HAMILTON—The federal New Democratic Party has placed a “historic expansion” of public health care at the heart of its 2019 election platform, promising to spend billions on universal drug coverage, dental and vision care, mental health treatment and more by hiking taxes on businesses and the super-rich.

This “head-to-toe” health care pledge means abandoning a commitment to balance the federal budget — a notable NDP promise during the 2015 campaign — and raising “several billion dollars” per year through a new “wealth tax” directed at the fortunes of the richest 1 per cent of Canadians.

Taking the stage at the Ontario NDP’s policy convention on Sunday, federal Leader Jagmeet Singh trumpeted his party’s “New Deal for People” as a transformative plan to make life fairer. The 109-page document is framed as the foundation of the party's 2019 election platform, a blueprint to fix a Canadian economy and political system that the party says is “rigged” in favour of rich people and corporations.

“It’s a new deal because it’s the kind of vision that no government has ever proposed to Canadians,” Singh told an audience of placard-waving, chanting New Democrats at the convention centre in downtown Hamilton.

“The days of running government in the interests of a very powerful few are coming to an end,” he said.

“This is our road map of the possible.”

The NDP is the first major party to release the bulk of its platform ahead of the federal election, which is set for Oct. 21. The party's “New Deal” includes a range of promises across the spectrum of government responsibilities that would be implemented over the next decade.

With a “long-term” goal of making post-secondary education tuition-free, the NDP pledges to remove the interest from student loans and shift to non-repayable grants. The party would cap cellphone bills and spend at least $1 billion per year to support provincial child care programs. It would also change employment insurance so people can qualify after working fewer hours, and introduce new payouts so no recipients have to live on less than $1,200 per month.

The NDP would pump another $5 billion into the federal government’s national housing programs within two years, and vows to build 500,000 new affordable units within a decade. In its first four years in power, the NDP would also spend $15 billion to fight climate change by building more public transit, subsidizing zero-emission vehicles that are built in Canada, and funding green programs and infrastructure through a new $3-billion “climate bank.”

The party predicts these measures and others — including a push to retrofit all buildings so they are energy-efficient by 2050 — would create at least 300,00 new jobs.

On Sunday, Singh placed particular emphasis on the promise to expand public health care. He said the party would start by introducing universal pharmacare by the end of 2020, with an initial federal price tag of $10 billion per year. After that, the NDP would work over the next decade to extend Canada’s health care system into dental, vision and hearing care, mental health services, long term home care and addictions treatment.

Party officials briefing the media about the platform said they don’t yet know how much these additional programs will cost. While the NDP would ensure Canada’s debt-to-GDP ratio — a key indicator of sustainability — would decline every year, it has no plans to eliminate Canada’s annual budget deficit, the officials said.

The position is a marked shift from the NDP’s last federal election campaign in 2015. At the time, then-leader Thomas Mulcair vowed not to run deficits if his party won, while Justin Trudeau’s Liberals pledged to dip into the red in order to fund infrastructure projects and spur growth.

On Sunday, Singh said he’s a “different” leader and that the 2019 platform — with its big program spending and expanded universal health care — is based firmly on New Democratic values.

“This is what we believe in as Canadians, this is what we believe in as New Democrats. We believe that people should be at the centre,” he told reporters following his convention speech.

The party is also pledging to raise government revenues. It would create a new, 1-per-cent tax on people whose net worth is more than $20 million — a 1 per cent tax on the 1 per cent. This would apply to net worth over that amount, so someone worth $25 million would get a 1 per cent tax on their excess $5 million.

On top of that, the NDP would hike the federal corporate income tax from 15 per cent to 18 per cent, and increase the top federal income tax bracket — for people earning more than $210,000 per year — from 33 to 35 per cent.

Taken together, these measures would raise “several billion dollars annually,” the platform says. Additionally, the party says it can redirect billions of dollars in corporate subsidies to its new spending programs, including by cancelling tax breaks for the oil and gas industry that are estimated to be worth more than $3 billion per year.

It also pledges to raise almost $3 billion per year by increasing how much capital gains income is subject to tax, and another $1 billion annually by closing tax loopholes like stock option compensation for corporate executives.

“We’re going to make sure that people contribute their fair share,” Singh said, pushing back against the suggestion that businesses would look to invest in less expensive jurisdictions if Canada hikes taxes.

“Our road map is what is possible and what we believe in,” he said. “It’s a clear declaration that we believe we need to support people and put people at the centre of everything we do.”

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