Everything you need to know about the Liberal Party platform

The Liberal Party of Canada released their official party platform for this month’s Federal Election on Monday, with new investment announcements totalling almost $150 billion.

Federal party leader Justin Trudeau unveiled the platform in a live Facebook Q&A at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Their six-part platform documents details on how they would grow the middle class, create a more fair and transparent government, improve the fairness of elections, target climate change, strengthen Canada’s world presence and improve Canada’s military and security operations. They also include detailed data on fiscal projections and planning.

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Here are some of the key points from Justin Trudeau’s platform. The full 88-page document can be found online.

Image: @JustinTrudeau / Twitter

Growth for the middle class:

Cancel the Universal Child Care Benefit and other tax breaks and benefits for the wealthy
Introduce a new Canada Child Benefit that will boost the amount of money families with children receive. A typical family of four will receive $2,500 more under this plan than Stephen Harper’s
Cut taxes for the middle class – the middle income tax bracket will be cut from 22 per cent to 20.5 per cent. Canadians with incomes between $44,700 and $89,401 will see lower taxes.
Introduce a new tax bracket of 33 per cent for wealthy Canadians earning more than $200,000
Cancel income splitting
Offer 12-month break on Employment Insurance premiums for companies employing young Canadians aged 18 to 24 and hired into a permanent position in 2016, 2017 or 2018.
Restore eligibility for Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement to age 65
Introduce a 10-year investment in social infrastructure for affordable housing
Remove GST on new capital investments in affordable rental housing
Review escalating home prices in high-priced markets like Vancouver and consider policy tools to keep home-ownership in reach
Invest $3 billion over the next four years to deliver more home care services to Canadians
Run short-term deficits of less than $10 billion for next two fiscal years to fund investments in middle class. Balanced budget will return in 2019
Invest $20 billion into more public transit infrastructure, including increase SeaBus service, rapid transit along Broadway corridor, light rail in Surrey
Invest almost $20 billion in the next 10 years into social infrastructure
Boost investment in green infrastructure by almost $6 billion over next four years and $20 billion over 10 years
Repeal Bills C-377 and C-525 to strengthen labour union laws
Invest $190 million per year to support compassionate caregivers
Amend Canada Labour Code to provide every federal worker the right to request their employer gives them more flexible working conditions, such as flexible start and finish times or the ability to telecommute
Introduce restrictions on advertising of unhealthy foods to children
Introduce a Teacher and Early Childhood Educator School Supply Tax Benefit

Fair and open government:

Eliminate all fees for Canadians to access government information, except the $5 filing fee
Access to Information Act will apply to Prime Minister’s and Ministers’ Offices
Create a free website for personal information requests with a 30-day guarantee
Make government data available digitally
Require all Parliamentarians to disclose travel and hospitality expenses

Open and fair elections:

Ban partisan government ads
Give Elections Canada resources to oversee fair elections
Close political financing loophole which allowed unlimited spending in the period before an election
End the first-past-the-post voting system
Repeal “anti-democratic” elements of the Fair Elections Act and restore the voter identification card
Introduce a Prime Minister’s Question Period
Limit circumstances where Liberal MPs are required to vote with Cabinet
Will not use prorogation to avoid difficult political situations and end omnibus bills
Create an all-party committee to monitor the operations of every government department and agency with national security responsibilities
Invest $80 million over four years to help the Canada Revenue Agency stop tax evaders
Save Canada Post’s home mail delivery service
Include an equal number of women and men in the Cabinet
Create a Prime Minister’s Youth Advisory Council consisting of citizens aged 16 to 24 to advise the Prime Minister on national issues

A clean environment and a strong economy:

Establish a pan-Canadian framework for climate change 90 days after attending the Paris climate conference
Create a Low Carbon Economy Trust with a $2 billion endowment to fund projects that reduce carbon emissions
Phase out subsidies for the fossil fuel industry
Invest $100 million more each year in clean technology producers
Invest $200 million more each year to support innovation and the use of clean technologies in the natural resources sector
Develop a Canadian Energy Strategy
Restore lost protections and review the Fisheries Act
Act on the recommendations of the Cohen Commission on restoring sockeye salmon stocks in the Fraser River
Increase the amount of Canada’s marine and coastal areas that are protected to five per cent by 2017 and 10 per cent by 2020
Create free admission to all National Parks for the 150th anniversary of the Confederation in 2017
Create free admission to all National Parks beginning in 2018 to children under 18 and anyone who has become a citizen in the last 12 months
Reverse $25 million in cuts to Parks Canada
Create the country’s first urban national park – Rouge National Park in Ontario

A strong Canada:

Invest another $300 million per year for First Nations students, totalling a $2.6 billion investment over the next four years
Invest $500 million over next three years for building and refurbishing First Nations schools
Launch a national public inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada
Re-establish lifelong pensions for injured veterans
Create a Veterans Education Benefit
Implement all of the Auditor General’s recommendations on enhancing mental health service to veterans
Create two new centres of excellence in veterans’ care specializing in mental health, PTSD and related issues for veterans and first responders
Develop a comprehensive federal gender violence strategy and action plan
Increase investments in shelters and transition houses
Increase the maximum sentence for repeat offenders of intimate partner violence
Will allow spouses immigrating to Canada to receive immediate permanent residency
Take action to make it harder for criminals to get and use handguns and assault weapons
Provide $100 million each year to the provinces and territories to support guns and gangs police task forces
Legalize, regulate and restrict access to marijuana
Invest $150 million in new annual funding for CBC/Radio-Canada
Re-open the Kitsilano Coast Guard Base in Vancouver and restore funding for Canada’s four heavy urban search and rescue teams

Security and opportunity:

Double the number of applications allowed for parents and grandparents of immigrants to 10,000 each year
Restore maximum age of dependents to 22 from 19
Lower fees for Canadians sending money to family members overseas
Expand Canada’s intake of Syrian refugees by 25,000
Invest $250 million, including $100 million this fiscal year to increase refugee processing
Provide a new contribution of $100 million this year to the UN High Commission for Refugees
Restore the Interim Federal Health Program to provide temporary health benefits to refugees
Lift the Mexican visa requirement
Explore deeper trade relationships with emerging markets like China and India
Recommit to supporting international peace operations with the United Nations
Find a better replacement for the CF-18 fighter aircraft than the F-25 stealth fighter-bomber
Implement the recommendations from the Canadian Forces’ Report on Transformation
End Canada’s combat mission in Iraq