TORONTO -- As part of our federal election coverage, CTV News is following seven undecided Canadian voters as they determine who they will support on Oct. 21.
The project will check in with them as the election unfolds, as each individual determines which candidate represents the issues they identify with the most -- whether it’s diversity and inclusion, healthcare or jobs.
Meet the undecided:
Hoda Al-Obaidi, Waterloo, Ont.
First-time voter Al-Obaidi is originally from Iraq and came to Canada in 2013, becoming a citizen in 2018.
“It feels overwhelming and exciting at the same time,” Al-Obaidi says. “It’s a big responsibility to be able to vote in Canada.”
Al-Obaidi says she is looking for a candidate whose platform prioritizes “diversity and inclusion,” and says she finds it “hard…to trust any political system” after “coming from a background of extremism and corrupt systems.”
Leonie Pelletier, Montreal, Que.
Pelletier says that as a single mother of two young boys, education, health and affordable housing are the major issues she will be keeping an eye on in this election.
“Affordable housing is really important to me,” Pelletier says. “I am a newly single mom…we need to find a house and it is definitely a concern for me.”
Looking forward to the debates, Pelletier says she hopes to be “surprised” by the candidates and wants to hear “more about families and feel like we are taken care of.”
Jarret Leaman, Toronto, Ont.
As an Anishinaabe member of Magnetawan First Nation, Leaman says inclusion of Indigenous and First Nation peoples and LGBTQ2S issues are key, as is “working on the digital divide between First Nations people and non-Indigenous people.”
Leaman noted that in the last federal election “Indigenous communities and people swayed votes in many ridings,” so a priority for candidates should be “encouraging [his] community to vote for issues that they feel are important.”
Brad Pinhorn, Bonnyville, Alta.
As a tradesperson working in Alberta, Pinhorn cites the need for “a government that’s going to think about the west as well as the east.”
Pinhorn says that he will base his decisions on what is important for himself and his family, which include his wife and four children – with two major concerns being education and healthcare.
Barb Hamilton-Hinch, Halifax, N.S.
As an educator at Dalhousie University’s School of Health and Human Performance, Hamilton-Hinch wants a candidate that will support students “in terms of financial support,” and says “more funding needs to be put in place for sports for our community and education.”
Crucial for Hamilton-Hinch is diversity and inclusion, as within the current government she’s “still not seeing many people of African descent both running and engaged in government.”
Donna and Derek Nanson, Vancouver, B.C.
Donna and Derek Nanson say they’re undecided because “the parties…haven’t clearly spelled out their platform[s],” but agree that climate change is the “most important” issue for them, as “it is the root of our future.”
“We have five children, we have seven grandchildren…I want my children to have the chance I had,” they said. “We care about the human population on this planet.”
