By: Taya Nabuurs
Our last interview is with NDP candidate Joe Byrne. Byrne ran as the NDP candidate for Charlottetown during the last election in 2011, coming in third place with 25.08% of the vote. Before his career in politics, Byrne spent 7 years as a missionary in the Dominican Republic and then served as Director of Youth Ministry at the Diocese of Charlottetown for 12 years. He now works as a Community Connections Supervisor with the PEI Association of Newcomers to Canada, where he has been visible in helping to plan the annual ‘DiverseCity’ festival.
Our interview focused around clarifying his positions on the usual questions of economy, environment, and student issues. However, the interview also addressed the issue of strategic voting to unset Harper, which should favour the Liberals over the NDP in Charlottetown, and issues around the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, which has become a focal point for NDP criticism in the last weeks of the campaign.