Interview with Bruce Hyer, MP for Thunder Bay - Superior North

You have stated that Bill C-51, the Harper Government's omnibus anti-terrorism legislation, "will restrict free speech, override certain privacy rights, expand police powers, and increase the powers of spy agenices to monitor citizens' communications." You have also noted that, under Bill C-51, some forms of non-violent civil disobedience – such as attempts to block pipelines – could be considered a terrorist threat by the government.

Six out of ten Canadians oppose Bill C-51, and your party and the NDP voted against the bill in the last Parliament. The Liberals voted in favour of Bill C-51, but now say they are committed to repealing aspects of the bill.

If the Conservatives fail to form a government in this election, does the Green Party intend to work with other parties to repeal Bill C-51 in the next Parliament?

The Green Party will immediately repeal Bill C-51. Green Party Leader Elizabeth May was the first MP and party leader to stand against Bill C-51, and the first to call for its repeal. Bill C-51 will not make Canadians safer. It will do the opposite. According to security experts, changing CSIS from an intelligence gathering service into a secret police force empowered to “disrupt threats” could well lead to the kind of interagency confusion that allowed the Air India attack in 1984 to happen. The RCMP should disrupt threats, CSIS should gather intelligence, and both need oversight. Bill C-51 cannot be fixed. It must be repealed in its entirety. We need to go back to the drawing board and think more deeply about what needs to be done to protect the security of Canada.

Despite several grassroots efforts to boost voter turnout among youth, only 39 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds voted in the last federal election, and more young people than ever are turning away from electoral participation at every level of government.

As a result, most political parties and leaders tend to focus on seniors and "the middle class" during election campains, and issues affecting students, recent graduates, and young workers are largely ignored. As The Globe and Mail notes, "the less youth vote, the less the parties reach out to them, and the more disengaged they become."

What steps would the Green Party take to increase voter turnout among youth? And what, if anything, is your party doing to attract support from young voters in this election?

Our education system has wonderfully prepared this younger generation to vote Green. Students are studying the effects of environmental pollutants and industrial waste on our water, air, and land, as well as the causes and effects of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon-based fuels. We do not have to convince them that without strong intervention, our world is in trouble.

I also believe that the Green Party platform is a natural ideology for young people who are seeking positive change. We are not a one issue party, though admittedly our environmental stance is what people usually think of first. If you look at our platform, there are many facets that affect youth and their families. One that is particularly germane to youth is that we are passionate advocates for education at all levels, and we believe that universal access for every qualified individual to affordable post-secondary education and training is a basic right.

Another Green Party proposal is to lower the voting age to 16, since young people today have legitimate concerns for their future.