![\"Middle-aged](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760445918_239_default.jpg\")
Hikmat, a newcomer from Iraq and student at the Association for New Canadian’s Language School voted for the first time ever in the schools mock election. (Mike Simms\/CBC)<\/p>\nSome newcomers may not be able to tick a legal election ballot yet \u2014 but the Association for New Canadians is making sure students at its language school get experience preparing for the real thing.<\/p>\n
Last week, the ANC held its mock provincial election to educate students on the province\u2019s electoral system and its election issues.<\/p>\n
For Hikmat and Bashar, a father-son duo from Iraq, the ANC\u2019s mock election marked their first time voting.<\/p>\n
Hikmat told CBC News he never thought he would get the chance to vote, let alone with his son. He\u2019s only been in Canada for three months.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it is a very wonderful life here because I can vote freely, talk freely, and see your face. I think it’s wonderful,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is my first time in my whole life voting.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bashar enjoyed the experience.<\/p>\n
Hikmat, a newcomer from Iraq and student at the Association for New Canadian’s Language School voted for the first time ever in the schools mock election. (Mike Simms\/CBC)<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is my first time voting, and this type of democracy is beautiful because I never voted before in my home country,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Others have voted before, but the experience was very different. In some countries, the government is corrupt or under a dictatorship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just impressed by how people are freely voting differently when I compare my country, where I am coming from. People don\u2019t vote. They can\u2019t express themself,\u201d Dyna, a newcomer from Congo, told CBC News.<\/p>\n
Louis from Haiti noticed the organization it takes to hold a free and fair election.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like this because everything is organized, everything is prepared. I think that it’s very good here too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Election issues<\/p>\n
A common thread among the ANC students was the issues they feel are important \u2014 health care, lack of housing, and taxes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have big problems in Newfoundland and Labrador about housing,\u201d said Mahasin, a newcomer from Sudan.<\/p>\n
For years, residents across the province have been struggling against a shortage of affordable housing and the soaring cost of rent.<\/p>\n
![\"Parking](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760445918_375_default.jpg\")
More than 100 Ukrainian refugees lived at the Holiday Inn in St. John’s after arriving in 2022. (Paul Daly\/CBC) (Paul Daly\/CBC)<\/p>\n
The province tried to address the housing shortage for some Ukrainian refugees by providing them rooms at the Holiday Inn hotel<\/a> in St. John\u2019s.<\/p>\n Currently, all three political parties have promised to deal with the province’s housing crisis by building more affordable housing, if elected.<\/p>\n \u2018More doctors\u2019<\/p>\n N.L.\u2019s health care crisis is a major concern for voters in this year\u2019s provincial election, and Bashar said the province needs more doctors.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need health care. We need dental care, we need vision care,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The Liberals, PC\u2019s, and NDP have announced several commitments to address the shortage of doctors and health-care professionals, while promising to enhance services.<\/p>\n \u2018Lower taxes\u2019<\/p>\n Bashar\u2019s father, Hikmat, would like to see government lower the cost of living and taxes.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a better life if they have health care and a bit lower cost of the fuel and electricity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Shikeba, a newcomer from Afghanistan, is feeling the pressure of the province\u2019s high cost of living.<\/p>\n \u201cI have one son and of course, I want less tax because I am not working and I don’t have a job that is hard for me to pay tax on everything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The Liberals have promised not to implement any new taxes if re-elected. They have also promised to make their tax reduction on gasoline and diesel permanent and keep the home heating supplement program.<\/p>\n The PCs are promising to permanently cut the provincial gas tax and review all taxes and fees to see what can be cut or reduced.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the NDP has promised to remove HST on children’s essentials like clothing, shoes, and car seats, along with relief for extracurricular-related needs like swimsuits, sports jerseys, and dance clothing.<\/p>\n \u200b\u2019Prepare the next generation\u2019<\/p>\n Dyna wants to see the province support its young people.<\/p>\n \u201cHealth care, housing, and the youth, because we need to prepare the next generation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n All parties have committed to investments in education, with the Liberals promising to build new schools in Portugal Cove-St. Philip’s, St. John\u2019s, Paradise, and Cartwright; expanded school lunch programs; and free school supplies for students in Kindergarten to grade six.<\/p>\n The PCs have committed to paid student work terms for students in health care, social, and education services in the provincial government. It also wants to bring in a tuition refund program to reimburse tuition through the income tax system.<\/p>\n The NDP is promising to restore Memorial University\u2019s tuition freeze to its pre-2022 levels and expand seats in high-demand trades. <\/p>\n Download our\u00a0free CBC News app<\/a>\u00a0to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador.\u00a0Click here to visit our landing page<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some newcomers may not be able to tick a legal election ballot yet \u2014 but the Association for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212331,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":{"0":"post-212330","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-healthcare"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760445918_574_default.jpg\")
A customer stands at a self checkout counter in a new “small format” No Frills grocery store that the grocery chain is testing, in Toronto. (The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760445918_527_default.jpg\")
Dyna is a student at the ANC’s language school from Congo. She wants to see the province support its youth. (Mike Simms\/CBC)<\/p>\n