Jobs & the Economy: Distributive Justice

An economy for all generations: sustainability & the economy

The Church’s view:

One of the higher priority issues in economics is the utilization of resources, that is, of all those goods and services to which economic subjects — producers and consumers in the private and public spheres — attribute value because of their inherent usefulness in the areas of production and consumption.

Resources in nature are quantitatively scarce, which means that each individual economic subject, as well as each individual society, must necessarily come up with a plan for their utilization in the most rational way possible, following the logic dictated by the “principle of economizing”...

The tendency towards an ill-considered exploitation of the resources of creation is the result of a long historical and cultural process… The aspect of the conquest and exploitation of resources has become predominant and invasive, and today it has even reached the point of threatening the environment's hospitable aspect: the environment as ‘resource' risks threatening the environment as ‘home'.

Because of the powerful means of transformation offered by technological civilization, it seems that the balance between man and the environment has reached a critical point.

A reductionistic conception quickly spread, starting from the presupposition — which was seen to be erroneous — that an infinite quantity of energy and resources are available, that it is possible to renew them quickly, and that the negative effects of the exploitation of the natural order can be easily absorbed…

This reductionistic conception views the natural world in mechanistic terms and sees development in terms of consumerism. Primacy is given to doing and having rather than to being, and this causes serious forms of human alienation…

A correct understanding of the environment prevents the utilitarian reduction of nature to a mere object to be manipulated and exploited. At the same time, it must not absolutize nature and place it above the dignity of the human person himself. In this latter case, one can go so far as to divinize nature or the earth, as can readily be seen in certain ecological movements that seek to gain an internationally guaranteed institutional status for their beliefs.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §§ 346, 461-463

2015 Platform:

Canadians want a government they can trust to protect the environment and grow the economy. Our plan will deliver the economic growth and jobs Canadians need, and leave to our children and grandchildren a country even more beautiful, more sustainable, and more prosperous than the one we have now.

We will partner with provincial and territorial leaders to develop real climate change solutions, consistent with our international obligations, all while growing our economy. We will attend the Paris climate conference, and within 90 days formally meet to establish a pan-Canadian framework for combatting climate change.
We will work together to establish national emissions-reduction targets, and ensure that the provinces and territories have targeted federal funding and the flexibility to design their own policies.
Partnering with the provinces and territories, we will create a new Low Carbon Economy Trust. The Trust will provide funding to projects that materially reduce carbon emissions under the new pan-Canadian framework. We will endow the Low Carbon Economy Trust with $2 billion.
We will protect our communities from the challenges of climate change and grow our economy by making significant new investments in green infrastructure.
We will fulfill our G20 commitment and phase out subsidies for the fossil fuel industry over the medium-term.
We will also work in partnership with the United States and Mexico to develop an ambitious North American clean energy and environmental agreement.
We will make it easier and more financially rewarding for Canadian businesses to invest in creating clean jobs.
We will invest $100 million more each year in clean technology producers.
We will deliver more support to emerging clean tech manufacturing companies, making it easier for them to conduct research and bring new products to market.
We will also invest $200 million more each year to support innovation and the use of clean technologies in our natural resource sectors, including the forestry, fisheries, mining, energy, and agricultural sectors.
The new Canada Infrastructure Bank will issue Green Bonds to fund projects like electric vehicle charging stations and networks, transmission lines for renewable energy, building retrofits, and clean power storage.
We will enhance existing tax measures to generate more clean technology investments.
We will deliver a better quality of life for all Canadians by working with the provinces to set stronger air quality standards, monitor emissions, and provide incentives for investments that lead to cleaner air and healthier communities.
As the country’s single largest employer, customer, and landlord, we will lead by example and increase government use of clean technologies. This will boost domestic demand for clean technology, support entrepreneurs, and fuel new jobs.
We will improve energy efficiency standards for consumer and commercial products, and use new financing instruments to encourage investments in energy-saving retrofits to Canada’s industrial, commercial, and residential buildings.
We will provide more support for our clean technology companies to successfully export their products by training trade officials and leading trade missions focused on clean technology.
We will look for ways for government to be an “early adopter” of emerging green technologies, and will support clean transportation by adding electric vehicle charging stations at federal parking lots, and rapidly expanding the federal fleet of electric vehicles.
To foster creativity, we will establish Canada Research Chairs in sustainable technology.
We will also work closely with the provinces and territories to develop a Canadian Energy Strategy to protect Canada’s energy security; encourage energy conservation; and bring cleaner, renewable energy onto the electricity grid

To invest $6 billion in 2015-19; $20 billion over 2015-2025, for greener energy, cleaner land, sustainable jobs and economy.

2019 Platform:

New Democrats want to build a future where families have good jobs and secure livelihoods- and where the move to a sustainable economy means more opportunity for workers, not less.

A New Democrat government will declare a climate emergency and put in place ambitious, science-based greenhouse gas reductions targets that will help stabilize the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Recognizing that putting a price on carbon is an important tool to drive greenhouse gas reductions at the source, we will continue carbon pricing, including rebates to qualifying households.
The federal government can become a trail-blazer in renewable energy use. We procure from Canadian companies producing clean technology, ensure that federal buildings use renewable use renewable energy, and move the vehicle fleets of the federal government to electric by 2025, choosing made-in-Canada wherever possible.
Create over 300,000 good jobs in all communities within a first mandate, and rebuild local economies with meaningful, family-sustaining work in every part of the country, all while helping to make the changes we need to succeed in a low carbon future.
Make sure that physical, digital, and social infrastructure investments contribute to emissions reductions and support all regions and communities, especially those already experiencing the impacts of climate change, with the good, family-sustaining jobs they bring.
We will also expand support and technological assistance to bring more innovative Canadian clean technologies to market and support manufacturing right here at home.
require all sectors to reduce energy demand, create jobs, and save people money, begin by working in partnership with the provinces and territories to fund energy efficient retrofits of housing units and government buildings, expanding outwards from there.
We will set a target of retrofitting all housing stock in Canada by 2050, providing low-interest loans repayable through energy savings to pay for home upgrades like insulation, windows, heat pumps, and other renewable technologies.
We’ll improve the National Building Code to ensure that by 2030 every new building built in Canada is net-zero energy ready. Energy efficiency will be at the core of our national housing strategy, leveraging the power of federal investments to create good jobs all across the country delivering the affordable housing Canadians need.

To set our communities up for climate change resilience, a New Democrat government will work with provinces, municipalities and Indigenous governments to make sure that Canadian communities have the resources they need to cope safely with extreme weather events.

2018 Policy Declaration:

The Conservative Party:

Believes that Canada has a natural economic advantage due to an abundance of fossil fuels, uranium, renewable sources of biomass fuel, hydro power generation, and some of the world’s best wind regimes.
Believes that government should develop a renewable and non-renewable energy framework which takes into account outstanding obligations and which will meet our long-term requirements for domestic consumption and export.
Believes that strengthening energy market integration will ensure greater reliability of energy supplies across Canada.
Encourages the government to explore ways to reduce barriers to the movement of energy products across provincial and other borders. The government of Canada should provide leadership and work closely with provincial and territorial governments to align energy goals in the best interests of all Canadians and seek to achieve a positive impact on energy infrastructure development, energy supply and energy demand in Canada by removing artificial barriers to interprovincial and international energy trade.
Continues to support exploration for fossil fuels, pipeline construction, transportation efficiencies and plant improvements to increase energy conversion efficiencies and reduce pollutant and greenhouse gas discharges. We support the application of nuclear energy and its associated industries to provide energy to Canadians while reducing negative impacts on the environment.

We believe the government should support and encourage the private development of alternative sources of energy and fuels, including: wind, solar, and geothermal sources of energy; alternative transportation fuels including bio-diesel from oil seed crops and methanol, ethanol or methane from biomass and organic waste; fuel cell technology and the use of hydrogen as transportation fuel.

Vision Green, 2019

Greens know that the notion of unending economic growth is a dangerous illusion. We can do far more with far less.

The central driving principle of Green Economic Policy is to improve well-being by increasing efficiency and eliminating waste. Our society has embedded wasteful practices at every turn. We waste raw materials, waste water, and waste energy. In fact, of all the energy used by Canadians, more than half is wasted. Green economic policies aim to improve the efficiency of resource and energy use by a factor of four

This generation has the potential to capitalize on the single biggest business opportunity in human history: the shift to a post-fossil fuel economy. Whether this is driven by the need to end the recession through economic stimulus, high energy extraction costs, or collapsing oil prices, strategic geopolitical threats to foreign oil, the climate crisis, or all of them combined, the country that mobilizes resources to develop and commercialize smarter technologies (e.g. alternate fuels, renewable energy, and energy efficiency) will survive and thrive.

A smart economy is one that is resilient. A smart economy is diversified, less vulnerable to global shifts. A smart economy enriches localized value chains, producing more goods and employing more Canadians. According to numerous studies, the more ambitious environmental standards and regulations are adopted, the more competitive and productive is your economy.

The least expensive energy alternative for Canada is investment in enhanced energy productivity through energy efficiency and conserving energy. With existing technology, fully implemented, Canada could easily reduce energy demand by 50%. The Greens support a full portfolio of sensible energy choices − 100% clean and green power.
Canada’s potential wind and tidal resources are amongst the best in the world. Yet, they have hardly been tapped.
In order to increase energy efficiency of homes, develop a national energy retrofit standard designed for a post-carbon economy that will reduce energy use in existing buildings by an average of at least 80% below that of 2009 average structures; and Develop timelines and targets for raising existing building stock to the new standard with the goal of retrofitting 100% of Canada’s buildings to a high level of energy efficiency by 2030;
Work with all governments and businesses in Canada to join a Canadian green car buying pool and to join the Plug-In Partners buying pool;
Offer scale-based rebates of up to $5,000 for the purchase of the most efficient vehicles, including electric vehicles, and scale-based fees on the purchase of inefficient vehicles;
Require mandatory vehicle fuel efficiency labelling, adopting the European system;
Allow tax write-off benefits only for energy efficient company cars;
Provide incentives for Canadian manufacturers of electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles;

Establish a new authority to create a just transition fund for the automobile sector, funded by an additional fee on all sales of inefficient cars in Canada.

2019 Platform:

It is an undisputed fact that the world’s climate has always changed and will continue to change. Until twelve thousand years ago, much of Canada was under ice, and it is thanks to natural climate change that we can live here today.

There is no scientific consensus on the theory that CO2 produced by human activity is causing dangerous global warming today or will in the future, and that the world is facing environmental catastrophes unless these emissions are drastically reduced. Many renowned scientists continue to challenge this theory.

The policy debate about global warming is not grounded on science anymore. It has been hijacked by proponents of big government who are using crude propaganda techniques to impose their views.

They publicly ridicule and harass anyone who expresses doubt. They make exaggerated claims to scare people. They even manipulate school children, getting them to pressure their parents and to demonstrate in the streets.

Climate change alarmism is based on flawed models that have consistently failed at correctly predicting the future. None of the cataclysmic predictions that have been made about the climate since the 1970s have come true. No new ice age. No steady warming in direct relation with increases in CO2 levels. No disappearance of polar ice caps. No exceptional rise in ocean levels. No abnormal increase in catastrophic weather events. No widespread crop failure and famine.
In fact, CO2 is beneficial for agriculture and there has recently been a measurable “greening” of the world in part thanks to higher levels. Despite what global warming propaganda claims, CO2 is not a pollutant. It is an essential ingredient for life on Earth and needed for plant growth.

Our Plan

Given the uncertainties over the scientific basis of global warming, and the certainties about the huge costs of measures designed to fight it, there is no compelling reason to jeopardize our prosperity with more government interventions.

A People’s Party government will:

Withdraw from the Paris Accord and abandon unrealistic greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.
Stop sending billions of dollars to developing countries to help them reduce their emissions.
Abolish the Liberal government’s carbon tax and leave it to provincial governments to adopt programs to reduce emissions if they want to.
Abolish subsidies for green technology and let private players develop profitable and efficient alternatives.
Invest in mitigation strategies if problems arise as a result of any natural climate change.

Prioritize implementing practical solutions to make Canada’s air, water and soil cleaner, including bringing clean drinking water to remote First Nations communities.

An economy for all Canadians: an economy at the service of the people.

Ensuring dignified employment and a living wage for all.

The Church’s view:

The Catechism

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. Economic activity, conducted according to its own proper methods, is to be exercised within the limits of the moral order, in keeping with social justice so as to correspond to God's plan for man.

Human work proceeds directly from persons created in the image of God and called to prolong the work of creation by subduing the earth, both with and for one another. Hence work is a duty: "If any one will not work, let him not eat."

Work honors the Creator's gifts and the talents received from him. It can also be redemptive… Work can be a means of sanctification and a way of animating earthly realities with the Spirit of Christ. In work, the person exercises and fulfills in part the potential inscribed in his nature.

Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§ 2426-2428

The Compendium:

Each person must have access to the level of well-being necessary for his full development. The right to the common use of goods is the first principle of the whole ethical and social order and the characteristic principle of Christian social doctrine.

The demands of the common good concern the provision of essential services to all… food, housing, work, education and access to culture, transportation, basic health care, the freedom of communication and expression, and the protection of religious freedom.

There are good reasons to hold that, in many circumstances, the free market is the most efficient instrument for utilizing resources and effectively responding to needs….

The individual profit of an economic enterprise, although legitimate, must never become the sole objective. Together with this objective there is another, equally fundamental but of a higher order: social usefulness... When the free market carries out the important functions mentioned above it becomes a service to the common good and to integral human development. The inversion of the relationship between means and ends, however, can make it 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…

The fundamental task of the State in economic matters is that of determining an appropriate juridical framework for regulating economic affairs, such that one party would not be so powerful as practically to reduce the other to subservience.

It is necessary for the market and the State to act in concert, one with the other, and to complement each other mutually.

Work is an essential expression of the person… Any form of materialism or economic tenet that tries to reduce the worker to being a mere instrument of production, a simple labour force with an exclusively material value, would end up hopelessly distorting the essence of work and stripping it of its most noble and basic human finality.

Thanks to technological innovations, the world of work is being enriched with new professions while others are disappearing….

The demands of competition, technological innovation and the complexities of financial fluxes must be brought into harmony with the defence of workers and their rights.

The duty of the State does not consist so much in directly guaranteeing the right to work of every citizen, making the whole of economic life very rigid and restricting individual free initiative, as much as in the 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 globalization of the economy, with the liberalization of markets, the stiffening of competition, the increase of specialized businesses in providing goods and services, requires greater flexibility in the labour market and in organizing and managing production processes.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §§ 271, 290, 291, 312, 313

2018 Policy Resolutions:

Resolved to lead partnership with Canadian businesses, unions, and educational institutions to identify new sectors for development of new private enterprises, and ensure innovations translate into stable, quality jobs

2015 Platform

A strong economy starts with a strong middle class. Our plan offers real help to Canada’s middle class and all those working hard to join it. When our middle class has more money in their pockets to save, invest, and grow the economy, we all benefit.

To get our economy growing again, we need to immediately invest in helping our businesses and entrepreneurs – including those in manufacturing – become more innovative, competitive, and successful. Over the next three years, we will:
invest $200 million each year in a new Innovation Agenda to significantly expand support for incubators and accelerators, as well as the emerging national network for business innovation and cluster support; and
invest an additional $100 million each year in the Industrial Research Assistance Program, which has a proven track record of helping small- and medium-sized businesses to innovate and become world leaders.
Promise $500 million per year for training for those on Employment Insurance through provincial & territorial Labour Market development agreements
Promise $200 million per year for training the unemployed, through provincial and territorial programs
Promise $75 million per year to expand Aboriginal Skills & Employment Training
To attract investment and create good jobs in food processing, we will invest $160 million, over four years, in an Agri-Food Value Added Investment Fund. This will provide technical and marketing assistance to help food processors develop new value-added products that reflect changing tastes and market opportunities.
To support innovation in the agricultural sector, we will invest an additional $100 million, over four years, in agricultural research. To better allocate research funding, we will establish a transparent process that involves food producers.
We will protect our National Parks by limiting development within them, and where possible, we will work with nearby communities to help grow local ecotourism industries and create jobs

Because Canada relies on international trade to create jobs and grow our economy, we will work to reduce the barriers that limit trade. With a re-focused Building Canada Fund, we will promote a steadier flow of goods and business travelers by modernizing border infrastructure and streamlining cargo inspections.

Party Constitution:

New Democrats affirm a role for government in helping to create the conditions for sustainable prosperity. We believe in a rules-based economy, nationally and globally, in which governments have the power to address the limitations of the market in addressing the common good by having the power to act in the public interest for social and economic justice, and for the integrity of the environment

2019 Platform:

To make sure that Canadians can succeed in a low-carbon future, the federal government needs to step up to provide training and re-training for the next boom – making sure that public investments are directed to clean energy, sustainable infrastructure and boosting energy generation.

New Democrats will create 300,000 good jobs Power to Change: A new deal for climate action and good jobs, addressing the climate crisis while making life better for all Canadians.

New Democrats believe that everyone deserves a living wage – and in government, we’ll put in place a federal minimum wage of $15 an hour that will cover over 900,000 workers. Not only will this help hundreds of thousands of workers, it will also set a national standard for a fair, living wage.
Without access to benefits like extended health coverage and dental care, temporary workers earn roughly 75 per cent of what permanent employees do – a divide that hits the most vulnerable and precarious workers hardest, and gives employers an incentive to limit the number of full-time positions they offer. We will put in place rules to require that part-time and contract workers be compensated equally to full-time workers

The rampant use of unpaid internships exposes young workers to abuse. A New Democrat government will immediately ban unpaid internships outside of education programs.
We will also work to reduce the inefficient and costly practice of contracting out government work,
Amend Investment Canada Act to protect Canadian jobs by limiting foreign takeovers without national security reviews.
A New Democrat government will bring together all levels of government, together with business and labour leaders, to develop a national industrial strategy to build an advanced low carbon manufacturing economy in Canada that will provide good middle-class jobs to Canadian workers. We will also take measures to grow the domestic market for Canadian manufactured goods, and provide strategic supports to our long-neglected steel and aluminum industries to attract and retain jobs and investments in communities across the country.
New Democrats believe that Canadians should be able to count on the federal government to invest in infrastructure to make a real difference in communities across the country. These investments will create good jobs in every part of the country;

Replace Invest in Canada agency with iCanada, ‘a one-stop shop inside the federal government to help attract investors and turn their plans into reality.

2018 Policy Declaration:

The Conservative Party believes:

That it is the responsibility of government to create an economic climate in which Canadians can thrive and prosper, and with their success create quality job opportunities for Canadians;
in the principle of maximizing value-added processing in Canada, and that the government should create an economic environment that encourages Canadian businesses to export products rather than raw materials;
that a dollar in the hand of a Canadian citizen is better than a dollar in the hand of a government bureaucracy. Canadians should be enjoying a higher standard of living, a more competitive economy and greater productivity, similar to our major trading partners;
that Canada’s competitive position in the world should never be impeded by a lack of ethics in Canada’s government;
that lower taxes and reduced government interference in the economy will result in more purchasing power in the hands of the people of Canada, which leads to a more competitive economy, greater productivity, more quality job opportunities, and a higher standard of living; v
that the Government adopts an aggressive regulatory reform process designed to eliminate red tape; and
that the government of Canada takes action to accelerate Canada’s productivity growth rate by: a) increasing human capital through better secondary, post-secondary and job related education as well as more efficient immigration of skilled workers; and b) encouraging efficiency and innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises through greater R&D, capital investment and organizational sophistication.

A Conservative government:

Supports increased competition and streamlined regulation as key to higher standards of living
Supports National Disability Act to promote reasonable access to medical care, education, employment, and housing for the disabled.
Support amendment of Investment Canada Act to expand the review process to include review of benefits relevant to stated Canadian policies and national security.
Support privatization of crown corporations that compete directly with comparable private sector institutions
Supports relaxation or elimination of restriction on foreign ownership of Canadian companies.
Supports and encourages private development of Energy East pipeline, to reduce reliance on foreign oil.

Vision Green, 2019

A healthy democracy requires a large, strong, healthy middle class. The well-being of Canada’s middle class is threatened as the gap between the rich and the poor widens and middle-class families find it harder to meet all their needs, in terms of both money and time.

Green Economic Policy is to improve well-being by increasing efficiency and eliminating waste. Our society has embedded wasteful practices at every turn. Green economic policies aim to improve the efficiency of resource and energy use by a factor of four.

New revenue streams for all Canadians, with disproportionate benefits to middle- and lower-income Canadians will be funded through Carbon Fee and Dividend with cheques returned to every Canadian.

Family-friendly programs in child care and greater access to community facilities in recreation and health promotion activities will boost health and community networks.

Green Party MPs will Increase revenues for lower and middle income Canadians through dividends paid to each Canadian through Carbon Fee and Dividend. Carbon fees collected at the well or mine will be paid out to every Canadian on a per capita basis.

A smart economy is one that is resilient. A smart economy is diversified, less vulnerable to global shifts. A smart economy enriches localized value chains, producing more goods and employing more Canadians. According to numerous studies, the more ambitious environmental standards and regulations are adopted, the more competitive and productive is your economy.

To get there from here, market distortions created by a failure to internalize externalities must be removed. The single most significant government policy tool to advance or retard economic sustainability resides in the fiscal framework. Our fiscal plan is straightforward.

Use the tax system to help meet societal and ecological goals. Get the prices right. Allow business to pursue profit, with clear signals of environmental and societal objectives. The Green commitment to Green tax relief will:
Reduce income taxes;
Reduce payroll taxes;
Raise taxes on profits of large corporations to the mid-range of OECD countries;
Recover taxes hidden in off-shore tax havens;
Introduce a carbon price through a carbon fee and dividend system, sending a clear economic signal that wasting energy and resources implies real costs. Under the Green Party of Canada “carbon fee and dividend” plan, carbon fees collected at the well head or coal mine will be paid out to every Canadian on a per capita basis. It will serve as a fair and efficient income redistribution mechanism.
The Greens will also eliminate large corporate subsidies and grants programs.
Green MPs will:

Establish a new authority to create a just transition fund for the automobile sector, funded by an additional fee on all sales of inefficient cars in Canada.

Freeing our economy from interprovincial trade barriers would help families and businesses. It would also increase competition, raise productivity, and unite our country.

A People’s Party government will:

Reassert the authority and leadership of the federal government on internal trade. Use section 91(2) of the Constitution to force provinces to apply the principle of mutual recognition where applicable. This principle means that if a worker, product or service meets regulatory standards in one province, then other provinces will trust that they meet their own standards.
Appoint a Minister of Internal Trade whose sole responsibility will be to conduct studies, raise public awareness, counteract the influence of special interests that benefit from interprovincial barriers, and put pressure on provincial governments to get rid of them.

The Peoples’ plan has four key components:

Raise the Basic Personal Exemption to $15,000
Eliminate two tax brackets so that income from $15,001 to $100,000 is taxed at 15%
Tax income over $100,001 at 25%
Eliminate boutique tax credits that serve no public policy purpose.

Canada’s combined corporate income tax rate is 15 highest in the OECD. Bringing it down to 10% will increase the after-tax return on investment, and thus encourage businesses to invest more. This will create jobs and unleash Canada’s productive forces. This is the right plan.

These measures would put a significant amount of money back into Canadians pockets. Whether they are working class or wealthy, the Government will not be picking winners and losers. The vast majority of Canadians would pay a single 15% rate, while 1.5 million more of the lowest income Canadians will be taken off the tax rolls.

Consumerism & National Wealth: a perversion of the economy.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods.

The 10^th Commandment

The Church’s view:

The economy has as its object the development of wealth and its progressive increase, not only in quantity but also in quality; this is morally correct if it is directed to man's overall development in solidarity and to that of the society in which people live and work.

Development, in fact, cannot be reduced to a mere process of accumulating goods and services. On the contrary, accumulation by itself, even were it for the common good, is not a sufficient condition for bringing about authentic human happiness.

In this sense, the Church warns against the treachery hidden within a development that is only quantitative, for the “excessive availability of every kind of material goods for the benefit of certain social groups, easily makes people slaves of ‘possession' and of immediate gratification ... This is the so-called civilization of ‘consumption' or ‘consumerism.'

it is necessary to create lifestyles in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors which determine consumer choices, savings and investments.

… it seems that the balance between man and the environment has reached a critical point. Nature appears as an instrument in the hands of man, a reality that he must constantly manipulate... A reductionistic conception has spread, starting from the presupposition —seen to be erroneous — that an infinite quantity of energy and resources are available, that it is possible to renew them quickly…

...the cultural challenge that consumerism poses today must be met with greater resolve, above all in consideration of future generations, who risk having to live in a natural environment that has been pillaged by an excessive and disordered consumerism.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §§ 47, 334, 358-360, 376, 461-463

2019 Platform

Canadians count on our cell phones to keep us connected no matter where we go…. But too many Canadians struggle to afford the services they need: among comparable countries, Canadians pay some of the highest prices for mobile wireless and broadband subscriptions in the world.
People are being gouged, every month, because instead of standing up for consumers, governments have left it to industry to set the prices. The result is that Canadian families are stuck with sky-high bills, and the profit margins of the five biggest telecom companies in Canada are almost 40 percent, while two million Canadians living in rural, remote, and Northern areas still don’t have access to reliable internet service.
The only thing worse than cell phone and internet companies gouging consumers are the politicians who let them get away with it.
We’ll also make sure that you have the right to repair electronic devices and other products at affordable prices, expanding consumer choice, and cutting down on waste.
To protect travellers’ safety and consumer rights, a New Democrat government will also strengthen the Air Passenger Bill of Rights.
A New Democrat government will urgently convene an auto summit with provincial, municipal, industry and labour leaders to develop a consensus on a National Automotive Strategy to attract and retain jobs and investment. This strategy will make sure that Canadian product lines and manufacturing processes are adapted to meet changing consumer needs and evolving realities in the manufacturing industry – while protecting workers for the long term

Vision Green, 2019

National prosperity is more than just the exchange of dollars. The gross domestic product (GDP) – our national bottom line – is a measure of money changing hands without regard to whether we are reducing social inequalities, advancing sustainability, or safeguarding our natural capital of primary resources such as wild fish populations, natural forests, and fertile soils. Oil spills and clean-up costs actually increase local GDP, as Kinder-Morgan’s submission to the National Energy Board boasted in an ill-conceived appeal to silver linings in the event of disaster.

Most economists agree that GDP is a poor measure of economic well-being or quality of life, yet our government continues to use it as the basis for its most important taxation and policy decisions.

The Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) is a new and innovative accounting method that embraces a more systematic and comprehensive definition of well-being. Literacy, health and fitness, housework, family time, public infrastructure, cultural institutions, community volunteerism, water and air quality, forests, farmland, wetlands, and employment are all measured by the GPI. Other countries… are working to broaden measurements of prosperity beyond the GDP.

Canada needs to catch up.

Green Party MPs will:

Introduce legislation to establish a national GPI, such as the Canadian Index of Well-being developed by the Institute of Well-being, to provide the government with better information so it can do a better job of taxation and revenue-sharing with the other levels of government;
Modify Canada’s existing system of national accounts so that annual changes in the depletion and addition to Canada’s principal natural resources are measured as an integral part of Canada’s worth. Wild fish, natural forests, and productive agricultural soils represent some of the real wealth of a nation.
Key strategic resources (e.g. energy, communications, transportation, water) should be controlled by Canadian-owned or publicly owned corporations.
Apply GPI methods protect biodiversity.

Quoting Senator R. F. Kennedy:

“Too much and for too long, we seemed to have surrendered personal excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things.... The (GDP) counts air pollution and cigarette advertising and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage... Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.”

Poverty reduction

The Church’s view:

Riches fulfil their function of service to man when they are destined to produce benefits for others and for society. “How could we ever do good to our neighbour,” asks St. Clement of Alexandria, “if none of us possessed anything?”.

Riches belong to some people so that they can gain merit by sharing them with others. Wealth is a good that comes from God and is to be used by its owner and made to circulate so that even the needy may enjoy it. Evil is seen in the immoderate attachment to riches and the desire to hoard.

The principle of the universal destination of goods requires that 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.”

The Church underlines the contradiction inherent in affirming rights without acknowledging corresponding responsibilities. “Those, therefore, who claim their own rights, yet altogether forget or neglect to carry out their respective duties, are people who build with one hand and destroy with the other”.

The duty of the State does not consist so much in directly guaranteeing the right to work of every citizen, making the whole of economic life very rigid and restricting individual free initiative, as much as in the 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.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §§ 182, 23, 291, 329

2019 Platform

Call for ‘meaningful action’ to ‘build a Canada without poverty, where all Canadians can count on public services and community supports to lead dignified lives’:
Enshrine a right to housing in law, end homelessness in Canada within a decade.
Develop and implement an affordable housing strategy
Support creation of more social housing and other affordable options
Ensure access to prescription medicine, mental health and addiction support
Work with provinces to launch a basic income pilot project
Develop national, public, universal child care program

2018 Policy Declaration

The Conservative Party believes that the best guarantors of the prosperity and well-being of the people of Canada are:

The freedom of individual Canadians to pursue their enlightened and legitimate self-interest within a competitive economy;
The freedom of individual Canadians to enjoy the fruits of their labour to the greatest possible extent; and
The right to own property.

The party believes that:

a responsible government must be fiscally prudent and should be limited to those responsibilities which cannot be discharged reasonably by the individual or others;
it is the responsibility of individuals to provide for themselves, their families and their dependents, while recognizing that government must respond to those who require assistance and compassion;
the purpose of Canada as a nation state and its government, guided by reflective and prudent leadership, is to create a climate wherein individual initiative is rewarded, excellence is pursued, security and privacy of the individual is provided and prosperity is guaranteed by a free competitive market economy;

Vision Green, 2019

Green Party supports consideration of a negative income tax, or Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI) for all. The use of a GLI could eliminate poverty and allow social services to concentrate on problems of mental health and addiction.

The essential plan is to provide a regular payment to every Canadian without regard to a needs test. The level of the payment will be regionally set at a level above poverty, but at a bare subsistence level to encourage additional income generation. For higher-income Canadians, the amount of the GLI is merely taxed back in whole.

Green Party MPs will:

Remove taxes from the lowest income categories so that no taxes are paid by those below the poverty line
Allow income assistance recipients to keep 100% of the wages they earn up to the Low Income Cut-off level to encourage people to get back into the job market;
Offer people the mobility they need to find work, shelter, and other necessities through free transit passes for those on income assistance;
Extend maternity/paternity leave for new parents outside of EI to two years and one additional year for parents who pay into EI;
Increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors by 25%;
Top up the income support for single parents on welfare during the time they are attending school or job training programs.;
As a first step towards universal GLI, provide dividends to every Canadian from the carbon fee collected on GHG emissions.
Develop a comprehensive plan to improve our social safety network so that it eliminates child poverty, modeling this plan on European countries’ programs that have the best track records in eliminating child poverty

Pensions and retirement

The Church’s view:

The rights of workers… are based on the nature of the human person and on his transcendent dignity. The Church… has seen fit to list some of these rights, in the hope that they will be recognized in juridical systems: 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.

Remuneration is the most important means for achieving justice in work relationships. The just wage is the legitimate fruit of work.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §§ 301, 302

2018 Policy Declaration

The Conservative Party:

Confirms commitment to CPP and Old Age Security plans.
Favors policies to ensure retirement programs are affordable and sustainable over the long term.
Opposes use of CPP as a fund for other programs or budget-balancing.
Supports preservation and enhancement of Tax-Free Savings Accounts.
Supports maintaining increased Guaranteed Income Supplement.
Supports control of company pension funds by independent trustees, for the benefit of employees, at arm’s length from companies and creditors.
Supports bringing public-sector pensions in line with other Canadian norms, including employer contributions comparable to those in public sector.

Vision Green, 2019

Pension reforms must create decent pensions that will keep the elderly out of poverty, require minimum additional contributions, and have low administrative and investment costs. The only system that is capable of meeting these goals is the CPP.
Greens believe that CPP funds must not be gambled in the market.
As approximately 35% of older citizens are still dependent upon Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) to keep them out of poverty, the system should be improved.
Current tax policy is inefficient for most retirement savings. Defined Benefit (DB) plans are much more efficient than Defined Contribution (DC) plans in that they produce significantly higher pensions for the same contributions

Green Party MPs will:

Review workplace policies to end mandatory retirement and provide for flexible retirement benefits for those seniors who want to continue working;
Enact legislation to protect pension benefits and recommend that the provincial governments prohibit any business from taking possession of a pension trust fund which it administers
Ensure corporate pension plans protect employee benefits as secured creditors in any bankruptcy proceedings;
Explore risk-sharing for pension plans, including the CPP, to ensure sustainability;
Divest CPP from any and all fossil fuel investments;
Resist the shift to voluntary defined contribution plans with inefficient and expensive fees for a myriad of market driven plans; and
Ensure all seniors who qualify are made aware of available federal income supplements and instructed on how to apply for them.

Corporate responsibility & accountability

The Church’s view:

Man rightly appreciates freedom and strives for it passionately: rightly does he desire and must form and guide, by his own free initiative, his personal and social life, accepting personal responsibility for it….

The Old Testament presents God as the omnipotent Creator who fashions man in his image and invites him to work the soil, and cultivate and care for the garden of Eden in which he has placed him... The dominion exercised by man over other living creatures, however, is not to be despotic or reckless; on the contrary he is to cultivate and care for the goods created by God… Cultivating the earth means not abandoning it to itself; exercising dominion over it means taking care of it, as a wise king cares for his people and a shepherd his sheep…

Businesses today move in economic contexts that are becoming ever broader and in which national States show limits in their capacity to govern the rapid processes of change that effect international economic and financial relations…

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §§ 135, 755, 34

2019 Platform

Canadians know that there are some things that we shouldn’t be willing to compromise on, like investor-state dispute settlement measures that hand too much power to corporations and undermine the rules that keep us safe and healthy. Trade agreements should have enforceable labour, human rights and environmental protection.
Our fiscal policies will put everyday Canadians and their families first. We will protect family budgets, and force big corporations and big polluters to start paying what they owe.
To combat tax evasion, we will take measures to close loopholes that include eliminating bearer shares, compelling companies to prove the economic reason for their offshore transactions, and improving transparency on the taxes paid by large corporations.
We will also formally prohibit corporations facing criminal charges from lobbying elected officials.
We’ll also hold Canadian companies to a high standard of corporate social responsibility at home and abroad – and ensure they meet it.

Vision Green, 2019

The growth of multinational enterprises and global supply chains has been accompanied by growing concerns regarding labour standards, environmental protection, and respect for human rights in developing nations. The public is increasingly aware of the social and environmental impacts of business practices, and more and more people are beginning to demand that Canadian corporations act ethically and responsibly in Canada as well as abroad.

The Green Party understands the need for greater corporate accountability, and decries the lack of legal provisions that would allow for civil actions against the big polluters in Canada.

Green Party MPs will:

Adopt the recommendations of the Advisory Report from the National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility, and establish an ombudsman office with the power to investigate and evaluate complaints from affected communities and determine levels of compliance with the established standards.
Work with the provinces to establish a national Canadian Securities Commission and implement a federal Securities Act to protect investors from unfair, improper, or fraudulent practices, and foster fair and efficient capital markets, as well as confidence in those markets;
Introduce legislation to hold Canadian corporations that are working overseas to the same environmental and human rights standards as they are subject to in Canada;
Limit the rights of corporations to sue groups and individuals only for actual loss;
Develop laws similar to the U.S.’s Alien Tort Claims Act that will allow those who are not Canadian to sue Canadian corporations for gross violations of basic human, environmental, or labour rights in their own countries;
Oppose the takeover of Canada’s stock exchanges, such as the Toronto Stock Exchange, by corporate entities based outside of Canada

Revitalizing smaller cities and rural areas

The Church’s view:

Looking after the common good means making use of the new opportunities for the redistribution of wealth among the different areas of the planet, to the benefit of the underprivileged that until now have been excluded or cast to the sidelines of social and economic progress.

Agricultural labour merits special attention… considering the many problems that need to be met in the context of an ever more globalized economy as well as its growing significance in safeguarding the natural environment. Radical and urgent changes are therefore needed in order to restore to agriculture — and to rural people — their just value as the basis for a healthy economy…

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §§ 363, 299

2018 Policy Resolutions

Resolved to bring high-speed internet to rural, remote, and Indigenous communities by 2025
Partner with provincial, territorial, and indigenous governments to enhance distance learning education
Resolved to consider a permanent link (bridge or tunnel) to Newfoundland

2015 Platform

Increase Northern Residents Deduction by 33% to maximum of $22 per day (maximum $8000/year), indexed for inflation
Increase investments in Nutrition North program by $40 million over four years
Prioritize investments in affordable housing
Promise to restore door-to-door delivery of Canada Post

2019 Platform

Reinvest in regional economic development agencies to create tourism and community development jobs
Will focus on improving access to in-person services in Northern and rural communities.
Implement new tax credit for graduates to work in rural and northern communities
Will expand Volunteer Firefighters tax credit
Increase federal infrastructure support for rural communities
Develop a new postal banking model
Work with provinces, territories, and indigenous communities to grow affordable transit services
Deliver rural broadband services to all communities in Canada without delay; ensure reliable cell phone service is available in every area of Canada

2018 Policy Declaration

To preserve the social fabric of Canada, we encourage the government to foster diversity and responsible development in small towns and villages by encouraging innovation in the development of small businesses
We support that agriculture, agri-food, fisheries, mining, tourism, and forestry must be a priority for the federal government.
We believe that the future sustainability of rural Canada comes through flexible, innovative policy, based on principles of realistic economic profitability.
Regional development agencies should be de-politicized and focused on attracting new private sector investment
We support extension of oil pipeline network to Atlantic Canada in order to create jobs and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
We support retention of 100% of resource royalties by three northern territories, for economic development
Northerners should be empowered for self-governance by transfer of power from Indigenous & Northern Affairs to elected territorial and indigenous governments
Support strategic investment in nation building through power, communications, defense, and transportation infrastructure to enable Northern economic development

Vision Green, 2019

Promote regional food self-sufficiency across Canada, as we begin the shift to organic agriculture as the dominant model of production;
Support the ‘200 kilometre diet’ and locally grown food through expansion of farmers’ markets and local culinary tourism activities;

Support local food markets by:

Enabling local areas without industrial-scale agriculture to develop area-specific food safety regulations meeting national standards without placing undue financial burdens on local farmers and food processors;
Assisting in re-establishing the architecture of local food production in canneries, slaughterhouses, and other value-added food processing;
Encouraging and supporting the consumption of locally-grown food by promoting adequate shelf space in grocery chains for products from local farms and local food processors

Migrant workers; human trafficking; slavery

The Church’s view :

“When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

(Lev 19:33-34)

Immigration can be a resource for development rather than an obstacle to it. In the modern world, where there are still grave inequalities between rich countries and poor countries, and where advances in communications quickly reduce distances, the immigration of people looking for a better life is on the increase. These people come from less privileged areas of the earth and their arrival in developed countries is often perceived as a threat to the high levels of well-being achieved thanks to decades of economic growth.

In most cases, however, immigrants fill a labour need which would otherwise remain unfilled…

Institutions in host countries must keep careful watch to prevent the spread of the temptation to exploit foreign labourers, denying them the same rights enjoyed by nationals, rights that are to be guaranteed to all without discrimination.

The solemn proclamation of human rights is contradicted by a painful reality of violations, wars and violence of every kind, in the first place, genocides and mass deportations, the spreading on a virtual worldwide dimension of ever new forms of slavery such as trafficking in human beings, child soldiers, the exploitation of workers… Even in countries with democratic forms of government, these rights are not always fully respected.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §§ 23, 158, 297-298

2019 Platform

We need all kinds of workers in Canada – and if someone is good enough to come and work here, then there should be a path for them to stay permanently. New Democrats will protect newcomers by taking on unscrupulous immigration consultants, ensuring that the industry is regulated by the government. And we’ll treat caregivers brought to Canada with respect and dignity, providing them with status and allowing them to reunite with their families without delay.
As the world experiences an unprecedented refugee crisis, Canada also has a vital role to play in resettling people forced out of their homes by conflict, persecution and disasters. But the backlog of asylum seekers is set to more than double in the next few years. A New Democrat government will get rid of the backlog, and work with Canadians to resettle refugees in our communities, ensuring they are given the support they need to build successful lives and new homes here in Canada.
Canadians believe that we have an important role to play in helping the world’s most vulnerable. A New Democrat government is committed to boosting Canada’s international development assistance, with the goal of contributing 0.7 percent of our Gross National Income to international aid.
Canada must do our fair share to help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals for 2030, including alleviating poverty, ensuring decent work, protecting the rights of Indigenous communities and supporting global peace.

2018 Policy Declaration

The Conservative Party believes in:

adopting a proactive approach to reducing human smuggling abroad, through sanctions and legal interruptions of human smuggling intended for Canada; and
promoting democratic and responsible government in the areas of the world from which the refugees originate.
increased funding of RCMP and increased sentences for human trafficking.
national registry of missing persons

Opposes legalization of purchase of sex, supports penalties for purchasing sex or profiting by third parties.

Vision Green, 2019

The Green Party recognizes that hundreds of people arrive every year in Canada illegally through the work of criminal organizations. Women and girls are trafficked into Canada and forced into prostitution in our cities. Although steps have been taken in recent years to combat this growing problem, more needs to be done. We must send clear signals that human trafficking will not be tolerated. We must provide sufficient resources to law enforcement agents and ensure we have more success in discovering, arresting, and prosecuting those who commit these terrible crimes.

Green MPs will:

Provide support for the gathering of reliable police data to gain a clear picture of human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of immigrant women in Canada;
Increase penalties in the Criminal Code for those convicted of human smuggling;

Financing government services and programs; taxes

The Church’s view:

Tax revenues and public spending take on crucial economic importance for every civil and political community. The goal to be sought is public financing that is itself capable of becoming an instrument of development and solidarity. Just, efficient and effective public financing will have very positive effects on the economy, because it will encourage employment growth and sustain business and non-profit activities and help to increase the credibility of the State as the guarantor of systems of social insurance and protection that are designed above all to protect the weakest members of society.

Public spending is directed to the common good when certain fundamental principles are observed: the payment of taxes as part of the duty of solidarity; a reasonable and fair application of taxes; precision and integrity in administering and distributing public resources.

In the redistribution of resources, public spending must observe the principles of solidarity, equality and making use of talents. It must also pay greater attention to families, designating an adequate amount of resources for this purpose.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §§ 355

2019 Platform:

Promise to rebalance revenue sources by:

Returning corporate tax rates to 2010 levels (18 percent), while maintaining small business tax rate at current level, to provide ‘several billion dollars in revenue annually.’
Attract investment through good regulation, strong public services, infrastructure, and access to education.
Increase top marginal tax rate two percent, to 35%, for those earning over $210k CAD.
Tax those holding more than $20M CAD in wealth to incur 1% wealth tax, to generate several billion dollars annually.
Raise investment profits subject to capital gains to 75%, as in 2000
Increase enforcement for tax evaders
Enact 15% foreign buyers’ tax on residential property purchases by foreign individuals and corporations

2018 Policy Declaration

Requirements for fiscal balance set in Budget 2007 should be restored.
Gov’t should enact balanced budget legislation, with overrides for declared national emergencies
Supports adoption of debt reduction plan
Supports simplification of Income Tax Act, through comprehensive review of Act and Canada’s fiscal framework
Supports both immediate and long-term tax relief, in order to raise take-home pay for all Canadians.
Supports reduction of capital gains tax and elimination of tax on re-invested gains, to encourage saving and investment.
Supports increased exemption for lifetime capital gains for small business owners, farmers, wood-lot operators, and fishermen.
Supports limitation of payroll taxes to amounts required to fund Employment Insurance, in order to encourage creation of new jobs
Promotes fairness in taxation, e.g., through closing of loopholes such as those that permit offshore tax havens.
Supports efforts to eliminate double taxation.

Vision Green, 2019

Our fiscal plan is straightforward. Use the tax system to help meet societal and ecological goals. Get the prices right. Allow business to pursue profit, with clear signals of environmental and societal objectives. Green MPs will:

Reduce income taxes;
Reduce payroll taxes;
Raise taxes on profits of large corporations to the mid-range of OECD countries, without increasing taxes on small and medium corporations;
Recover taxes hidden in off-shore tax havens;
Introduce a carbon price through a carbon fee and dividend system, sending a clear economic signal that wasting energy and resources implies real costs.
Institute a full range of ‘polluter pays’ taxes.
Apply border adjustments to ensure Canadian businesses do not face unfair competition from polluting jurisdictions.
The Greens will also eliminate large corporate subsidies and grants programs. The 2010 report of the International Energy Agency called for the removal of fossil fuel subsidies, which amount to over $300 billion a year globally, while renewables received approximately $30 billion.
Gradually and progressively shift current consumption taxes onto products and services that harm people and the environment, while reducing taxes on income, products, and activities that do no harm. This approach will be ‘revenue neutral.’
Review the economic and fiscal implications of returning to borrowing from the Bank of Canada;
Work with the provinces to increase taxes on tobacco and alcohol.

2019 Platform:

The current system is overly complicated. It’s estimated that Canadians spend $7 billion each year to comply with our tax laws.

Bernier’s plan has four key components:

Raise the Basic Personal Exemption to $15,000
Eliminate two tax brackets so that income from $15,001 to $100,000 is taxed at 15%
Tax income over $100,001 at 25%
Eliminate boutique tax credits that serve no public policy purpose.

International trade

The Church has time and again called attention to aberrations in the system of international trade, which often, owing to protectionist policies, discriminates against products coming from poorer countries and hinders the growth of industrial activity in and the transfer of technology to these countries.

The continuing deterioration in terms of the exchange of raw materials and the widening of the gap between rich and poor countries has prompted the Church to point out the importance of ethical criteria that should form the basis of international economic relations: the pursuit of the common good and the universal destination of goods; equity in trade relationships; and attention to the rights and needs of the poor in policies concerning trade and international cooperation.

Economic and social imbalances in the world of work must be addressed by restoring a just hierarchy of values and placing the human dignity of workers before all else. The new realities that are having such a powerful impact on the productive process must never violate the dignity and centrality of the human person, nor the freedom and democracy of peoples...

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §§ 370, 321, 364

2015 Platform

Canada’s economic success relies on strong trade relationships with our closest neighbours: the United States and Mexico. Our focus on rebuilding relationships will build a solid foundation for greater trade, stronger growth, and more job creation.

We will work to end the Canadian government’s antagonism of Mexico and the US. We will ‘Immediately’ lift Mexican visa requirements; work for North American clean energy and environment agreement; reduce trade barriers, and modernize border infrastructure.

Trade is vital for our economy. It opens markets, grows Canadian businesses, and creates good-paying middle-class jobs – jobs that pay wages that are 50 percent higher than industries that are not export intensive. That is good news for the middle class and the communities they call home.

Properly negotiated and implemented, free trade agreements are good for the Canadian economy. We will carefully consider all trade opportunities currently open to Canada, and explore deeper trade relationships with emerging and established markets, including China and India.

We will develop a new export promotion strategy that will help businesses take advantage of new trade agreements.

2019 Platform

Trade is essential for our economic success. We expect that trade deals will be fair, respect human rights, protect the environment, and put the interests of Canadian workers and communities first.

New Democrats support fair trade that broadens opportunity in all areas of the country while protecting our industries and upholding labour standards, environmental protections and human rights. We will always defend Canadian workers in trade negotiations, protect supply management and stand up against unfair tariffs.

Improve transparency of trade negotiations and engage directly with Canadians on costs and benefits of trade deals
Ensure all trade agreements are consistent with UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples; evaluate all proposed agreements for social, environmental and gendered impact on Canadians
Limit influence of corporations, e.g., in investor-state dispute settlements

2018 Policy Declaration

The Conservative Party of Canada strongly supports international trade initiatives that will generate increased economic activity, jobs, and a greater understanding and collaborative relationship between emerging economies and our democratic, streamlined regulatory, free enterprise approach to governance.

The Conservative Party believes that the government is responsible for taking the lead in working with its provincial partners to eliminate inter-provincial trade barriers in transportation, commerce, labour, and capital mobility.

We support bringing more security to existing trade related jobs. To create new employment opportunities, our trade agenda will focus on diversifying both the products we sell abroad and the markets into which we sell those products. We emphasize the importance of secure access to international markets through a rules-based trading system.
We believe that Canada should strive to maximize the benefits we have as a free trading nation, and emphasizes the need to establish trading relationships beyond North America.

In future rounds of trade negotiations, we believe the government should:

vigorously pursue the reduction of international trade barriers and tariffs
pursue the elimination of trade-distorting government export subsidies within clearly established time limits; and
seek a clear definition of what constitutes an export subsidy
We support diversification of export products and markets
Consider exportation of fresh water.

Vision Green 2019

Greens will seek to ensure fair trade by:

Prioritizing fair trade in agricultural exports and imports;
Ensuring that supply management systems provide stable domestic markets, provide viable farm income and permit unregulated production by smaller and family farms that sell to local market;
Reviewing the impacts of abolishing the Canadian Wheat Board and considering reestablishing it to ensure the fair trading of high-quality Canadian grains;
Eliminating the dumping of food into the economies of developing countries

Investor-State Agreements

Green Party MPs will:

Immediately press for a re-opening of the Canada-China FIPA, asking the People’s Republic of China to allow a re-negotiation;
Be prepared to insist on maintaining any laws to which the People’s Republic of China objects if those laws are passed to repair the damage done by previous omnibus budget bills, even if that means paying out significant arbitration awards to China;
Ensure that Canada stops entering into FIPAs with any more countries and renegotiates the ones we have joined (such as CETA);
Negotiate a new Multilateral Agreement on Corporate Rights and Responsibilities.

North American Union

Bi-lateral and Tri-lateral negotiations – between Canada, United States, and Mexico – to ‘harmonize’ national standards and rules are continuing. The Green Party questions and opposes both the goals of this agenda and the means being used to further it, as it is currently stated.

2019 Platform

Conservatives have always believed in expanded trade as the basis for prosperity. Ratifying the Trans-Pacific Partnership, expediting Canada-India Free Trade negotiations, and immediately and aggressively launching free trade negotiations with China will open new export opportunities for Canada’s high quality agricultural products. Canadian pork farmers are at a massive disadvantage because they cannot export pork to China without having to vault over a tariff barrier. Australian pork farmers don’t have that problem. Our farmers should have every opportunity to succeed.

Dignified employment: small businesses, crafts, and trades

The Church’s view:

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.

Many activities that yesterday required the hiring of employees are today carried out in new ways that encourage independent labour and are therefore marked by higher risk and greater responsibility.

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.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, § 315

2019 Platform

Small businesses are the engine of every community across the country. Small businesses need a government that helps them access the services and infrastructure they need to thrive and expand, while investing in a healthy and talented workforce.

In government, we will keep working hard for small businesses to tackle issues that impact their bottom line, like high credit card merchant fees.
Our plan for public, universal pharmacare will also save businesses approximately $600 per employee every year – and it means that all small businesses can feel confident that their employees are able to access the prescription drugs they need.
We’ll also make it easier for the family business to be passed on to future generations, with new legislation to end the unfair tax treatment of family transfers of small businesses.
To help Canadian small business step out on the world stage, a New Democrat government will streamline access to government export services and make it simpler to break into foreign markets.
We’ll also provide small- and medium-sized businesses with a single point of contact to help ease regulatory processes and support compliance - freeing up time for entrepreneurs to invest in growing their business.
Recognizing that a shortage of workers is a major barrier for many small businesses operating in rural areas, we’ll make important new investments in training Canadians and boost support to traditionally underemployed groups, ensuring that they can access good jobs
We will Implement income-tax averaging for artists and cultural workers
Restore corporate tax rate to 18%, while maintaining reduced taxes and benefits for small and medium businesses

Vision Green, 2019

Most successful applied research and commercialization is done by small and medium-sized businesses. Business ‘clusters’ attract new businesses seeking the direct and indirect benefits of networking and collaboration.

An easily-accessible and integrated system for business development and growth must be made available in cities of all sizes in Canada to create the business climate that will entice homegrown entrepreneurs to stay. Incubator models have been used successfully for this purpose in Sweden.

Green Party MPs will:

Establish a federally-funded Green Venture Capital Fund to support viable small local green business start-ups, with matching federal funds for locally-raised venture capital up to a set limit per community;
Reduce the paperwork burden on small businesses by eliminating duplicative tax and regulatory filings.
Enact legislation to require a consideration of the impact on small business of all new legislation, based on a similar law in the European parliament.
Improve access to business software through the adoption of the Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) initiative
Ensure that all new software developed for or by government is based on open standards and encourage and support a nationwide transition to FLOSS in all critical government IT systems.
Support the transition to FLOSS throughout the post-secondary educational system.
Support a resurgence of business co-operatives, by revisiting the laws, regulations, and tax system to enhance opportunities for co-operatives.
Launch a Federal Co-operative Investment Strategy with two components: a Canadian Cooperative Development Fund and a federal Co-operative Investment Plan;
Re-establish funding for housing co-operatives through a newly mandated Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to help solve the growing problems of homelessness and shortage of affordable housing;
Foster the creation and/or conversion of energy co-operatives to give more power to citizens and regions.

Reduce corporate control of the food supply by:

Reforming agriculture regulations to challenge corporate concentration;
Ensuring that farm support payments are farm-based (not production-based) to encourage more farms and more farmers

2019 Platform:

There is a simple way for the federal government to show fairness to all regions of the country, to all industries, and to taxpayers. It is to completely stop subsidizing businesses and to reduce their taxes. This is not only fair, but it is economically efficient. It respects that the free market can make decisions far better than Ottawa bureaucrats. And it will stop the consistent practice of throwing good taxpayer dollars after bad into failing and mismanaged companies.
Ending the practice of picking winners and losers is the right plan.

Labour; Unions; Workers’ Rights

The Church’s view:

The Church recognizes the fundamental role played by labour unions, whose existence is connected with the right to form associations or unions to defend the vital interests of workers employed in the various professions… 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).

The relationship between labour and capital also finds expression when workers participate in ownership, management and profits. This is an all-too-often overlooked requirement and it should be given greater consideration.

The Church's social doctrine recognizes the legitimacy of striking “when it cannot be avoided, or at least when it is necessary to obtain a proportionate benefit”,[663] when every other method for the resolution of disputes has been ineffectual.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, §§ 305, 306, 276, 264, 281, 304

2015 Platform

We will restore fair and balanced labour laws that acknowledge the important role of unions in Canada.

Labour unions play an important role in protecting the rights of workers and growing the middle class.

This begins with repealing Bills C-377 and C-525, legislation that diminishes and weakens Canada’s labour movement.

Changes to labour laws should be based on evidence, not ideology, and made after legitimate consultation with unions.

We will reinstate a modernized and inclusive fair wages policy for federal procurement.

We are strongly committed to supporting and protecting workers’ rights, and as government, we will bargain in good faith with Canada’s public sector unions.

Employ labor-sponsored funds to help start small and medium-sized businesses, and fund retirement
Reinstate tax credits for labor-sponsored funds
Reduce waiting periods for Employment Insurance benefits

2019 Platform

We believe that the federal government has an important role to play in making work better, fairer and more secure for everyone. We believe that membership in a union is the best ticket into the middle class – and it leaves workers and our entire economy better off.

We believe that that it should be easier – not harder – to join a union that will protect your rights and ensure fair working conditions. We will defend the Rand formula, so that unions can effectively advocate for workers, and we will continue to oppose heavy-handed legislation that suspends the rights to bargain and to strike.

New Democrats will make sure that workers and employers can take action together to improve health and safety, eliminating unsafe working conditions and ensuring that whistleblowers are protected.

We believe that it’s time to update the Canada Labour Code to enhance safeguards for workers and ban the use of replacement workers in labour disputes – for good.

Change employment insurance rules to allow workers to quit their jobs and use benefits to pay for education and/or job training.

2018 Policy Declaration

The Conservative Party:

Supports right of workers to organize democratically, bargain collectively, and peacefully withhold services
Believes Gov’t should work with unions and employers to encourage dispute resolution without service disruptions
Supports requirement of fiscal transparency for unions holding not-for-profit status
Opposes mandatory union membership and forced contributions as a condition of employment.
Opposes discriminatory mandatory retirement and loss of federal retirement benefits for those who wish to keep working
Supports secure national employment insurance. Funds contributed by employers and employees should be used only to provide benefits to recipients, not for other gov’t programs
Workers over 65 should only pay EI premiums if they qualify to receive benefits

Vision Green, 2019

The Green Party of Canada affirms and will actively promote the 2007 ruling of the Supreme Court of Canada that the right to collective bargaining is a basic Charter right.

Canadians are among the most overworked citizens in the industrialized world. A report from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) states that the richest 10% of Canadians are the only ones not working longer hours. The report concludes that, despite being better educated and working harder, Canadian families are now “running faster just to stay put and the bottom half is actually falling behind.

We believe in pay equity for women, in the equal treatment of organized and non-organized workers, and in workers’ right to fair wages, healthy and safe working conditions, and working hours compatible with a good quality of life.

The Green Party will:

Advocate for changes in the Canada Labour Code that establish a minimum of three weeks paid vacation and a managed reduction in the standard work week to 35 hours.
End the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which is irredeemably flawed.
We need to place a priority on ending the high levels of unemployment among Canada’s youth, while bringing in foreign workers as future Canadians – not as temporary and vulnerable workers.
Create a domestic employment recruitment program to get willing young Canadians to job opportunities, modeled on how we have been bringing foreign workers to Canadian employers;
Support federal ‘anti-scab’ legislation;
Support changes to the Employment Standards law to provide equal protection to contract and temporary workers;
Strengthen non-union workers’ rights and protections to close the widening gap between union and non-union workplaces;
Increase federal inspections and establish stronger deterrents to illegal unpaid overtime work.
Require that a poster outlining workers’ rights be placed in all federally-regulated workplaces;
Offer tax rebates to companies that provide on-site daycare, healthy food, and facilities for exercise and commuting by bicycle.

Employment Insurance

Green Party MPs will:

Restore employment insurance to seasonal workers;
Dedicate taxes collected on chemical contaminants and unhealthy food to reduce EI premiums to workers and employers

Innovation; support for specific industries & businesses: oil, automotive, manufacturing, aerospace, tech, fisheries, agriculture, forestry, etc.

The Church’s view:

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…

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.

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, § 313

2015 Platform

Innovation

Promise to invest $200 million each year in “Innovation Agenda” to expand support for incubators, accelerators, and ‘national network for business innovation’
Promise to invest $100 million each year in Industrial Research Assistance Program ‘to help small and medium-sized businesses innovate and become world leaders’
Share data collected by Statistics Canada to help the private sector, government, not-for profit groups, and researchers make better decisions.

Oil

Approved expanded trans-mountain pipeline project (CBC News, 18 June 2019)

Automotive

No known published position

Manufacturing

To get our economy growing again, we need to immediately invest in helping our businesses and entrepreneurs – including those in manufacturing – become more innovative, competitive, and successful. Over the next three years, we will

- invest $200 million each year in a new Innovation Agenda to significantly expand support for incubators and accelerators, as well as the emerging national network for business innovation and cluster support; and
- invest an additional $100 million each year in the Industrial Research Assistance Program, which has a proven track record of helping small- and medium-sized businesses to innovate and become world leaders.

Aerospace

No known published position

Tech

We will invest $100 million more each year in clean technology producers, so that they can tackle Canada’s most pressing environmental challenges, and create more opportunities for Canadian workers
We will invest $40 million each year to help employers create more co-op placements for students in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and business programs.

Fisheries

We will also invest $200 million more each year to support innovation and the use of clean technologies in our natural resource sectors, including the forestry, fisheries, mining, energy, and agricultural sectors.

Agriculture

Promise to help Canada’s agriculture sector to be more innovative, safer, and stronger:

$160 million over 4 years through investment fund to provide technical and marketing assistance to help food processors develop ‘new value-added products that reflect changing tastes and market opportunities’
$100 million per year for 4 years in agricultural research
$80 million over 4 years in Canada Food Inspection Agency for more inspections of domestic and imported foods
Defend Canadian interests in trade negotiations

Work with provinces, territories, and other willing partners to address water & soil conservation, including infrastructure

2019 Platform

Innovation

Small businesses should have access to all the support they need to grow, innovate and stay competitive in Canada and around the world. We support lower small business taxes, oppose unfair merchant fees, want to make it easier to pass on small businesses to the next generation.

We need a plan that will provide sustainable, long-term support for Canada’s innovators to optimize growth and play to the strengths that Canada has to offer. We’ll take a strategic, sector-specific approach that invests in innovation and R&D here at home – and we’ll put a particular focus on developing the technologies the world will need to thrive in a low-carbon future.

We’ll review the federal procurement system to ensure that, wherever possible, federal government processes are designed to encourage Canadian bidders.

We will support partnership to build entrepreneurship and support a Canadian start-up culture, with a focus on helping Canadian companies in all regions of the country commercialize new technologies and scale-up, train, and retain the highly-skilled Canadian workforce needed to support industry growth and bolster Canadian competitiveness on the world stage.

Oil

One thing we won’t do is continue spending public money on oil and gas subsidies. Canada currently spends $3.3 billion per year on oil and gas subsidies, more per capita than any other G7 country.

Automotive

Create National Automotive Strategy to support Canada’s direct assembly and supply chain economy.
Restore Automotive Innovation Fund and make contributions to automakers tax-free to help secure next generation production capacity.
Buy Canadian-made zero-emissions cars for federal government fleets
Give Export Development Canada a stronger mandate to recruit and retain investment in automotive plants

Manufacturing:

Convene all levels of government to create a national industrial strategy
Take measures to grow the domestic market for Canadian manufactured goods

Aerospace:

‘We have a plan that will help Canadian aerospace companies of all sizes commercialize new technologies, strengthen competitiveness, and train workers for good jobs in this sector’
New Democrats will help position our aerospace sector to reap the benefits of clean technology development and become a world leader in clean aviation
We will work with industry and workers to develop a National Aerospace Strategy, helping small- and medium-sized aerospace businesses increase capacity, adopt new technologies, and scale up to compete globally

Tech:

Split ‘single-pot’ investment money into sector-specific initiatives
Review federal procurement to ensure that government processes encourage Canadian bidders
Support a start-up culture

Fisheries:

Canada is blessed with the world’s longest coastline and fisheries that sustain communities on all of our coasts. Fishing is a deep-rooted part of our culture and economy, but fish populations are declining and health of our marine ecosystems are at risk, along with the coastal communities that depend on them.

On the west coast, we will work towards a community-based terminal system and implement recommendations of the Cohen Commission to protect wild salmon.
On the east coast, we’ll work to protect the government’s owner-operator and fleet separation policies and ensure that small craft harbours get the upgrades they need for safety and resilience to climate change, and encourage resource allocations based on adjacency, historical patterns, and indigenous rights.

Agriculture:

Agriculture is a high-tech industry that depends on a talented and skilled work force.’ We will develop a Canadian Food Strategy to address regional needs by:

Develop supply management techniques and ensure reciprocity in trade negotiations;
Compensate farmers for losses incurred in prior trade negotiations
Ensure high-speed broadband is available in farming communities
To encourage young people and women to take up agriculture, work with provinces to improve training opportunities and provide low-cost start-up loans
Work with farmers and provinces to battle stress, anxiety, and depression
Invest in public agricultural research
Provide payment protection programs under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act
Work with producers and supply chain to increase amount of Canadian food sold, processed, and consumed in local and regional markets

Forestry:

Work with forest products industry to ensure that Canadian forestry meets highest environmental and sustainability standards
Invest in innovation and support value-added Canadian wood products with support R&D to commercialize new technologies and expand global market access
Boost reforestation efforts
Enhance forest management practices for fire, pest control

Steel & Aluminum:

Require use of Canadian-made steel and aluminum for infrastructure projects across Canada

2018 Policy Declaration

Innovation

Supports establishment of a single authority to review big science projects in accordance with published guidelines
Supports funding of innovation, technology, and research through grant councils implementing transparent and accountable competitive peer review processes
Supports working with all stakeholders to expand Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credits, and consideration of additional tax incentives based on R&D
Supports appointment of independent Chief Scientist, to provide balanced advice to Parliament on scientific matters and governmental policies.

Business Subsidies

Favors reduction or elimination of subsidies to for-profit businesses to the greatest extent possible. Gov’t should not bail out corporations or pick winners and losers. Instead, facilitate competition, improve productivity, streamline regulation, and foster innovation.
Sees agriculture, agri-food, fisheries, mining, tourism, and forestry as priorities for the federal government.
Supports patent term extension to restore time lost due to patent office delay; shorter and simplified patent process

Oil

Supports extension of pipeline network to Atlantic Canada in order to create jobs and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
Supports exploration for fossil fuels, pipeline construction, transportation efficiencies and plant improvements to increase energy conversion efficiencies and reduce pollutant and greenhouse gas discharges.

Agriculture

Agriculture is a business and should be fairly treated as such
Gov’t should seek bi-lateral and multi-lateral trade agreements to improve market access for Canadian agricultural products and reduce distorting subsidies.
Gov’t should place high priority on making food supply safe, secure, and sustainable.
Supports self-sufficiency in food supply
Supports giving farmers the freedom to make their own individual marketing and transportation decisions. Participation in producer organizations should be voluntary.
Supports supply management and its goal of delivering high-quality products at a fair price with a fair return.

Fisheries

Mismanaged fish stocks should be replenished and enhanced, rather than reducing harvesting and processing. Fish stocks are renewable resources.
Gov’t should take a leadership role in dealing with international fishing. Gov’t should take custodial management of stocks on the Grand Banks and Flemish Cap.
Canada should base firm and fair decisions based on science and facts.
Provinces and territories should be allowed to cooperate if they desire.
Gov’t must continue to support the Canadian sealing industry by working to eliminate unfair international bans.
Freshwater Fish Marketing Act should be repealed, and a voluntary dual market instituted.

Vision Green, 2019

Innovation

We face a serious crisis of lack of productivity. Productivity is a measure of innovation and investment in Research and Development. We are falling far behind the United States for the first time since productivity has been measured.
We need to aggressively promote innovation in renewable energy.

Business Subsidies

We will eliminate large corporate subsidies and grants programs. It makes no sense to subsidize the wealthiest companies on Earth to make the world’s most profitable products.

Oil Industry

We will remove all subsidies and supports to the oil, coal, gas, and coalbed methane industries in Canada;
Apply escalating Carbon Fee and Dividend to all CO2, methane, N2O, fugitive, and other GHG emissions;
Oppose building of new coal-fired electrical generation plants;
Seek a moratorium on horizontal fracking;
Pass legislation to keep Canada’s west coast crude oil supertanker-free, ensuring both that a new West Coast oil bitumen-diluent port will not be built.
Work to establish a Federal Ministry of Energy Transition Plan to co-ordinate the transition from a fossil-fuel based economy to one based on renewable energy.

Agriculture

Improve agricultural research by:

Shifting government-supported research away from biotechnology and energy-intensive farming and towards organic food production;
Preventing the patenting of life forms;
Making developers of genetically engineered crops liable for any damage those crops cause

Fisheries

Green Party MPs will work to:

Sign and ratify the global treaty to ban bottom-trawling;
Strengthen the Fisheries Act to: 1. Require mandatory evaluation of threats to fish stocks and protection of critical stocks and habitat; 3. Require give precedence to wild fisheries over aquaculture, wherever there are conflicts; 4. Increase penalties for violations; 5. Increase public participation in decision making,
Restructure Fisheries and Oceans Canada for efficiency
implement measures to quickly phase out open-ocean net-cage fish farms;
Enforce sustainable harvesting technologies for recovery of wild species;
Support Research and Development of ecotourism as a non-consumptive use of marine biodiversity;
Repeal the Canada Nova Scotia and Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Acts;
Implement permanent bans on oil and gas exploration and development in ecologically-sensitive areas;
Ensure that lighthouses remain staffed to perform their essential safety and security work;

Forestry

Green Party MPs will:

Work with Industry Canada and NRC-industry partnerships to improve timber quality, e.g. through value-added manufacturing, using tax relief for encouragement
Restore funding to the Climate Adaptation Network working with partners in universities and other levels of government on adaptation measures for Canada’s forests.
Promote the use of ‘Triad’ zonation of forest exploitation, to zone forest estates into protected areas, standard (extensive) silvicultural zones, and intensive or even super-intensive silvicultural zones, to ensure sustainable harvests.
Support enhanced wood quality on the 450 000 small woodlot owners in Canada, which can be an important source of timber and tool for rural conservation;
Renegotiate trade agreements to encourage more domestic value-added manufacturing of wood products;
Support the Boreal Forest Conservation Framework agreement finalized in 2010 between a number of major forestry companies, First Nations, and environment groups to protect Boreal Forest;
Increase federal funding for research to mitigate the economic impact of the pine beetle epidemic;
Develop a Genuine Forest Health Indicator (GFHI) to measure changes in all forest status
Promote hemp and agricultural cellulose waste as sources of paper fibre to reduce the pressure on standing forests;
Promote the use of wood waste, rather than foods such as corn, to produce bio-fuels.

Mining

While the control of natural resources is allocated to provincial governments, the consequences of mining often overlap areas of federal jurisdiction, especially fisheries. This energy intensive industry contributes more than four times as much to Canada’s GHG emissions as do all domestic flights in Canada.

The most energy intensive mining is in the oil sands.

Call for government action to require life-cycle product stewardship of metals to ensure that once mined they remain in economic service for generations;
Vigorously oppose new uranium mines and phase the industry out;
Prohibit the export of fissionable nuclear material;
Push for an end to all subsidies, including tax benefits, for the mining sector;
Work with provinces, territories, and industry to ensure that all mining operations are insured for environmental liabilities, and have an adequate pre-funded plan for remediation;
Introduce a Corporate Social Responsibility Act to regulate the mining industry.

2019 Platform

Corporate Subsidies

There is a simple way for the federal government to show fairness to all regions of the country, to all industries, and to taxpayers. It is to completely stop subsidizing businesses and to reduce their taxes.

Agriculture

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. It keeps out imports by imposing exorbitant tariffs that range from 150% for eggs to 300% for butter. Because our market is closed to most imports, our farmers are not allowed to export their products.

Supply management negatively impacts other sectors of our economy. Businesses in the food processing and food preparation sectors like restaurants are forced to pay more for basic products and are therefore less competitive.

According to the OECD, Canadian consumers had to pay $3.6 billion more every year between 2011 and 2015 for all products under supply management.

A study done by University of Manitoba economists showed that the system imposes a financial burden of $339 annually on the poorest 20% of Canadian households, which is the equivalent of a 2.3% tax on their incomes.

A People’s Party government will:

Create a free, open, and fair system that will save Canadians billions of dollars annually thanks to the lower prices they will pay for these products.
Phase 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.
Allow Canada’s dairy, egg and poultry farmers to thrive and sell their products internationally.

Transportation & infrastructure

The Church’s view:

The demands of the common good… are strictly connected to respect for and the integral promotion of the person and his fundamental rights. These demands concern above all the commitment to peace, the organization of the State's powers, a sound juridical system, the protection of the environment, and 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…

Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, § 166

2015 Platform

Investment in public transit and infrastructure has not kept pace with the growth of Canadian cities. To shorten commute times, cut air pollution, strengthen our communities, and grow our economy, we will:

Quadruple federal investment in public transit, investing almost $20 billion over 10 years. To do so, we will run modest short-term deficits.
Establish a new Canadian Infrastructure Bank to provide low-cost financing for new infrastructure projects.
Invest in local water & wastewater facilities, clean energy; climate resilient infrastructure, including flood mitigation systems; and infrastructure to protect against changing weather.
Invest in climate-resilient infrastructure, including flood mitigation systems, protections against changing weather Canada Infrastructure Bank to finance municipal works projects

The New Building Canada Fund is an important source of infrastructure funding for Canadian communities, but it has been hit by dramatic cuts and is heavily back-loaded.

We will make the New Building Canada Fund more focused.

By providing significant, separate investments in public transit, social infrastructure, and green infrastructure, we will enable the New Building Canada Fund to make greater investments in Canada’s roads, bridges, transportation corridors, ports, and border gateways, helping Canada’s manufacturers get their goods to market.

We will also make the fund more transparent, by providing clearer project criteria, along with faster approval processes.

2019 Platform

Quality public transit is essential to making our cities and towns run. Municipalities are already investing in making their transit systems better and more environmentally friendly – it’s time that they had a federal partner to help.

We will:

Modernize and expand public transit, with emphasis on funding of low carbon emissions
Electrify transit and other municipal fleets by 2030
Work with provinces and municipalities for fare-free transit
Re-establish rural bus routes
Support high-frequency rail along Quebec-Windsor corridor; expand options in other regions
Restore the Ontario Northlander service
Work toward 100% zero-emissions vehicles by 2040; create ZEV Center of Excellence; waive federal sales tax on ZEVs; expand charging networks; help owners pay for plug-in chargers
Promote walkable and cyclable community planning

Investing in public infrastructure creates good jobs, makes our communities more livable, and helps fight climate change. It’s one of the most important ways that governments can make people’s lives easier.

However, the new infrastructure investment bank is not effective, and is not working.

We believe Canadians should be able to count on the federal government to invest in infrastructure to make a real difference in communities across the country – not to pad the bank accounts of investment firms.

Our vision is one where communities can afford to build the infrastructure they need to thrive, from roads and bridges to community centres and child care centres and everything in between. These investments will create good jobs in every part of the country. To get there, we will partner with provinces, territories, First Nations, and municipalities to deliver reliable public infrastructure funding that puts people first.

2018 Policy Declaration

The Conservative Party supports a modern, efficient transportation system that is integral to the well-being of Canada’s economy, and essential for Canada to be competitive in continental and global markets.

We support public-private infrastructure investment as part of a comprehensive approach to improving and sustaining a world-class transportation system.
We believe that ensuring access to future transportation infrastructure for people with disabilities is a fundamental priority for all future public or private transportation installations.
We support the reduction or elimination of federal government fees, levies, taxes and rents, hidden and otherwise, associated with Canada’s national transportation system.
We believe that it is an important ongoing responsibility of government to improve border crossings and alleviate congestion at the border. This will result in the timely delivery of goods.
Supports allocation of federal retail gasoline taxes to provinces and territories for infrastructure funding, including a national highway system.
Supports use of P3 funding model to expand and hasten infrastructure renewal
Believes government should partner with provinces and territories to achieve an integrated transportation system
Supports measures to increase domestic and foreign airline competition

Vision Green, 2019

More roads don’t solve the problem; they make it worse. Gridlock means more air pollution and more GHG emissions. A transition to efficient light rail transit and coordinated buses will take cars off our roads, breaking the cycle of an increasing number of cars on increasingly-crowded roads to make our cities more livable.

We must build our way out of the problem of clogged roads and smog-choked cities, not by building more roads and bridges and more distant suburbs, but by building ‘smart growth’ infrastructure.

Excellent public transit and efficient housing in high-density nodes along existing transit corridors will make cities more livable and people-friendly. The federal government must take the lead in funding the ‘greening’ of Canada’s cities.

Green Party MPs will:

Increase federal funding for pedestrian, cycle, and car-sharing infrastructure in towns and cities;
Increase existing funding to stimulate a massive re-investment in public transportation infrastructure in all Canadian towns and cities to make it convenient, safe, comfortable, and affordable;
Invest in a national grid supporting electric vehicles – cars, buses and trucks;
Make employer-provided transit passes tax-free, to encourage workers and businesses to use public transport, and provide financial support to provinces that provide free public transit passes to people living below the poverty line;
Oppose funding for highway and bridge expansions that encourage urban sprawl, increase private vehicle use and truck transport of goods, and consequently increase GHG emissions;

Ensure federal infrastructure funding does not go to expanding highways and roads, but is rather spent on more efficient light rail systems. Current infrastructure must be maintained at a safe standard.

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