Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff shows his platform launch book in Ottawa on Sunday, April 3, 2011.
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Explainer
The Liberal platform
Globe Staff
Globe and Mail Update
Published
Last updated
A compilation of Liberal election promises made so far
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A CF-18 fighter jet undergoes routine inspection before take off at CFB Cold Lake in Alberta on Sept. 28, 2010.
Defence
-Immediately cancel the F-35 stealth fighter jet deal and hold a competition to determine what planes Canada needs
-Up to $120-million towards the Veterans Learning Benefit, which would provide full support for the costs of college, university or technical education for veterans after service
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Canadian dollars
The economy
-Reverse corporate tax cuts, saving $5.2-billion
-Reduce the size of the deficit to about $18.9-billion by the year 2012-2013.
-Find $500-million through a program review reallocation, $225-million from ending the oil sands tax break and $263-million from canceling the Public Private Partnerships program.
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Inmates of the Toronto Jail on Feb. 24, 2011.
Defence
-Improving the long-gun registry by decriminalizing first-time infractions, eliminating fees, and simplifying the process
-Establish a civilian oversight board to restore transparency and order with the RCMP
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Education
-A 'Canadian Learning Passport,' which would offer $4,000 in tax-free grants who choose to go to university, college or CEGEP. (More for students from low-income families)
-Early Childhood Learning and Care Fund - to help create social infrastructure - that begins with $500-million in the first year, rising to annual commitment of $1-billion by the fourth year
-Veterans' Learning Benefit to pay for post-secondary and technical education for Canadian Forces veterans
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People wait to see a doctor in the Emergency/Trauma Unit waiting area at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital on Dec. 5, 2010.
Health
-Establish "National Food Policy," which includes measures such as: new food labeling regulations; stronger regulation on transfats and salt; $40-million over four years for Healthy Start program, providing healthy food to children of low-income families; $80-million for Buy Local Fund; comprehensive review of Canadian Food Inspection Agency, along with additional funding.
-Public education campaign and additional funding for brain research, particularly into diseases including dementia and Alzheimer's.
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Syncrude's oil sands plant at Mildred Lake, north of Fort McMurray, Alta.
The environment
-Institute cap-and-trade system, with a long-term goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050.
-Immediately eliminate tax break for oil sands (worth $225-million).
-Green renovation tax credit ($400-million) for energy-efficient home renovations.
-Quadruple renewable energy production from 2009 levels by 2017 and bring back Renewable Power Production Incentive program with an investment of $1-billion, with the goal of making renewable sources worth 10 per cent of total electricity output by 2017.
-Protect more national parks and marine habitats.
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The Guaranteed Income Supplement has been instrumental in reducing rates of poverty among the elderly in Canada over the past 35 years.
Seniors
-Increase the Guaranteed Income Supplement - aimed at helping low-income seniors - by $700-million
-The 'Secure Retirement Option,' which would allow Canadians to save an extra five to 10 per cent of their pay in a refirement fund backed by the CPP
-Public education campaign and additional funding for brain research, particularly into diseases including dementia and Alzheimer's.
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Idman Shil at her Surrey BC home on October 28th, 2009. The former Somali refugee was told to leave her newborn behind by International Office of Migration staff at the refugee camp she was in in Uganda and and have him brought over at a later date, only to be told by Canadian Immigration officials that he is not eligible to come to Canada.
Immigration
-Will make the immigration and refugee determination processes a "top priority," including an increase in the number of family class visas and improving credential recognition
-More funding to language skills training for new Canadians
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Families
-A new six-month family care employment insurance benefit similar to the EI parental leave benefit, so that more Canadians can care for gravely ill family members at home without having to quit their jobs
-A new family care tax benefit, modelled on the child tax benefit, to help low-and middle-income family caregivers who provide essential care to a family member at home. The measure will help an estimated 600,000 family caregivers each year at an annual cost of $750-million. (The website goes on to say that the "Family Care Plan" would be funded by cancelling the Conservatives' $6-billion corporate tax break.)
-A $275-million-a-year "Affordable Housing Framework" that aims to reduce homelessness and build and maintain social housing that would be paid for by scraping the $1-billion Public Private Partnership Infrastructure Fund
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Jumbo carrots being harvested at the Visser Brothers Farm.— Peter Power/The Globe and Mail
Food
-Promotion of healthier living with education programs for children; improved food labelling; tough new restrictions on trans fats and sodium.
-$50-million injection to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to ramp up inspections on imported food; full review of federal agencies responsible for food safety.
-A mass review of Canada's entire agriculture file, from subsidies to research and innovation.
-Rewards for farmers who set aside land for wildlife habitats or carbon sequestering; quadruple clean-energy production.
-Expand export markets for Canadian food and beverage producers.
