Jagmeet Singh and the NDP release election platform focused on helping those most in need

Ottawa – August 19, 2021 – Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party of Canada have launched the country into an unnecessary election campaign that most Canadians simply do not want.

Jagmeet Singh and the NDP had offered to support the minority liberal government in passing legislation to help those most in need recover from the pandemic. But staying true to form – what is in the best interest of liberals trumps the best interest of those in need.

While the liberals look out for themselves, Jagmeet Singh and the NDP have released a set of election priorities entitled, “Ready for Better” which aims to make life more affordable by tackling the holes in our social safety net and funding it by making the rich pay their fair share.

The NDP priorities include a national pharmacare plan, in addition to dental and mental health supports for Canadians. The plan will create good jobs and extend emergency benefits until a post-pandemic recovery is fully realized. If elected the NDP promises to increase unemployment benefits and guarantee a basic income for seniors and people with disabilities with a long-term plan to make it available to all Canadians. Canadian steel, wood and aluminum would be used in public infrastructure projects and 500,000 affordable housing units will be built.

The NDP plan seeks reconciliation with Indigenous communities by providing clean drinking water to all First Nations living on reserve and fully implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) at the federal level. The NDP plan will tackle issues of racial injustice by banning the unconstitutional practice of police carding. The plan also includes establishing a crown corporation to manufacture vaccines and personal protective equipment (PPE) all the while aggressively tackling climate change.

We only need to look at provinces like Alberta to get a sense of what the conservative plan will look like: laying off nurses, cutting wages and gutting funding to public institutions like hospitals and universities. Conservative leader Erin O’Toole’s plan makes no mention of affordable living or investing in a national pharmacare, dental or mental health services. In fact, the largest cuts to healthcare and social services in the country’s history were made under the liberal government of Paul Martin of which the nation has yet to recover. Now the liberals under Justin Trudeau are cutting seniors benefits like the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for receiving pandemic relief.

Jagmeet Singh and the NDP are taking another approach by making the wealthy pay their fair share. Unlike the liberals and conservatives, the NDP are not afraid to raise taxes on the wealthy to invest in the programs that ordinary Canadians need. The NDP will implement a wealth tax on those with assets over $10 million. They will also increase corporate taxes and implement a pandemic tax on corporations who profited off the pandemic. They will also seriously crack down on tax havens and increase the capital gains tax.  

Jagmeet Singh and the NDP’s plan focuses on those most in need and they are not afraid to make the rich pay for it.