Liberal party
Espousing a platform of “Real Change” for the 2015 federal election, the Liberal Party of Canada is led by Justin Trudeau. Trudeau is the current Member of Parliament for the Papineau electoral district, a position he has held since the last Canadian federal election in 2011.
As leader of the Liberal party, Trudeau believes in a platform of transparency and oversight, offering benefits to Canadian families, better oversight over taxpayer dollars, an end to the first-past-the-post voting system, and initiatives to make the Canadian political landscape a more accessible place.
For better or worse, the Liberal party’s most famous—and publicized—platform is the plan to legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana. However, key issues typically ignored in ads are the calls for a national inquiry into murdered and missing Aboriginal women, the implementation of all 94 recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, as well as the support for the Keystone XL Pipeline, and the opposition to the Northern Gateway Pipeline project.
In regards to foreign policy and immigration, the Liberal party promises to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada as soon as possible, while simultaneously ending the current bombing campaigns in Iraq and Syria.
If elected, the Liberal party would also maintain and amend Bill C-51, with amendments like a “sunset clause” that would bring the bill under review every three years. Other amendments look at the bill’s overly broad definitions, encouraging parliamentary oversight and mandatory legislative reviews.
Students should know:
Trudeau and the Liberal party believe that young people should be involved in government. The current plan is to create a Prime Minister’s Youth Advisory Council, to provide non-partisan advice to the Prime Minister on issues important to students and the country.
The Liberal party also believes in access to open data, planning to accelerate and expand open data initiatives—in order to make government data more accessible to Canadian citizens.
In order to encourage and increase voter turnout, the Liberal party also hopes to assess the benefits of mandatory voting and online voting.