Green party
The Green Party of Canada’s election platform is based on four major priorities: sustainable economy, strong communities, good government, and climate action.
A Forum Research survey conducted on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9, 2015 showed that the Green party accounts for less than one per cent of Canada’s anticipated votes, according to The Toronto Star. Based on this estimation, the Green party would hold only one seat in the 338-seat House of Commons.
Action items under the sustainable economy heading include a National Sustainable Jobs Plan, a priority on Canadian small businesses, as well as support of healthy local food and food security. The party also intends to establish a Canadian Sustainable Generations Fund, and partner with First Nations for responsible resource development in the long-term.
The Green party promises to defend Canada’s public healthcare, implementing a National Seniors Strategy. They have set goals to eliminate poverty and challenge inequality, place a priority on strong First Nations and Indigenous communities, reinvest in the CBC and Radio-Canada as well as Canadian arts and culture, television and film, and protect Canada Post.
The Green party aims to restore Canadian science and the role of evidence-based decision making, as well as create a Council of Canadian Governments to set national goals and priorities in collaboration with all levels of government. They have promised to repeal the anti-terror Bill C-51 to defend the Charter rights and privacy of Canadians, fix the country’s electoral system, defend Canada’s sovereignty. The language of good government is inflammatory in the platform document, especially as a party that would have a minority government in the event of an election victory.
The Green party’s platform promises on climate action include halting oil sands expansion, ending thermal coal exports, and defending coastal waters from risky pipelines and oil tankers. They plan to implement a robust Canadian Climate and Energy Strategy and demonstrate climate leadership at the United Nations Climate Summit in Paris.
One of the Green party’s most ambitious promises and likely most impactful for students is their commitment to reducing student debt and eliminating tuition fees for university, college, and skills training programs by 2020. They have stated intentions to eliminate any existing or future student federal debt above $10,000, abolish charging interest on new student loans, and increase available funding for bursaries. They also plan to implement a national Community and Environment Service Corps, providing $1 billion per year to municipalities to hire Canadian youth for work that needs to be done while providing young Canadians with valuable work experience to help start their careers and decrease the unemployment rate.