Canmore teacher Jeff Horvath has announced he is putting his name forward as the NDP candidate for the Wild Rose constituency in the upcoming federal election.
The Stephen Harper government was defeated Friday, March 25 in a non-confidence vote following a committee report that stated the Conservative party was in contempt of parliament.
A federal election is now scheduled for May 2 and Horvath, 38, who is running in his third federal race, said Tuesday (March 29) now is the time for voters in Wild Rose to move away from the Conservative party.
“I’m aware of the realities of this riding and I’m in it to win, and I still believe I’m a great alternative to Blake Richards,” Horvath said.
The NDP, he said, is concerned about families, health services, social justice, poverty and education.
“I do fight for social justice and child poverty and these are some of the big issues. When (the NDP) looked at the budget, we also wanted to try and help seniors stay out of poverty,” he said. “We are a rich prosperous country, we want to try and help other Canadians out.”
Education, he said, is the key to helping people stay out of poverty.
“Poverty is the determinate that increases hardships in life. Prisons are full of poor people with low education for the most part. We have to try and look at leveling the playing field.”
Horvath is a member of the Ojibways of Onegaming First Nation in northwestern Ontario. He received his masters in educational leadership last July from Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA and also advocates for women and young aboriginal people to play a larger role in politics in an effort to increase diversity among federal politicians.
“For the most part, our government is full of older white men and we need a little diversity in our government and all of our public officials. I think things have to change if we are truly going to be a democratic society,” he said.
But no matter which way the election in Wild Rose goes, Conservative, Liberal, Green or NDP, Horvath said the key to making Canada a better nation, and to take part in the democratic process, is to vote.
“If we want change, everybody has to get involved. We have to get young people engaged and get educated votes. That is truly how we are going to change.
“Real decision makers are government: we can have lobby groups, but the policy makers are in the government, so we need a strong cohesive government to take on these challenges,” said the father of two children.
As part of the its platform, the NDP wants to cap credit card rates at the prime rate plus five per cent, invest in small businesses and companies that are creating jobs, reduce costs of essentials such as home heating, strengthen pensions and make childcare and education more accessible.
The election comes down to education and hospitals, rather than prisons and jet fighters, he said.
“You are starting to see the true values of parties and where they differ from each other, and that provides people with a clearer view of where they want to place their vote.”
