With only one week left in the election, there are still those who still don’t know who they want to vote for. So for those who still need top make up their minds, here is The Northern View’s 2011 Voting Guide. We went through each of the platforms off all the parties and picked out the promises that we thought were the most relevant to the North Coast communities. The platform documents are rather large so we couldn’t summarize everything. If you wish to read the platforms in their entirety, they are available on the Parties’ websites.
EDUCATION
New Democratic Party
* Creation of 100,000 new childcare spaces over the next four years, along with new infrastructure to help create more.
* $800-million transfer to provinces to help lower tuition fees and post-secondary institutions.
* Raise education tax credit from $4,800 to $5,760 a year.
Conservative Party
* Enhance student loans program to better serve part-time students looking to change careers.
* Double the work exemption on student loans.
Liberal Party
* “The education passport,” a $1-billion per year program where post-secondary students will be given $1,000 to $1,500 a year to spend on education expenses.
* Early Childhood Learning and Care Fund which would increase to $1-billion after four years.
Green Party
* $40-million per year for post-secondary bursaries.
* Increasing money for early childhood education to $1-billion by 2013
Christian Heritage Party
* Redirect 80 per cent of post-secondary funding into tuition vouchers for qualified students.
* $1000 per month to families where a parent wants to stay home to raise the kids.
Canadian Action Party
* Spend $1 to 1.5 –billion to bring down tuition to where it was in 1990.
* Lower interest on student loans, and make interest tax-deductible
ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS
New Democratic Party
* Increase access to capital for business development.
* Improving community infrastructure such as housing, drinking water and roads.
* Remove two per cent funding cap on Indian and Northern Affairs transfers to aboriginal communities.
* $200-million for educational grants for aboriginal, low-income and disabled students.
Conservative Party
* Provide new investments in First Nations land management to allow them promote and develop their reserve lands.
* Support for environmental safety upgrades to fuel tanks used to power community infrastructure.
* Promotion of clean energy technologies in aboriginal communities.
Liberal Party
* $200-million to help get more aboriginal students into post-secondary schools.
* $300-million to help address challenges in aboriginal k-12 education, with talks with aboriginal leaders about funding levels in the future.
* Increased emphasis on new affordable housing and poverty fighting in the north and aboriginal communities.
Green Party
* Move forward on implementation of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
* $800-million a year for improved community infrastructure.
Christian Heritage Party
*No specific policies pertaining to Aboriginal Affairs.
Canadian Action Party
*Promise to seek direct input from native communities on policy decisions
* First Nations member to chair the Native and Aboriginal Peoples` Affairs Committee.
JOB CREATION
New Democratic Party
* Job Creation Tax Credit to give a one-year rebate of up to $4,500 on employer’s CPP and EI contributions to any business that creates a new job that lasts longer than 12 months.
* Tax credits for job-creating investments like new machinery.
* Creating a clear “Net Benefit for Canada” test for potential foreign investments with mandatory public hearings and public disclosure of all commitments by the investors.
* More investment in critical infrastructure projects.
Conservative Party
* A one-year EI break for small businesses.
* More protections for older workers including no mandatory retirement age and retraining opportunities for those who lost their jobs.
* Reintroduce Copyright Modernization Act to change laws for a digital economy.
* Support aerospace jobs by buying F-35 fighter jets.
* Major investments in the tourism sector.
Liberal Party
* Universal broadband Internet connectivity within three
years.
* Youth Hiring incentive, a holiday on EI premiums on all youth hires.
* Innovation and Productivity tax credit for start-ups in emerging industries.
* More investments to create a knowledge-based workforce.
* A voluntary low-cost CPP for small businesses.
* Investing in transportation infrastructure.
Green Party
* Emphasis on value-added manufacturing to cut down on the export of raw logs.
* Investments to create new “green jobs.”
* Expand EI access, while reducing employer EI and CPP contributuons.
* Create carbon credit system.
Christian Heritage Party
*More infrastructure projects that will pay for themselves.
* Reduction of the deficit.
Canadian Action Party
* Monetary reform that would free up more federal money for investment in job creation projects.
FISHERIES
New Democratic Party
* New impact assessments, monitoring and enforcement to protect fisheries from environmental damage done by other industries; specifically the oil industry.
Conservative Party
* Support for improvements to small craft harbours.
Liberal Party
* Formalize the tanker ban in the Hecate Striate, Dixon Entrance and Queen Charlotte Sound through legislation.
* Will make the conservation of Pacific Salmon a top priority.
* Expand the protected marine areas.
* Create an independent review of oil spill prevention and response capacity as well as create a “world-leading” contingency plan.
Green Party
* End drag-fishing in Canada.
Christian Heritage Party
* No specific polities pertaining to the fisheries.
Canadian Action Party
* Would either listen closely to input from members of the fishing industry, or turn over the jurisdiction for the Fisheries to them.
HEALTH CARE
New Democratic Party
* Increase money for healthcare by 6 per cent a year on the condition that the provinces work to keep the healthcare system public-only.
* Money to hire 1,200 new doctors over the next 10 years.
* 6,000 new training spaces for new nurses over the next six years.
* Money to guarantee a basic level of home care for seniors.
* Lower the cost of pharmaceutical drugs.
Conservative Party
* $500 adult fitness tax credit to cover costs for adult physical activities (only after budget is balanced).
* Work collaboratively with provinces to help reduce wait times.
* Will respect provincial jurisdiction over healthcare as much as possible.
Liberal Party
* Encourage new doctors to move to rural communities by forgiving up to $40,000 of their student loans. Same goes for nurse practitioners, but only up to $20,000.
* $40-million over two years to improve rural healthcare.
* Increased funding for come care.
* Introduce a Brain Health Strategy
* Address gaps in drug coverage.
* A national health strategy, which would include regulations and incentives for buying healthier food.
Green Party
* Encourage healthier lifestyles by investing in new bike paths, green spaces and community gardens.
Christian Heritage Party
* Would eliminate abortions from being covered by the public healthcare system and work to prevent assisted suicide from becoming legal.
* Allow more private delivery of healthcare services.
* Promote healthy lifestyle choices.
Canadian Action Party
* Make the healthcare system cover holistic medicine.
* Impose a moratorium on public-private partnerships.
* Help foster a Canadian pharmaceutical industry as opposed to the US one.
TRADE WITH ASIA
New Democratic Party
No specific polices pertaining to trade with Asia are in the platform, but Candidate Nathan Cullen has stated a commitment to promote the expansion the Prince Rupert Port.
Conservative Party
* Promise to complete the implantation of Asia-Pacific Gateway Corridor Initiative.
* Commitment to conclude negotiations for a free-trade agreement with India by 2013.
Liberal Party
* Will negotiate “Global Network Agreements” with India and China, which will go beyond free trade, but will also encourage collaborative projects, education, tourism, transportation, clean energy projects, etc, between countries.
Green Party
* Revise current trade agreements to promote “fair trade” as opposed to free trade.
Christian Heritage Party:
* No specific policies pertaining to trade with Asia.
Canadian Action Party:
* Party is staunchly against the North America Free Trade Agreement, but doesn’t say if they are against free trade with Asia.
POSITION ON ENBRIDGE
New Democratic Party: Against.
Conservative Party: In favour (That’s the Party’s position, candidate Clay Harmon has not said one way or the another).
Liberal Party: Against, also promises to formalize tanker ban through legislation.
Green Party: Against.
Christian Heritage Party: Against.
Canadian Action Party: Against.