Tuition costs, gay marriage and space weapons were all on the agenda June 11 when candidates for four parties met with students at Chatelech Secondary School in Sechelt.
The Chatelech Peace Group organized the all-candidates' meeting. John Reynolds, the incumbent Conservative MP, did not attend because he was campaigning in Ontario.
The candidates were pitching their message to the young audience.
Green candidate Andrea Goldsmith said her party would lower the voting age.
"You're allowed to drive, you pay taxes, and you work. Why shouldn't you be allowed to vote?" she asked.
Liberal candidate Blair Wilson apologetically introduced himself as a chartered accountant.
"You may think I'm a bit of a geek, but I really like numbers, unlike most of you," he said.
Nicholas Simons, NDP candidate, talked of growing up in Quebec during the October crisis, which he thought the students might remember from history class.
"It's important to solve problems without resorting to violence," he said.
Marc Bombois of the Canadian Action Party focussed on getting Canada out of the North American Free Trade agreement and reforming banking.
The smaller party candidates criticized the absent Reynolds and also took shots at Wilson over the Liberal record.
"I see the Liberals facilitating the takeover of this country by the U.S.," said Bombois. "The Conservatives are just the Liberals on steroids. They'll do it much, much faster."
Goldsmith linked the federal Liberals to the B.C. Liberal Party, saying, "We know what they've done."
The four candidates largely agreed when asked about military and international affairs. All agreed that "terrorism is fueled by poverty and injustice," and all spoke against Canadian involvement in the Iraq war and weapons in space.
Wilson asked the students how many thought Canada did the right thing by not going into Iraq and got a good show of hands.
"The Liberal party and myself are completely against the weaponization of space," he said, adding that the "neo-Conservatives" want to turn the Canadian Armed Forces into a "George Bush style military."
But other candidates suggested the Liberals have a hidden, pro-U.S. military agenda of their own.
"The two biggest parties in parliament probably would go to war if it started again," Simons said.
Bombois said, "It's not exactly true we weren't involved in the Iraq war," because the Canadian Navy took part in blockades.Goldsmith said the Liberals have increased military spending.
"We support peacekeeping and humanitarian aid," she said.
On the question of tuition costs, Goldsmith said increasing student loan limits isn't the answer because "that just means you're going to start off with a higher debt load." She proposed increasing seats in non-university education, such as trades, training and art schools, to widen opportunities for students.
Simons said he would slow down or freeze tuition increases and forgive student loans for graduates working where skilled labour is needed.
Wilson said he was the first person in his family to go to university, thanks to student loans. He proposed increasing grants for students and forgiving a part of the debt for each year of studies completed successfully.
Bombois, Goldsmith and Simons all supported same-sex marriage. Wilson did not answer the question directly.
"The first important concept is we are all equal before the law," Wilson said. "The second important concept is separation between church and state."
