Is Red The New Green: Minister of Justice David Lametti Pays Dawson a Visit
By Mariana Chajon
Last week, the current Minister of Justice and Member of Parliament for Lasalle-Émard-Verdun, David Lametti, visited Dawson to encourage young people to vote and to promote his campaign. We had a chance to ask him a couple of questions in the middle of the Upper Atrium amongst the loud voices of soon-to-be first-time voters eating lunch with their friends.
We first asked about the work he’s done for Verdun, seeing as he’s re-running to be the city’s representative for the 2020-2024 term. He talked to us about the social housing problems in Verdun and how he’s been working closely with the National Government to ensure that this problem gets solved; he claims there is a lot of money that can be invested towards this problem, however, they “haven’t yet reached an agreement with the Quebec government, despite best efforts.” Nonetheless, he’s managed to invest money on housing co-ops for repairs and renewal contracts. He’s also invested on infrastructure. “The Lachine canal is the biggest example, we’re re-doing the walls for [it] in order to preserve it for future generations,” he tells us. After this statement, we didn’t ask further about the Verdun aspect of his campaign.
"He tells us we have the opportunity to vote at school and we have enough media outlets to stay informed. It is our duty, then, to vote and to stay informed"
Re-focusing on the concerns of the general Dawson population, Lametti recognizes the main concern of this campaign is the environment, and he claims the Liberal Party’s red is “the new green.” However, Lametti points to his own actions more than the actions of his party and didn’t highlight them much during our conversation. His focus is on investing and working for ethical data management and technology that will help the environment.
In the short period of time we had to talk, however, he didn’t make any further comment on his environmental proposals, and rather, focused only on technology. He says the future is in technology and youth, and proves his belief by working closely with organizations like “Grandir sans Frontières”, which focuses on teaching youth, especially girls, to code. He presumes that as our society advances, most jobs will have to do with technology and giving the youth the right tools to manage it ethically will favour a better work balance than that of previous generations. When asked about the importance of the youth’s vote this electoral campaign, he proceeds to say that it is “critical”. The vote relies on the 18-32-year-old age group. Concerning Dawson students, he tells us we have the opportunity to vote at school and we have enough media outlets to stay informed. It is our duty, then, to vote and to stay informed. On that note, our website has articles to help you do both those things; we hope you use your vote and stand up for what you believe in.