Djilane: Stop wealth inequality in Ottawa-Vanier and elsewhere

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The Citizen invited Ottawa candidates from the 4 main provincial events to elucidate why it is best to vote for them. Those that met our deadlines and protocols will probably be printed this week and subsequent. At present: Ottawa-Vanier NDP candidate Myriam Djilane.

I used to be born and raised in Ottawa–Vanier. I like this neighborhood. I like consuming firfir at Habesha, mountain climbing in Rockcliffe Park, catching a present at BeechFest in the summertime, and strolling my canine, Koda, in Stanley Park (the canine park is the place I met my greatest buddy and her child!).

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And there are such a lot of different issues I like about this place. Individuals in Vanier deal with one another. We present up for each other. We’ve acquired one another’s backs. That’s why I’m working.

It hurts me to see folks in our neighborhood struggling, struggling to make ends meet. I’ve been out canvassing each day, and I hear so many tales. Households inform me how they often have to decide on between placing meals on the desk and paying hire. I meet folks working full-time who nonetheless must entry the meals financial institution. I hear from people who’ve been ready greater than a decade for a household physician and are pressured to spend numerous hours within the ER simply to get care. I meet folks making an attempt to outlive on ODSP, which frequently doesn’t even cowl their hire. On chilly nights, when just a few hours of door-knocking chills me to the bone, I consider our unhoused pals who face Ottawa’s frigid temperatures day in and time out.

I’m working as a result of it doesn’t must be this fashion — it shouldn’t be this fashion. We’re dwelling in a time of the very best wealth inequality ever recorded in Canada. The highest 20 per cent maintain greater than two-thirds of this nation’s wealth, whereas the underside 40 per cent maintain simply 2.8 per cent of it. Take into consideration that: almost half the inhabitants is getting by on lower than three per cent of the wealth we generate.

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So, how did we get right here? As we advance technologically at an astounding price, why is our way of life declining? Why are we going backwards? It’s due to the alternatives made by our elected officers. When politicians signify the wealthy, the wealthy get richer. However when politicians signify the folks, issues get higher.

We’ve seen it all through our historical past. Our health-care system used to appear to be the U.S. — till Tommy Douglas, the primary chief of the federal NDP, fought for common well being care. Staff as soon as had no rights, labored grueling hours for minimal pay, and confronted harmful situations — till the labour motion fought exhausting for the protections we’ve immediately.

The NDP was born out of that labour motion: a bunch of people that knew the established order couldn’t proceed and who realized that if we needed true illustration in authorities, we needed to elect individuals who signify us. And that’s my promise to our neighborhood. I’ll work each day to make life extra honest and reasonably priced and to amplify the voices of the folks of Ottawa–Vanier. The NDP doesn’t look to company lobbyists for options; we seek the advice of precise consultants to determine the right way to actually repair issues, not the right way to maximize earnings for well-connected pals. I hope to earn your assist.

Myriam Djilane is the provincial NDP candidate in Ottawa-Vanier.

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