Reality check: How many election pledges has Harper kept since 2011?

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"In the 2011 election, the Conservative Party made more than 100 specific pledges. We have now delivered on 84 of them. And we're working on the rest." – Prime Minister Stephen Harper during his summer tour of the territories

"Promise made, promise kept" is shaping up to be a key theme for the Conservatives as they prepare to kick off the second half of their majority mandate with an October Throne Speech.

During his recent northern tour, the Prime Minister threw out a very specific figure, claiming his government has checked off 84 of the promises made in the 2011 Conservative election platform. Politics Insider took a closer look at the claim. It turns out Mr. Harper is playing it safe and could have argued a slightly higher number. A cursory review, outlined below, counts 121 promises buried in the text of the party platform, of which about 95 could reasonably be described as having been kept.

Still, the Prime Minister's stats should be taken with a grain of salt. While the volume of promises kept is designed to impress, the details show many of them were easy to deliver. Several promises amounted to maintaining the status quo in various policy areas. Further, there would surely be advocates on many of the issues who would argue the announced programs did not go far enough. Nonetheless, the government did follow up on the vast majority of the party's election promises.

Many of the promises were quickly checked off through an omnibus crime bill that was passed shortly after the Conservatives won a majority. However the government's speediness may now pose a challenge. Of the few promises that are left, many are contingent on a balanced budget. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says that won't happen for another two years, meaning there is no new money to spend between now and then.

Below is a list of the promises and an assessment of whether they were kept or not kept. A small number were listed as unclear or debatable.

#1-36: JOBS AND GROWTH

• A re-elected Stephen Harper government will not raise taxes on Canadian consumers and families, and the Conservatives will not raise the tax rate on the businesses that create jobs for Canadians. Debatable, since personal tax rates have not changed. The corporate tax rate was reduced in 2012, but payroll taxes continue to rise through higher E.I. premiums.
• Provide a hiring credit for small business – a one-year EI break for some 525,000 Canadian small businesses. Kept.
• Continue helping businesses to retain employees and to keep Canadians working, by enhancing the work-sharing program once again. Kept.
• Continue helping workers in transition, by extending the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers. Kept.
• Prohibit federally regulated employers from setting a mandatory retirement age. Kept.
• Extend support for the Canada Youth Business Foundation. Kept.
• Enhance the Canada Student Loans program for part-time students. Kept.
• Double the work exemption for Canada Student Loans. Kept.
• Establish 30 Industrial Research Chairs at colleges and polytechnics. Kept, according to the PMO. The Globe was not able to immediately verify this. (Update: There are currently 22 active Industrial Research Chairs for Colleges and a competition is planned for 2014 to bring the total up to 30.)
• Support research partnerships between college and university researchers and students, through Canada’s research granting councils. Kept.
• Provide loans for recent immigrants to help pay for skills training and accreditation. Kept.
• Aim to complete negotiations on a Canada-EU free-trade agreement by 2012. Not kept.
• Aim to complete negotiations on a Canada-India free-trade agreement in 2013. Not kept.
• Complete implementation of the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative. Kept.
• Build on the Memorandum of Understanding to develop an Ontario-Quebec Continental Gateway and Trade Corridor Strategy. Debatable. The website for the Ontario-Quebec Gateway has not announced anything new since March, 2011.
• Implement the Atlantic Gateway and Trade Corridor Strategy. Kept.
• Legislate a one-for-one rule – every time the government proposes a new regulation, it must eliminate an existing one. Kept.
• Provide support for BizPaL for entrepreneurs and small businesses. Kept.
• Extend the 50 per cent straight-line accelerated Capital Cost Allowance rate for manufacturing or processing machinery and equipment by an additional two years. Kept.
• Establish 10 additional Canada Excellence Research Chairs. Kept.
• Support the Institut national d’optique. Kept.
• Invest in strengthening the Perimeter Institute’s position as a world-leading research centre for theoretical physics. Kept.
• Leverage funding to support Brain Canada’s efforts to develop new diagnostics, treatments and cures for brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease. Kept.
• Take action on the findings of the Research and Development Review Panel. Kept.
• Announce and begin implementing a Digital Economy Strategy. Kept.
• Accelerate the adoption of information and communications technologies. Kept.
• Promote enrollment in postsecondary science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs. Kept.
• Build Canada’s digital content through additional support for the Canada Media Fund. Kept.
• Reintroduce and pass the Copyright Modernization Act. Kept.
• Set aside wireless spectrum for emergency responders in the next wireless spectrum auction. Not kept, as the auction has not yet occurred.
• Increase support for the Agriculture and Food Trade Commissioner Service and the Market Access Secretariat. Unclear.
• Invest in a new Agriculture Innovation Initiative to support local farm-based research. Kept.
• Develop a national farm and food strategy. Not kept.
• Extend the current Forest Innovation and Market Development programs. Kept.
• Extend the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit. Kept.
• Extend support for repairs and improvement to small craft harbours. Kept.

#37-44: NATIONAL DEFENCE

• Develop a federal policy framework to maximize the competitiveness of Canada’s aerospace and space industry. Debatable.
• Ensure stable funding is provided for the Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative. Kept.
• Follow through on the purchase of the F-35 fighter jets. Not kept.
• Complete the implementation of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. Kept.
• Establish a new air expeditionary wing at CFB Bagotville before the end of 2011. Unclear.
• Station 550 personnel at Bagotville for the new air expeditionary wing by 2015. Unclear.
• Give the Coast Guard a law-enforcement mandate. Kept.
• Establish armed boarding teams, including Coast Guard and RCMP personnel. Kept.

#45-53: CANADIAN HERITAGE

• Invest in celebrating the bicentennial of the War of 1812. Kept.
• Invest in celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012. Kept.
• Invest in celebrating the 140th anniversary of the Charlottetown Conference in 2014. Kept.
• Invest in celebrating the bicentennial of Sir John A. Macdonald’s birthday in 2015. Kept.
• Invest in celebrating the 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017. Kept.
• Establish a National Holocaust Memorial in the national capital. Kept.
• Establish a Memorial to Victims of Communism in the national capital. Kept.
• Support the Royal Conservatory of Music in launching a national examinations system in partnership with Carnegie Hall. Kept.
• Provide ongoing support for the Canada Periodical Fund. Kept.

#54-57: ABORIGINAL AFFAIRS

• Provide new investments in First Nations land management. Kept.
• Expand adult basic education programming in the territories. Kept.
• Support environmental safety upgrades to the fuel tanks that power essential community infrastructure. Kept.
• Promote the deployment of clean energy technologies in aboriginal and northern communities. Kept.

#58-64: INFRASTRUCTURE AND MUNICIPALITIES

• Work with provinces, territories, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and other stakeholders to develop a long-term plan for public infrastructure that extends beyond the expiry of the Building Canada Plan. Kept.
• Maintain the consistent policy of the federal government not to fund professional sports facilities, and apply the policy uniformly across the country. Kept.
• Make gas-tax transfers to municipalities permanent through legislation. Kept.
• Establish Social Impact Bonds and engage the private sector to raise money for promising new community initiatives. Kept, though only small test projects have been approved.
• Establish a new Firefighters Tax Credit. Kept.
• Give additional funding to upgrade and build new snowmobile trails. Kept. (Update: Since the election, the government has announced new funding to expand snowmobile trails through Quebec’s regional development agency. However the platform promised $2.5-million a year and suggested it would be administered through the National Trails Coalition. This has not yet happened, though discussions are ongoing. Therefore the general promise of “additional funding for upgrades and new trails” has been kept, but the specific promise of dollar amounts for the National Trails Coalition has not yet been kept.)
• Relocate the head office of Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions. Not kept.

#65-70: INTERPROVINCIAL RELATIONS AND HEALTH CARE

• Continue working with willing provinces and territories to establish a Canadian Securities Regulator. Not kept, though talks continue.
• Complete a tax-harmonization agreement with the Quebec government. Kept.
• Work collaboratively with the provinces and territories to renew the Health Accord and continue to reduce wait times. Kept, though provinces say they were blindsided by Ottawa’s new health transfer plan.
• Forgive a portion of student loans for those who agree to practice in underserved rural or remote areas. Kept.
• Ensure that every recreational hockey arena in Canada has a defibrillator. Kept, in that a program was announced, though it is not clear whether defibrillators have made it to all arenas.
• Implement the accord on Quebec’s offshore resources. Kept.

#71-74: ELIMINATE THE DEFICIT

• Make no cuts to provincial transfers. Kept.
• Eliminate the deficit by 2014-15. Not kept.
• Complete the stimulus package as planned. Kept.
• Continue specific measures to restrain the growth of program spending, including a comprehensive review of government spending. Kept, though the details have not been disclosed.

#75-80: HELP FOR FAMILIES

• Once the deficit is erased, establish the Family Tax Cut – allowing income splitting for families with dependent children under 18. Not kept.
• Once the deficit is erased, double the children’s fitness tax credit. Not kept.
• Establish the children’s arts tax credit. Kept.
• Once the deficit is erased, establish an adult fitness tax credit. Not kept.
• Extend the ecoENERGY home-retrofit program by one year. Kept.
• Establish a family caregiver tax credit. Kept.

#81: SUPPORT FOR LOW-INCOME SENIORS

• Provide a top-up benefit to the guaranteed income supplement. Kept.

#82-84: SUPPORT FOR SAVINGS

• When the budget is balanced, double the amount Canadians can save each year in tax-free savings accounts. Not kept.
• Implement the Pooled Retirement Pension Plan as soon as possible. Not kept, though some provinces are bringing in PRPPs.
• Enhance the Wage Earner Protection Program. Kept.

#85: SUPPORT FOR VETERANS

• Invest in the “helmets to hardhats” program to help former military personnel find work in the construction industry. Kept.

#86-107: NATIONAL SECURITY AND JUSTICE

• Reintroduce and pass legislation to crack down on human smuggling. Kept.
• Expedite the deportation of foreign criminals. Kept.
• Streamline the multiple levels of appeal available to individuals ordered deported for serious criminality. Kept.
• Amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to permit sentencing courts to order deportation immediately on reaching parole eligibility. Kept.
• Amend the International Transfer of Offenders Act to remove the requirement for a forcing offender’s consent for prisoner transfer. Kept.
• Extend the program to prevent hate-motivated crime. Kept.
• Reintroduce legislation to give law enforcement new powers to investigate and prevent acts of terrorism. Kept.
• Develop a new national counterterrorism strategy. Kept.
• Double the victim surcharge and make it mandatory. Kept.
• 95. Provide enhanced EI benefits to parents of murdered or missing children, and parents of gravely ill children. Kept.
• Ensure annual drug tests for federal inmates. Not kept.
• Make sure parole applicants who fail drug tests will be denied parole. Not kept.
• Develop a national action plan to combat human trafficking. Kept.
• Reintroduce legislation to protect vulnerable foreign workers, such as exotic dancers. Kept.
• End sentence discounts for multiple sex offences and child pornography offences. Kept.
• Add vulnerability due to age as an aggravating factor when sentencing those who commit crimes against elderly Canadians. Kept.
• Reintroduce a new citizens arrest law. Kept.
• Impose mandatory jail time for repeat offenders connected with contraband tobacco. Not kept. Bill was introduced in March, but not passed.
• Establish a new RCMP anti-contraband force of 50 officers. Not kept, as it requires passage of the contraband tobacco bill.
• Bundle previous unpassed crime bills into a single bill and pass them within 100 days. Kept.
• Provide permanent funding for the Youth Gang Prevention Fund. Kept.
• End the long-gun registry. Kept.

#108: ARCTIC SOVEREIGNTY

• Build an all-weather road linking Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk. Kept. Construction is underway.

#109: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

• Create a special Office of Religious Freedom in the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade. Kept.

#110-113: ENVIRONMENT

• Establish a national conservation plan. Not kept, though the government has said it is in the works.
• Invest in the creation of Mealy Mountains National Park. Kept.
• Take action toward the establishment of a new National Park in the Rouge Valley, in the eastern part of the Greater Toronto Area. Kept.
• Support viable clean energy projects, including the Lower Churchill hydroelectric project. Kept.

#114-115: FOREIGN AFFAIRS

• Rally world leaders to follow through on Canada’s commitments to improve the health of women and children in developing countries. Kept.
• Focus post-combat efforts in Afghanistan on investing in the education and health of children and youth. Kept.

#116-121: ACCOUNTABILITY

• Set term limits for senators. Not kept.
• Establish a democratic process for electing senators. Not kept.
• Introduce legislation to rebalance the House of Commons by adding new seats. Kept.
• Introduce a government bill requiring First Nations chiefs and councillors to disclose their salaries. Kept.
• Phase out the direct subsidy to political parties. Kept.
• Establish an Open Government Working Group. Kept.