Justin Trudeau's Liberals won re-election—and now lead a minority government. Here’s what they have planned—and what their opposition wants, too

Justin Trudeau’s Liberals won re-election on Oct. 21. The party made dozens of promises during the 40-day campaign, and unlike the last four years, they don’t hold the majority of seats in the House of Commons. Now that Trudeau’s team has to win the support of at least one opposition party whenever they want to pass legislation, we’re laying out every Liberal promise on the table—and tracking those that are fully kept or broken. Bookmark this post and follow along as we keep tabs on the House of Commons.

We’ll also make note every time an opposition promise comes to fruition—including the New Democrats, who could hold the balance of power and named six key priorities for their support.

Taxes

Liberal platform

Raise the basic personal amount to $15,000 by 2023, for taxpayers whose annual salary is less than $147,000 (source)

Cut in half the corporate tax paid by companies that develop and manufacture zero-emissions technologies (source)

Put a 10 per cent tax on luxury cars, boats, and personal aircraft over $100 ( source

Economy and affordability

Liberal platform

Reduce cell phone bills by 25 per cent annually, in part by expanding entry of network operators; if prices haven’t come down after two years, government would lower investment thresholds for new players and empower the CRTC to help get rates down (source)

Increase the Northern Resident Deduction, offering those living in the Northern Zone at least $1,200 in deductible travel costs (or $600 in deductible travel costs for people in the Intermediate Zone) source)

Put in place a federal minimum wage of $15 an hour source)

Implement a guaranteed paid family leave for parents who, for example, don’t qualify for paid leave through Employment Insurance

Add provisions to the federal labour code to give employees a “right to disconnect,” giving workers the right to request that they not work extra hours source)

Create a Canada Free Trade Tribunal to resolved domestic trade barriers

Create a national flood insurance program

Launch an Employment Insurance Disaster Assistance Benefit in 2021

Expand the Memorial Grant Program for First Responders to include correctional workers

Give families of Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police members a tax-free $2,500 benefit every time they relocate

Jobs & skills training

Liberal platform

Provide up to 2,000 entrepreneurs a year with as much as $50,000 to launch a new business ( source

Give $250 to every new business looking to expand online services ( source

Eliminate all fees from the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Export Development Canada (EDC), and Farm Credit Canada, for business advisory services like mentorship and training ( source

Cut the cost of federal incorporation by 75 per cent, from $200 down to $50 ( source

Eliminate the “swipe fee” on HST and GST for credit transactions ( source

Invest $100 million in skills training, to ensure there are enough qualified workers to keep up with energy audits, retrofits, and net-zero home construction ( source

Introduce a Career Insurance Benefit that would kick in after Employment Insurance ends, giving an additional 20 per cent of insured earnings in the first year following a layoff, and 10 per cent in the second year source)

Extending EI sickness benefits from 15 weeks to 26 weeks source)

Create a new federal Family Day holiday source)

Creating a Canadian Apprenticeship Service, providing providing up to $10,000 per apprentice, over four years, for every new position created

Implement a $40 million/year national workplace accessibility fund, with a focus on making small and medium-sized businesses more accessible

Deficits & Debt

Liberal platform

Deficit spending of more than $20 billion for each of the next 4 years, beginning with $27.4 billion next year ( source

Health

Liberal platform

Ensure all Canadians have access to a family doctor or primary health care team, as well as mental health services (source)

Add $6 billion over four years to federal portion of health-care funding to add and improve services ( source

Introduce legislation for “distinctions-based” health care for Indigenous people, emphasizing mental health, healing and long-term care ( source

Add $30 million in funding next year for pediatric cancer research

Create a national institute for women’s health to address gender gaps in research and care ( source

Integrate sex and gender-based analyses, as well as diversity analyses, in Canadian Institutes of Heath Research

End the ban on blood donations by men who have sex with men

Create a National Institute for Women’s Health Research

Pharmacare

Liberal platform

Implement a universal pharmacare program (source)

Establish the Canada Drug Agency for purchases (source)

Climate change & Environment

Liberal platform

Commit to net-zero emissions by 2050, with legally-binding five-year milestones (source)

Ban “harmful” single-use plastics by as early as 2021 (source)

Require federal buildings to be powered completely by clean electricity by 2022 (source)

Conserve and protect 25 per cent of Canada’s land and 25 per cent of Canada’s oceans by 2025, working towards 30 per cent in each by 2030 (source)

Create a national Experience Canada program, helping 75,000 lower-income families spend up to four days in one of Canada’s National or Provincial Parks every year—including camping accommodations and a travel bursary of up to $2,000 (source)

Provide a 10 per cent rebate on the purchase of used zero-emission cars, up to $2,000 ( source

Plant two billion trees over 10 years

Complete all flood maps in Canada and develop an action plan to assist home owner relocation for those at highest risk or repeat flooding

Increase investment to the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund by $1 billion investment over the next decade

Invest any profit from the sale of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project into clean energy projects and climate solutions

Install up to 5,000 charging stations for vehicles

Require federal investments in public transit support zero-emission buses and rail systems, starting in 2023

Transition B.C.’s open net pen salmon farming in coastal waters to closed containment systems by 2025

Indigenous affairs

Liberal platform

Implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) as Canadian law (source)

Eliminate all long-term drinking water advisories on reserve by 2021

Introduce legislation for “distinctions-based” health care for Indigenous people, emphasizing mental health, healing and long-term care ( source

Reduce the number of Indigenous children in foster care by implementing the Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Children, Youth and Families ( source

Address all critical infrastructure needs (including housing, internet and schools) in Indigenous communities by 2030 ( source

Target that at least five percent of federal contracts awarded to businesses are led by Indigenous Peoples

Expand First Nations policing and recognize it through legislation as an essential service ( source

Fully implement the Indigenous Languages Act ( source

Immigration & Refugees

Liberal platform

Introduce a dedicated refugee stream for at-risk human rights advocates, journalists and humanitarian workers, with a target of resettling 250 a year [ source

Allow local communities, chambers of commerce, and local labour councils to directly sponsor permanent immigrants

Public safety & National security

Liberal platform

Ban all military-style assault rifles, including the AR-15 (source)

Initiate a buyback program for all legally purchased assault rifles (source)

Work with the provinces/territories to give municipalities the ability to further restrict (or ban) handguns (source)

Introduce a system for flagging bulk purchases of guns

Temporarily suspend firearms licenses for people suspected of posing a danger to themselves or others, including their partners or children

Invest an additional $50 million each year, for five years, to help municipalities with gang-related violence

Require those importing ammunition to show proof of a valid firearms license

Hire and train 100 additional RCMP officers for offices and embassies abroad

Invest an extra $6 million, over three years, towards the Canada Centre for Community Engagement and Prevention of Violence

Create a review body for the Canada Border Services Agency

Invest an additional $11 million, over four years, for all officials in Canada’s enforcement and security agencies to have unconscious bias and cultural competency training

Double the funding to Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy and improve Statistics Canada’s data collection regarding hate crimes

Renewing the fleet of the Canadian Coast Guard by ordering 18 new ships at a cost of $15.7 billion. Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards would build 16 multi-purpose vessels while Irving Shipbuilding of Halifax would build two Arctic patrol vessels (source)

Institute Canada’s Digital Charter so people can control their personal data, including the right to erase personal data from platforms like Facebook and Google, and review and challenge the amount of personal data collected by a company or the government ( source

Infrastructure

Liberal platform

Invest $100 million over four years in the Tourism Community Infrastructure Fund for local needs of communities that rely on tourism

Create a National Infrastructure Fund and support projects like the Newfoundland-Labrador fixed transportation link

Ensure that 95 per cent of Canadian homes and businesses have high-speed internet by 2026, and 100 per cent by 2030

Increasing investments in small craft harbours by $40 million annually

Retirement & Seniors

Liberal platform

Increase Old Age Security (OAS) by ten per cent once Canadians turn 75 ( source

Increase the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Quebec Pension Plan (QPP) survivor’s benefit by 25 per cent ( source

Housing

Liberal platform

Expand the First-time Home Buyer Incentive for people in Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto. The value of a qualifying home will go from 500,000 to nearly 800,000 (source)

Add a one per cent annual tax on residential properties owned by those who are not Canadians and who do not live in Canada (source)

Help homeowners and landlords pay for retrofits by giving them an interest-free loan of up to $40,000 ( source

Help people buy newly built homes that are certified zero-emissions by giving them a Net Zero Homes Grant of up to $5,000 ( source

Create a low-cost national flood insurance program ( source

Make Energy Star certification mandatory for all new home appliances, as of 2022 source)

Give interested homeowners and landlords a free energy audit source)

Retrofit 1.5 million homes, over the next five years source)

Education

Liberal platform

Increased Canada Student Grant by up to $1,200 per year source)

Offer students two-years window after graduation before they start paying off student loans, interest-free source)

Delay student loan repayments until graduates make at least $35,000 (and if their income ever falls below this level, payments will be put on hold) source)

Pause student loan repayments for new parents, interest-free, until their youngest child turns five years old source)

Help establish the Université de l’Ontario français

Child care

Liberal platform

Create up to 250,000 more before and after school spaces for kids under the age of 10 (source)

Lower parents’ child care fees by 10 per cent across the country (source)

Dedicate a target of ten per cent of the new spaces to provide more child care options for parents who work overtime, late shifts, or multiple jobs (source)

Double federal support to the provinces and territories through the Early Learning and Child Care Framework, investing at least $535 million more each year (source)

Invest at least $25 million per year to help cover the costs for early childhood educators seeking further training, and lower tuition costs for people getting their early childhood educator degree (source)

Establish a national secretariat to work with the provinces and territories to lay the groundwork for a pan-Canadian child care system (source)

Give up to $1,000 more to families to help when the costs of raising kids are highest, by boosting the Canada Child Benefit by 15 per cent for children under the age of one ( source

Make maternity and parental benefits tax-free source, PBO analysis)

Introduce a 15-week leave for adoptive parents source)

Double the Child Disability Benefit

Agriculture

Liberal platform

Merge existing financial and advisory service for food producers and processors into Farm Credit Canada, now to be called Farm and Food Development Canada

Increasing Farm and Food Development Canada’s capital lending capability by up to $5 billion per year

Foreign affairs

Liberal platform

Establish a Canadian “centre for peace, order and good government” to advance justice, human rights and democracy globally [ source

Provide more money to international institutions like the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization [ source

Increase spending by $50 million towards supporting UN peacekeeping, peace-building and conflict prevention (source)

Support international protocols to ban the development and use of fully autonomous weapons systems

Expand the Magnitsky Act to allow for seizure of assets from perpetrators of grave human rights abuses

Increase Canada’s international assistance each year in pursuit of the UN’s 2030 sustainable development goals

Justice

Liberal platform

Implement the recommendations put forward by the Hon. Anne McLellan in her recent review of the role and structure of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

Provide free legal aid to survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence

Appoint only bilingual judges to the Supreme Court of Canada

Establish an independent Criminal Case Review Commission to review wrongfully convicted applications

Require all judges in Canada undertake mandatory training on sexual assault law

Implement mandatory training on unconscious bias and cultural competency for all judges in Canada

Support provinces/territories to hire as many as 425 new Crown prosecutors, and 225 new judges, to help reduce delays

Make drug treatment court the default option for first-time non-violent offenders charged exclusively with simple possession

Ban the practice of conversion therapy

Require that all social media platforms remove illegal content, including hate speech, within 24 hours or face significant financial penalties(RETURN TO TOP]

Democracy & Governance

Liberal platform

Allocate more time for Private Members’ Business for debate in Parliament

Eliminate the use of whip and party lists to give the Speaker more freedom in calling on Members who wish to speak

Increase resources to parliamentary committees

Veterans

Liberal platform

Offer veterans up to $3,000 in free counselling services before a disability claim is required

Automatically approve the most common disability applications, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and arthritis(RETURN TO TOP]

Arts & Culture

Liberal platform

Introduce the Culture Pass, a $200 credit that every Canadian child will receive when they turn 12, to be at theatres, museums, galleries, workshops, and other cultural venues

Require that CBC/RadioCanada open up its digital platform

Increase Telefilm Canada’a annual funding by nearly 50 per cent

Legislate that ensure that all content providers offer meaningful levels of Canadian content in their catalogues, contribute to the creation of Canadian content in both official languages, and promote this content

Thanks for reading. Now get ready to vote!

How we did it: We’ll update this post whenever a major party makes a promise in the context of the next election (as opposed to re-announcing funding or criticizing a government measure). When parties release their full platforms, we’ll incorporate those promises into this compendium. Until the Liberals release their platform, we’ll draw on future promises made in this year’s federal budget.

(All images via Shutterstock)

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