Jesus said to the crowds, “Therefor I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? …seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides.”
Matthew 6:25-33
Some people are born into economically stable families, receive a fine education, grow up well nourished, or naturally possess great talent. They will certainly not need a proactive state; they need only claim their freedom. Yet the same rule clearly does not apply to a disabled person, to someone born in dire poverty, to those lacking a good education and with little access to adequate health care. If a society is governed primarily by the criteria of market freedom and efficiency, there is no place for such persons, and fraternity will remain just another vague ideal. Pope Francis – Fratelli tutti, 109
The Dignity & Importance of Work
The use of one’s gifts to seek and serve God necessarily includes work, by which humans cooperate with God in God’s continuing act of creation. Work has a place of honour because it is a source of the conditions for a decent life, and is, in principle, an effective instrument against poverty. But one must not succumb to the temptation of making an idol of work, for the ultimate and definitive meaning of life is not to be found in work. Work is essential, but it is God — and not work — who is the origin of life and the final goal of man. The underlying principle of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The demand of justice, which stems from it, precedes concerns for profit: “Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it” (Pr 15:16). “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice” (Pr 16:8). – 257, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Work is not only an essential part of life, but when we work in accordance with our inner passions – our individual vocations – it is a joy. And it is also an obligation to one’s family, neighbors, and nation. Man must work, both because the Creator has commanded it and in order to respond to the need to maintain and develop his own humanity. We are heirs of the work of generations and at the same time shapers of the future of all who will live after us. – 274, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
But work, and particularly dignified work, is not readily available for all who seek it. Those who are unemployed or underemployed suffer the profound negative consequences that such a situation creates in a personality and they run the risk of being marginalized within society, of becoming victims of social exclusion… –289, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Poverty Reduction
The poor, the marginalized and in all cases those whose living conditions interfere with their proper growth should be the focus of particular concern. To this end, the preferential option for the poor should be reaffirmed in all its force… Today, this love of preference for the poor, and the decisions which it inspires in us, cannot but embrace the immense multitudes of the hungry, the needy, the homeless, those without health care and, above all, those without hope of a better future.” – 182, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Catholics are called to remember Jesus’ own words: What we do to the least among us, we do to Him. – Matthew 25:31-46
“Helping the poor financially must always be a provisional solution in the face of pressing needs.
The broader objective should always be to allow them a dignified life through work”.
– Pope Francis, Laudato si’, 128
An Economy to Serve People
“I encourage financial experts and political leaders to ponder the words of one of the sages of antiquity:
‘Not to share one’s wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood. It is not our own goods which we hold, but theirs…’
Money must serve, not rule!”
–Pope Francis, Joy of the Gospel, 57-58
The development of economic activity and growth in production are meant to provide for the needs of human beings. Economic life is not meant solely to multiply goods produced and increase profit or power; it is ordered first of all to the service of persons, of the whole man, and of the entire human community. For many people, a living wage and dignified housing are beyond reach. – 2426, Catechism of the Catholic Church
The planning capacity of a society oriented towards the common good and looking to the future is measured… above all on the basis of the employment prospects that it is able to offer. Maintaining employment depends more and more on one’s professional capabilities. Instructional and educational systems must not neglect human or technological formation, which are necessary for gainfully fulfilling one’s responsibilities. Young people should be taught to act upon their own initiative, to accept the responsibility of facing with adequate competencies the risks connected with a fluid economic context that is often unpredictable in the way it evolves. -271-290, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Small businesses, trades, and crafts
The decentralization of production, which assigns to smaller companies several tasks previously undertaken by larger production interests, gives vitality and new energy to the area of small and medium-sized businesses. In this way, alongside traditional artisans there emerge new businesses characterized by small production interests at work in modern production sectors or in decentralized activities of larger companies.
Work in small and medium-sized businesses, the work of artisans and independent work can represent an occasion to make the actual work experience more human, both in terms of the possibility of establishing positive personal relationships in smaller-sized communities and in terms of the opportunities for greater initiative and industriousness. In these sectors, however, there are more than just a few cases of unjust treatment, of poorly paid and, above all, uncertain work. – 315, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Industries, Innovation, & Agriculture
Thanks to technological innovations, the world is being enriched with new professions while others are disappearing. In the present phase of transition there is a continuous movement of workers from the industrial sector to that of services… In particular, there is an increase in…part-time, temporary and “non-traditional” employment… – 313, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Unions & Workers’ Rights
The demands of competition, technological innovation and the complexities of financial fluxes must be brought into harmony with the defense of workers and their rights. – 313, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Any form of materialism or economic tenet that tries to reduce the worker to a mere instrument of production, a simple labour force with an exclusively material value, would hopelessly distort the essence of work and strip it of its most noble and basic human quality. 270-271, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
Among the rights of workers, the Church recognizes:
– the right to a just wage;
– the right to rest;
– the right “to a working environment and to manufacturing processes which are not harmful to the workers’ physical health or to their moral integrity”;
– the right that one’s personality in the workplace should be safeguarded “without suffering any affront to one’s conscience or personal dignity;
– the right to appropriate subsidies that are necessary for the subsistence of unemployed workers and their families;
– the right to a pension and to insurance for old age, sickness, and in case of work-related accidents;
– the right to social security connected with maternity;
– the right to assemble and form associations.
– 301, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
The Church recognizes the fundamental role played by labour unions… Such organizations, while pursuing their specific purpose with regard to the common good, are a positive influence for social order and solidarity, and are therefore an indispensable element of social life. Work, because of its subjective or personal character, is superior to every other factor connected with productivity; this principle applies, in particular, with regard to capital.
The Church’s social doctrine teaches that relations within the world of work must be marked by cooperation: hatred and attempts to eliminate the other are completely unacceptable. This is also the case because in every social system both “labour” and “capital” represent indispensable components of the process of production.
No Christian, in light of the fact that he belongs to a united and fraternal community, should feel that he has the right not to work and to live at the expense of others (cf. 2 Thes 3:6-12). Rather, all are charged… to make it a point of honour to work with their own hands, so as to be dependent on nobody (1 Thes 4:12), and to practise a solidarity which is also material by sharing the fruits of their labour with “those in need” (Eph 4:28). – 264, 305-307, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Corporations & Competition, and Consumers
You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.
– the 10th Commandment
The individual profit of an economic enterprise, although legitimate, must never become the sole objective. Social utility is an objective of even higher order. When the free market carries out the important functions mentioned above it becomes a service to the common good and to integral human development. When focused on profit alone, however, the market can degenerate into an inhuman and alienating institution, with uncontrollable repercussions.
Freedom in the economic sector… must be regulated by appropriate legal norms so that it will be placed at the service of integral human freedom… A great deal of educational and cultural work is urgently needed, including the education of consumers in the responsible use of their power of choice, the formation of a strong sense of responsibility among producers and among people in the mass media in particular, as well as necessary intervention by public authorities. In order to balance the principle of solidarity with the rights and obligations of the individual, the State’s intervention in the economic environment must be neither invasive nor absent, but commensurate with society’s real needs. “The State has a duty to sustain business activities by creating conditions which will ensure job opportunities, by stimulating those activities where they are lacking or by supporting them in moments of crisis. The State has the further right to intervene when particular monopolies create delays or obstacles to development. -305-307, 351, 376 Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
There is a growing loss of the sense of history, which leads to even further breakup. A kind of “deconstructionism”, whereby human freedom claims to create everything starting from zero, is making headway in today’s culture. The one thing it leaves in its wake is the drive to limitless consumption and expressions of empty individualism –12, Fratelli Tutti
Transportation & Infrastructure
The demands of the common good… are strictly connected to respect for and the integral promotion of the person and his fundamental rights. Among other things, these demands concern commitment to the provision of essential services to all, some of which are at the same time human rights: food, housing, work, education and access to culture, transportation… -166, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
An Economy to Serve People
The Bloc:
– celebrates the diversity of Quebec’s economy, including restaurateurs, hoteliers and innkeepers; farmers, fishermen and other artisans; technology, including research, clean energy and renewable resources, aerospace, artificial intelligence; ecological technologies and sustainable exploitation, and other resources
– and notes possible relationships between ecological transition, national and regional economic development
Housing & Poverty Reduction
The Bloc has released no official statement concerning its policies on the reduction of poverty.
Jobs & dignity in employment
The Bloc states that:
– the labor shortage reported by Quebec entrepreneurs is certainly amplified by the pandemic, but it already existed and will not end with the withdrawal of sanitary measures
– it will be proposing a series of measures to combat the labor shortage, including suspension of the PCRE, while ensuring that it can be reactivated according to the intensity of future waves, and that it remains in force for carefully targeted sectors and job categories for which recovery remains slow, such as the cultural or aeronautical sectors
– it will also propose measures to encourage seniors to put their invaluable expertise to work, allowing low-income seniors to work more without penalty and involving Aboriginal nations, as well as encouraging newcomers and graduates to settle in the regions
Employment Insurance
The Bloc states that:
– Quebec workers pay their fair share of premiums in the hope of being supported should misfortune strike, however, the pandemic revealed the weakness of Canada’s social safety net
– it proposes comprehensive reform of employment insurance that will protect all workers and take into account the increasingly inescapable realities of self-employed or special-status workers, as well as seasonal work
– it supports continued efforts to make pension funds priority creditors in the event of company bankruptcy
Industries
To support transition to green energies, the Bloc advocates massive investments in ecological innovation, technological change and research and development in every region of Quebec, including:
– renewed demands for an end to fossil fuel subsidies, as Canada has repeatedly pledged since 2009
– an end to funding of Ontario competitors in Quebec, and instead contributions to Quebec’s electrical industry and to the project to make Quebec “the battery of North America”
– scrapping the inefficient and polluting Canadian Hydrogen Strategy, and instead contributing financially to the development and promotion of the green hydrogen sector by Hydro-Québec
Small & Local Businesses
The Bloc states that even while the pandemic was forcing small businesses to close, and later to re-open at reduced capacity due, foreign multinationals were raking in record profits
The Bloc advocates development and implementation of a strategy to support local purchasing and local businesses, including particularly support for the digital transition of businesses, the costs of lower credit card fees for online transactions, and extra time to repay loans taken out during the pandemic without penalty
Agriculture
The Bloc states that Quebec’s model of agriculture on a human scale stands out in a North American industrial world where productive, yet peaceful, occupation of the land is no longer part of the thinking
The Bloc advocates:
– re-introducing the ability to fully protect supply management in future free trade agreements
– looking into increased slaughter capacity, as market concentration and shortcomings in the dairy industry continue to undermine the industry’s competitiveness. Current policies result in endless animal journeys, sometimes even euthanasia, and food waste
– pushing the federal government to recognize farmers’ multifunctionality in its financial support, so as to to recognize the contribution of small-scale producers
– ensuring that farmers and processors are fully compensated for the supply management loopholes in free trade agreements with Europe, the Pacific Rim and North America
– encouraging
– encouraging small Quebec distillers in all regions and their unique products, by reducing the excise tax on alcohol according to production volume, inspired by what Quebec offers microbreweries
Transportation & infrastructure
In view of the conflict which often surrounds federal investment in infrastructure, delaying the start of municipal projects, the Bloc Québécois advocates:
– the unconditional transfer to Quebec of all federal funds earmarked for infrastructure, so that Quebec can prioritize its own projects according to its own priorities
– development of the long-discussed high-frequency Toronto-Québec City train via Trois- Rivières
St Lawrence River & Seaway
To end neglect of riverine and maritime Quebec, the Bloc advocates:
– immediate federal restoration of port facilities
– broadening the scope of the Fisheries Fund so that it can be used for a wider range of projects, such as the wintering park of Grande-Rivière
– development of a strategy for the development and diversification of trade in Quebec fish products.
Aerospace
The Bloc states that:
– Canada is the only country with an aerospace industry that lacks a national policy to ensure its development
– the Greater Montreal region is one of only three in the world with the ability to develop and build an aircraft from A to Z
– on the eve of the last election, the the federal government made an impromptu announcement to released funds, but has yet to take action
The Bloc advocates
– development of spinoffs from military procurement; predictable and sustainable support for research and development, enabling Quebec to design and build tomorrow’s fuel-efficient aircraft; and development of the aircraft recycling sector
– support to help the 200 or so small and medium-sized Quebec aerospace businesses in their efforts to weather crises in the aviation sector, and take part in the development projects that will ensure the sector’s long-term future
Aluminum
The Bloc advocates development of Quebec’s aluminum industry, which it states to be the greenest in the world, including federal financing of a fund to support the processing of Quebec aluminum in Quebec, in particular by reinvesting all the sums collected in counter-tariffs in the 2018-2019 free-trade disputes with the United State
Forestry
The Bloc states that forest covers more than half of Quebec’s territory, and that nearly 60,000 Quebecers owe their jobs to the forest.
The Bloc advocates:
– a plan to maximize the potential of Quebec’s forests, with the goals and effects of local processing, the development of technological innovations and increased productivity in a context of labor shortages. Labor
– reducing Quebec’s vulnerability to trade treaties and ease thing pressure on the raw resource by increasing the diversity of jobs, in particular through processing and the creation of exportable green technologies
Shipbuilding
The Bloc states that
– although Quebec boasts the largest shipbuilding yard in Canada, and the best in North America according to Lloyd’s List, the lion’s share of Canada’s shipbuilding contracts are awarded to shipyards in British Columbia and Nova Scotia, which are struggling to meet deadlines
– of a total of over $100 billion in federal contracts, the Chantier Davie shipyard in Levis has yet to receive a tenth, even though it represents 50% of Canada’s shipbuilding capacity
– it proposes a complete overhaul of the naval strategy in order to arrive at a new plan that will include Davie as a partner commensurate with its production capacity
The Dignity of Work
The party states that work is a good thing; people are happiest when they are working and contributing to society.
The party advocates:
– equal pay for equal work
– no mandated affirmative action; ie. no hiring quotas
– protecting essential services from risk due to strikes or lockouts
Housing & Poverty Reduction
The party states:
– Canadians must always be ready to care for the “deserving poor”—those in poverty through no fault of their own.
– all those capable of working should be encouraged to do so; taxpayers ought not to be forced to carry the unnecessary burden of supporting those unwilling to work
– it also strongly opposes corporate welfare: the granting of federal funds to corporations, financial institutions and global cabals
To make housing more affordable, the party advocates:
– reducing foreign purchases of homes, businesses and farmland
– strengthening the family unit, reducing divorce and the necessity of one couple maintaining two homes
– making stay-at-home parenting more affordable
Industries, innovation & agriculture
The party states that a nation that cannot feed itself cannot survive
The party advocates:
– development of a national food strategy
– making food production a high national priority
– support of and encouragement for the institution of the Family Farm
Supply Management
The party states that:
– the Supply Management system for Canadian dairy, egg and poultry producers and the marketing boards which regulate the system were designed to protect essential agricultural producers from crippling market fluctuations and unfair “dumping” of lower-cost foreign products
– Supply Management is not perfect but is essential in order to ensure Canadian producers of these products are able to continue to exist and to provide Canadians with a consistent supply of high-quality food products
The party advocates:
– review of agricultural marketing boards on a case-by-case basis to ensure they are still meeting the needs of the producers they represent as well as Canadian consumers
– where possible, provision for small, independent producers to serve niche markets without undermining the quota system.
Unions and workers’ rights
The party has released no official statement concerning its policies on unions and worker’s rights.
Corporations, Competition & Consumerism
The party strongly opposes corporate welfare: the granting of federal funds to corporations, financial institutions and global cabals.
An Economy to Serve People
The party states that every Canadian deserves the security and dignity that comes with a secure, stable, well-paid job.
The party advocates:
– enacting a comprehensive jobs plan to get Canadians back to work across the country.
– taking immediate action to help the hardest hit sectors, helping those – including women and young Canadians – who have suffered most.
– Rebuilding “Main Street” by assisting small businesses and providing incentives to invest in, rebuild, and start new businesses
– creating opportunity in all sectors of the economy and all parts of the country.
Poverty Reduction
Homelessness
To address homelessness, the party advocates:
– re-implement the Housing First approach to aid in the fight against Canada’s addictions crisis
– revising the federal government’s substance abuse policy framework to make recovery its overarching goal
– investing $325 million over the next three years to create 1,000 residential drug treatment beds and build 50 recovery community centres across the country
– support for innovative approaches to address the crises of mental health challenges and addiction, such as land-based treatment programs developed and managed by Indigenous communities as part of a plan to enhance the delivery of culturally appropriate addictions treatment and prevention services in First Nations communities with high needs
Living Wage & Wealth Inequality
The party states that it’s time to make work pay and help those most in need. To that end, it advocates:
– doubling the Canada Workers Benefit up to a maximum of $2,800 for individuals or $5,000 for families and pay it as a quarterly direct deposit rather than a tax refund at year-end. This amounts, on average, to an extra thousand dollars into the pockets of the most vulnerable workers, helping three and a half million families put food on the table.
– doubling the disability supplement from $713 to $1,500, to help almost 90,000 disabled workers
– to help protect workers during recessions without breaking the budget or hitting workers with soaring EI premiums, launching a Super EI that temporarily provides more generous benefits (75% of salary instead of 55%) when a province goes into recession (a 0.5% increase in the unemployment rate, as defined by the “Sahm Rule”), with EI will returning to normal levels once the recession is over, as evidenced by three months of job gains
– to support workers suffering from serious illness, the party advocates increasing EI sickness benefits to 52 weeks, from the current EI sickness benefit limit of 15 weeks
– to support workers who are required to temporarily locate in order to work, for example on Northern infrastructure projects, the party advocates introduction of a Construction Mobility Tax Credit of up to $4,000 per year toward temporary relocation expenses (moving, temporary lodging) from taxable income
– to help families and help retail stores recover from the pandemic and increased levels of inflation, implementation of a month-long GST holiday
Gig Economy
The party states that millions of Canadians don’t qualify for Employment Insurance because they are gig workers, independent contractors, online platform workers, contract, on-call, and temporary workers, or are otherwise engaged in independent, temporary work that does not provide the insurable hours and contributions of a typical employee
To support temporary workers and make contract employers pay their fair share for worker protection, the party advocates requiring gig economy companies to make contributions equivalent to CPP and EI premiums into new, portable Employee Savings Accounts every time they pay their workers, so that the money will grow tax-free and can be withdrawn by the worker when needed
Labour & Employment
The party states that:
– the number of Canadians who have been unemployed for more than six months is stuck near its highest level ever
– when people can find jobs, most are part-time
– it is concerned that millions of Canadian workers and small businesses are being left behind
– its top priority is getting as many people back to work in good jobs, in every part of Canada, in every sector, as quickly as possible.
– it will do whatever it takes to get people working and get the economy back on track
To get Canadians back to work, the party advocates:
– a Canada Job Surge Plan: paying up to 50% of the salary of new hires for six months following the end of Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy
– Canada Investment Accelerator, providing a 5% investment tax credit for any capital investment made in 2022 and 2023, with the first $25,000 to be refundable for small business
– a rebuilding Main Street Tax Credit, providing a 25% tax credit on amounts of up to $100,000 that Canadians personally invest in a small business over the next two years
– a Main Street Business Loan: providing loans of up to $200,000 to help small and medium businesses in hospitality, retail, and tourism get back on their feet, with up to 25% forgiven
Job Training
The party states that:
– skilled trades in construction, energy and other industries face chronic employee shortages
– the construction industry alone may have as many as 100,000 unfilled jobs in five years as current employees retire
To enable women and others to find work in skilled trades, the party advocates:
– supporting union and similar training programs and encouraging employers to invest in their workers
– doubling the Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit for the next three years to help create more places for apprentices
– investing $250 million over two years to create the Canada Job Training Fund, to provide grants to organizations including employers, apprenticeship training delivery agents, unions, post-secondary institutions, and community organizations for projects that (i) give laid-off workers immediate access to training (ii) reach out to traditionally underrepresented groups (iii) support the talent needs of small businesses
– creating a Working Canadian Training Loan to provide low interest loans of up to $10,000 to people who want to upgrade their skills
Pensions
To protect workers from employer bankruptcies and other pension failures, the party advocates:
– changing legislation to ensure that pensioners have priority over corporate elites in bankruptcy or restructuring
– preventing executives from paying themselves bonuses while managing a company going through restructuring if the pension plan is not fully funded
– no longer forcing underfunded pension plans from being converted to annuities, something that currently locks in losses and results in workers getting less money
– requiring companies to report the funding status of their pension plans more clearly
Unions and workers’ rights
To support workers employed by major multinational corporations, the party advocates:
– requiring federally regulated employers with over 1,000 employees or $100 million in annual revenue to include worker representation on their boards of directors
– consulting with union leaders and then implementing changes to the Canada Labour Code to remove barriers that prevent unions from organizing large employers with a history of anti-labour activity
– working with unions to modernize the Canada Labour Code to provide more flexibility in working hours and working from home
– giving unions standing at the Canada International Trade Tribunal to allow them to bring actions on issues like dumping
Industries & Innovation
Innovation
To promote innovation, the party advocates investing $5 billion over five years, through a new Canada Advanced Research Agency headquartered in Calgary, to take advantage of Alberta’s highly educated workforce and help diversify the Alberta economy, to fund programs aimed at:
– making major advances in use of hydrogen and Small Modular Reactors
– private sector innovation in the space sector
– Electric vehicle development and manufacturing, including electric trucks, micro-mobility, batteries, and parts manufacturers
– pharmaceutical research and production
The party also advocates:
– cutting taxes on innovation and making Canada a leader in patents by cutting the tax rate in half on income earned from patents on innovative products developed in Canada, and covering up to $10,000 of the administrative and legal costs of each of the first five patents filed by any Canadian small or medium-sized business
– streamlining and accelerating the SR&ED program, among other things to reduce the percentage of SR&ED funding that goes to consultants rather than innovators and make it easier for software development to qualify for SR&ED
– launching a review of all innovation programs at ISED and across the government to ensure they are as simple as possible, to remove duplication, and to ensure that all innovation spending benefits Canada, including a requirement that recipients demonstrate that intellectual property, production, ownership, and profits are likely to stay in Canada
– prohibit foreign state-owned entities or those with ties to foreign militaries from receiving SRED funding
– creating improved share and tax structures to benefit startups
Manufacturing
The party states that scrambles during the pandemic were a stark reminder of the importance of domestic manufacturing capacity, particularly in national emergencies. It therefore advocates:
– pursuing free trade agreements only with free countries that respect workers’ rights and maintain high environmental standards
– bringing manufacturing of critical equipment like PPE and pharmaceuticals back to Canada by ensuring that government and government-funded procurement of these essential products favours Canadian producers
– rebuilding domestic vaccine manufacturing capacity.
Agriculture
The party states that as global population grows and living standards rise, the need for trusted food sources will grow. In that light, the party advocates:
– respecting and defending supply management for our dairy and poultry farms, and ensuring that farming families are engaged in any trade negotiations or programs impacting the sector, and that the Minister of Agriculture is also involved in negotiations
– including new markets for our livestock, grain, and oilseed producers in free trade negotiations
– as a priority, finalizing compensation program for supply managed processors under CPTPP and CETA and negotiate a compensation package for farmers and processors impacted by CUSMA
– working with the US Administration to remove the CUSMA limits on Canadian exports of powdered milk to third-party countries and establish reciprocal norms to ensure that our quality standards are respected
– working with the provinces to adopt a grocery supply code to deal with retailers’ abusive pricing and contracting practices against farmers, producers, and processors, including development of a code of conduct to guarantee Canadian consumers a reliable, affordable supply of food
– ending unfair tax treatment of family farms by advancing implementation of Bill C-208and ensuring that the sale of a family farm to a family member is not taxed at a higher rate than a sale to a stranger
– improving payment security for farmers and food processors by creating a statutory deemed trust for suppliers of perishable produce in bankruptcy and harmonizing our regime with that of the US to regain reciprocal protection under the U.S. Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA); and working towards greater harmonization of farm product regulations with our trading partners, especially the United States
– ensuring that farm safety net programs are predictable, bankable, and manageable, implementing a plan to address rural crime
– amending existing laws to allow livestock owners to use local abattoirs, reducing both stress to the animals and the production of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from transportation to distant facilities, and making permanent the temporary measures to enable collaboration across provinces for use of provincial abattoirs
– implementing a food security strategy, including development of methods to grow more crops in Canada year-round in greenhouses
– bringing agricultural stakeholders together for a summit-like meeting with the Minister of Agriculture to develop a way forward on insurance programs like AgriStability
– modernizing the Canada Grain Act and Canadian Grain Commission
– implementing an Agriculture and Agri-Food Labour Strategy, including recognition of the need for international farm workers and facilitating their timely entrance into Canada to work on Canadian farms, and developing a long-term strategy to attract skilled workers to the meat processing sector, which is currently facing a 30,000 worker deficit
– extending “right to repair” to farm vehicles to provide farmers with choice on where to repair their vehicles
Aquaculture
The party states that:
– it supports sustainable development of Canada’s aquaculture sector due to its ability to provide a solid economic base in coastal communities, create stable, long-term employment, and contribute to Canadian food security
– many shellfish and finfish species are grown throughout Canada, and many First Nations have pursued aquaculture as a business that can support their communities and provide meaningful work for their members
– salmon farming on Canada’s West Coast has been controversial, with local communities being confused and torn by conflicting studies and claims
– it will not take an ideological position on this issue. It wants the aquaculture industry to succeed, but only as long as Canadians have confidence in our ability to protect wild salmon. Therefore, any decisions related to salmon aquaculture must be based on robust science, guided by conservation, and be respectful of the communities and families that rely on these jobs
To that end, the party advocates:
– maintaining the decision to remove salmon farms from the Discovery Islands, modelling the transition on the Broughton Archipelago project, to be more respectful of local First Nations, communities, and workers
– assigning responsibility for the management and sustainable growth of the sector to a department other than DFO so that DFO can be solely focused on enforcement
– creating a modern Aquaculture Act that can help restore public confidence
– developing a tax incentive program for the development and adoption of technologies that reduce contact between wild and farmed salmon
Transportation & infrastructure
To create jobs in construction, project finance and manufacturing, and to create more jobs by helping Canadian businesses get their products to market and helping Canadians get to work, the party advocates:
– immediate investment in critical projects that will put Canadians to work, cut commute time, and clean up the environment
– providing more flexibility to municipalities and First Nations to receive funding by removing requirements for tying projects to “green infrastructure”
– scrapping the Canada Infrastructure Bank and committing unspent money to projects that can strengthen our economy
– reprioritizing the Investing in Canada Plan towards infrastructure projects that would have the maximum benefit for economic recovery
– build digital infrastructure to connect all of Canada to High-Speed Internet
Small businesses, trades & crafts
The party advocates:
– a comprehensive review of the tax system, including SRED and other programs intended to encourage innovation, to ensure that the system promotes healthy and competitive industry within Canada
– repealing recent tax increases applicable to small businesses
– repeal new rules imposing significant tax burdens no dividends for partners of business owners, since contributions of spouses cannot be measured in terms of time and money
– create an information package for business owners on the CRA website
– reducing regulatory burden for businesses by 25 percent over four years, with targets for each minister and department, using a rule that for each new regulation two previous ones must be rescinded
– to enable women-led small businesses thrive, providing funding and support, cutting red tape to make it easier to get a business off the ground, simplifying the business-use-of-home deduction to provide more significant tax advantages for people starting businesses from their homes and allow new parents to start home-based businesses without facing any loss of parental leave income
Medical Research & Development
To protect Canada’s historical leadership in the production of radioisotopes used in nuclear medicine and in the sterilization of medical devices, the party advocates:
– development and implementation of a National Isotope Strategy to establish a framework for cooperation in which governments, nuclear reactor and accelerator owners and operators, and other stakeholders can work together to prevent, mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disruptions of critical infrastructure and continue moving forward with research and development of critical isotopes
Pharmaceuticals
To avoid being caught unprepared by another pandemic, the party advocates:
– reducing reliance on foreign countries, and improving Canada’s ability to protect the health of its citizens
– partnering with pharmaceutical companies to increase production of critical medicines and build domestic vaccine production capacity
– strengthening domestic production of PPE through government procurement
– overhauling Canada’s National Emergency Stockpile System to ensure that supplies are ready to face future threats
Airlines
The party states that the airline industry is essential for a united Canada, tying our massive country together and connecting us to the world
The party advocates legislation implementing strong protection of passengers’ rights based on the EU system, including provisions stating clearly that passengers are entitled to full refunds – not vouchers – when an airline cancels a flight and doesn’t offer an alternative
Corporations, Competition & Consumerism
Competition Bureau & Consumer Protection
To ensure a level playing field for new businesses and encourage real competition, the party advocates
– making foreign tech companies pay their fair share of taxes, including sales tax and a digital services tax representing 3% of the gross revenue in Canada if they don’t pay corporate income tax here
– giving Canada’s competition laws real teeth, including: prosecution of executives of companies that fix prices or abuse their dominant positions, breaking up companies that abuse their power, and ending the rubber-stamping of mergers that enrich executives while hurting workers and consumers
– rejecting mergers that substantially reduce competition or lead to layoffs and higher prices
– to reduce red tape in building and growing businesses, implementing regular review of regulations to eliminate any that are not serving the public interest, including appointment of a Minister Responsible for Red Tape Reduction tasked with introducing and passing at least one red tape reduction bill per year; creating an Office of Regulatory Best Practice with business members who evaluate the costs of new regulation;
– fixing the Impact Assessment process that is making it impossible to build major projects in Canada, based on the bipartisan Senate recommendations
– creating a Fast Track Certification Process that provides a faster path to approval for products that have already been approved in comparable jurisdictions
– overhauling the tax system, including appointment of an expert panel tasked with reviewing the tax system and making recommendations to make it simpler and fairer while improving Canada’s competitiveness to spur job creation.
– to help break down interprovincial trade barriers, convening a First Ministers Meeting on interprovincial trade and providing federal leadership to help move negotiations forward; working with the provinces to increase standardization and mutual recognition of credentials to increase labour mobility within Canada and smooth the trade in services between provinces; and introducing an Admitted Free Act clarifying federal intention with respect to interprovincial trade and s.121 of the Constitution to provide modern context for the Supreme Court to consider.
– to reduce abuse in communications, holding big telecom service providers accountable for anti-competitive behaviour and practices that hurt consumers; allowing foreign telecommunications companies to provide services to Canadian customers, provided that the same treatment is reciprocated for Canadian companies in that company’s country
– to support lower food prices, increasing the maximum fine for price-fixing from $24 million to $100 million and introducing criminal penalties for executives for price-fixing
– creating a technology task force within the Competition Bureau to examine whether dominance and anti-competitive behaviour of big tech is damaging to Canadian industry, and to examine ways in which algorithms and data give big tech an advantage over Canadian business, as well as how fintech and new technologies could foster improved competition
Consumer Banking
To protect personal banking customers, the party advocates:
– enacting legislation on open banking so that Canadians can connect with fintech companies that can give provide a better offer for banking services such as a mortgage, line of credit or credit card
– ordering the Competition Bureau to investigate bank fees
– requiring more transparency for investment management fees so that seniors and savers don’t get ripped off, including requiring the banks to show investment returns net of fees
Credit Card Protection
To protect consumers from fraud, unwarranted and potentially devastating chargebacks, etc., the party advocates:
– updating the Code of Conduct for the Credit and Debit Card Industry to protect consumers and small businesses in view of newly developed technology and new issues it has brought forth.
CRA Protections for Small Businesses and the Middle Class
In response to reports of overly-aggressive and unaccountable behavior by the Canada Revenue Agency, the party advocates:
– making the Taxpayer Ombudsman an officer of Parliament with order-making authority
– measuring and reporting on the tax gap, in detail, by type of taxation and reason for the shortfall (similar to the UK model) so that CRA resources can be allocated where the problems exist
– imposing a duty of care (a legal obligation to a reasonable standard) on CRA
– launching a comprehensive review of Canada’s tax system to improve competitiveness, bring down rates and simplify the rules
– revising CRA’s penalties so that first-time problems or errors receive only minor fines, with increasing severity for repeat offenders
– creation of a “welcome to CRA” program and materials for new small businesses; and
– allowing businesses with less than $60,000 in revenues to use simple cash accounting
The Dignity of Work
The party has published no official statement concerning its understanding of the dignity of work.
Housing & Poverty Reduction
Housing
The party states that:
– there is an affordable housing and homelessness crisis in Canada
– adequate housing is a fundamental human right, as recognized by the National Housing Strategy Act, yet more and more Canadians are struggling to afford housing
– even before the pandemic, 1.6 million Canadians lived in unsuitable, inadequate, or unaffordable housing and an estimated 2.4 million households experienced core housing need in 2020
– on any given night, over 35,000 Canadians may be experiencing homelessness
– women, low-income workers, and Black and Indigenous Peoples, and people of colour have been hardest hit by income and job loss during the pandemic and continue to fall further and further behind
– while short-term pandemic benefits offered adequate income replacement for some low-income tenants, others had their income dramatically reduced, and are unable to pay their full rent, are falling into arrears and facing the threat of eviction
To make the right to adequate housing a reality, the party advocates:
– declaring housing affordability and homelessness a national emergency
– redefining affordable housing using a better, updated formula, that accounts for regional variations across the country
– immediately appoint a Federal Housing Advocate, as established in the National Housing Strategy Act
To support renters, the party advocates:
– establishing a national moratorium on evictions
– maintaining a moratorium on evictions until the pandemic is over and for a reasonable time thereafter, in cooperation with provincial governments
– creating national standards to establish rent and vacancy controls
– establishing a retroactive residential arrears assistance program to protect renters at risk of eviction or of being driven into homelessness due to accumulated rent arrears, as recommended by the National Right to Housing Network (NRHN) and the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation (CERA)
– strengthening regulation to limit foreign investment and end predatory practices by raising the “empty home” tax for foreign and corporate residential property owners who leave buildings and units vacant
– assessing the role of real estate investment trusts (REITs) in Canada’s housing market
– closing tax haven loopholes that allow foreign investors to hide the names of beneficial owners of properties in Canada
– cracking down on money laundering in Canadian real estate
Affordable, Non-Profit, Co-Operative, and Supportive Housing
To support affordable, non-profit, co-operative, and supportive housing projects, the party advocates:
– protecting the existing stock of affordable housing by funding the purchase of buildings by non-profit and cooperative affordable housing organizations
– expanding the Rapid Housing Initiative to bring new affordable and supportive housing onstream without delay
– investing in construction and operation of 50,000 supportive housing units over 10 years
– building and acquiring a minimum of 300,000 units of deeply affordable non-market, co-op and non-profit housing over a decade
– creating a Canada Co-op Housing Strategy and updating the mechanisms for financing co-op housing, in partnership with CMHC, co-op societies, credit unions and other lenders
– requiring covenants to ensure that subsidized construction remains affordable over the long term
– restoring quality, energy efficient housing for seniors, people with special needs and low-income families, by providing financing to non-profit housing organizations, cooperatives, and social housing to build and restore quality and affordable housing
– implementing integrated housing, so that everyone can afford to live in the communities in which they work and under quality conditions
– restoring tax incentives for building purpose-built rental housing, and providing tax credits for gifts of lands, or of land and buildings, to community land trusts to provide affordable housing
– removing the “deemed” GST whenever a developer with empty condo units places them on the market as rentals
– refocusing the core mandate of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) on supporting the development of affordable, non-market and cooperative housing, as opposed to its current priority of supporting Canadian lenders to de-risk investment in housing ownership. With many housing markets demonstrably overvalued, and home ownership rates among the highest in the world, individual home ownership should not be the preoccupation of a public service housing agency and a national housing strategy
– appointing a Minister of Housing to meet the needs of affordable housing that are unique to each province, overseeing its implementation in collaboration with provincial ministers, and building on other aspects of the housing and homelessness crisis in Canada to tackle these issues
Guaranteed Livable Income
The party states that:
– the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed how many Canadians still lack a basic safety net to protect them in times of financial difficulty
– in Canada, one of the richest countries, 10% of people live in poverty and do not have access to “a standard of living adequate for health and wellbeing,” a right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
– Poverty is expensive — the Canadian government spends over $20 billion in employment insurance and transfers to low-income families per year
– poverty is also the largest social determinant of health, impacting educational outcomes, crime and treatment within the criminal justice system
– in response to the pandemic the Government of Canada introduced the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), a taxable benefit of $2,000 a month to eligible workers who lost their income due to COVID-19. It is not an overstatement to say that the CERB saved lives. However, even with these emergency benefits, too many people are being left without support
– Canada has never succeeded in designing a benefits system that covers everyone, in all circumstances of need. Given the virtually limitless number of different employment, unemployment and underemployment circumstances in which Canadians find themselves, it is unlikely that any piecemeal approach will ever succeed in providing comprehensive coverage to all
– even before the pandemic, Canada was in the midst of major changes in the world of work, due to automation and artificial intelligence – a transition that has only sped up during the pandemic. Now is the time to discuss how we will confront this change and the inequalities the changes have created
– Canada has the resources to make sure that no one lives in poverty or without their basic needs met
– the concept of GLI has gained traction in other countries. Recently, Spain became the first European country to announce a plan to introduce a Universal Basic Income (UBI) to help families during the pandemic, with the intention that UBI become a permanent instrument. Italy, the Netherlands, Finland and Kenya have all trialled the GLI model. Various American cities such as Stockton, California have initiated similar programmes
As a comprehensive solution, rather than plugging holes in support one-by-one, the party advocates a Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI), including:
– providing every Canadian with a basic revenue source, ensuring that people can cover basic expenses such as food and accommodation
– making it available with few or no restrictions and be enough to protect Canadians from financial catastrophes
– ensuring that it is comprehensive, thus also be simpler and therefore less expensive to administrate (usually one of the greatest costs of social programs)
– ensuring that the greatest security is offered to the most vulnerable Canadians: precarious workers, people with disabilities, seniors, the underemployed and the homeless, as well as workers in the fossil fuel sector, which is particularly vulnerable to market shocks
To establish a GLI program, the party advocates:
– creating a comprehensive and equitable Guaranteed Livable Income for every person in Canada
– building on the Market Basket Measure, payment would be set at a “livable” level for different regions of the country. The federal government would provide an initial base level subsidy across the country, and an intergovernmental body would determine and administer the necessary supplemental amounts
– by allowing the provinces to reduce their expenditures on provincial welfare, liberating provincial budgets for the health budgets they have asked Ottawa to support
– using GLI as a supplement for and complement to existing public services, and unlike provincial welfare regulations, not discouraging work
– ensuring that the Guaranteed Livable Income program covers everyone, with a benefit amount gradually decreasing as other income increases. Seniors’ and children’s benefits would remain in place
Universal Programs
In addition to Guaranteed Livable Income, the party advocates:
– universal post-secondary education
– universal pharmacare
– universal dental care
– universal child care
The party states that the solutions are clear, feasible and interconnected – all that is left is the political will to enact them. Embracing further universal and progressive social policies will support our more vulnerable communities and lead to a higher quality of life for all.
Employment & Labour
Job preparation
The party states that:
– the renewable energy sector holds tremendous promise in helping to facilitate a just transition for workers in the fossil-fuel sector in Canada
– it is important to protect workers in regions that are still highly dependent on the fossil fuel sector for a significant percentage of their budget. Provinces like Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland have been left dangerously exposed the volatility of global energy markets which they are unable to control, and are in desperate need of economic diversification
– with wise investment, these regions can use their energy sector expertise to capitalize on a variety of new opportunities in renewable technologies
To support a transition to a green economy, the party advocates:
– introducing a Just Transition Act that takes care of workers and communities during the transition
– planning for a fair and carefully planned transition of workers towards a decarbonized economy, that protects communities from displacement, and in which affected people (workers in greenhouse gas-intensive industries, Indigenous Peoples, marginalized communities) are leading the preparation of their transition strategies
– replacing every high paying fossil fuel sector job with a high paying green sector job through wage insurance, retraining programs and early retirement plans
– reducing wealth inequality in Canada, and ensuring that current wealth holders, particularly those in the fossil fuel sector, pay their fair share. Closing tax havens and loopholes to redistribute wealth towards communities that have been underinvested in
– introducing laws that incentivize green investment and the creation of green jobs (such as in sustainable transport and energy efficiency), and that disincentivize unsustainable investments (such as by raising taxes on environmentally harmful goods and services)
– investing in the cleantech sector and in renewable energy, which will create more, and higher paying jobs than those lost in the fossil fuel sector
– enacting legislation on green jobs training programs, such as the creation of a youth climate corps; for example, jobs related to ecosystem restoration, particularly for people who have been displaced or severely affected by COVID-19.
Industries & Innovation
The party states that innovation is the engine to economic growth. It allows Canada to remain competitive on a rapidly evolving global technological landscape
– Canadian universities routinely rank among the top in the world and our research laboratories are world renowned
– however, Canadian investment in research and development has been declining for years, and at 1.7% of GDP is among the lowest in the OECD
– despite being the country that discovered insulin in 1921, when the pandemic broke Canada had zero capacity to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines. This must change
– there will be massive opportunities for the countries that develop breakthrough solutions to combat climate change. Nearly $150 billion (USD) was invested globally last year in solar installations alone. Emerging clean technologies could soon reach this same scale
– whether it is the forefront of quantum computing, clean technology, next-generation medicine, or artificial intelligence, the federal government has a crucial role to play in de-risking emerging disruptive technologies so that they may scale, through investment in scientific research and development, in our incredible university systems, and renewal of our national lab infrastructure for the 21st century
To stimulate investment in scientific research, the party advocates:
– implementation of the full funding recommendations from Canada’s Fundamental Science Review
– increasing R&D spending to 2.5% of GDP, bringing Canada in line with the OECD average
– increased funding for the granting councils to $2.3 billion, including the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), and ensuring that all grants by the federal granting councils consider Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) outcomes of the research it supports
– restoring and augmenting Climate Change and Atmospheric Research (CCAR) funding to NSERC and ensure ongoing funding for the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory
– establishing a dedicated innovation agency that focuses on developing joint projects across universities, private industry, and national labs
– supporting NSERC’s Framework on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in scientific research across all federal grant funding programs, and committing to strengthening Canadian scientific and engineering communities to include the full participation of equity-seeking groups, including women, visible minorities, Indigenous Peoples, people with diverse gender identities and people with disabilities
– creating a dedicated, long-term funding program for water infrastructure, building on the success of the Clean Water and Wastewater Fund that operated between 2016 and 2018
– establishing an “Entrepreneur-in-Residence” Program in Canada’s national labs, such as the National Research Council, to spur innovation of breakthrough technologies discovered in our national lab system
Climate Supercomputer
The party states that top climate scientists did not predict the intensity of the extreme weather and climate events that hit Europe and North America during the last three summers, because scientists say that their computers aren’t powerful enough, and that IPCC climate computer models are inadequate. They are calling on the international community to invest in creating a shared climate super-computer capable of producing the climate models for extreme climate events
– the cost of the computer is estimated to be a small fraction of the costs associated with extreme events if Canada and other countries continue to be caught unprepared
– Canada can answer this call and demonstrate climate leadership by investing in creating this super-computer, or by bringing together a group of wealthy countries to do so
The party advocates:
– investing in state-of-the-art assessment of climate change impact risks and planning with associated disaster management measures
– ensuring that Canada utilizes the best available scientific expertise to advance research and development for assessing climate change impact risks, with a focus on mitigating the impacts such as storms, droughts, floods, wildfires and related air quality impacts on health
– increased funding for the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF) to support climate resilience projects critically needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, including wildfire mitigation activities; rehabilitation of storm water systems and restoration of wetlands, shorelines, and other natural infrastructure
– developing transdisciplinary partnerships with governmental, non-profit organizations, academic institutions and industry, and invest in research and the necessary equipment, including the possibility of a shared climate supercomputer
Intellectual Property: Commercialization & Innovation
The party states that:
– while Canadian innovators are among the most ingenious in the world, they face challenges in translating their inventions and intellectual property (IP) into commercially viable products and services
– in order to scale up, domestic companies are increasingly selling their valuable IP to foreign firms in exchange for capital
– between 1998 and 2017, the number of Canadian-invented U.S. patents that were retained by their original inventor fell from 32% to 13%. This means that foreign businesses and countries – not Canadians – reap a majority of the economic and social benefits of Canadian innovation
– the ability of Canadian innovators to retain ownership and control over their inventions and IP is critical to exploiting their economic value, for example through licensing use in downstream production or to researchers who can build upon them to make further discoveries
– capturing revenues from licensing, start-ups and spin-offs is important for economic growth and ensuring that Canada can develop the necessary infrastructure to mitigate and adapt to climate change while funding the health and social programs that foster equity and well-being
The party advocates:
– increasing direct federal funding for private and student-led business R&D
– strengthening Canada’s venture capital (VC) ecosystem
– implementing a national Buy Clean strategy to increase government procurement of Canadian low-carbon technologies
– providing access to federally funded IP at a discount to Canadian companies with Canadian operations
– fully implementing the House of Commons Report on IP and Technology Transfer to require Statistics Canada to launch an annual survey on technology
– collaborating with stakeholders to create a ‘toolkit’ of flexible IP licensing practices
– investigating new ways to support Canadian enterprises engaging in technology transfer with post-secondary institutions
Small and Medium-Sized Businesses
The party states that:
– small businesses are the backbone of the Canadian economy, creating more employment in the private sector than the big corporations
– they create good, stable jobs, and offer competitive wages and benefits
– and, because they’re small, they are nimble in adapting to changing global markets
– best of all, their success stays local. They circulate dollars in regional economies and improve the communities around them
– COVID-19 pandemic restrictions significantly impacted small businesses, leading to business closures, debt burdens and loss of jobs. Temporary government financial support is ending, including the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) and Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy (CERS) before COVID-19 restrictions have been fully lifted, leaving small businesses to deal with post-pandemic recovery alone. CEWS is being replaced with the Canada Recovery Hiring Program (CRHP) which does not cover pay for employees on paid leave, putting both small businesses and employees at risk
To provide support that is still needed by small businesses, the party advocates:
– holding the small business tax rate at no more than 9%
– reducing the paperwork burden on small businesses by eliminating duplicative tax filings and red tape
– ensuring that all new legislation considers the impact on small businesses
– reducing bureaucracy and streamlining approvals for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to adopt technologies
– promoting entrepreneurship training and business support, especially for women, young, racialized and Indigenous entrepreneurs
– providing affordable and accessible internet services across Canada, including rural areas
– establishing a federally funded Green Venture Capital Fund of $1 billion to support viable small local green business start-ups
– subsidizing the implementation of new clean technologies across all SMEs
Agriculture & Food Industry
The party states that:
– during the early days of the pandemic, we saw how our over-reliance on global supply chains can threaten our food security and, with it, our sovereignty
– replacing one-third of Canada’s food imports with domestic production would bring $15 billion food dollars back into our economy to foster economic diversification and rural revitalization
To replace food imports with locally grown food the party advocates:
– assisting farmers and supporting small and medium enterprises to transition away from the industrial model controlled by large agri-business and toward locally and regionally based, ecologically sound and humane agriculture and food systems
– working with the provinces in creating land trusts to set-aside arable land across Canada to help control the price of land and protect it from being permanently removed as viable farmland
– supporting research, development and investments in local markets and urban agriculture to increase access to local food
– protecting supply management systems while allowing small scale production for local markets outside this system
– supporting the development of a food waste strategy
– addressing interprovincial trade barriers that hinder the development of regionally based food systems and value chains
– supporting the phase-out of prophylactic antibiotics in farming to promote higher welfare practices and preserve the effectiveness of antibiotics for human medicine
To strengthen social license with respect to food production, the party advocates:
– adopting comprehensive animal welfare legislation to prevent inhumane treatment of farm animals. This will set minimum standards of treatment, housing density, distances live animals can be transported, and conditions for animals in slaughterhouses and auctions
– protecting food sovereignty, the right of farmers to save their own seed, and funding and promoting seed banks, seed exchange programs, and agrobiodiversity conservation
– supporting the recommendations of the Canada Food Guide and encouraging Canadians to reduce their animal protein consumption as recommended in the Food Guide, while being inclusive of social and cultural diversity in recognizing what constitutes a healthy and environmentally sound diet
– supporting mandatory labelling of genetically modified foods
– preserving the system resource base: land, human resources, and succession by funding an apprenticeship program to connect young aspiring farmers with operating farmers. This will maintain and increase the workforce, knowledge, and skilled labour necessary to have a robust agricultural sector
– reinstating the Canada Land Inventory program to provide a comprehensive record of existing and potential agricultural land and provide fiscal incentives to other levels of government to preserve farmlands under their jurisdictions
Transportation & Infrastructure
Green Buildings
The party advocates:
– creating and implementing a national green retrofit of existing residential, commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings
– supporting agencies and institutions working to create innovative, efficient, and cost-effective programs to carry out green retrofits in different areas and for different communities, thereby creating local jobs and reducing emission
– changing the national building code to require that all new construction and major renovations to older buildings meet net-zero standards by 2030
– undertaking a green retrofit of all federal government buildings, including government agencies
Transportation
The party advocates:
– banning the sale of all internal combustion engine passenger vehicles by 2030, and expanding charging stations for electric vehicles, including charging stations in smaller communities and rural areas
– developing programs to encourage the retirement of existing gas-powered vehicles, including government-funded grants for the purchase of new and used electric vehicles and ‘buy-back’ programs to encourage vehicle users to give up their existing vehicle
– in every sector, from airline travel to passenger rail, and from freight to ferries, mandating and supporting a faster transition to renewable energy
– ensuring access to zero-carbon public transportation, with high-speed rail networks between major cities, and spokes of light rail and electric bus connections across the country
– guaranteeing every Canadian safe, reliable and accessible access to affordable, net zero ground transportation by expanding VIA Rail to a rail and bus system, including enacting a VIA Rail Act to ensure the VIA Rail mandate for a national passenger transportation network
– expanding cycling and walking infrastructure, working with municipalities and provincial governments to develop infrastructure that is accessible to all communities and individuals
Transit
The party states that the transportation sector produces over a quarter of Canada’s climate pollution, and that that proportion is growing.
The party advocates development of a national transportation strategy with a goal of reaching zero-carbon public ground transportation everywhere in Canada by 2040, including:
– use of rail as the hub, with spokes of light rail and electric bus connections, including service to and within rural and remote communities, since everyone in Canada must have access to reliable transportation options at affordable rates. Besides reducing pollution, this measure responds to the findings of the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
– establishing a bus-rail grid that provides hourly bus transit between towns, and where bus companies are mandated to deliver passengers to local rail stations
– maintaining rail safety as a top priority
– enacting a Via Rail Canada Act to implement a passenger rail transportation policy and protect services from future cuts
– investing $500 million initially, rising to $720 within two years to develop regional rail networks and strengthen rail connections between regions, including building several sections of additional track along existing routes to avoid bottlenecks where heavy freight pushes passenger rail to the siding
– building electrified, 200 km/h or faster, high-speed rail in the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec City triangle and the Calgary-Edmonton corridor
– exempting rural and intercity public transport from sales taxes, just like urban transit
Agriculture and Food
The party states that:
– the agriculture and food sector is an engine of the Canadian economy. The system employs more than two million people in Canada (as a comparison, the oil
and gas sector employs about 500,000)
– the sector is vital to the economic viability and social fabric of rural communities, key to ensuring a safe and secure food supply, and essential to the health of the environment and ecosystem services
– agriculture and food systems are highly vulnerable to environmental and economic risks. Because of this, they receive significant policy support from the government in the form of subsidies and other transfers. Support for the agriculture sector in Canada totaled over $7 billion CAD in 2020 and is a powerful tool that can tip the scale and determine which food systems prosper and which decline
– unfortunately, in Canada, federal government policies have contributed to the growing consolidation of agriculture at all levels, including the radical decrease in farm numbers, and a shift from family-owned mixed farms and local processing to industrial production systems based on crop monocultures and intensive livestock operations
Corporations, Competition & Consumerism
To protect responsible corporations, the party advocates:
– enacting a Carbon Border Adjustment, which will ensure Canadian companies paying carbon taxes are not placed at a competitive disadvantage with foreign companies located in countries with no such taxes. A Carbon Border Adjustment could well be the single most impactful action Canada could take to encourage other countries to adopt strong emissions reduction policies. Not only would a CBA allow us to access the financial benefits that come with a CBA, and protect Canadian companies, it will also signal a strong intention to assume a leadership role in the global fight against the climate emergency.
– continuously evaluating the impact of the Carbon Border Adjustment on developing countries through a lens of global environmental justice
An Economy to Serve People
The party states that:
– the world’s major economies are moving at an unprecedented pace to fight climate change, retool their economies, and build the net-zero industries of tomorrow. At the same time, our closest allies are looking to shift their economic dependence away from dictatorships and towards stable, reliable democracies like our own
– these two shifts represent a significant economic opportunity for Canada
– since 2015, its focus has been investing in the middle class, growing the economy, strengthening Canada’s social safety net, and making life more affordable for Canadians
– like the Transcontinental Railway at the turn of the last century, building the global clean can be a major national project – one that will protect the environment, grow the national economy, and ensure every single Canadian can share in the prosperity we will create together
In its mandate letter to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion at the beginning of its current term in office, the party instructed the Minister that:
– the ministry’s immediate priority was to support workers whose work had been interrupted by public health measures
– the ministry was also expected to build a better, more inclusive employment insurance system, complete and advance early and significant actions under Canada’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan, and help workers and communities prosper as the country moves toward net-zero, including through the launch of a Clean Jobs Training Centre.
During its prior term in office,
– introduction of the Canada Child Benefit, has lifted hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and helped millions of Canadian families with the costs of raising children
i- Increases to the Guaranteed Income Supplement, Old Age Security, and the Canada Pension Plan have allowed more seniors can enjoy secure and dignified retirement
– historic investment in a Canada-wide system of affordable early learning and child care delivered a 50 per cent average reduction in fees for regulated child care, brought fees down to just $10 a day in six provinces and territories, with the rest on track to reach this milestone by 2026, and strengthened the existing child care system in Quebec
As examples of recent major investment decisions, the party cites:
– spring 2022: Honda, General Motors, and Stellantis all announced plans to invest in their existing assembly plants to help support the production of hybrid and electric vehicles in Canada. Together these multibillion projects will be supported by $919.6 million in federal funding
– summer 2022: the party announced support for projects across Canada, including up to $100 million to minimize the carbon footprint and improve worker safety at BHP’s $7.5 billion Jansen Stage 1 mine in Saskatchewan. In Ontario, Umicore announced its plan to invest $1.5 billion in a net-zero facility that will produce essential components of electric vehicle batteries
– in Quebec, Rio Tinto Fer et Titane announced its plans to increase its production of critical minerals, cut emissions, and help build clean technology supply chains, supported by up to $222 million in federal funding. Nokia also announced a $340 million project to expand its Ottawa facility and revitalize its laboratories with the goal to further advance wireless technology research and development in Canada
– winter2022-23: Volkswagen announced that its subsidiary, PowerCo, will build its first overseas electric vehicle battery manufacturing ‘gigafactory’ in St. Thomas, Ontario. MEDTEQ+ announced it will invest in a $154 million envisAGE Network, supported by $47 million in federal funding, that will help bring together industry, health experts, and investors to commercialize new health technologies. Together with Ontario, the federal government announced it will support the Oneida Energy storage project, which will be the largest electricity battery storage project in Canada
Economic Growth
The party states that Canada has made a remarkable recovery from the COVID recession, including:
– the strongest economic growth in the G7 over the last year
– 830,000 more Canadians employed than before the pandemic, with near-record low unemployment
– a record 85.7 per cent labour force participation rate for Canadian women in their prime working years, supported by our Canada-wide system of affordable early learning and child care
– inflation has fallen for eight months in a row (as of March 2023), and the Bank of Canada predicts that it will fall to just 2.6 per cent by the end of the year
– at the same time, many Canadians are faced with real affordability challenges, and are feeling the effects of higher grocery prices and housing costs. While inflation has fallen in Canada for eight straight months, it remains elevated—both in Canada and around the world. For many advanced economies, interest rates have risen to their highest levels in more than 15 years. This is resulting in slowing economic growth, both in Canada and around the world. The rapid rise in interest rates has also led to turmoil in some parts of the global banking system and volatility in global financial markets, highlighting the considerable uncertainty about how economic conditions will evolve going forward
– The nation’s strength and resilience in the face of global economic challenges has been underpinned by steps the government has taken since 2015, including support for:
(1) People, by investing in our public health care system, making childcare more affordable, and reinforcing Canada’s social safety net, including supports for children and seniors
(2) Growth, by investing in infrastructure, supporting investment in Canada’s clean economy, and helping Canadian businesses grow and create jobs
(3) Jobs, by helping workers acquire the skills they need, and helping our lowest-paid—and often most essential—workers and their families achieve a good standard of living
(4) Communities, by investing in infrastructure, more affordable housing, public transit, and broadband
However, the party warns that:
– while the Canadian economy has remained solid, higher interest rates are beginning to work their way through both the global and Canadian economies. This is resulting in weaker economic activity
– while business activity is at a healthy level and most businesses continue to report strong sales, many are also under financial pressure as the significant rise in interest rates boosts borrowing costs. A growing proportion of businesses expect activity to weaken in the coming year as the lagged impact of higher interest rates continues to feed into weaker consumer spending. As a result, many businesses have started to dial back their investment plans in recent months.
The party reports that since it came to power in 2015:
– 2.7 million fewer Canadians are living in poverty, a 56 per cent decrease
– income inequality has declined by 11 per cent
– the gender wage gap is getting smaller, having decreased by 12 per cent
– women are closing the labour force participation gap, which has decreased by 28 per cent
– more young people have good jobs, with the youth unemployment rate down by 22 per cent
Housing & Poverty Reduction
The party states that:
– everyone should have a safe and affordable place to call home
– for too many Canadians, including young people and new Canadians, the dream of owning a home is increasingly out of reach, and paying rent has become more expensive across the country. This is undermining the financial stability of an entire generation of Canadians
– a lack of affordable housing also has an impact on our economy. Without more homes in our communities, it is difficult for businesses to attract the workers they need to grow and succeed, and when people spend more of their income on housing, it means less money is being spent in our communities
– this is a complex and longstanding issue
In its Mandate Letter to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion at the beginning of its current term in office, the party instructed the Minister that:
– the Ministry’s overarching goal was to help ensure Canadians can get a home of their own, through work to improve housing affordability and end chronic homelessness, and to champion the full breadth of Canadian diversity through greater inclusion
– continuing the party’s rights-based approach to housing, the Ministry was to work with provinces, territories and municipalities to prioritize the launch of the new Housing Accelerator Fund and take action to protect consumers from anti-competitive practices in the real estate market
-to help address critical gaps, the Ministry was also to engage with Indigenous partners to begin co-development of an Urban, Rural and Northern Indigenous Housing Strategy
– the Ministry was also to lead a whole-of-government approach to build a more inclusive, equitable and just society, working to combat systemic racism, discrimination and xenophobia
The party reports that during its current term in office it has:
– introduced a two-year ban on non-resident, non-Canadians purchasing residential property to help curb speculation and ensure that houses are used as homes for Canadians to live in, rather than as financial assets for foreign investors;
– introduced a one per cent annual underused housing tax on the value of non-resident, non-Canadian owned residential property that is vacant or underused
– introduced a new Tax-Free First Home Savings Account to allow Canadians to save up to $40,000, tax-free, to help buy their first home
– ensured that profits from flipping properties held for less than 12 months are taxed fully and fairly
– doubled the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit to provide up to $1,500 in direct support to home buyers to offset closing costs involved in buying a first home
– introduced a new, refundable Multigenerational Home Renovation Tax Credit, to provide up to $7,500 in support for constructing a secondary suite for a senior or an adult with a disability, starting in 2023
– applied the Goods and Services Tax/Harmonized Sales Tax to all assignment sales of newly constructed or substantially renovated residential housing, to help address speculative trading in the housing market
– launched a new $4 billion Housing Accelerator Fund to remove barriers and incentivize housing supply growth, with the goal of creating at least 100,000 net new homes across Canada
– launched a $200 million stream under the Affordable Housing Innovation Fund to develop and scale up rent-to-own projects
– launched a third round of the Rapid Housing Initiative, which is providing $1.5 billion to create 4,500 new affordable housing units for Canadians in severe housing need, with 25 per cent of investments going to housing projects targeted towards women
– delivered more than $500 million towards the government’s goal of ending chronic homelessness, through Reaching Home, Canada’s Homelessness Strategy
– topped up the Canada Housing Benefit in December 2022, to low-income renters with a $500 payment to help with the cost of housing.
The party advocates:
– doubling the number of new homes that will be built in Canada within a decade, thereby helping more Canadians buy their first home and curb unfair practices that are driving up prices, including through reallocation of funding from the National Housing Co-Investment Fund’s repair stream to its new construction stream
– through the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, publishing a guideline to protect Canadians with mortgages who are facing exceptional circumstances, including specifically ensuring that federally regulated financial institutions provide Canadians with fair and equitable access to relief measures that are appropriate for the circumstances they are facing, including by extending amortizations, adjusting payment schedules, or authorizing lump-sum payments. Existing mortgage regulations may also allow lenders to provide a temporary mortgage amortization extension—even past 25 years
– with provinces and territories, begun development of a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights, to level the playing field for young, middle class, and new Canadians by making the process of buying a home more open, transparent, and fair, including for example by ensuring the legal right to a home inspection, requiring that real estate agents disclose whether they are representing both sides of a potential sale, and ensuring transparency on the history of sale prices
Living wage & Wealth Inequality
The party states that:
– despite Canada’s strong recovery from the pandemic, too many Canadians are struggling with the impacts of global inflation, which is making the cost of living a real challenge
– in the past year, it has strengthened Canada’s social safety net and provided targeted inflation relief to the Canadians who need it most
– it continues to introduce new, targeted measures to support Canadians, continuing efforts to avoid exacerbating inflation. These include cracking down on junk fees and making post-secondary education more affordable
The party reports that its key continuing activities include:
– supporting about 3.5 million families annually through the tax-free Canada Child Benefit, with families this year receiving up to $6,997 per child under the age of six, and up to $5,903 per child aged six through 17
– increasing Old Age Security benefits for seniors age 75 and older by ten per cent as of July 2022, providing more than $800 in additional support to full pensioners
– reducing fees for regulated child care by 50 per cent on average, delivering regulated child care that costs an average of just $10-a-day by 2026—with six provinces and territories reducing child care fees to $10-a-day or less by April 2, 2023—and strengthening the child care system in Quebec with more child care spaces
– strengthening the Canada Pension Plan, which will eventually raise the maximum retirement benefit by up to 50 per cent
– enhancing the Canada Workers Benefit for our lowest-paid—and often most essential—workers, to provide up to $1,428 for a single worker without children, up to $2,461 to a family, and an additional $737 for workers with disabilities
– permanently eliminating interest on Canada Student Loans, and ensuring borrowers do not need to make payments on their loans until they earn at least $40,000 per year
– fighting climate change while making life more affordable with a federal price on pollution that puts more money back in the pockets of eight out of every ten Canadians in the provinces where it applies
The party reports that it plans:
– a one-time Grocery Rebate, providing $2.5 billion in targeted inflation relief, to be delivered through a one-time payment from the Canada Revenue Agency as soon as possible following the passage of legislation
Labour & Employment
The party states that:
– as a core objective it prioritizes the creation of meaningful middle class jobs
– higher immigration and higher labour force participation are expanding the pool of available workers, and offsetting population aging more than in other G7 economies
– the resulting boost to employment has helped maintain real household disposable income per capita, even as it declined in peer economies. This is expected to continue..
The party further states that in order to promote skills and labour mobility for a clean economy, during its current term in office it has:
– Implemented Labour Market Transfer Agreements enabling provinces and territories to deliver training and employment supports tailored to their unique labour market needs, including with a $1.5 billion top-up in 2020 to enable workers to return to work in sectors hit hardest by the pandemic
– provided nearly $3 billion annually to provinces and territories for training and employment supports and a top-up of $2.7 billion over six years, starting in 2017-18
– invested over $200 million to expand the Union Training and Innovation Program to train more than 30,000 additional apprentices and journeypersons
– invested $250 million over three years for the Upskilling for Industry Initiative to support more than 15,000 workers, and $125 million over five years to launch the Sustainable Jobs Training Centre
– introduced a Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program to help key sectors of the economy implement solutions to address their current and emerging workforce needs and the Apprenticeship Service to support first-year apprentices in construction and manufacturing trades by providing employers with $5,000 for upfront costs like salary and training, or $10,000 for members of underrepresented groups
– introduced an Apprenticeship Service to help first year apprentices in construction and manufacturing Red Seal trades connect with opportunities at small and medium-sized employers
– to help workers at all skill levels improve their foundational and transferable skills, like problem solving and digital skills, provided free training resources and online skills assessments
– provided $815 million over five years for the Canada Training Credit, which covers up to 50 per cent of eligible training fees, and $595 million over six years for the Labour Mobility Deduction for Tradespeople to make it more affordable to travel to where the jobs are
– to promote creation of jobs, tied many of the above credits and solutions to requirements for payment of prevailing wages by employers and ensuring that apprenticeship opportunities are being created, the definition of prevailing wage being based on union compensation, including benefits and pension contributions from the most recent, widely applicable multi-employer collective bargaining agreement, or corresponding project labour agreements in the jurisdiction within which relevant labour is employed
– additionally, at least ten per cent of the tradesperson hours worked must be performed by registered apprentices in the Red Seal trades
To help tradespeople invest in the equipment they need, Budget 2023
– doubled the maximum employment deduction for tradespeople’s tool expenses from $500 to $1,000
Employee Business Ownership
To promote employee ownership and management of businesses, the party proposes to introduce legislation to support creation of Employee Ownership Trusts, and seeks stakeholder feedback on how best to enhance employee rights and participation in the governance of Employee Ownership Trusts
Seasonal and Gig Workers
The party states that:
– many seasonal workers, including within the fishing and tourism sectors, rely on Employment Insurance for the support between work seasons
– to address gaps in Employment Insurance support between seasons, it previously introduced temporary rules to provide up to five additional weeks—for a maximum of 45 weeks—for eligible workers in 13 economic regions
– it now proposes to to extend this support for seasonal workers until October 2024
– to protect workers who are classified as contractors but in reality qualify as regular employees, the party proposes to amend the Canada Labour Code to strengthen
prohibitions against employee misclassification
Union Rights
To support the right form unions, bargain collectively, and strike, the party proposes amendments to the Canada Labour Code that would prohibit the use of replacement workers during a strike or lockout, and improve the process to review activities that must be maintained to ensure the health and safety of the public during a work stoppage
Industries, Innovation & Agriculture
Mining & Critical Minerals
The party states that:
– as a global leader in mining, Canada is in a prime position to provide a stable resource base for critical minerals that are central to major global industries such as clean technology, auto manufacturing, health care, aerospace, and the digital economy
– for nickel and copper alone, the known reserves in Canada are more than 10 million tonnes, with many other potential sources at the exploration stage
– US legislation pertaining to critical minerals and electric vehicles in create opportunities for Canada, including in particular, requirements for robust supply chains of critical minerals that Canada has in abundance, to support acceleration of clean technology & manufacturing in the US
– to fully unleash Canada’s potential in critical minerals, a framework to accelerate private investment is required
– during its current term in office, previous budgets committed $3.8 billion for Canada’s Critical Minerals Strategy to provide foundational support to Canada’s mining sector to take advantage of these opportunities. The Strategy was published in December 2022
– in March 2023, it launched the Critical Minerals Infrastructure Fund to allocate $1.5 billion towards energy and transportation projects needed to unlock priority mineral deposits. The new fund will complement other clean energy and transportation supports, such as the Canada Infrastructure Bank and the National Trade Corridors Fund
The party proposes:
– a new Investment Tax Credit for Clean Technology Manufacturing to boost private investment in Canadian critical minerals projects and create new opportunities and middle class jobs in communities across the country
Clean Technology Manufacturing
The party states that:
– manufacturing and processing of clean technologies, and in the extraction and processing of critical minerals, can create good middle class jobs for Canadians and ensure that our businesses remain competitive in major global industries
– but investment will be required
The party proposes a refundable tax credit equal to 30 per cent of the cost of investments in new machinery and equipment used to manufacture or process key clean technologies, and extract, process, or recycle key critical minerals, including:
– extraction, processing, or recycling of critical minerals essential for clean technology supply chains, specifically: lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, copper, and rare earth elements;
– manufacturing of renewable or nuclear energy equipment;
– processing or recycling of nuclear fuels and heavy water;
– manufacturing of grid-scale electrical energy storage equipment;
– manufacturing of zero-emission vehicles; and,
– manufacturing or processing of certain upstream components and materials for the above activities, such as cathode materials and batteries used in electric vehicles
The investment tax credit is expected to cost $4.5 billion over five years, and an additional $6.6 billion from 2028-29 to 2034-35
Battery Manufacturing
The party states that:
– globally, major automakers are pivoting to building electric vehicles at historic speeds. Canada can capitalize on this shift by rapidly developing global supply chains for electric vehicle manufacturing, including in battery manufacturing and the critical minerals and high-value midstream components that play an essential role in their production
– such segments of the electric vehicle supply chain can create and secure more high-quality jobs for Canadian workers for a generation to come
– Volkswagen announced in March 2023 that its subsidiary PowerCo will build its first overseas ‘gigafactory’ in St. Thomas, Ontario. This massive facility will represent a significant portion of the North American battery manufacturing sector and will help to cement Canada’s place in the North American and global battery value chains
The party proposes investments directed toward:
– anchoring the future Canadian supply chain: Around 50 per cent of the battery’s total value accrues in battery cell and pack production activities
– accelerating investment across the value chain, including critical minerals
– promoting growth in the automotive sector of the future, including integration between battery and automotive manufacturing
– securing good jobs for Canadians, including factories such as battery gigafactories that can employ thousands of people, create valuable economic spin-off benefits for local communities, and support even more good jobs across their supply chains
– supporting the shift to a net-zero economy: the shift to using batteries and EVs is a vital part of Canada’s plan to reach net-zero by 2050
Research & Development
The party states that:
– Canada’s research community and world-class researchers solve some of the world’s toughest problems, and Canada’s spending on higher education research and development, as a share of GDP, has exceeded all other G7 countries
– during its current term in office it has committed more than $16 billion of additional funding to support research and science across Canada, including:
* $2.4 billion for the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the granting councils—the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research
* more than $500 million in total additional support to third-party research and science organizations, in addition to the creation of the Strategic Science Fund
* $1.2 billion for Pan-Canadian Genomics and Artificial Intelligence Strategies, and a National Quantum Strategy
* $1 billion in Budget 2021 to the granting councils and the Canada Foundation for Innovation for life sciences researchers and infrastructure
– it intends for Canada to become a full member in the Square Kilometre Array Observatory, which will provide Canadian astronomers with access to its ground-breaking data, with up to $269.3 million in support
– it has been consulting with stakeholders, including through the independent Advisory Panel on the Federal Research Support System, to seek advice on how to further strengthen Canada’s research support system
The party further proposes:
– in order to help more Canadian businesses access expertise and research and development facilities they need, providing $108.6 million over three years to expand the College and Community Innovation Program, administered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
Space Exploration
The party states that:
– Canada’s participation in the International Space Station has helped to fuel important scientific advances, and showcased Canada’s ability to create leading-edge space technologies, such as Canadarm2
– Canadian space technologies have inspired advances in other fields, such as the NeuroArm, the world’s first robot capable of operating inside an MRI, making previously impossible surgeries possible
It proposes:
– to provide $1.1 billion over 14 years, on a cash basis, to the Canadian Space Agency to continue national participation in the International Space Station until 2030
– to join efforts to return to the moon, by contributing a robotic lunar utility vehicle to perform key activities in support of human lunar exploration. Canadian participation in the NASA-led Lunar Gateway station—a space station that will orbit the moon—also presents new opportunities for innovative advances in science and technology. Canada is providing Canadarm3 to the Lunar Gateway, and a Canadian astronaut will join Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the moon since 1972
– in support of the moon project, to provide $1.2 billion over 13 years to the Canadian Space Agency to develop and contribute a lunar utility vehicle to assist astronauts on the moon
– to provide $150 million over five years to the Canadian Space Agency for the next phase of the Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program to support the Canada’s space industry
– to $76.5 million over eight years, on a cash basis, to the Canadian Space Agency in support of Canadian science on the Lunar Gateway station
Forestry
The party:
– states that the forestry sector plays an important role in Canada’s natural resource economy, and is a source of good careers in many rural communities, including Indigenous communities. As global demand for sustainable forest products grows, continued support for Canada’s forestry sector will help it innovate, grow, and support good middle class jobs
– proposes to provide $368.4 million over three years to Natural Resources Canada to renew and update forest sector support, including for research and development, Indigenous and international leadership, and data. Of this amount, $30.1 million would be sourced from existing departmental resources
Agriculture
In its mandate letter to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food at the beginning of its present term in office, the party instructed the Minister:
– to develop a sector-specific strategy to address persistent and chronic labour shortages in farming and food processing
– to prioritize measures to support efficiency and climate-resiliency in the agriculture and food sector to strengthen food security and significantly cut agriculture’s environmental footprint, as well as working closely with provinces and territories and producers to support the sustainable growth of the agricultural and agri-food sectors, with an aim to establish Canada as a global leader in the sector
– to strengthen Canada’s food system, with particular emphasis on developing a National School Food Policy
In addition, the party:
– states that Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has resulted in higher prices for nitrogen fertilizers, which has had a notable impact on Eastern Canadian farmers who rely heavily on imported fertilizer. It proposes to provide $34.1 million over three years to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s On-Farm Climate Action Fund to support adoption of nitrogen management practices by Eastern Canadian farmers, that will help optimize the use and reduce the need for fertilizer
– states that farm production costs have increased in Canada and around the world, including as a result Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine and global supply chain disruptions. It proposes to provide $13 million in 2023-24 to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to increase the interest-free limit for loans under the Advance Payments Program from $250,000 to $350,000 for the 2023 program year. Additionally, it undertakes to consult with provincial and territorial counterparts to explore ways to extend help to small agricultural producers who demonstrate urgent financial need
– states that Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) is a highly transmissible illness that can affect cattle, pigs, and other cloven-hoofed animals. Recent outbreaks in Asia and Africa have increased the risk of global spread. An FMD outbreak in Canada would cut off exports for all livestock sectors, with major economic implications. The party proposes to $57.5 million over five years to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to establish an FMD vaccine bank for Canada, and to develop FMD response plans. The government will seek a cost-sharing arrangement with provinces and territories.
Dairy
The party:
– states that the dairy sector is facing a growing surplus of solids non-fat (SNF), a byproduct of dairy processing. Limited processing capacity for SNF results in lost opportunities for dairy processors and farmers
– proposes to provide $333 million over ten years for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to support investments in research and development of new products based on SNF, market development for these products, and processing capacity for SNF-based products more broadly
Transportation & Infrastructure
In its Mandate Letter to the Minister of Transport at the beginning of its present term in office, the party instructed the Minister that:
– the Ministry’s immediate priority should be to enforce vaccination requirements across the federally-regulated transport sector that are in place and to continue to advance the restart and rebuilding of the commercial air sector
– it should also prioritize work to make High Frequency Rail a reality, and to advance measures that support Canada’s transition to net-zero, including accelerating the transition to zero emission vehicles.
The party states that:
– the expansion and transformation of Canada’s electricity system will require major investments and enhanced partnerships between governments and the private sector
– during its current term in office the Canada Infrastructure Bank has made investment commitments of $8.6 billion in 37 projects, in support of its mandate
The party proposes:
– to position the Canada Infrastructure Bank to play a leading role in electrifying Canada’s economy, supporting lower energy bills for Canadians and businesses, and ensuring that cleaner, affordable electricity is available from coast-to-coast-to-coast
– the Canada Infrastructure Bank invest at least $10 billion through its Clean Power priority area, and at least $10 billion through its Green Infrastructure priority area
– to support the building of a more sustainable, secure, and affordable electricity grid, providing $3.0 billion over 13 years, starting in 2023-24, to Natural Resources Canada to recapitalize funding for the Smart Renewables and Electrification Pathways Program to support critical regional priorities and Indigenous-led projects, and add transmission projects to the program’s eligibility; renew the Smart Grid program to continue to support electricity grid innovation; and create new investments in science-based activities to help capitalize on Canada’s offshore wind potential, particularly off the coasts of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador
– advancing the Atlantic Loop—a series of interprovincial transmission lines that will provide clean electricity between Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia—including negotiating with provinces and utilities to identify a clear path to deliver the project by 2030
VIA Rail
To ensure proper train service, the party proposes to provide $210.0 million over five years to VIA Rail to conduct maintenance on its trains on routes outside the Québec City–Windsor Corridor and to maintain levels of service across its network. This is in addition to the $42.8 million over four years, with $169.4 million in remaining amortization, provided in prior budgets to construct, maintain, and upgrade stations and maintenance centres in the Québec City–Windsor Corridor
Air Transport
The party states that in order to strengthen the Canadian Transportation Agency, make airlines more accountable, and ensure that passengers are fairly compensated for delays and cancellations, it proposes to:
– amend the Canada Transportation Act to strengthen airline obligations to compensate passengers for delays and cancellations, in alignment with the national air passenger rights regime with those of leading international approaches and ensure that Canadians are fairly compensated for travel delays that are within airlines’ control
– amend the Canada Transportation Act to make the Canadian Transportation Agency’s complaint adjudication process more efficient, and to provide the Minister of Transport with the authority to impose a regulatory charge on airlines to help cover the costs of resolving air passenger complaints
– allocate $75.9 million over three years to ensure the Canadian Transportation Agency has the resources for enforcement and compliance, and dispute resolution services
Banking & Finance
The party states that:
– Canadians must be confident that federally regulated financial institutions and their owners act with integrity, and that Canada’s financial institutions are protected, including from foreign interference
– it intends to amend the Bank Act, the Insurance Companies Act, the Trust and Loan Companies Act, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Act, and the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) to modernize the federal financial framework to address emerging risks to Canada’s financial sector
The party advocates amending the above acts to:
– expand the mandate of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) to include supervising federally regulated financial institutions (FRFIs) in order to determine whether they have adequate policies and procedures to protect themselves against threats to their integrity and security, including protection against foreign interference
– expand the range of circumstances where OSFI can take control of an FRFI to include where the integrity and security of that FRFI is at risk, where all shareholders have been precluded from exercising their voting rights, or where there are national security risks
– expand the existing authority for the Superintendent to issue a direction of compliance to include an act that threatens the integrity and security of an FRFI
– provide new powers under the PCMLTFA to allow the Minister of Finance to impose enhanced due diligence requirements to protect Canada’s financial system from the financing of national security threats, and allow the Director of FINTRAC to share intelligence analysis with the Minister of Finance to help assess national security or financial integrity risks posed by financial entities
– improve the sharing of compliance information between FINTRAC, OSFI, and the Minister of Finance
– designate OSFI as a recipient of FINTRAC disclosures pertaining to threats to the security of Canada, where relevant to OSFI’s responsibilities
Corporations, Competition & Consumerism
To assist consumers and small businesses, the party proposes:
– to protect consumers from hidden fees, in collaboration with regulatory agencies, provinces, and territories, to reduce junk fees for Canadians, including higher telecom roaming charges, event and concert fees, excessive baggage fees, and unjustified shipping and freight fees, building on recent amendments to the Competition Act to strengthen protections against hidden prices; and introducing amendments to the Bank Act and Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act to protect Canadians’ rights and interests when dealing with their banks; and a new policy direction to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to ensure Canadians can affordably and easily change, downgrade, or cancel services
– to address problems with predatory lending that affects the most vulnerable people, including low-income Canadians, newcomers, and seniors—through very high interest rate loans, by amending the Criminal Code, which currently allows rates equivalent to 47 per cent APR (annual percentage rate), to a maximum of 35 per cent APR, and to launch consultations on whether the criminal rate of interest should be further reduced; and to adjust the Criminal Code’s payday lending exemption to require payday lenders to charge no more than $14 per $100 borrowed
– in order to support owners of small businesses, to implement commitments secured from major card issues to lower fees processing for small businesses by up to 27 percent from current rates, while also protecting reward points for Canadian consumers offered by Canada’s large banks, and to provide free access to online fraud and cyber security resources to help them grow their online sales while preventing fraud and chargebacks
When it comes to broken appliances or devices, high repair fees and a lack of access to specific parts often mean Canadians are pushed to buy new products rather than repairing the ones they have. This is expensive for people and creates harmful waste
– to reduce waste and control costs for consumers and farmers, implementing a right to repair equipment and home appliances and electronics in 2024, by preventing companies from blocking repairs with complex programming or hard-to-obtain bespoke parts, etc.
– to reduce the number of charging devices consumers are required to purchase and recycle, explore following the lead of the European Union and mandate universal charge interfaces
The Dignity of Work
The party believes that:
– life in Canada is becoming harder, that young people struggle to find good jobs, that parents struggle with multiple jobs and enjoy less time with their children; and that the richest are richer than ever, while too many workers earn less than a living wage, and without the benefits and security of unions.
– the federal government has an important role to lay in creating better, fairer, and more secure jobs
The party advocates creating 300,000 good jobs with a new deal for climate action and good jobs.
Poverty Reduction
The party seeks to build a Canada without poverty, where all Canadians can count on quality public services and community supports to help them lead dignified lives. A core component of its plan is to enshrine the right to housing in law, and to end homelessness in Canada within a decade.
The party advocates:
– as a core component of its plan to end poverty, enshrining the right to housing in law, and to end homelessness in Canada within a decade
– because poor health and poverty are linked, national pharmacare and better access to mental health and additions support
Living wage & Wealth Inequality
The party states that too many Canadians live below the poverty line, while working 40 hours per week.
To ensure a living wage, the party advocates:
– working with provinces to launch a national basic income pilot project
– implementing a federal minimum wage of $15 per hour to cover more than 900,000 workers
– implementing a foreign buyer’s tax on sales of homes to non-residents, in order to end housing speculation which inflates housing prices
Pensions
The party believes that every Canadian should be able to count on a dignified, secure retirement.
The party advocates:
– ensuring that pension holders and employees entitled to severance pay have first priority in bankruptcy proceedings, rather than other investors
– prohibiting payouts and dividends from under-funded pension funds, and participation in a mandatory, industry financed insurance program to ensure that no worker is deprived of pension rights
– creation of a pension advisory commission to develop a long-term plant to protect Canada’s Old-Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplements and improve the amount of payments
An Economy to Serve People
The party advocates ensuring that public investments are directed to clean energy, sustainable infrastructure and boosting energy efficiency in communities across the country.
Jobs & dignity in employment
The party advocates, as a part of shifting to a new green economy, creating 300,000 new good jobs across Canada
The party states that without benefits like extended health coverage and dental care, temporary workers earn roughly 75 per cent of what permanent employees do, resulting in harm to the most vulnerable workers and giving employers an incentive to prefer part-time to full time workers.
The party advocates implementing rules to require that part-time and contract workers be compensated equally to full time workers.
Small businesses, trades & crafts
The party believes that small businesses need a government that will help them access the services and infrastructure they require to thrive and expand, while investing in a healthy and talented workforce.
The party advocates:
– reduction of small business taxes
– elimination of unfair merchant fees
– implementation of universal pharmacare to save small businesses approximately $600 dollars per employee per year
– enactment of legislation to end the unfair tax treatment of family transfers of small businesses to future generations
– simplification of access to government export services for entry into foreign markets
– increased investment of worker training to boost traditionally underemployed groups
Industries, innovation & agriculture
The party states that with the right choices now, Canadian industry can be a global leader as market needs evolve, with workers at the centre of a robust strategy to drive innovation and boost competitiveness.
The party advocates:
– as a start, updating and strengthening the Investment Canada Act to protect Canadian jobs to curb takeovers of Canadian companies without national security reviews
– replacing the Invest in Canada Agency with a new iCanada, a one-stop federal service bureau to help attract investors while championing Canadian industry
Automotive
– convening a summit with provincial, municipal, industry, and labour leaders to develop a National Automotive Strategy to attract and retain jobs and investment, including protection of Canadian product lines and manufacturing processes, and workers
– creating a tax-free Automotive innovation fund
– ensuring that federal incentives for zero-emissions vehicles prioritize made-in-Canada vehicles; and buying Canadian-made zero emissions vehicles for government fleets, to lead by example on sustainability while creating good jobs
Manufacturing
– convening all levels of government, business and labour leaders to develop a national industrial strategy to build an advanced low-carbon manufacturing economy, and grow the domestic market for Canadian manufactured goods
– providing strategic supports to our long-neglected steel and aluminum industries, to attract and retain investment and jobs
– resisting all tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum
– requiring use of Canadian steel and aluminum for infrastructure products across the country
Aerospace
– implementing a comprehensive National Aerospace Strategy to allow Canadian aerospace companies of all sizes commercialize new technologies, strengthen competitiveness, and train workers for good jobs in the sector
– positioning the aerospace sector to transition to a low-carbon economy and lead world clean aviation industry
Technology
– investing in R&D on a sector-specific basis with particular focus on technologies to support a low-carbon future
– stepping up as a partner to foster entrepreneurship and support a Canadian start-up culture, with a focus on helping companies scale up and retain employees
Agriculture
The party recognizes agriculture as the backbone of the economy, a source of community pride, and high-tech industry that requires a talented and skilled workforce.
The party advocates:
– implementing a national food strategy to invest in agricultural communities, support young and new farmers, and help ensure sustainable rural livelihoods
– protecting domestic supply management policies, ensuring reciprocity in all trade negotiations, and supporting supply-managed sectors in growth and innovation
– ensuring high-speed internet and wireless connectivity in farming regions
– to help young people and women establish farming livelihoods, working with provinces to improve training opportunities and provide low-cost start-up loans for new farmers
– ending unfair tax treatment of family farm transfers, to assist inter-generational passing of farms
– increased mental health support for farmers
– increased investment in public agricultural research, to keep canola farmers and others on the cutting edge of knowledge and innovation
– implementing a payment protection plan for food exporters
– working with producers to promote Canadian food products domestically
Unions and workers’ rights
The party states that although almost all workers pay into Employment Insurance, less than 40 per cent qualify for benefits when needed, and only one third of unemployed women can access benefits.
The party advocates:
– implementing a universal qualifying threshold of 360 hours to ensure that all workers can access needed benefits
– restoring the EI appeals system to make decisions fast and fair
– permanently restoring the Extra Five Weeks project, to address challenges faced by seasonal workers
– as an optional alternative to 18 months’ parental leave at 33 percent of salary, implementing shorter leave at a higher right, and allowing self-employed workers to opt in to benefits any time before they go on leave
– doubling parental leave benefits for parents of multiple children
– extending sick leave benefits to 50 weeks, and expanding re-training programs
– implementing a pilot program to allow workers with episodic disabilities to access EI benefits periodically, as needed
– instituting legal protections for the EI Operating account, to protect its funds for use as general revenue
– defending the Rand formula, so that unions can effectively advocate for workers, and continuing to oppose legislation that suspends rights to bargain and to strike
– ensuring that workers and employers work together to improve health and safety, and ensuring protection for whistleblowers
– updating the Labour Code to enhance safeguards for workers and ban use of replacement workers during labor disputes
Transportation and Infrastructure
The party believes that Canadians should be able to rely on the federal government to invest infrastructure projects that will make a real difference in communities across the country.
The party advocates:
– using Community Benefit Agreements to guarantee good jobs, training, apprenticeships, and support for local businesses are part of all infrastructure projects.
– implementing a permanent, direct, and allocation-based funding mechanism for modern public transit across Canada for the long term.
– increasing investment to help cities transition their bus fleets to electric drive, and expand affordable rail and bus options.
– working with communities for which it is a priority to develop fare-free transit
– increased federal funding to respond to disasters and adapt infrastructure to withstand floods, fires, and other extreme weather events
– ensuring that every community in Canada has access to affordable high-speed internet
Corporations, Competition & Consumerism
The party states that Canadians pay some of the highest prices for mobile and broadband internet in the world, while according to the CRTC the profit margins of Canada’s five largest telecom companies are almost 40%, and two million Canadians in rural and remote areas lack reliable internet access.
The party advocates:
– implementing a price cap to ensure that prices in Canada are no more than the global average.
– ensuring that every community in Canada has access to high-speed internet without delay
– requiring providers offer basic wireless and broadband plans that are available in other countries, and require unlimited data rates at affordable prices
– implementing a telecom consumer’s bill of rights
– ensuring that consumers have a right to repair electronic devices and other prices at affordable prices
– requiring financial institutions and advisors to provide advice that is in the best interest of the investor, rather than the bank
– creating a fair gasoline prices watchdog to investigate complaints of price gouging, to ensure gasoline prices are fair
– increasing the competition bureau’s power to proactively investigate anti-competitive activity in the gasoline market
– to protect traveller safety and consumer rights, strengthening the Air Passenger Bill of Rights
An Economy for All
The party states that:
– there are only two ways to create more wealth and prosperity: we can either work more or work more efficiently through increased productivity
– investments in R&D, innovation, more efficient production processes, machinery and equipment are critical to improvements in productivity and living standards
– improved productivity leads to better, higher-paying jobs
– in a context where there are manpower shortages in many sectors, investment is a way to increase production without necessarily having to employ more workers
– since 2015, business investment has gone down not only in the oil and gas sector, but in many others as well
– Canada is attracting less foreign direct investment
– a 2018 study by the School of Public Policy at the University of Calgary found $14 billion worth of direct and indirect federal business subsidies. Most if not all of these create unfair market distortions by favouring some companies or sectors at the expense of others
– Canada’s combined federal-provincial corporate income tax rate is the 12th highest amongst the 36O ECD countries
– abolishing the capital gains tax encourage every Canadian to save and invest more and would give our entrepreneurs access to a larger pool of capital
The party advocates:
– stop taking of billions of dollars from the private sector and redistributing them through subsidies, lowering taxes for all businesses and encouraging saving and investment to make our economy more productive
– eliminating all corporate subsidies and other inefficient government interventions (bailouts of failing companies, regional development grants, conditional loans and loan guarantees with an implicit subsidy, tax credits, etc.) that unfairly support some companies or business sectors. This will generate savings of between $5billion and $10billion a year
– gradually reducing over the course of one mandate the corporate income tax rate from its current 15% down to 10%. When completed, this measure will make about $9.5 billion a year available to businesses, allowing them to increase salaries or invest in productivity improvements
– over the course of one mandate, gradually abolish the personal capital gains tax by decreasing the inclusion rate from the current 50% down to 0%. When completed, this measure will put about $7 billion per year back into the pockets of Canadians
– end the policy of mass immigration as a solution to manpower shortages, and instead encouraging businesses to invest and improve their productivity
Housing & Poverty Reduction
The party states that:
– housing has become out of reach for many Canadians, in particular for young families living in big cities. Vancouver and Toronto have become two of the most unaffordable large cities in the world
– over the past decades, the federal government has spent billions of dollars and created various programs to make housing more affordable. Among other things, it has manipulated the financial criteria to qualify for mortgages and mortgage insurance, provided tax breaks to first buyers, and funded social housing
– the fundamental problem however is the mismatch between supply of and demand for housing, that are being made worse by other government policies, in particular mass immigration and zoning restrictions
– about 40% of immigrants to Canada end up settling in only two cities, Toronto and Vancouver, where the housing shortage is most acute. The Trudeau government has increased immigration targets from 250,000 per year to 500,000 in 2025. Immigrants include more temporary foreign workers and foreign students, large numbers of illegal immigrants, and plans to accept hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian refugees under a special program. The resulting skyrocketing number of newcomers is one of the main reasons for the constantly high level of demand for housing and the exorbitant prices in Canadian cities. Even the building of many homes could not keep up with this level of demand
– current inflationary monetary policy – that is, the Bank of Canada printing too much money in order to fund the current government’s gigantic deficits – adds to the already overheated conditions in the housing market
– housing is primarily a provincial or local responsibility.
The party advocates:
– substantially reducing immigration quotas, from about 500k per year planned 2025 to 100k-150k per year
– modifying the Bank of Canada’s inflation target, from 2% to 0%. This will cool down inflation in all sectors, including housing
– respecting local and provincial governments’ responsibility for housing policies, making such governments accountable to their citizens and lifting federal pressure to “densify” neighbourhoods of single-family homes in order to accommodate mass immigration policies
– privatizing or dismantling the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), so that Canadians are not encouraged to buy houses they can’t afford, and accumulate massive amounts of debt that the federal government, and ultimately Canadian taxpayers, will be responsible fo
– working with provinces to curb speculation and money laundering by foreign non-resident buyers in Canada’s land and housing markets.
Agriculture
The party states that:
– supply management is a government-imposed cartel that keeps the prices of dairy, poultry, and eggs artificially high through the control of production, the banning of imports, price fixing, and the prevention of competition in the market
– the system forces producers to buy quotas which grant permission to produce a set amount. For example, it costs between $20,000 and $40,000 to get the right to milk one cow
– supply management limits imports by imposing tariffs that range from150% for eggs to 300% for butter, and results in Canadian farmers being barred from exporting their products, and negatively impacts other sectors of our economy, such as the food processing and food preparation industries
– supply management also supports one of the most influential lobbies in Ottawa, with affects on free trade negotiations
– according to the OECD, supply management caused Canadian consumers to pay $3.6 billion more every year between 2011 and 2015
-according to a study done by University of Manitoba economists, supply management imposes a financial burden of $339 annually on the poorest 20% of Canadian households, the equivalent of a2.3% tax on their incomes
– the market value of quotas was estimated at $35 billion in 2016. But that’s not what it would cost the government to buy them back if it decided to abolish the system, rather the accounting value of quotas after depreciation would form the basis for compensation, with farmers who bought them recently being reimbursed close to the market value, while those who bought them at lower prices years ago would get less, and those who got them for free would get nothing. The Conference Board of Canada estimated such a buy-out would cost between $3.6 billion and $4.7 billion in total.
The party advocates:
– creating a free, open, and fair system that will save Canadians billions of dollars annually by phasing out the supply management system over a number of years to allow farmers to adapt, and compensate them for the lost value of their quotas
– phasing out the supply management system over a number of years to allow farmers to adapt, and compensating them for the lost value of their quotas
– allowing Canada’s dairy, egg and poultry farmers to thrive and sell their products internationally
Points to Ponder: An Economy to Serve People
Consider discussing the following questions with your local candidates, elected officials, and the parties, and with your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and fellow parishioners:
Poverty Reduction
– What can be done to ensure that all Canadians are encouraged and enabled to apply the full range of their talents and gifts to the care of their families, to lift themselves out of poverty, and in doing so to give praise to God as co-creators, through meaningful creative work?
– How can Canada best strike a balance between the principles of solidarity – ‘we’re all in this together’ – and subsidiarity – ‘everyone should do what he or she can to support themselves, before burdening others?’
– What is an appropriate definition of poverty, particularly in a society overflowing with consumer objects and material wealth? Should such definitions include consideration of the ability of individuals to seek personal fulfillment in pursuing truth?
– What, if anything, should be done to ensure that a dignified living wage, capable of providing a dignified home and opportunity to support a family is available to workers, or those willing to work, or to reduce poverty in Canada? Should a basic income policy be considered? If so, what form should it take? What can or should be done by the provinces, and what should be left to the federal government, or to private or community organizations?
– It has been observed that debt levels among the elderly are increasing, especially as the costs of long-term, dignified care increase. What can or should be done to alleviate poverty and debt among the elderly?
GDP & Well-Being
For decades, governments have focused exclusively on gross domestic product – a measure of an economy’s sheer productivity – as the best measure of national economic health. More recently, some voices have begun to advocate for a broader index of national well-being, to include factors such as the physical and emotional health of the people, the health of the environment, equity in housing, income, and opportunity, and food security, in addition to raw production.
Recently a few parties have begun to propose alternative “wellness” indices, based on factors selected to represent the health, happiness, and well-being of society and its individual members. And in 2019 the current government quietly introduced a new “Quality of Life” measure in its instructions to new cabinet ministers, and caused a “Quality of Life Hub” to be posted on the Internet at https://www160.statcan.gc.ca/index-eng.htm. The Hub introduces the index, a draft method for measuring it, and solicits public feedback.
– Which of these approaches is more likely to reflect the well being of current and future national, provincial, or local populations, and their ability to achieve personal fulfillment in seeking and finding truth?
– What else can or should be done to ensure that Canada’s economy serves the people, rather than the other way around? Is it reasonable to demand continuous economic growth, or might it be preferable to seek sustainable contentment?
Businesses and Corporations
For decades, corporate lobby groups and business schools have taught that the only legitimate object of a business corporation is to make money for its shareholders. More recently, some business voices have begun to advocate a broader role for corporations, to include service of its employees, its customers, and the community, and protection of the environment, as part of a corporation’s proper role.
– Which of these object definitions is more consistent with church teachings? Should anything be done to encourage development of a corporate and business culture that aims to serve people, communities, and future generations, in addition to profits? If so, what?