THUNDER BAY – By day, Youssef Khanjari is a 23-year-old Lakehead University student.
But while he might be the youngest candidate in the Thunder Bay-Superior North race, the People’s Party of Canada hopeful said he’s tired of watching politicians make promises they never keep. Khanjari says the people of Northwestern Ontario deserve an MP who will take action on the issues that actually matter in the day-to-day lives of the people who live in the region.
“The establishment isn’t addressing them at all,” said Khanjari, the son of Iranian immigrants who fled to Canada during their country’s revolution.
“I believe that the People’s Party of Canada stands up for Canadian values more than any other party ... Canada represents values of freedom – freedom of religion, sexuality, gender, freedom of speech most importantly.”
He said the People’s Party of Canada, formed by former Conservative MP and leadership candidate Maxime Bernier, is the only part that will work effectively toward making life affordable for the average Canadian.
He doesn’t see any other party with a realistic plan to tackle rising housing prices that effectively keep young Canadians out of the housing market, the high cost of drugs that force seniors to choose between their medication and their meal or a minimum wage that allows everyone a decent standard of life.
“These are issues that are affecting all people of all ages, genders and creeds and of all locations as well,” Khanjari said.
“These issues aren’t being tackled. People are tackling meta-economics. They’re tackling large-scale issues, but they’re not targeting the daily bread and milk on the table of every family. They’re not targeting jobs. They’re not tackling the school, which is becoming more and more costly.”
Khanjari said the country has to look at its post-secondary education, given that he feels it’s almost mandatory to have a degree or diploma to get a decent job.
“The debt that students have to go into to, to afford (degrees), in some cases will never be paid off in their lifetime. So they become indentured,” Khanjari said.
He’s convinced his party, which has been called out in the media for playing divisive politics, much like the model used by U.S. President Donald Trump, is actually the only party looking out for all the people, regardless of their background.
“I think the People’s Party will represent Canadians. The country has become polarized. People are divided more than ever and I think the People’s Party has the message that you’re Canadian. Canada is for Canadians and everyone living in Canada is a Canadian and we should unite as Canadians to solve our problems instead of fighting amongst ourselves with every ‘ism’ that you can think of.”
TBNewswatch.com has profiled all 11 candidates running for office in Thunder Bay-Superior North and Thunder Bay-Rainy River. All the profiles can be found in our election section, Canada Votes.
