NDP unveils campaign platform ahead of expected election call
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is promising to tax the “super rich,” improve accessibility for mental health care, create one million “good jobs” and set up a Crown corporation for vaccine production, if his party was to form government.
Bright and early Thursday morning, the NDP released “commitments to Canadians” and a plan for a “fair” pandemic recovery that essentially amounts to the campaign platform that Singh and his candidates will be running on in the federal election that sources have confirmed to CTV News is expected to be called on Aug. 15
While much of the 115-page document comprises commitments previously made by the New Democrats, including in previous elections, the party says it includes other new ideas that have been informed by Canadians’ struggles during the last 18 months. There are a mix of long-term promises and pledges the party believes are achievable within a first mandate.
"The same way we fought for you and your families in the pandemic, we commit to you, to fight for you, moving forward in the recovery. And that's why we're laying out our vision for the future," Singh said Thursday.
The NDP says if it was to form government it would start shoring up the country for future pandemics by setting up federally-led domestic vaccine and personal protective equipment manufacturing, things the Liberals have already put in motion. The party also wants to implement sweeping reforms to the long-term care system in Canada after COVID-19 exposed serious shortcomings.
The party unveiled in its platform that its long-promised wealth tax would actually hit a wider swath of the population than previously anticipated, generating potentially $10 billion in revenue which would be used to help cover other costly commitments.
The NDP says if elected, it would impose a one per cent tax on households with assets worth more than $10 million, whereas previously Singh had said he’d go after those worth more than $20 million.
The party would also implement an “excess profit tax” of 15 per cent on large corporations that saw their profits skyrocket during the pandemic, which the party estimates could bring in $8 billion in federal revenue.
"That's the vision that we have for Canada: Making the ultra-rich pay their fair share, so we can invest in people," said the NDP leader.
Singh’s promise of enhanced mental health coverage would start with providing free access to uninsured Canadians and then would expand, according to the platform.
“We know mental health is something that suffered for a lot of people through the pandemic, and we know the importance of getting good, timely, mental health care on overall health and well-being,” said an NDP official speaking to reporters on background.
Among the other key policy pledges the party is making:
- National child care, pharmacare and dental care programs up and running within first term;
- Fully paid sick leave for workers, continuing pandemic aid programs, and a “small business recovery package”;
- Forgiving up to $20,000 in student debt and making post-secondary part of the public education system;
- Boosting the federal minimum wage and creating at least 500,000 units of affordable housing over the next decade;
- Mechanisms to make high-speed internet and cell phone services more affordable;
- Setting up a “climate emergency” cabinet committee to help jumpstart reducing emissions by 50 per cent come 2030;
- Developing a “national action plan for reconciliation” with Indigenous peoples acting on all calls for action and justice; and
- Following through on unfulfilled Liberal promises to the LGBTQ2S+ community and addressing systemic racism.
The NDP says it is their desire to “build a fairer economy for working Canadians,” and to “tackle the deep roots of injustice and inequality,” that Singh will be running on in his campaign against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole.
“In every corner of the country, families are worried about jobs, the health of our loved ones, and the public services that everyone counts on. We all want to go back to some sort of ‘normal’ after the pandemic… But as I listen to Canadians, I hear the worry in people’s voices,” said Singh in the preamble of the platform document, which is titled "Ready for Better.”
“Sadly, for the last six years the Liberals haven’t done much to make life any easier,” it reads.
Much of what the NDP are saying they would do, would require collaboration with the provinces, something the party says it is confident Singh can achieve.
NDP officials briefing reporters about the platform said that while the majority of the party’s pledges have been outlined in the plan, there will be more announcements to come. They also promised that full costing for commitments not already priced out with the help of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, would be presented once the campaign kicks off.
“These are our priorities, our vision for a recovery that hopefully we are in, or are getting to soon. If we find ourselves in an election campaign, which many of you think will happen, and I think will happen, then obviously this will be the foundation of what we'll talk about in an election campaign,” said an NDP official.
While the NDP leader recently published an open letter stating that Trudeau would be “selfish” to call an election while the pandemic is ongoing, all sides have been engaging in pseudo electioneering. Singh released his commitment document in Newfoundland Thursday, as part of a tour of Atlantic Canada.
“I don't blame him at all for wanting to get this out there on the early side of things before the campaign really begins in earnest… And I think obviously, Singh has been one of the people who have really pushed on the prime minister’s apparent decision to go to election early, and he's trying to position himself,” said Lori Turnbull, director of the Dalhousie School of Public Administration, in an interview on CTV News Channel.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Latest updates on the major wildfires burning in Canada
The 2024 wildfire season has begun, and it's shaping up to follow last year's unprecedented destruction in kind, with thousands of square kilometres already consumed.
Veteran TSN sportscaster Darren Dutchyshen has died
Veteran TSN broadcaster Darren 'Dutch' Dutchyshen, one of Canada’s best-known sports journalists, has died. He was 57. His family says 'he passed as he was surrounded by his closest loved ones.'
Toronto man killed his mother and decapitated her — but it wasn't murder, lawyers argue
A ‘lifetime of abuse’ led Dallas Ly to snap and repeatedly stab his mother inside their Leslieville apartment in 2022 but he never intended to kill her, his defence lawyers argued during at his murder trial in Toronto on Thursday.
He had dreams of running for Canada in the Olympics, then he learned his family would be deported
A burgeoning track star says his dream of going to the Olympics is being derailed by a deportation order after Immigration officials rejected his family’s claim for asylum
Kidnapped by her father and kept in a crawl space: Court documents reveal Montreal horror story
A Montreal father who kidnapped his daughter who has autism and lied to police when they asked where she was should serve three years in prison, a Crown prosecutor said.
Loblaw agrees to sign grocery code of conduct after months of negotiations
Loblaw Cos. Ltd. said Thursday it's ready to sign on to the grocery code of conduct, paving the way for an agreement that's been years in the making.
Teen died from eating a spicy chip as part of social media challenge, autopsy report concludes
A medical examiner says a Massachusetts teen who participated in a spicy tortilla chip challenge died from ingesting a substance 'with a high capsaicin concentration.'
Pierre Poilievre presses Justin Trudeau for summer pause on carbon and fuel taxes
To give Canadians a break on their summer road trips, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to suspend all gas and diesel taxes from Victoria Day to Labour Day.
Canada sanctions four Israeli 'extremist settlers' accused of attacking Palestinians
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly is imposing sanctions on Israelis she accuses of 'extremist settler violence' in the West Bank, three months after pledging to do so.
Local Spotlight
Starbucks fan on decades-long journey to visit every store in the world
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
'Sacred work': Sask. First Nation learning how to conduct its own underground searches
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
'It could mean a cure': Cautious optimism for groundbreaking ALS research at Western
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.
B.C. musician's song catches attention of Canucks
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
'We're on standby': Team ready to help entangled right whale in Gulf of St. Lawrence
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Thieves caught on camera stealing pet chicken from North Vancouver backyard
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Adopted daughter in the Netherlands reunited with sister in Montreal and mother in Colombia, 40 years later
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
'Reimagining Mother's Day': Toronto woman creates Motherless Day event after losing mom
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
Chris Hadfield inspires youth musical in Sudbury
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.