Having grown up on the Sunshine Coast, 18-year-old Jäger Rosenberg says he’s very much aware of the issues residents are facing in these uncertain political times.
And, as the recently acclaimed federal NDP candidate for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky, Rosenberg says he’s ready to tackle them at the federal level.
“I think the environment is always a big issue here. We have such beautiful landscape, we have such beautiful water, it's always going to be a problem with littering, and fires and floods,” said Rosenberg during a phone interview with Coast Reporter, March 11. “And obviously the water issue is always such a big thing. The cost of living is a huge problem, and housing. We've seen the price of housing skyrocket here because of the lack of supply in Vancouver, moving the prices up here as well.”
He noted the increasing cost of living combined with the housing crisis should be bringing young people and seniors together to fight for a common goal, rather than pitting them against each other. He says while seniors on fixed incomes are struggling to buy food and keep a roof over their head, young people can’t afford to move out of their parents’ homes.
“But it's not the older generation’s fault, it’s greedy CEOs and greedy corporations artificially jacking up prices and buying all the homes so we have to pay excess amounts of rent,” said Rosenberg. “We're really united on all the major issues and if we are able to come together and recognize that and work together, we can finally fix things and put the wealthy CEOs back in their box so they stopped destroying everything for the rest of us.”
To do that, Rosenberg said, the NDP has a plan to build more homes, while capping some housing prices and property tax assessments, which often over-inflate the worth of an actual home.
“The NDP is coming up with more policies every day,” said Rosenberg. “We're looking at that as a big priority for the NDP as a whole and I'm just waiting to get more information about what we're doing with that.”
Rosenberg notes that while he’s just 18, he does have life experience, which makes him mature beyond his years. He says during the pandemic, his parents lost some business for several years, so he got a full-time job at just 14 to help pay the bills. His first job was a paper route for Coast Reporter when he was 10.
He’s continued to work two or three jobs at the same time ever since, even while completing high school, which he graduated from a year early. He also held both a full-time and part-time job when he started his provincial campaign for the NDP in 2024.
“So, I know what it's like for people struggling to pay the bills because I am too… So, I want to try and focus on reducing costs for people and giving people a voice. Because a lot of people, a lot of young people like me, who are struggling the most, are the most underrepresented in politics.”
Rosenberg added that another issue close to his heart is the need for more mental health supports, particularly for youth. Having recently graduated from high school, he said he knows first-hand, just how precarious the mental health is of many teens living on the Coast. He added the Sunshine Coast is in dire need of more mental health counsellors and community centres where people can gather. He notes it’s important to destigmatize talking about issues such as anxiety and depression.
Rosenberg says as a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, he was bullied badly in school, so knows first-hand how tough that can be on a person’s mental health. He says it doesn’t help watching right-wing politicians attempting to roll back trans and gay rights.
“Because when I came out [as bisexual] first things were generally pretty good, you know, there was occasional comments, but nothing bad. And then the Republicans in America, and then later the right here began wanting to walk back on trans rights and then walk back on gay rights,” says Rosenberg. “And I saw immediately the change and I was bullied very hard in high school, and I had mental health struggles too. And I saw how people around me were having mental health struggles with similar and different issues, and that motivated me to try and fix it, not fix it all on my own, but use the voice I have to try and change things so it's better for people like me, who should never have to switch schools because they're getting beat up just for who they love.”
Other confirmed candidates for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country include , who secured his party's nomination a year ago, incumbent , and .
