCT. 17,2019 | THE VOICE 3 aE Langara Students’ Unio j Advocating For Students’ Rights Since 199 j 4/ Vancouver South candidates from left to right: Liberal party incumbent Harjit Sajjan, NDP candidate Sean McQuillan, Green Party candidate Judith Zaich- kowsky and People's Party of Canada candidate Alain Deng speak to students and faculty at an all-candidates forum at Langara College. Gina roGeRs PHOTO Free tuition a no-brainer Green Party, NDP: education and housing crisis are linked = By GINA ROGERS, HENRI NGIMBIS, STEVEN CHANG ree tuition is the key to solv- ing Vancouver’s student housing crisis according to the Green Party candidate for Vancouver South, Judith Zaich- kowsky. Countries in Europe already offer free education to citizens and Zaich- kowsky said Canada should do the same. Education and income are related, Zaichkowsky said to an audience of students and faculty at Langara last week. She said she understands how unaffordable schooling is for post- secondary students. “The Green Party has a platform to eliminate tuition for Canadian citizens,” said Zaichkowsky at an all-candidates forum at the Lang- ara Students’ Union. “I used to work in Denmark where students not only got free tuition but also got paid to go to school. This is one of the happiest coun- tries and the “The Green Party has a platform to eliminate tuition for Canadian citizens.” — JUDITH ZAICHKOWSKY, GREEN PARTY McQuillan, a Langara graduate from the Studio 58 program who also spoke at the forum. Both the Green and the NDP candidates say there needs to be changes in the everyday costs asso- CANDIDATE people there do quite well.” NDP candidate Sean McQuillan said his party also believes the best way to help students is through free tuition. “Student loans should become student grants and eventually working toward free tuition,” said ciated with being a student in Vancouver. Student Pierna Malik, who shares an apartment near the campus with another Langara student, said she has few options because of the high cost of rent. “My basement apartment is the best option because of the commute time,” she said. “I have to sacrifice other things to afford it.” McQuillan said a major part of the NDP platform is reducing costs that are out of pocket, such as Pharma- care, dental and rent payments. “For those who rent, there’s up to a $5,000 a year rental subsidy,” he said. “When you have that subsidy, your overall affordability to go to school is lower.” The forum had candidates from four of the five parties attending. Besides the NDP and the Green Party candidates, the Liberal Party’s Harjit Sajjan and the People’s Party of Canada candidate Alain Deng also made their pitch to voters at Langara. The Conservative candidate, Wai Young, did not attend. TransLink riders in need of more Different kinds of transit proposed at forum = By KRISTEN HOLLDAY, ANITA ZHU, LAUREN GARGIULO, RAY CHOPPING, SOUBHIK CHAKRABARTI reen Party and NDP candi- G dates in Vancouver South say they use public transit, the other candidates did not confirm if they are transit users during an all-candidates forum at Langara College. Most of the candidates agreed that the 49 bus route which runs in front of the campus is too crowded. “Right now, we have more busses on 49th and 41st,” Harjit Sajjan, the Liberal Party candidate and incum- bent for Vancouver South said. “There is a plan still in place to be Passengers wait for the 49 bus near Langara College. xrisTen HOLLIDAY PHOTO able to increase that. But we need to do even more,” he said. Transit ridership has increased 7 per cent between 2017 and 2018, according to TransLink’s 2018 Tran- sit Service Performance Review. The 49 bus is the second busiest route in Vancouver with 20 per cent of the trips being overcrowded despite running every five minutes. Garima Mittal, a Langara Health Sciences student, says while bus service has improved, the wait for a bus is a frustrating part of her rush- hour commute. “Normally, I wait for 10 minutes, but during evenings, it gets to 20 minutes,” she said. Green candidate Judy Zaich- kowsky, a frequent transit rider, said she understands what students have to go through. “That line should be a B-line from Metrotown to UBC,” Zaichkowsky said, referring to the 49 bus. “You would have two buses on there, one more local and one that only stops at intersections where people transfer.” Sajjan said the Liberal party had a plan to increase bus service on the 49th and 41st arteries, but also mentioned the importance of look- ing at other routes. Sajjan and NDP candidate Sean McQuillan both agreed that more needs to be done to increase services in the South Vancouver area. An NDP government, McQuil- lan said, would incorporate different transportation services. ‘The PPC has no transportation platform at this time. Opioid Crisis requires action Split on how to deal with the epidemic, NDP Liberals and Greens agree action is urgent = By JAKE HOHEISEL , CHRISTOPHER MACMIL- LAN, LINA CHUNG, RYAN NG, RUIYANG XU he same reasons that led the Liberal government to legalize cannabis last year could lead the Vancouver police to look at a more holistic way of combatting the opioid crisis, accord- ing to Vancouver South Liberal candidate Harjit Sajjan. Sajjan said when it came to mari- juana, the reason why it was legalized was because it was clear that enforce- ment wasn't the way to go. As opposed to decriminalization, the federal Liberal Party plans to combat the opioid epidemic solely with treatment. Over the past four years, the Liberal Party has been dramatically increasing the number of safe injection sites across Canada. If elected, they've pledged to continue the investments to expand access to drug treatment resources. “Children were getting access to it,” said Sajjan at an all-candi- dates forum at the Langara Student Union. “Organized crime was bene- fitting from the profits and what we want to do is prevent that.” Sajjan, who is a Langara alum Join the conversation #elxn43 #cednpoli and a former Vancouver police offi- cer, praised what is being done at the local level to help opioid addicts. “The Vancouver police are very open minded to taking a look at things and working with other agencies,” he said. “I want to support attack- ing this problem from a much more holistic way.” NDP candidate Sean McQuillan, and graduate of Langara’s Studio 58 program, said he believes it’s neces- sary that more needs to be done. “The number one way to stop drug abuse is decriminalizing it and [allow] it to become a mental health issue,” he said. The Green party’s platform is to decriminalize all drugs and to increase funding to combat the opioid epidemic, according to candi- date Judith Zaichkowsky. According to the federal govern- ment’s website, approximately 4,600 people in Canada died of opioid related deaths in 2018, an 11 per cent increase since the year before. That is roughly one death every two hours. Student Joseph Thompson said he hopes that whatever happens on Oct. 21st the government should continue to “support the Downtown Eastside and the safe shoot up area.”