NDP leadership candidate Niki Ashton defended her “bold, progressive” policy platform in a meeting with the Star’s editorial board Tuesday, arguing that Canadians concerned with income inequality and climate change are hungry for a leader who will aggressively hike taxes on the rich, block the construction of new oil pipelines and ensure Indigenous communities have a veto over resource projects proposed on their territory.

“Progressive politics is smart politics,” she said, adding she believes a major reason for the federal Liberals’ 2015 victory was Justin Trudeau’s ability to mobilize millennials behind a progressive platform.

“We allowed the Liberals to out-left us,” she said, crediting her leadership campaign with forcing the other candidates to focus on more left-wing ideas such as universal services and climate change.

Ashton said she wants to address two main problems: growing inequality and the threat of climate change. Those are the issues, she said, that will bring millennials back into the NDP fold after the party’s heavy losses in the 2015 federal election.

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Her platform promises free post-secondary tuition, higher taxes for wealthy Canadians and corporations, and a host of policies geared toward environmental, racial and economic justice.

“The rich and corporations need to pay their fair share,” she said. Her tax plan includes creating new income tax brackets, increasing corporate tax and levying a new financial activity tax on banks.

“Now what we’re proposing is seen as extremely progressive,” she said. “And why shouldn’t we be proposing it?”

She opposes pipeline projects including Kinder Morgan, Energy East and Keystone XL, pointing to their inability to meet climate change targets and the need to respect the wishes of Indigenous communities that oppose pipelines running through their land.

Another key aspect of her environmental platform is the creation of a Crown corporation that will invest in green projects.

Ashton’s platform concentrates on building a movement rather than on electing legislators. She sees that sort of activism as the NDP’s strength and explained that many of the elected members are known for their work in grassroots movements.

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Ashton’s received criticism for her apparent cosiness with activist groups and her focus on identity politics in the past. She came under fire after removing a tweet that cited Beyoncé lyrics after Black Lives Matter Vancouver called it cultural appropriation.

Ashton defended her decision to delete the tweet and apologize Tuesday and said the backlash against BLM that followed the organization asking her to remove the tweet was evidence of a need to fight “divisive” politics on the right.

“We have been slow at connecting to movements with which we have so much in common,” Ashton said of her party. “As inequality increases you’re seeing people look toward bold politics.”

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