Make your MP earn their pension, you are paying for it!

I am very fortunate to reside in a new riding, Burnaby-South, which was formerly apart of Burnaby-Douglas. As we get closer to the 42nd Federal Election, I am spending a little more time getting to know the candidates in my riding. In my neighbourhood there doesn’t appear to be many campaign signs, so I had to commence my research online. For me the pandemonium started this week, it began when I returned home from a meeting to find a leaflet from Conservative candidate Grace Seear at my apartment doorstep.

I decided to send a friendly tweet to @graceseear

In order for Grace, or any of her support staff, to drop off leaflets in my building they would’ve had to sneak in, or they reside in my building. Either way I felt it was important for her to know that she should use Canada Post. Her leaflet didn’t enter my apartment, as I kindly placed it in the lobby recycle bin. I will be honest, Grace has very little chance getting my vote, and my decision is becoming solidified when she failed to respond to my tweet. I don’t think she uses her Twitter account.

Fortunately, I had a chance to exchange tweets with Liberal Candidate Adam Pankratz and Green Party Candidate Wyatt Tessari. Liberal Candidate Adam Pankratz was kind to share some information regarding Burnaby election updates:

Both Green Party Candidate Wyatt Tessari and Liberal Candidate Adam Pankratz informed me of the BCIT Forum on Wednesday, September 23, 2015 where I hope to have the opportunity to ask my question(s).

I represent a unique demographic, as I don’t fit the typical target audience of the major political parties. I am a business owner, engaged to be married (not planning to have children), not planning to purchase a home in the local market, and I take sabbaticals during my younger years (versus working straight to retirement). With Elizabeth May’s recent improbable campaign promise of eliminating all existing student debts, while making higher education free for all moving forward; I have created an attainable wish list that I hope the candidates in my riding can pass along.

The following would be smaller requests that I believe is fair for the individuals of Burnaby-South, perhaps the rest of Canada one day:

  1. Give tax credits to any adult that is currently paying for a gym membership, sports team fee, and/or any other physical activity.
  2. Provide financial literacy tools to assist individuals that may be relying on CPP to afford their retirement.
  3. For individuals under 40, provide information on alternative pensions available for retirement if CPP becomes obsolete and/or runs out of money.
  4. Offer additional tax credits to employers who hire graduates straight from high school and post-secondary schooling.
  5. Promoting trades throughout the education system to stimulate more skilled labourers.
  6. Providing an open ledger showing the public where funds were allocated.

Considering my area of interest is financial literacy, I may ask a question regarding the staggering debt-to-income ratio within the average household. I still have 2 weeks to prepare for the forum; however, I plan on reaching out to my candidates to hear their thoughts.

I strongly recommend more people to have their voices heard. Show up to forums and/or go online and ask questions via Twitter and Facebook. A friendly reminder to those who don’t get involved, please refer to the comic below:

#CDNPOLI Today

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