By: Drew MacEachern
NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair visited both the Upstreet Brewery and the Lobster on the Wharf restaurant in Charlottetown on Monday. Mulcair’s arrival marks the final appearance of a federal party leader to PEI; Elizabeth May, Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harper all having previously visited the Island during the current election campaign.
Image courtesy of Drew MacEachern
The Cadre wasn’t the only presence from UPEI at the event; the members of the UPEISU Executive also showed up wearing their Get Out the Vote t-shirts to promote voting. After chatting with local NDP candidate Joe Byrne, they relocated inside where they later told Mulcair of their GOTV campaign.
Image courtesy of Drew MacEachern
Mulcair arrived around 2 o’clock and walked through a throng of supporters to the Brewery, where he chatted with the people inside and reportedly poured a beer (We can’t confirm as we were outside waiting for the second half of his appearance). After returning outside, he gave a stump speech to a crowd. Following this, he took several questions from the media, including on the issue of fighter jet procurement, which was a topic of discussion at the other leader’s campaign stops across the country.
The Cadre was able to present Mulcair a question at this point, asking what the NDP’s position is regarding the current student debt crisis and what Mulcair’s opinion was on the apparent lack of debate on the issue during the campaign. His response, submitted for your analysis, can found in our video posted above!