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“The policy document is not the platform,” senior NDP campaign advisor Brad Lavigne said in an interview.

“The policy document is an expression of the will of the delegates at our convention.”

The party’s policy book was on the NDP’s main website until mid-July, when Lavigne said it was removed because a campaign was in the offing and the party wanted to put the focus on the election.

“The policy document gives the average Canadian a sense of what our value systems are, what our belief systems are. But they’re not a prescription, per se, of what the next government would necessarily do. That’s in the platform.”

Lavigne said the platform has been created with “input” from the party, caucus and leader, and added that affordability is one factor behind promises being made.

He said that “in the modern era,” the platform is based on “financial considerations” that will face the next government.

“The obligation of the campaign is to rank the priorities of all that it wishes to achieve. You have to boil down what it is that is achievable and what it is that you can do in a mandate.

“Platforms have to be embedded in the realities of the current state of finances as well as the current needs of the country. Whereas policy booklets from a convention are an overall expression of overall objectives and values.”

Elements of the NDP platform are gradually being rolled out and the full plan won’t be released until later in the campaign, said Lavigne.