Political party positions ahead of Oct. 21 election
TORONTO — Canadians head to the polls on Oct. 21 for the 42nd federal election, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party facing a tough re-election battle against the main opposition Conservatives led by Andrew Scheer. Here is a roundup of the main parties’ positions.
LIBERALS
CLIMATE - Continue increasing the carbon tax they implemented in 2018.
OIL - Complete the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
HOUSING - Introduce a one per cent tax on foreign buyers. Give first-time purchasers up to 10 per cent off a house.
HEALTH CARE - No major policy announcements yet.
AFFORDABILITY - Create 250,000 additional after-school care spaces for children under 10. Sources say the Liberals will move to cut the cost of wireless services.
ECONOMY - Provide 2,000 entrepreneurs with $50,000 to launch a new business.
IMMIGRATION - No major policy announcements yet. The government has gradually increased the number of migrants and refugees accepted to the equivalent of one per cent of the population annually.
TAXES - Cut small business tax rate to 9 per cent from 11 per cent.
CONSERVATIVES
CLIMATE - Eliminate the carbon tax. Focus on incentives rather than punishment for exceeding carbon limits.
OIL - Complete the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Repeal the new pipeline approval process brought in by the Liberals.
HOUSING - Increase the supply of homes by allowing new homes onto the market faster. Make it easier to qualify for mortgages.
HEALTH CARE - Increase federal transfers to the provinces.
AFFORDABILITY - Make maternity benefits tax-free. Create a tax credit for children’s fitness programs.
ECONOMY - No major policy announcements yet.
IMMIGRATION - No major policy announcements yet.
TAXES - Reduce tax rate on incomes below $47,000 to 13.75 per cent from 15 per cent. Remove general sales tax (GST) from heating bills.
NEW DEMOCRATS
CLIMATE - Spend $15 billion on climate-change measures.
OIL - End $3.3 billion in government subsidies to the oil and gas industry.
HOUSING - Create 500,000 units of affordable housing over the next decade. Implement a foreign buyer’s tax.
HEALTH CARE - Create a national pharmacare system. Include dental, mental health, eye and hearing care, and fertility procedures in the Canada Health Act.
AFFORDABILITY - Spend $1 billion on child care. Implement a price cap on cellphone plans. Eliminate post-secondary tuition.
ECONOMY - Create 300,000 jobs building clean-energy utilities and retrofitting buildings to be energy efficient.
IMMIGRATION - Remove the cap on family reunification applications. Suspend Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States.
TAXES - Increase corporate income tax rate to 2010 level. Implement a one per cent wealth tax on incomes over $20 million.
GREENS
CLIMATE - Create a 100 per cent renewable electricity grid. Cut federal emission-level goals to 60 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. Ban the sale of non-electric cars by 2030.
OIL - End $3.3 billion in subsidies to the oil and gas industry.
HOUSING - Implement a strategy targeting those experiencing chronic homelessness.
HEALTH CARE - Include pharmacare and basic dental coverage in national health coverage.
AFFORDABILITY - Implement a universal basic income. Eliminate post-secondary tuition.
ECONOMY - Establish a Green Venture Capital Fund to support small green businesses.
TAXES - Hold tax rate for small businesses at 9 per cent. Impose a financial transactions tax of 0.2 per cent. Apply corporate tax to transnational e-commerce companies like Netflix Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.
PEOPLE’S PARTY OF CANADA
CLIMATE - Withdraw from the Paris Accord. Abolish green tech subsidies. Remove the carbon tax.
OIL - Create a streamlined process for approving pipelines.
HOUSING - No major policy announcements yet.
HEALTH CARE - Create incentives for provinces to deal with rising health-care costs.
AFFORDABILITY - No major policy announcements yet.
ECONOMY - Expand the accelerated capital cost allowance to all sectors. Abolish the maple syrup cartel.
IMMIGRATION - Decrease the total number of immigrants and refugees to less than 150,000. Repeal Multiculturalism Act.
TAXES - Cut federal income tax rate to zero on incomes below $15,000 and to 15 per cent on incomes from $15,000 to $100,000. Decrease corporate tax to 10 per cent from 15 per cent.