Rob Hutchison, NDP candidate for Kingston and the Islands, said his party has no plans to enter into a formal coalition with the Liberal Party.
“There will be no formal coalition,” Hutchison said.
Last night the Liberal Party won a minority government. Hutchison lost the Kingston and the Island sriding to Liberal incumbent Peter Milliken.
Still, Hutchison said he was pleased with the campaign.
“We ran a really good campaign,” he said. “There was lots of energy and good organization.
“I think we did quite well.”
Hutchison said key issues for the Liberals should include health care, affordable housing, a new deal for cities and education.
On education, Hutchison said the Liberals have not done enough to ensure that universities are accessible for all Canadians.
“Education has gone beyond the ability of the middle class to pay,” he said. Hutchison said the Liberals should bring back a grant system to help lower income students pay for post-secondary education.
Jennifer Jones, ArtSci ’04, said she voted NDP because of their positions on social justice and equality. She agreed with Hutchinson that student debt is a problem.
“I don’t want any more student debt,” she said.
Joel Ralph, ArtSci ’05, said the Liberals are to blame for the problems of post-secondary funding.
“The reason we’re in this situation is because of cuts that the Liberals made,” he said. “Where has the federal government provided any leadership?”
Ralph also said he ed the NDP because of its approach to affordable housing.
“I’ve talked to a lot of people who are just scraping by,” he said. “[The Liberals] had 11 years to address the problem and they haven’t.”
Hutchison said he hopes Milliken will consider adopting some of the NDP’s policies.
“I hope that [Milliken] will look at the results and realize that he needs to move into the direction of the NDP.”
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