It has now been just over a week since the closely-watched 2019 Federal Elections, and people across the country are reflecting upon the outcome. For many current Munk One students, the election marked their first time exercising their political right to vote. Their experiences leading up to the big day was enhanced in a special way, however, when they received the chance to participate in CBC’s “The National Presents: Face to Face with Federal Party Leaders.” The students, all first-time, undecided voters—had the opportunity to hear directly from federal party leaders Justin Trudeau, Andrew Scheer, Jagmeet Singh and Elizabeth May as part of the CBC’s live studio audience. The National’s Rosemary Barton hosted the program, which included one-on-one conversations between undecided voters and the party leaders in unfiltered conversation. Read below to see what two of these students had to say about their experience and how it shaped their vote in the election:

Renee Jagdeo

“It’s a running joke within my family that Canadians don’t vote in a government, we vote a government out – and so I’ve never truly thought about who I’d want in office, but more so who I wouldn’t. I didn’t attend hoping for my political alignment to become dramatically clear, but I did leave having a better sense of why I should vote according to what I care about. I had the pleasure of attending the session with Elizabeth May, where I was surprised to hear from a panel of incredibly passionate individuals who strongly represented communities that cared about agriculture, STEM opportunities, indigenous affairs and income distribution.

Having witnessed the discussions between Elizabeth May and the panel, I realized when casting my vote, it shouldn’t be for the purpose of making sure another party did not achieve a majority, or to make a strategic vote of the sorts – it should be to ensure that the issues I cared about received representation.

Anya Haldemann

“As a first time voter, I was keen to get stuck into the election. Having just moved to Canada, my knowledge of the Canadian political system was lacking, therefore any chance for research to lead me to my conclusion of who I was going to vote for was exciting. As soon as I saw the email pop into my inbox with the invitation to participate in the Face-to-Face segmenet with The National, I signed up. This was an opportunity that I wasn’t going to miss; watching live unedited footage with political candidates is something we rarely see today. My excitement only grew when I learned that I was to hear from Elizabeth May leader of the Green Party. Not only is she an MP and leader of a party I admire, but Green Party policy is something that I wanted to be explained in depth given the breadth of claims and promises.

This election, I believe, must be focused on climate change given the enormous wall we face in halting the forthcoming damage. Canada, having the longest coastline in the world, is going to be greatly affected by rising sea levels and the increased strength of marine storms (something we saw with Storm Dorian just last month). I think the Green Party’s focus on climate change is ambitious, but ambition is what we need to solve the possible impending catastrophe.

What I also found to be thought-provoking was seeing politicians at play. There was a moment in the questioning where an undecided voter continuously asked May to make a commitment to a timeline – a promise of policy if you will. May, however, calmly sidestepped and assured the voter that policy would come into play itself. This was a brief but essential masterclass for any politics student – the ability of a successful politician to ensure that they can’t be held accountable for not meeting voter demands. Promises are promises and if they are broken so is the trust of the voter. This is something Trudeau is facing with not meeting many of his 2015 election promises.”

Thanks to the CBC for extending Munk One the invitation to participate in this program, and to attend the live results watch party on election night!