1st-time voters want specifics, not vague promises, this election

A little more than 48 hours before the final votes will be cast in the Newfoundland and Labrador general election, and for three first-time voters, it's an exciting time.

While Matthew Bendzsa, 21, Sarah Dunphy, 18, and Michael Chislett, 18, are focused on different issues, they all have one thing in common: enthusiasm to finally cast their first ballots.

Bendzsa said he's made up his mind who he's voting for, while Dunphy is pretty sure.

"You still have time to persuade me," Chislett joked.

Will I find a job, or have to leave?

As a soon-to-be high school graduate at O'Donel High, Chislett said he's looking to hear what candidates and the party leaders have to say about the economy as his top priority.

"I'm listening closely to each and every one of them because I want to know if what they're saying is really going to have the biggest and best impact for me moving forward. So listening to each candidate, I get a little more excited for that voting day," Chislett said.

"I know that in just a few years from now I'm gonna be looking for a nice, steady job that's secure and has a sustainable salary, and I want to know if I can have that here, or if I'm gonna have to go elsewhere — if I have no other choice but to go elsewhere to find that."

But Chislett is having a hard time balancing whether to vote for an individual candidate, or their party.

"A lot of times you'll meet a candidate in your district who you just naturally really like, their values match yours, and then you really want to support this person. But at the same time, their values or what they're saying at the door might not represent the same exact values as their party," he said.

"Ultimately, you do want the one person in your district who's going to represent you the way that you want to be represented, but does that mean you have to turn a blind eye to the way that their party has been in the past or is currently working?"

Climate change missing from campaign

That's a familiar struggle for Dunphy, who said she's been avidly watching all of the campaign coverage from all parties — her district of Cape St. Francis has four candidates on the ballot.

"I'm ecstatic to vote, I really am. I've been looking forward to having the opportunity to vote for a long time," Dunphy said.

In their words: Matthew Bendzsa, Sarah Dunphy and Michael Chislett speak with Jamie Fitzpatrick

"It's been a really enjoyable process, watching the debates, speaking to members of the parties. I'm really excited to have this opportunity."

But Dunphy said there's a lack of information about candidates other than her incumbent, and that's making it hard for her to find that candidate-party balance.

"I haven't had anyone come to my door. I've had a lot of trouble actually being able to meet my local representatives, so I've kind of been forced to put more value on the leaders," she said, adding that's an important thing to keep in mind, as well.

"When I was watching the leaders debate, not only was I listening to what they had to say on policy, but I was also looking for, who do I think would represent people well in the House of Assembly, who do I think could speak well and could represent our province well as a premier."

But her biggest concern "hands-down" this election is climate change and the environment, something she said has been sorely lacking as far as campaign talking points go.

I want to hear real, concrete promises on climate change that I know can be delivered.- Sarah Dunphy

"I feel that they take precedence — those are the most pressing issues. I am looking for fiscal responsibility and things like that, but for me, the party's policies on climate change and the environment has a huge impact on how I'm gonna vote," she told CBC's St. John's Morning Show.

When asked if she was satisfied by what she heard, Dunphy was quick to respond: "No, I'm not, to put it bluntly."

"It hasn't really been a major campaigning point for any of the parties. I know we have some that have traditionally aligned themselves as the environmental parties, but we really haven't heard a lot of policy," she said.

"I want to hear moving away from the oil industry, I want to hear putting in electrification legislation and things like that, I want to hear real, concrete promises on climate change that I know can be delivered."

Short-term pain for long-term gain

Bendzsa said that while he feels voting is important, and he's looking forward to taking part in the democratic process for the first time, he's not necessarily excited.

"I wish I was. Unfortunately, I think that in Newfoundland [and Labrador] we've had a long history of … we go between one and the other who don't really change anything," said Bendzsa, who has a full-time job, is a part-time political science student, and a new father.

"The only thing that people are debating is, what are we gonna spend on? Which tax are we gonna cut? It's not about a real change. And I think that's what's so disappointing to people that I talk to is we don't see really differences, meaningful differences, between the parties."

Like Chislett, Bendzsa is seeing a lack of specific talking points, and exactly how parties expect to fulfil their campaign promises if they indeed make government.

"We need parties that will speak to the real issues. We have no one really talking about our debt … And I think if we talk about our future we talk about what's gonna be sustainable — no one is talking about how that is impacting our public finances," he said.

"Many people here, they want a job, they want to be able to raise a family here, and it's just not possible the way this province is going … We don't see real plans, and I think we need to see those kinds of plans to get people like myself excited about the election."

If we keep kicking the can down the road ... it's going to make us way worse off in the future.- Mattew Bendzsa

Bendzsa is focusing less on individual candidates this election, and more on the party's themselves, to help him pick who to cast his ballot in favour of.

"I think most politicians and most people running for public life are good people, I think they're normally good to talk to, they want to engage with you, but I think that it's important to know what they're actually going to do and how they're going to represent your values," he said.

"For that reason I tend to weigh more so the party, because most of the times, most MHAs vote very consistently with their party, they're not voting individually."

There are certainly cases where individual members will vote against something their party wants to push for, but it's rare.

Bendzsa said there's an obvious need for cuts to be made, and efficiencies to be found, in the vast amount spent on the public service and health care in order to address the debt, as well as ensure those services can continued to be delivered in a sustainable way in the long term.

"I think that if we keep kicking the can down the road and don't make the difficult choices now, it's going to make us way worse off in the future," he said.

"Yes there's gonna have to be some cuts made and there's gonna have to be some services that are cut, but at the end of the day that will benefit everyone going forward because we'll have those services sustainably going forward. And if we hadn't spent so much as we did during the oil boom years then we wouldn't be in this situation."

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