wts

NDP

HOUSING

CONSERVATIVES

IMMIGRATION

RECONCILIATION

JOBS

POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION

CP PHOTO

HEALTH CARE

A signature Liberal promise is $10-a-day child care. The government signed deals on it with eight provinces and two territories before the election, and the Liberals are promising deals with the remaining jurisdictions. The plan would see $10-a-day, on average, child care within five years everywhere outside of Quebec, and the party pledges to reduce fees for child care by 50 per cent on average in the next year. The Liberals say their plan would build 250,000 new high-quality child-care spaces and hire 40,000 more early childhood educators.

Commit an additional $1.4 billion for an Indigenous mental health and wellness strategy and put a further $2 billion into Indigenous housing. On residential schools, they would build a national monument to survivors and the children who were taken, provide supports for communities to do burial searches, and appoint a special interlocutor to advance justice on unmarked graves. They would also put funding toward a permanent home for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and build an Indigenous early learning and child-care system. They are also repeating a previous promise to eliminate all remaining boil-water advisories.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

CLIMATE CHANGE

TRADE

Achieve a 40-45 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 compared to 2005 levels and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. That would involve putting a rising price on pollution, giving the oil and gas sector five-year emission-reduction targets, requiring oil and gas companies to reduce methane emissions, banning thermal coal exports by 2030, and eliminating fossil fuel subsidies by 2023. They would also give home retrofit grants, put $1.5 billion more toward electric vehicle rebates, and require that half of all light-duty vehicle sales be zero emission by 2030.

Restore employment to pre-pandemic levels. They would extend the Canada Recovery Hiring Program so businesses can hire more workers, expand the Canada Workers Benefit, introduce a new EI benefit for self-employed Canadians, and establish an EI Career Insurance Benefit. They would also create training and work opportunities for up to 28,000 young people to assist small and medium-sized businesses in adopting new technology, and increase financing through the Canada Small Business Financing Program.

LIBERAL

PPC

Deduct health transfers from provinces who enable extra billing for publicly insured services and enshrine abortion services in the Canada Health Act. They would also revoke the charitable status of anti-abortion groups providing dishonest counselling to women about their options. They promise to invest $6 billion more to eliminate wait lists, $4.5 billion over five years for a Canada Mental Health Transfer, $3.2 billion to hire 7,500 new family doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners, and $400 million over four years for virtual health care. They promise to fully fund a national, three-digit mental health crisis and suicide prevention hotline.

SENIORS

DEFENCE

CONSERVATIVE

The Liberal platform does not contain the word pipeline. But Leader Justin Trudeau has said some Indigenous communities want to buy the Trans Mountain pipeline and he’d see its continued operation until “we don’t need it anymore.”

The Liberals have not said when they would balance the budget.

PIPELINES

Establish a new federal hub for businesses to take advantage of CUSMA, CETA, and CPTPP. They would launch a new Asia-Pacific strategy including new bilateral trade agreements, develop a strategy for economic co-operation across Africa, and introduce legislation to eradicate forced labour from Canadian supply chains.

GREEN

Expand pathways to permanent residence for temporary foreign workers and former international students. They would build on an Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot to welcome 2,000 skilled refugees to fill labour shortages, make the application process free for permanent residents, introduce electronic applications for family reunification and expand the new immigration stream for human rights defenders.

Modernize Norad, including upgrading the North Warning System, improving surveillance and command systems. They would expand Canada’s long- and short-range strategic airlift capability to increase Canada’s contribution to NATO. They would implement recommendations to address sexual harassment and misconduct in the military and modernize the military justice system, expand resources through the Sexual Misconduct Response Centre and expand health services for women in the Armed Forces.

AP PHOTO

EDUCATION

Increase Canada’s international development assistance. They would donate at least 200 million vaccine doses, introduce new funding for girls’ and refugees’ education, and double the funding for grassroots women’s rights organizations. They would increase Canada’s diplomatic presence in regions of strategic importance, establish a Canadian Centre for Peace, Order and Good Governance, increase the number of eligible Afghan refugees from 20,000 to 40,000.

GUN CONTROL

Mandate that travellers on planes, trains and cruise ships be vaccinated, as well as those who work in the federal civil service and in federally regulated sectors. They would establish a $1-billion fund for provinces and territories that implement a proof-of-vaccination system, protect businesses that require proof of vaccination from legal challenges, and invest $100 million to study long COVID.

CHILD CARE

DEFICIT

Permanently eliminate the federal interest on Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans. They would also increase to $50,000 the level of income a new graduate has to start earning before they need to start repaying loans. They would invest $500 million over four years in a new fund for improving mental health care at colleges and universities.

Develop a Safe Long-Term Care Act and invest $9 billion over five years to support safer conditions for seniors in long-term care and better wages for personal support workers. They would boost Old Age Security by 10 per cent next year for seniors 75 and over, increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement by $500 for single seniors and $750 for couples starting at age 65, increase the Canada Pension Plan and Quebec Pension Plan survivor’s benefit by 25 per cent and double the Home Accessibility Tax Credit.

Promise to toughen a May 2020 ban on what they consider assault-style weapons, like the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14. Would be mandatory for owners to either sell the firearm back to the government for destruction and compensation or have it rendered permanently inoperable at federal expense. Would also require that long gun magazines capable of holding more than five rounds be permanently altered so that they can never do so. Pledge a minimum of $1 billion to support provinces or territories that implement a handgun ban.

COVID-19

Build, preserve or repair 1.4 million homes over four years. They are including the current pace of 285,000 homes already being built per year, plus promising to build or revitalize an additional 250,000 homes over four years. They’re also promising a $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund and $1 billion in loans and grants for rent-to-own projects. For homebuyers, they would also introduce a tax-free First Home Savings Account, double the first-time homebuyers tax credit, reduce the cost of mortgage insurance and ban blind bidding and bring in an anti-flipping tax.

LIBERALS

WHERE THEY STAND

Canadians have little time left to decide which party’s promises best fit with their own visions for the country. Select a party leader to see what they have promised on some key issues

CON

NDP

GRN

SWIPE LEFT FOR TOPICS

LIB

Develop a set of best practices for long-term care homes. They would put $3 billion over three years to renovate long-term care homes, boost the number of personal support workers, double the Canada Workers Benefit to help seniors working past retirement, change legislation so that pensioners have priority over executives in bankruptcy or restructuring and increase the Home Accessibility Tax Credit limit from $10,000 per dwelling to $10,000 per person.

Recover one million jobs lost during the pandemic. They would pay up to 50 per cent of the salary of new hires for six months after the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy ends, provide a tax credit for capital investments, a tax credit for amounts that Canadians personally invest in a small business, and provide loans of up to $200,000 for small and medium businesses in the hospitality, retail and tourism sectors, with up to 25 per cent forgiven.

Allow applicants to pay a fee for expedited processing and use those revenues to hire more staff. They would increase the capacity of the Immigration and Refugee Board to hear asylum claims, strengthen enforcement, launch a credential recognition task force, establish a first-come first-served principle for family reunification, expand the super visa program by allowing family members of Canadians to live in Canada for up to five years without permanent status and replace government-assisted refugee spaces with private and joint sponsorship.

Promise that all firearms are currently banned will remain banned, but also pledge to scrap May 2020 ban on a wide variety of guns and review the Firearms Act with input from police, gun owners, manufacturers and the public. Would then introduce a "simplified classification system" to make it clear which types of firearms fit in each category. Also promise measures to prevent "straw purchasing" of guns on behalf of others, target unauthorized imports and smuggling, and toughen criminal penalties for certain repeat gun offences.

Mandate an Office of Religious Freedom and Conscience. They would also advance the idea of an international corruption court, recognize the Uyghur genocide, ban Huawei from Canada’s 5G infrastructure, impose Magnitsky sanctions on gross human rights violators, move Canada’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, enhance aid in support of eventual Palestinian statehood and align international development with peace and security priorities.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 30 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Allow provinces to scrap the carbon price and implement a Personal Low Carbon Savings Account if they choose. The price of carbon would start at $20 per tonne and increase to $50 but go no further. They would also require 30 per cent of light-duty vehicles sold to be zero emissions by 2030, invest $1 billion in electric vehicle manufacturing in Canada, and invest $1 billion in hydrogen technology.

Convert the Child Care Expense deduction into a refundable tax credit covering up to 75 per cent of the cost of child care for lower-income families. The Conservatives say they would honour the Liberal government’s funding deals with the provinces for the first year and then replace them with the tax credit.

Meet with the premiers within the first 100 days to propose a new health agreement boosting the annual growth rate of health transfers to six per cent, with an estimated $60-billion price tag over 10 years. They would also propose to the provinces that a significant portion of health funding go toward mental health, offer employers a tax credit for 25 per cent of the cost of additional mental health coverage, give grants to non-profits and charities offering mental health programming, and create a national, three-digit suicide prevention hotline.

There is nothing in the Conservative platform specifically for post-secondary students, but they are promising to set aside $30 million for funding to minority francophone post-secondary institutions.

Create a vital national interest category of goods that must be sourced in Canada. They would move supply chains away from China, pursue a Canada-Australia-New Zealand-United Kingdom agreement, build deeper ties with India, seek to enlarge the CPTPP, and pursue a partnership with Africa’s Continental Free Trade.

Build the Trans Mountain pipeline. They would also make increasing energy export opportunities a priority in dealings with the United States, implement a federal liquefied natural gas export strategy, prevent protesters from blocking key infrastructure through legislation, and support Newfoundland and Labrador’s offshore oil industry by investing $1.5 billion in an offshore rebound fund.

Prioritize the signing of contracts for booster shots and accelerate domestic development and production of vaccines. They would deploy rapid testing at all border entry points, make at-home rapid tests readily available, and quickly close the border to travellers from hot spots where new variants are detected.

Build one million homes in three years. To do this they would require municipalities to increase density around public transit, release at least 15 per cent of the federal government’s real estate portfolio, explore converting unneeded office space to housing, and create an incentive for corporations and private landowners to donate property to land trusts for affordable housing. They are also promising to ban foreign investors from buying property for at least two years. They would encourage a new market in seven-to-10-year mortgages, increase the limit on eligibility for mortgage insurance, and “fix” the mortgage stress test.

Call a public inquiry into harassment and discrimination in the Armed Forces and order an independent investigation into sexual misconduct in the military. They would ensure a properly funded Canadian Armed Forces Cyber Command to defend against cyberattacks, expand the Canadian Rangers in number and mandate, deploy new autonomous vehicles for Arctic air operations in the air and at sea, update and enhance the North Warning System. They would increase spending on national defence and expand NATO contributions.

Balance the budget by 2031 without cuts. It assumes economic growth of three per cent or more per year and also relies on winding down COVID-19 emergency spending.

Develop an action plan to tackle the Truth and Reconciliation’s calls to action, fund investigations at all former residential schools in Canada where unmarked graves may exist, including where they have already been discovered, develop resources to educate all Canadians on the history of residential schools, and build a national monument in Ottawa that honours residential school survivors and the children who died.

Build a universal, $10-a-day child-care system and establish a relief fund to reopen spaces that were lost during the pandemic.

They promise to manage debt and deficits responsibly, borrow when required, and move toward balance “in the future when it’s prudent to do so.”

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. They would do that by eliminating fossil fuel subsidies, establishing carbon budgets and changing the mandate of the Bank of Canada to focus on contributing to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. They would also create and fund a climate accountability office, continue with carbon pricing and make the federal government vehicle fleets electric by 2025.

Establish a federal vaccination strategy and provide stable, long-term funding for the Public Health Agency of Canada. They would establish a Crown corporation on domestic vaccine production and maintain an adequate stockpile of personal protective equipment.

Boost Canada’s international development assistance with a goal of contributing 0.7 per cent of the Gross National Income to international aid. They would support waiving intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines to help boost global supply, contribute more to fighting AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria around the world, uphold the rights of women and girls, recommit to peacekeeping, suspend arms sales to Israel and support people facing threats by Chinese entities in Canada.

Create at least 500,000 units of affordable housing in 10 years. They would streamline the application process for the construction of co-ops, social and non-profit housing, turn unused and underused federal properties into new communities, and waive the federal portion of the GST/HST on the construction of new affordable rental units. They also propose to implement a 20-per-cent foreign buyers’ tax and increase the taxable amount of capital gains profits for house flippers. For new buyers, they would reintroduce 30-year terms to CMHC-insured mortgages, double the homebuyers’ tax credit and facilitate co-ownership agreements.

End for-profit, private long-term care and develop national care standards. They would introduce a guaranteed livable income, starting with seniors and people living with disabilities, ensure unfunded pension liabilities owed to workers and severance pay are the top priority during bankruptcy, stop companies from paying dividends and bonuses when pensions are underfunded, create a mandatory pension insurance program and lead a national seniors strategy.

Fully implement the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 calls to action and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. On residential schools, they would fully fund the search for grave sites, appoint a special prosecutor, and require that churches and governments produce all documents related to deaths. In addition, they would establish a National Council for Reconciliation, respect Indigenous jurisdiction over child welfare systems and implement the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orders on funding child welfare services on reserve.

Create more than one million jobs in four years, including in green infrastructure, retrofits and renewable energy. They would ensure access to retraining and job placement services, require the use of Canadian-made steel, aluminum, cement and wood for infrastructure projects, convene an auto summit on attracting and retaining jobs, and implement a long-term hiring bonus paying the employer portion of EI and CPP for new or rehired staff.

Ensure troops have the equipment, training and support they need and institute a renewed priority of advancing peacekeeping. They would make mental health support for members and their families a priority, end sexual assault and harassment in the military — immediately implementing the recommendations of the 2015 report from former Supreme Court justice Marie Deschamps, and ensuring that recruitment and retention reflects the diversity of Canada.

The NDP simply says it will work to keep assault weapons and illegal handguns off streets, and to tackle gun smuggling and organized crime.

Address gaps in settlement services and improve foreign credential recognition, end a cap on applications to sponsor parents and grandparents and work to resettle refugees.

Defend Canadian workers in trade negotiations, protect supply management and stand up against unfair tariffs. They would ensure that all trade agreements are consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and evaluate all potential deals for their social, environmental and gendered impacts.

Work toward making post-secondary education part of the public education system, and in the interim work with provinces and territories to cap and lower tuition fees. They would remove the interest from federal student loans, introduce a targeted program to forgive up to $20,000 in student debt and move away from loans and permanently double non-repayable grants.

Invest $10 billion a year to establish a national pharmacare program. They also promise to incorporate universal dental care into the public health-care system, tackle wait times, improve access to primary care, develop public infrastructure for accessible virtual health care, make a plan to recruit and retain doctors, nurses and other health professionals, and regulate natural health products. They would ensure access to mental health care for people who are uninsured, establish a national perinatal mental health strategy, and say everyone should have access to eye care, hearing care and infertility treatment.

Leader Jagmeet Singh has said he is opposed to the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline. The NDP pledges to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and later ban them.

Order a public inquiry into the joint response between all levels of government to the pandemic. They would ensure a sufficient stockpile of personal protective equipment, strengthen the Global Public Health Intelligence Network to flag public health concerns around the world, provide the Public Health Agency of Canada with long-term funding and invest in research and production of vaccines.

Fully fund a universal pharmacare program and expand medicare to include free dental care for low-income Canadians. They promise to increase health transfers by basing them on demographics and “real health-care needs” in each province and reduce wait times. They would also establish a national mental health and suicide prevention strategy, increase investments in Indigenous mental health, and call for a national study on the impact of phones and social media on mental health in adolescents.

Cancel all new pipeline projects beginning with the Trans Mountain expansion.

Bring long-term care under the Canada Health Act. They would create national and enforceable standards for long-term care, provide a dedicated Seniors’ Care Transfer to provinces and territories for improvements to home, community and long-term care and end for-profit long-term care.

Terminate the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States. They would prioritize senior care and long-term care skills for immigration status, update the citizenship guidebook to include the harms of residential schools, and increase capacity for family sponsorship.

Allocate one per cent of GST to housing and other municipal infrastructure. They would build and acquire at least 300,000 units of “deeply affordable” non-market, co-op and non-profit housing over 10 years and invest in 50,000 supportive housing units over a decade. They would also declare housing affordability and homelessness a national emergency. They would establish a national moratorium on evictions, create national standards on rent and vacancy controls and raise the “empty homes” tax for foreign and corporate residential property owners.

Abolish post-secondary education tuition — partly financed by redirecting existing spending on tuition tax credits, and defaulted loans that get written off each year. They would also cancel all federally held student loan debt and allocate $10 billion to post-secondary and trade school supports.

Implement all 94 calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. They would implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples “for those First Nations who support it.” They would fund new and existing Indigenous healing centres, increase funding to friendship centres, fund work on the Missing Children and Unmarked Burials Project, and call on the Pope to apologize on behalf of the Catholic Church for its involvement in residential schools. They would establish an independent body to decide land claims. As well, they promise to end all boil-water advisories.

Pursue a foreign policy centred on the promotion of human security and respect for rule of law. They would make a plan to meet Canada’s commitment to put 0.7 per cent of the GDP to development assistance by 2030, enhance development aid in fostering alternative energy sources, and environmentally sound agriculture practices. They would also fulfill obligations under the Convention on Biological Diversity by funding conservation in developing countries.

The platform makes no explicit promises on guns. However, the party promises to eliminate all mandatory minimum sentences and enable courts to determine appropriate sentences based on the circumstances of each individual case and established sentencing laws and principles.

Dedicate additional resources to making a universal, affordable, early learning and child-care system a reality. They would increase child-care funding to achieve at least one per cent of GDP annually and eliminate GST on all construction costs related to child-care spaces.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, aiming to be net negative by 2050. They would cancel all new pipeline and oil exploration projects, ban fracking, end all fossil fuel subsidies, and phase out existing oil and gas operations. They would increase the carbon tax by $25 each year. They would also ensure that 100 per cent of Canadian electricity is produced from renewable sources by 2030, implement a national green retrofit, and ban the sale of internal-combustion engine passenger vehicles by 2030.

Shift from free trade to fair trade to prioritize the protection of human rights and ecosystems. They would support calls to reform the World Trade Organization and end federal support to Canadian exporters of arms and fossil fuels.

Introduce a Just Transition Act to support workers during a transition away from fossil fuel production to green jobs. They promise to replace every high-paying fossil fuel sector job with a high-paying green sector job, incentivize green investment and invest in the cleantech sector and renewable energy to create jobs, and introduce legislation on green jobs training programs. They would also extend wage subsidies until the pandemic ends and establish specific job re-entry programs for women with children who want to restart their working lives.

Urgently implement the recommendations of the Deschamps report on sexual misconduct and harassment in the military. They would sign and ratify the Treaty to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, press for global nuclear disarmament, realign defence spending to increase capacity for disaster assistance, reinforce Arctic sovereignty through expanded patrols, and assess Canada’s membership in NATO and Norad.

The platform makes no mention of balancing the budget.

Lower taxes to encourage productivity, and higher investments by businesses, leading to more and better jobs. They would reduce the corporate tax rate from 15 per cent to 10 per cent over four years and gradually abolish the personal capital gains tax.

Eliminate the deficit by the end of a first mandate, which they promise to achieve partly by phasing out all pandemic spending programs, cutting corporate welfare to the tune of $5-10 billion, cutting $5 billion in foreign development aid, defunding the CBC to save $1 billion, cutting equalization payments and funding for programs that fall within the responsibilities of provinces or cities.

The party’s environmental platform is based on a premise there are "uncertainties over the scientific basis of global warming." (There is a scientific consensus that climate change is caused by human activities, described in reports from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.) They would withdraw from the Paris agreement and abandon "unrealistic" greenhouse gas emissions-reduction targets, scrap the federal carbon price and let provinces decide if they want carbon-pricing mechanisms, abolish subsidies for green technology, and invest in adaptation strategies “if problems arise as a result of any natural climate change.”

The platform does not contain a section on child care, as the party says it is an issue of provincial jurisdiction.

There is no specific platform section geared to seniors.

Phase out development aid and focus Canadian international assistance exclusively on emergency humanitarian action. They would prioritize relations with the United States, and withdraw from all United Nations commitments, including the Global Compact for migration and the Paris agreement on climate change.

The platform does not contain a section on education, as the party says it is an issue of provincial jurisdiction.

The main pillar of the housing plan is to “substantially” reduce immigration to help reduce demand for housing. They would also stop funding social housing, which they say unfairly competes with private developers, and privatize or dismantle the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. They also propose to modify the Bank of Canada’s inflation target from two per cent to zero and work with provinces to curb speculation and money laundering by foreign non-resident buyers.

Substantially lower the total number of immigrants and refugees Canada accepts each year. They would accept a larger proportion of economic immigrants, accept fewer resettled refugees, limit the number of temporary foreign workers, make “birth tourism” illegal, increase resources for background checks on all immigrants, and ensure all candidates go through a face-to-face interview and answer questions to assess if they “align with Canadian values and societal norms.”

Explore options to replace the Indian Act with a new legal framework that guarantees equal rights and responsibilities and promotes self-reliance. They would also explore further avenues to promote the establishment of individual property rights on reserves, ensure that Indigenous communities take more ownership of the services they receive, and review federal spending to ensure programs are benefiting Indigenous people.

Replace the Canada Health Transfer payments with a permanent transfer of tax points of equivalent value to the provinces and territories. They say the federal government would give up its GST revenue and let provinces and territories “occupy this fiscal room.” They would establish a temporary program to compensate provinces whose revenues from the tax would be lower than the health transfer payments. Ultimately, they would make provinces and territories fully responsible for health-care funding and management.

Liberalize trade with as many countries as possible, while protecting our economy from “the threat of potentially hostile foreign investors.”

Find a private buyer for Trans Mountain. They would repeal legislation that bans tankers carrying more than 12,500 metric tons of oil from ports on B.C.’s north coast, and legislation governing energy regulation that the PPC says makes building new pipelines too complex. They would also counter what they call anti-oil and anti-pipeline propaganda.

Repeal vaccine mandates and regular testing for federal civil servants and those in federally regulated industries. They would also repeal vaccine passports for travellers, oppose such measures when introduced in provinces, support measures to protect the most vulnerable but not lockdowns and fire Dr. Theresa Tam as the chief public health officer of Canada and replace her with someone who won’t follow World Health Organization recommendations.

Party would repeal the May 2020 ban on various firearms and introduce new classification system that would make many restricted firearms, including the AR-15, non-restricted, akin to rifles and shotguns. Replace licensing system with lifetime certification system for firearms owners following mandatory vetting, safety training and testing. Require all future changes to firearms regulation to be approved by Parliament, not cabinet or the RCMP.

Work closely with allies to maintain a peaceful international order, but not get involved in foreign conflicts unless there is a “compelling strategic interest.”