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Housing, jobs beat out pipelines on B.C. students' election issue list: poll

Over two-thirds of the province's students stress about paying back their loans.
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It might be pipeline protests that make the news but it's jobs and housing that has university students stressing ahead of the May 9 provincial election, an Insights West poll found this week.

The pollster surveyed students from 14 post-secondary institutions about their main election issues and found that 30 per cent of students are worried about rising housing prices while 28 per cent are concerned they won't have a job after graduating. Pipelines and the environment were a distant third with only 12 per cent citing it as a main election wish.

Housing and jobs weren't the students' only financial concerns, the poll found. Of the two-thirds of domestic students who took out student loans, 70 per cent were either very worried or somewhat worried about their ability to pay back the loans.

Insights West found that students were evenly split between believing that the Liberals and the NDP represented their views and interest with the two parties getting 45 per cent and 43 per cent respectively. The Green Party fell behind with 35 per cent while the Conservatives trailed in last place with 13 per cent support.

Two-thirds of eligible students said that they plan to vote in the 2017 provincial election.

 

 


 

@katslepian

katya.slepian@bpdigital.ca

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