Conservative election platform outlines plans to cut spending, return to balance

CTV QP: Pierre Poilievre defends party platform Conservative candidate Pierre Poilievre defends the party’s platform despite its late release.

OTTAWA – The Conservative Party has released its costed 2019 platform, outlining how an Andrew Scheer-led government would get back to balanced budgets with more planned cuts than promised spending.

Over the course of the campaign—which is now nearing the finish line— the Conservatives have rolled out a series of promises, many being new affordability-focused tax cuts and credits. Today, the party offered up details on how it would return the federal budget to balance by 2024-25: by spending less than what it would amass in revenue and savings through cuts.

The platform titled: “Andrew Scheer’s Plan For You To Get Ahead” spans 103 pages and includes chapters on jobs, climate change, and a wide spanning section called “more help at home” that outlines the Conservatives’ plan for ethics, immigration, firearms, health, privacy, veterans and more.

The package comes the day after the final leaders’ debate of the campaign, and with 10 days to go until all ballots are cast. It combines already-unveiled commitments made by Scheer over the course of the election, as well as offering up new information on the party’s position going forward on other topics.

While already announced, the Conservatives say they are committed to balancing the budget in five years. The current projections from the party show that in the fifth year the budget would show a $667 million surplus. The Parliamentary Budget Officer currently pegs the deficit will be at $23.3 billion in 2020-21 without  factoring in any party’s promises.

In total, the Conservatives estimate that the promises they’ve made, or policies they would enact if elected , would cost $6.2 billion in 2020-21, but would also bring in just over $6.4 billion in new revenue or savings, bringing the PBO-estimated deficit down slightly, to $23 billion. This is based on independent analysis done by the PBO.

The Liberals had projected the deficit would be 27.4 billion in 2020-21, the NDP say under their plan it would hit $32.7 billion in year one, and neither party has a plan or timeline to return to balance.

“A new Conservative government will live within its means,” reads the platform.

In supporting documents the party provided to reporters, the Conservatives opted to present potential scenarios with types of families as examples for how much each household would save based on the combination of measures within the platform they are eligible for.

Some of the bigger ticket items in the Conservative platform are:

Scheer unveiled the document, which was provided to media in advance, from Delta, B.C.

“This election will come down to the choice between a government who thinks they can spend your money better than you, raises taxes, and makes your life more unaffordable – and a new Conservative government that will lower your taxes and put more money in your pocket,” writes Scheer in this platform, next to a photo of the leader backed by a row of Canadian flags. Similar to the Liberal document, the Conservative platform is peppered with photos of the leader out on the hustings.

The party says that over the final days of this campaign Scheer will be laying out what a new Conservative government would do in its first 100 days in office, should it be elected.

Scheer has faced questions throughout the campaign about when the cost of his package of promises would be made public. He had earlier signalled that it would come "with plenty of time" for voters "to make up their minds before they vote.”

Earlier today Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau took aim before the document was public, saying that “you don't release your best work at 6 o'clock on the Friday of a long weekend.”

What the Conservatives would cut

As part of this vow to get back to black—something the Conservatives say is needed to protect social programs like education and healthcare—A Scheer-led government would table legislation requiring the federal government to maintain a balanced budget in every year, once the current deficit is eliminated.

“We will tie the salaries of the Prime Minister and ministers to the implementation of a balanced budget,” reads the platform.

Conservatives would also put in place what they’re calling a “pay-as-you-go” rule for all new spending, meaning for each proposal to spend, there needs to be equal savings to offset it.

How the Conservatives plan to get back to balance, though not within a first mandate, in part is through the following cuts:

As well the Conservatives say they would “gradually” reduce the footprint of government real estate.

Plans aimed at jobs, families, seniors, homeowners

The first two sections of the Conservative platform focuses on their plans for jobs, families, and homeowners. This includes measures like:

The Conservatives are also pledging new supports for famers, fishers, and to eliminate the existing interprovincial trade barriers.

Innovation-focused environmental approach

The Conservatives’ climate plan came out in June, billed as Canada’s “best chance” to meet the Paris targets without a carbon tax, but the proposals lacked any estimates on how successful this slate of policies would be at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In Friday’s platform the policy proposals--aimed at supporting green technology innovation and protecting the environment—include costing on various aspects:

The Conservative platform also promises to repeal Bill C-69, the contentious environmental regulation legislation passed by the Liberals, build the Trans Mountain Pipeline, appoint a minister to consult with Indigenous right holders, create a “national energy corridor” and end the shipping traffic ban on B.C.’s North Coast.

Prison reform, penalties for conflict of interest breaches

After centering much of its criticism on the Liberal government’s legal and ethical scandals and conflict of interest controversies over the last four years, the Conservative platform offers several proposals on how they’d govern differently.

Among these promises is putting in “real penalties” for breaking the Conflict of Interest Act, which Trudeau was found to have done twice, but received no financial or administrative penalty.

Conservatives would introduce legislative changes to reverse the burden of proof for whistleblowers and place it on the employer, and expand protections for those working on government contracts in the private sector.

“Public servants who come forward to do the right thing and disclose wrongdoing in the interest of Canadians should not fear for their job security or face intimidation from their employers,” reads the platform.

A Conservative government would also close the loophole in the Conflict of Interest Act that allows cabinet ministers to indirectly hold shares, a step taken in light of the controversy that surrounded Finance Minister Bill Morneau in the last Parliament.

As already announced, the Conservatives would allow the RCMP to access documents deemed to be a cabinet confidence, and launch a judicial inquiry into the SNC-Lavalin scandal, which will total $20 million after it’s completed in two years.

The platform also says that the Conservatives would increase the oversight powers for the ethics and lobbying commissioners, toughen the lobbying restrictions for people who have been criminally charged and implement former interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose’s proposal to make it mandatory that all judges in Canada take sexual assault law training.

The party platform also offers several corrections, gang, human-trafficking, drug, and justice-related promises. These include tying parole eligibility to job skills training; tabling legislation to allow judges to “lock up the worst criminals for the rest of their life”; ending statutory release; ending unescorted day passes from prison; ending the prison needle exchange program because needles are “dangerous weapons” that put correctional officers at risk; requiring full-body scans for anyone who enters a prison; and changing the Criminal Code to identify gangs and to toughen sentences for violent gang crime.

On the Conservatives’ domestic agenda

The Conservatives’ platform also outlines the party’s positions on a wide variety of domestic files. Among the costed elements are spending $25 million annually to make admission free to Canada's national museums, for Canadians and international tourists; and replacing MRI and CT machines at a cost of $250 million in 2020-21.

The Conservatives say they would also extend EI for parents whose infant dies; develop an autism strategy; tackle cyberbullying; “prioritize genocide survivors, LGBTQ+ refugees, and internally displaced people” as refugees, and direct the immigration department to match employment backgrounds of newcomers to the employment needs of companies that rely on temporary foreign workers.

Indigenous-centric commitments span just two pages with the Conservatives saying they would “remove barriers to prosperity”; modernize Indigenous governance; keep up with the Liberals’ plan to clear drinking water advisories on reserves; and develop a missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls “action plan.”

Foreign policy, terrorism

Scheer has also spent considerable time chiding Trudeau on his record on international relations. In this platform he vows to “reclaim” Canada’s role, while making “greater overtures” to India and Japan.

Scheer would reopen the office of religious freedoms, at a cost of $1 million, and move Canada’s embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, which would cost $2 million total.

A Conservative government would also allow CSIS to disrupt terrorist threats, and introduce new laws that would prosecute Canadians who travel to designated terrorist hotspots, while putting in new protections for their children.

As for military procurement, Scheer’s plan would see the CF-18s replaced, a second interim Navy supply ship procured, and submarines replaced.