Why All Canadians Need To Vote, and Which Issues Matter the Most to Us

Maryam and Nivaal Rehman | Toronto, Canada

This is the first year that we will actually get a chance to vote. As the 43rd Canadian Election season is going on, we are thinking about the history of women's suffrage, and it makes us feel an increased responsibility and duty to vote. So many amazing women fought for women to have the right to vote in Canada, and eventually, immigrants, women of colour, the indigenous population, and other minority groups were given the right to vote too.

During this election, it is especially important that we all exercise our right to vote, because it will shape our future. The actions that our governments will take, are a vital part of securing a sustainable future for us all.

The past few articles on The World With MNR have been about the Global Climate Movement, the need for Climate Action, and why we all need to protect our environment. This is why, one of the main issues that we are concerned about this election season, is the environment and what each Federal Political Party hopes to do about it.

When the election campaign kicked off last month, we were interviewed on CBC's Metro Morning, and asked about being first-time, undecided voters, and what will help us make our decision this year. You can watch our interview here:

This interview was all about what will help us decide who we will vote for, and we stayed updated ever since, on the platforms of each Federal Party and the announcements that each one made.

One of the most important aspects about this election, is including the voices of Canadians in the process, and making sure that their concerns are heard by the Federal Leaders. We think it was amazing that the CBC organized the "Face to Face with Federal Leaders," series, to give Canadians the chance to speak with four of the Federal Leaders (Maxime Bernier declined the request due to scheduling conflicts). There was also a live audience in the studio, who experienced the tapings of the segments. We want to thank the CBC inviting us to these tapings as well! Due to our university classes, we could only attend the taping for Justin Trudeau, and had an amazing experience there.

Justin Trudeau was the first guest, and it was awesome hearing the concerns of Canadians being addressed in such a cool format. Issues that were addressed ranged from job security, home ownership and climate justice, to reconciliation with indigenous people and pluralism/inclusivity through a Liberal government, and on a personal level for Justin Trudeau.

We got a chance to meet with Justin at the end of the taping, and it was a pleasant surprise that he recognized us from when we interviewed him 2 years ago.

While we got a chance to hear the Liberal party's stance on the issues Canadians brought up in person, we made sure that we stayed updated with the rest of the episodes throughout the week when they became available online. Each episode features five different Canadians, asking the Federal Leaders questions about how they hope to take action for the issues that matter to them. You can watch all the episodes below:

Face to Face with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau:

Face to Face with Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer:

Face to Face with New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh:

Face to Face with Green Party Leader Elizabeth May:

We will continue to provide updates and information on this election campaign. We hope that you all make an informed decision this election season and encourage all of you to exercise your right to vote!