Huron-Bruce’s NDP candidate says that she wants something to be done about the housing crisis and affordability during the current federal election.
Melanie Burrett, who works as a high school library clerk, says that it’s important to make life more affordable for working-class Canadians.
She said she jumped at the chance to run for the party.
“I’ve been a volunteer for the NDP for almost twenty years, and the chance came up and I was offered the opportunity to run and I thought, ‘this is kind of the ultimate volunteer gig’,” she chuckled while speaking with Bayshore News. “I really, really believe in the message of the NDP, and the party is really trying very hard to help people. Even if I don’t win, I’ll still have a soapbox to be able to stand up and say ‘hey, we really need to be better to each other than we have been’. And that’s really important to me.”
Burrett says that she believes the NDP can help average Canadians with cost of living and health care concerns, saying “I’m really sick and tired of watching all of my friends struggle and just watching all of the pain out there. I really believe we need to put people before profit and corporations.”
She said she’d also like to see voters be more unified when it comes to breaking down inter-provincial trade barriers.
“It is kind of crazy that it’s easier to export to the U.S. than it would be to B.C.,” she said. “That’s crazy, because it’s not even crossing an international border.”
She said that Canada should set up stronger trade ties with countries in Europe, as well as with Mexico.
Burrett explained that the New Democratic Party is an important part of the government, because even though they’re a small party with 25 members of parliament heading into this election campaign, they historically can help make the government follow through on promises. Historically, that includes universal health care, and more recently, the existing dental care program.
Burrett also says that she hopes that regardless of the April 28th election, that all Canadians look for accountability from their elected leaders, rather than just waiting until there’s an upcoming vote.
“No matter which party wins in this election, I really hope that people start to wake up. I really hope that they should be demanding better. They deserve better.”
