(Reuters) – Here is a roundup of the main Canadian political parties’ positions ahead of the Oct. 21 federal election, where Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party is neck and neck in opinion polls with the opposition Conservatives led by Andrew Scheer.
Greater Toronto area candidates listen as Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during an election campaign stop in Toronto, Ontario, Canada September 20, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Osorio
LIBERALS
CLIMATE – Continue increasing the carbon tax they implemented in 2018.
OIL – Complete the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
HOUSING – Introduce a 1% tax on foreign buyers. Give first-time purchasers up to 10% off a house.
HEALTHCARE – Create a national pharmacare system.
AFFORDABILITY – Add after-school care spaces for children under 10 and increase the Canada Child Benefit and Old Age Security payments. Decrease cost of cellphone plans by 25% over four years.
ECONOMY – Provide up to 2,000 entrepreneurs with C$50,000 to launch a new business.
IMMIGRATION – No major policy announcements yet.
TAXES – Cut small-business tax to 9% from 11%, lower middle-class taxes and make maternity and parental benefits tax-free.
GUNS – Ban assault rifles and allow provinces to restrict or ban handguns.
CONSERVATIVES
CLIMATE – Eliminate the carbon tax. Focus on incentives rather than punishment for exceeding carbon limits.
OIL – Complete the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Repeal the new pipeline approval process brought in by the Liberals.
HOUSING – Increase the supply of homes by allowing new homes onto the market faster. Make it easier to qualify for mortgages.
HEALTHCARE – Increase federal transfers to the provinces.
AFFORDABILITY – Make maternity benefits tax-free. Create a tax credit for children’s fitness and arts programs. Increase government contributions to Registered Education Savings Plans.
ECONOMY – No major policy announcements yet.
IMMIGRATION – No major policy announcements yet.
TAXES – Reduce tax on incomes below C$47,000 to 13.75% from 15%. Remove the General Sales Tax from heating bills. Review spending on tax breaks for businesses. End C$1.5 billion in subsidies for businesses.
VETERANS – Clear backlog of veterans’ benefits applications within two years. Create a Military Covenant between the government and veterans. Provide more service dogs to veterans.
NEW DEMOCRATS
CLIMATE – Invest $15 billion in climate-change measures.
OIL – End C$3.3 billion in government subsidies to the oil and gas industry.
HOUSING – Create 500,000 units of affordable housing over the next decade. Implement a foreign buyer’s tax.
HEALTHCARE – Create a national pharmacare system. Include mental health, eye and hearing care and fertility procedures in the Canada Health Act.
AFFORDABILITY – Invest C$1 billion in childcare. Implement a price cap on cellphone plans. Eliminate post-secondary tuition.
ECONOMY – Create 300,000 jobs building clean-energy utilities and retrofitting buildings to be energy efficient.
IMMIGRATION – Remove the cap on family reunification applications. Suspend the safe third country agreement with the United States.
TAXES – Increase corporate income tax rates to 2010 levels. Implement a 1% wealth tax on incomes over C$20 million.
GREENS
CLIMATE – Invest in a 100% renewable electricity grid. Cut federal emission-level goals to 60% below 2005 levels by 2030. Ban the sale of non-electric cars by 2030.
OIL – End C$3.3 billion in subsidies to the oil and gas industry.
HOUSING – Implement a strategy targeting those experiencing chronic homelessness.
HEALTHCARE – Include pharmacare and basic dental coverage in national health coverage.
AFFORDABILITY – Implement a universal basic income. Eliminate post-secondary tuition.
ECONOMY – Establish a Green Venture Capital Fund to support small green businesses.
TAXES – Hold taxation for small businesses at 9%. Impose a financial transactions tax of 0.2%. Apply corporate tax to transnational e-commerce companies like Netflix Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google.
DRUGS – Decriminalize all drug possession. Lower the federally set price of legal cannabis. Simplify requirements for packaging.
PEOPLE’S PARTY OF CANADA
CLIMATE – Withdraw from the Paris Accord. Abolish green tech subsidies. Remove the carbon tax.
OIL – Create a streamlined process for approving pipelines.
HOUSING – No major policies announcements yet.
HEALTHCARE – Create incentives for provinces to deal with rising healthcare costs.
AFFORDABILITY – No major policy announcements yet.
ECONOMY – Expand the accelerated capital cost allowance to all sectors. Abolish the maple syrup cartel.
IMMIGRATION – Lower the total number of immigrants and refugees to less than 150,000. Repeal the Multiculturalism Act.
TAXES – Cut federal income to 0% on incomes below C$15,000 and to 15% on incomes from C$15,000 to C$100,000. Decrease corporate tax to 10% from 15%.
Reporting by Moira Warburton; Editing by Peter Cooney