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On the plus side, leading the way, would be that income taxes for most Canadians would come down under a Liberal government. The Liberals say cutting the marginal tax rate on income between $44,700 and $89,401 to 20.5 per cent from the current 22 per cent, combined with more generous child benefits geared to income, would benefit 90 per cent of families.

The Liberals’ accountability and democratic reform plans, if implemented, could be transformative; they amount to a wholesale repudiation of 30 years’ accumulation of power in the Prime Minister’s Office.

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The plans include banning partisan advertising by the government; making the electoral system more proportional; making Senate appointments arms-length and merit-based; upgrading the debacle of Question Period with, among other things, a Prime Minister’s Question Time as the British House of Commons enjoys; ending the use of omnibus bills; ending prorogation as a tactic for avoiding the judgment of the House; beefing up the role of parliamentary committees; and giving Officers of Parliament more teeth.

The Liberal platform contains a raft of measures to improve services and benefits for Canadian military veterans, which go well beyond reopening the nine dedicated Veterans Affairs offices that were shuttered by the Conservatives in cost-saving exercise that, in retrospect, looks ever-more misguided, self-defeating and stingy. Of all branches of the Canadian public service, military serving overseas in war zones are the only ones for whom the risk of being blown up is a routine part of the job. It is only right that this extraordinary commitment be recognized, and it’s to the Liberals’ credit they aim to do so, if elected.