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Prime Minister Paul Martin hopes to bring the Liberal Party to another majority government under his new leadership. He has brought in a new team and changed the Liberal Party logo. Martin has also sought to distinguish himself from his predecessor with promises of changing how Ottawa works. In addition to democratic reform and government accountability, health care and municipalities are at the top of his list of policy priorities.
Health care
- Just days into the election campaign, Paul Martin and his team unveiled a health-care platform called 'A Fix for a Generation'
- It calls for an additional $3 billion in general health-care funding over two years, designed to close the so-called "Romanow Gap"
- An additional $4-billion will be spent over the next five years on a "National Waiting Times Reduction Strategy." The plan has two parts;
- The first would see provincial/territorial governments make waiting times date public and consult with medical experts to define reasonable and medically appropriate wait times
- The second part of that plan is a "Five in Five" strategy that will look at five key types of care where pressures are greatest -- cancer, heart, diagnostic imaging, joint replacements and sight restoration. Targets for reducing waiting times for each type of care will be set by the end of 2005, and met by the end of 2009
- Legislate a new National Home Care Program, following consultation with the provinces and territories, and provide $2 billion in funding to help provinces with the costs of the program
- Under a National Pharmaceuticals Strategy, the Liberal government would work with the provinces and territories to legislate a new drug coverage plan by 2006
- Increase the number of spaces in universities, colleges and residency programs by supporting a program to train 1,000 new Canadians to deal with the shortage of primary care providers
- Create a new dispute resolution process to review cases where concerns exist that the Canada Health Act may have been contravened
- $1 billion over five years to help families caring for seniors and the disabled, with delivery of aid co-ordinated with provinces
- The Liberals will establish an Aboriginal Health Transition Fund to create a more cohesive way of integrating provincial and territorial health care systems
Same-sex marriage
- Government under Jean Chretien submitted three questions on same-sex marriage to the Supreme Court
- Paul Martin added a fourth question regarding whether the traditional definition of marriage contravenes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
- In their platform, Martin says the Liberals will not invoke the "notwithstanding clause" of the Charter to deny equal rights
- It will also not obligate religious institutions to conduct marriage ceremonies that contravene their own beliefs and practices.
Defence
- Boost the Canadian Forces by 5,000 members, creating a new brigade that will focus on peacekeeping
- Increase the size of the army reserves to 18,500 from 15,500, to participate in peace and nation-building initiatives, as well as natural disasters
- Establish the Canada Corps that will provide an opportunity for Canadian experts, volunteers and young professionals to work abroad
- Reduce or forgive debts owed by poor and deserving countries
- The Liberal government has already committed to the purchase of new equipment, including rescue aircraft and helicopters, as well as state-of-the-art armoured vehicles
- Increased the budget for National Defence to $13.7 billion in 2004 from $10.2 billion in 1999
- The federal budget called for a tax exemption on income earned by Canadian Forces personnel and police while serving on high-risk international missions
- It contributed an additional $250 million for Afghanistan and the war on terror, and $50 million for Canada's participation in Haiti
- An additional $650 million over five years to address security priorities
- Develop Canada's first-ever national security policy, with guidelines that will shape the government's actions
- Strengthen North American security by improving relations with the United States, using the Smart Borders Action Plan as a guideline
Marijuana
- The Liberal government under Paul Martin reintroduced legislation in February decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana
Municipalities
- Recognize municipal governments in implementing Canada's national agenda
- Use as models agreements with Winnipeg and Vancouver to extend cooperate partnerships among all levels of government across Canada
- Decide by the end of the year on sharing a portion of the federal gas tax, or its financial equivalent
- Beginning in 2005, the amount will be ramped up within the next five years to five cents per litre, or at least $2 billion
- Stimulate assisted housing by providing a further $1 to $1.5 billion over the next five years
- The budget included a new deal for cities that will provide municipalities with GST relief that will mean up to $7 billion over the next 10 years
- Accelerate the $1-billion Municipal Rural Infrastructure fund for spending over five years, instead of 10
- The Liberals announced it would be giving $350 million over five years to help fund public transit upgrades in Toronto
- New funding of $4 billion over 10 years to clean up federal contaminated sites
Crime
- A Liberal government will work with municipalities, police and provinces and territories to develop responses to certain types of crime, such as hate crime, organized crime and gun crime
- Provide resources to the RCMP to set up a national Internet tip line to combat sexual exploitation of children on the Internet
- Create a new specific offence in the Criminal Code to better target and combat trafficking of humans
- Control the cost of the gun registry by capping the annual cost at $25 million per year
- Reduce compliance requirements for firearms owners and other irritants identified by firearms owners and related businesses
- Implement tougher sentencing for gun crimes and trafficking
Gun registry
- Control the cost of the gun registry by capping the annual cost at $25 million per year
- Reduce compliance requirements for firearms owners and other irritants identified by firearms owners and related businesses
- Implement tougher sentencing for gun crimes and trafficking
Democratic Reform
- Allow more free votes by MPs
- Parliamentarians now have the authority to review most senior government appointments, including those of heads of Crown corporations
- Parliament will play a role in reviewing Supreme Court appointments
- The Liberal government has created an independent Ethics Commissioner who reports to Parliament
- The Liberals terminated the sponsorship program, ordered a judicial review and appointed a Special Counsel to recover misappropriated funds
- Also had the program investigated by the Commons Public Accounts Committee
- Introduced legislation to protect "whistle blowers" who come forward to report wrongdoing in government and Crown Corporations
- Establishing a new Comptroller General of Canada
- Created a new agency to accelerate the process of continuous improvement in the nonpartisan public service
Government accountability
- The Liberal government created an independent Ethics Commissioner to report directly to Parliament
- Will re-establish the Office of the Comptroller General of Canada, as well as comptrollers to sign off on all department spending
- Strengthen the internal audit system
- Launched a permanent and ongoing expenditure review of government programs
- Introduced legislation to protect "whistle blowers" who come forward to report wrongdoing in government and Crown Corporations
- Will put ministers' expenses, as well as those of their staff and senior public servants, on the Web
- Professionalize the appointments process for the Immigration and Refugee Board
Taxes
- The Liberal government has accelerated the phase-in of a new $300,000 income threshold qualifying for the 12 per cent small business tax rate, which goes into effect next year
- Effective this year, eliminated the capital tax for smaller businesses
- The 2004 budget proposes amendments to the capital cost allowance system for computer equipment and data network infrastructure equipment
- Eliminate the deductibility of statutory fines and penalties
- Reduction in the Air Travellers Security Charge; tickets purchased after April 1, 2004 for round-trips in Canada will be $12, and $20 for international round-trips. It was $14 and $24, respectively
- Canadian Forces personnel and police who serve on dangerous missions abroad will be exempt from income tax
- Beginning in 2005, propose to limit the period in which taxpayers can request adjustments to 10 years
- Increase the amount for medical and disability-related expenses a family caregiver can claim to $10,000
- Extending the education tax credit to employees who pursue career-related studies
Foreign policy
- The Liberals have unveiled a national security policy worth $690 million, to be spread over five years
- Six key areas are addressed in the new policy: intelligence, emergency management, public health, transportation, border security, and international security
- Martin has said a decision on whether to participate in the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defence system will be made in the fall
- Reinstate legislation that will allow generic drug companies to develop patented drugs for AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis for export to countries like Africa
- Reduce or forgive debts owed by poor and deserving countries
- The Liberal government will dedicate $100 million to the World Health Organizations' '3 x 5' AIDS funding plan
- The budget calls for an increase of $248 million in international aid in 2005-06
- The Liberals have launched a review of international policies, with a report due in the fall
Immigration
- Speed up the immigration process so decisions are communicated faster to people who want to come to Canada
- Reduce the backlog of applications that exist
- The Liberals will support a program to get 1,000 foreign-trained medical professionals trained as primary care physicians
- Provide better information to immigrants with regard to where their skills are needed, and what credentials will be recognized
- Continue to reform and streamline the refugee determination system
Environment
- The Liberals plan to boost the use of wind energy under a three-part plan
- Boost the number of wind power projects under the Wind Power Production Incentive (WPPI) from its current 1,000 megawatts to a target of 4,000 megawatts; promote the benefits and cost-effectiveness of wind power; and increase support for research and development on this type of clean energy
- The Liberals also vow to create a Canadian National Wind Atlas to determine the best place for wind farms
- The government will work with the provinces and territories to modernize standards for wind turbines and create common rules and guidelines for wind power policies
- The budget pledged funding of $4 billion over 10 years to clean up contaminated sites
- Additional $500 million to clean up non-federal sites, such as the Sydney tar ponds
- New funding, amounting to $1 billion over seven years, to support the development of new environmental technologies, reflecting the sale of Petro-Canada
- Respect Kyoto agreements by working with provinces and territories to develop a climate change plan that respects regional differences
- Pursue the "one-tonne challenge" to help Canadians reduce their emissions by 20 per cent
Aboriginals
- The Liberal government vows to focus its efforts on two areas: health and education
- It will improve education for aboriginals by providing incentives to create comprehensive kindergarten-to-Grade 12 First Nations education systems
- Develop innovative and alternative ways to increase enrolment and success in post-secondary education
- Improve access to capital through financing vehicles
- The Liberals will establish an Aboriginal Health Transition Fund to create a more cohesive way of integrating provincial and territorial health care systems
- Work with provincial, territorial and municipal governments to provide off-reserve funding
- Work to improve the quality of water and wastewater treatment in First Nations communities, with $600 million already committed over five years
- Establish quality-of-life targets that will gauge the ongoing success of new initiatives, including a target for aboriginal communities to have clean water and adequate housing by 2008
- Establish an independent Centre for First Nations Governance
- Invest $125 million over five years for the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy
- Double to $50 million support for the Urban Aboriginal Strategy
- When it was sworn in, Martin's new government created a new Cabinet Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, which the PM chairs
- Discuss with other governments and Metis governments a place for the Metis peoples in Aboriginal policies and programs
Trade
- Work on trade relationship with the United States; have established a new Secretariat based in Washington to coordinate and facilitate better cooperation
- Build stronger trade relations with key developing countries, such as China, Brazil and India
- Continue to work to move the Doha Development Agenda forward
Education
- Provide assistance to children from low-income families with a new Canada Learning Bond worth up to $2,000
- Provide new grant of $3,000 for first-year post-secondary students from low-income families
- Up-front annual grant of up to $2,000 for students with disabilities
- Enhance the Canada Education Savings Grant from 20 to 40 per cent for families from low-income families and from 20 to 30 per cent for families from middle-income families
- Raise the weekly loan ceiling in the Canada Students Loans to $210 from $165
- Income thresholds for determining eligibility for student loan interest relief will be increased by five per cent
- Increase the maximum amount of debt reduction for students facing financial difficulty to $26,000, from 20,000
- Implement a Canada Graduate Scholarships Program to support 2,000 master students and 2,000 doctoral students annually
- A $5 billion, five-year spending commitment to kickstart a national affordable child-care program inspired by the $7 a day child-care system pioneered in Quebec
- Invest $125 million over five years for the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy
- Improve education for aboriginals by providing incentives to create comprehensive kindergarten-to-Grade 12 First nations education systems
- $137 million for second language instruction to double the number of bilingual high school students in 2013
- Extend education tax credit to employees who take courses related to their career
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