New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton speaks to supporters at a campaign stop in Toronto on April 4, 2011.
MIKE CASSESE/REUTERS
Explainer
The NDP platform
Globe staff
Globe and Mail Update
Published
Last updated
Take a look at NDP platform
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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
-End pension reductions for retired and disabled veterans
-Maintain current spending levels
-Review F-35 fighter jet purchase proposal
-Restore an income-security insurance plan for former members of the Forces
-Help veterans move to construction and building trades
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Inmates of the Toronto Jail on Feb. 24, 2011.
Crime
-Increase support to the National Crime Prevention Centre by $100-million
-Increase the Youth Gang Prevention Fund from $7.5-million to $16-million and make that fund permanent
-Invest $75-million a year in shelters for abused women
-Aim to put 2,500 more police officers on the street every year
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Canadian dollars
The economy
-Rewarding small businesses and companies by cutting the small business tax rate to 9 per cent from 11 per cent. Meanwhile, the NDP would boost the corporate tax rate to 19.5 per cent from its current 16.5 per cent, though keeping the combined federal/provincial corporate income tax rate below that in the U.S.
-A job creation tax credit for employers of $4,500 for every new hire
-Limit credit card interest rates to a maximum of 5 percentage points over the prime rate
-Reinstate federal minimum wage law
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Education
-Boost affordability of post-secondary education with a designated $800 million transfer to the provinces and territories to lower tuition fees
-Increase the Canada Student Grants program by $200 million a year
-Raise the education tax credit from $4,800 to $5,760 per year
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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
-Hire 1,200 doctors and train thousands of nurses over the next 10 years. Part of this includes establishing a fund to lure 300 Canadian doctors currently working abroad to come home
-An $80-million investment to upgrade medical schools, support doctors in remote areas and forgive student loans for medical professionals who practice family medicine for at least 10 years
-Negotiate a new health accord with the provinces and territories in 2014 that would include a 6 per cent transfer payment escalator
- Provide access to home care for an additional 100,000 families a year, and make home care and long-term care insured services under the Canada Health Act
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Syncrude's oil sands plant at Mildred Lake, north of Fort McMurray, Alta.
The environment
-Cut federal subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, amounting to about $2-billion a year, and redirect that money to renewable energy such as solar, wind, tidal and geothermal sources
-Price carbon emissions with a cap-and-trade system with emissions limits for biggest polluters
-Increase by one cent the portion of every dollar of gasoline tax given to municipalities to fund public transit
-Commit Canada to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050
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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 by $700-million
-Give up to three years of the GIS retroactively to seniors who qualified for the benefit but did not apply for it right when they turned 65 – an increase from the current 11 months.
-Double CPP and QPP payouts from 25 per cent to 50 per cent of pre-retirement income, increasing the monthly benefits to a maximum of $1,817 from $908.
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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
-Streamline recognition of foreign credentials for immigrants to Canada
-Fast-track family sponsorship from disaster areas
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Families
-Increase time people can take off from work to care for a dying family member from six weeks to six months through the Employement Insurance Compassionate Care Benefit
-Introduce a caregiver benefit of up to $1,500 per year to assist low and middle-income families to pay for everyday needs while caring for dependant family members
-Broaden flexibility in Employment Insurance benefits to allow people to take leave from work to care for family members nearing the end of their lives
-Reduce the cost of everyday essentials like home heating
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Jumbo carrots being harvested at the Visser Brothers Farm.— Peter Power/The Globe and Mail
Food
-Belief that access to and sustained production of healthy food is critical to Canada's future. New labelling laws will help consumers identify healthy foods and genetically modified ingredients.
-Educate students on how to produce and prepare nutritious foods.
-Boost support to Canadian producers and local food networks by supporting farmers' markets, agriculture co-operatives and alternative regulation for small-scale operators.
-Review the impact of trade agreements to assess threats to domestic food security.
-Improve young farmers' access to arable land and training.
