Julienne Vipond--Canada's Next Great Prime Minister

Hello, everyone. My name is Julienne Vipond. I am 23 years old and am a 4th year student at the University of Toronto. As a Canadian I have sought to understand this country in which I live. I have travelled Canada coast to coast many times, and I have lived in 6 Canadian cities.

My great idea for Canada is to strengthen Canadian federalism through increased participation and representation. To do so I focus on two important yet often neglected issues: municipalities & greater representation for the Aboriginal peoples of Canada.

Essentially, federalism organizes certain people into its system while organizing others out. Both municipalities and the Aboriginal peoples of Canada have been factored out of the equation.

Cities and municipalities are constitutionally inferior to the provinces, regardless of population. While the Greater Toronto Area has a population 50 times that of the province of PEI, the province has greater autonomy over taxation, and has direct representation in the House of Commons. What I propose to do to increase representation for the municipalities is to grant the municipalities more autonomy over taxation of the purchase of local items. I would also make the municipalities the joint responsibility of the provinces and the federal government. This would mean the federal government would also be responsible for direct monetary transfers to the municipalities. The mayors of the municipalities would work closely with the provinces, and within the House of Commons, there would be a department of Cities, similar to Trudeau's Department of Urban Affairs. These measures would increase representation for the municipalities, and thus would strengthen Canadian federalism.

My policy for creating greater representation for the Aboriginal peoples of Canada is to create reserved political positions. As federalism only organizes people in based on arbitrary geographic divisions, I would seek to remedy this by creating reserved seats for Aboriginal peoples, across the traditional geographic boundaries of Canada. Based on population, the Aboriginal peoples of Canada would be granted 12 reserved seats within the House of Commons. I would also grant the territories full status as provinces, which would also increase representation for Canada's Aboriginal population and would make Canada a democratic leader on the world stage.

I hope you enjoy the video. Feel free to post comments and questions, which I will respond to.

Also, you can check out my facebook group: http://utoronto.facebook.com/group.php?gid=19034871384

Thanks,
Julienne

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• next
• great
• prime
• minister
• Julienne
• Vipond
• federalism
• for
• our
• future
• cbc
• aboriginal
• rights
• cities
• politics
• Canada

[themaskedpatriot]

i agree: HOW?

[JulienneVipond]

Hello...just wondering to what you were asking how?

[ZakBrownrigg123]

Why do you want to give 3.5 % of the poppulation more representation in the house of commons than that? We have a constitution and a charter that protects their rights. We dont need more mp's that will just bow down to party discipline anyway. Focus on the economy and investing in Candian jobs, not on over representing one group in society. We are all CANADIAN. Stop dividing us into groups! Every group has been victimized at one point or another in history. Time to move on.

[ZakBrownrigg123]

You want to give aboriginal groups the same standing as provinces??? Just lost my vote. Unless they can be more financially self sufficient and not depend on the 9 billion dollars of annual transfer funds, there is no way they should be given this status. Being given this status requires increased responsibility, not just entitlement. They cant afford the responsibility it entails. Not to mention, provinces represent millions of people. Aboriginals are represent only 3.5% of our poppulation.

[ctootoosisclt]

you have okay views.. but your presenting skills lack.. i get no sence of power from you... your not charismatic... you have great views.. but your need to work on many things... yeah and the lobster thing doesnt go well.. and making too much of the same gestures. sorry.. better luck next year :D

[brennokw]

what are u running an orchestra

[josephkwood]

A) Quit moving around

B) Quit doing the lobster hands thing

C) Oh great, more government control in our lives and decentralized taxation

D) If you want to apply your policies equally, then allow the aboriginal reserves to set their own taxation policies, and download funding burdens.

E) So you want to strive for equality by giving first nations people extra legislated representation in the house of commons? So how is this not frighteningly racist and discriminatory?

[Vladzut]

you are focusing too much on the internal part of Canada, what do you think about the external part of Canada. For instance take human security aspect of the world, the economy itself is in a cripple and American companies which account for a majority of our companies are contemplating to return back to the United States and without a strong economy you will not have money to allocate to the municipalities. Start from the root which will link with your policies, economy is number one, without it

[Vladzut]

You cannot implement your policy that will allocate more power to the municipalities without changing the engraved framework set out in the BNA and once you have entered such a gateway more and more requests will be asked of you. Honestly, people need to focus on other parts of Canada that require more attention. I live in Ottawa and Waste Management and Public Transportation has enough money and has enough voice to the province, considering my father works for the transportation sector.

[JulienneVipond]

3/3

There are many ways of doing this—Toronto Mayor David Miller has proposed giving one cent of the GST to the cities. There could also be municipal taxation on luxury good purchased within the city. This is a tough policy, however, and one which would have to be worked out very carefully. When I met with my MPP Rosario Marchese we discussed this issue at length, and tried to come up with different methods of municipal taxation which actually would work to benefit our cities.

[JulienneVipond]

2/3

As for granting the cities greater autonomy, this is a difficult issue. Initially, I have supported a policy of having more lines of communication between the mayors and the premiers and the prime minister. The other important way to increase municipal representation is through greater autonomy over taxation, and thus different forms of taxation besides property tax.

[JulienneVipond]

1/3

I agree that posting on youtube is a pain in the butt--it never orders the posts correctly!

Anyways, thanks for support of the issues I raised. I agree that these are big steps. To grant both the cities and the Aboriginal peoples of Canada greater representation the constitution would have to be re-opened, which I am not adverse to. It needs to be re-opened to get Quebec's signature on the document anyways.