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We Have Policy and Lots of it! Liberal Party of Canada Policy

October 31, 2009

I often hear that the Liberal Party of Canada does not have policy.  In fact, we do! 
Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal Caucus have been hard at work developing and announcing policy which party members like you have made valuable contributions to. 
Michael has recently made a series of speeches which are beginning to lay out the Liberal Party's vision for Canada's future. 
These speeches as well as contributions from the Liberal Caucus, including the recently released Pink Book, are available to you on the Liberal Party website 

www.liberal.ca.
To facilitate your access I have had it summarized in the document below and I am sending it for your consideration.
You can help us to get this message out by sending it along to your friends.

Thank you,
Senator Grant Mitchell

Want to hear more? Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/senmitchell


 

Environment

“We need to power Canada on clean energy. Clean energy is jobs. It’s trade. It’s rebuilding our place in the world and leaving Canada stronger and more prosperous than we’ve ever been.” – Michael Ignatieff

The Liberal Party of Canada has made a commitment to make a significant national investment in the development of a clean energy economy.

A Liberal government will make clean energy a national priority.
We will:

  • Work with business, communities and all orders of government to design incentives that encourage new renewable power projects;
  • Work with the provinces and territories to expand financial incentives for use of wave, tidal, geothermal, biomass and other renewable technologies;
  • Take leadership by working with provinces to establish a cap and trade system, with hard caps, which can be harmonized with the U.S.;
  • Invest aggressively in emerging technologies that clean our fossil fuels, such as carbon capture and sequestration;
  • Increase commitments to Canadian research and innovation;
  • Tackle the challenges in our venture capital markets to drive more private investment to clean energy entrepreneurs;
  • Help manufacturers invest in plant and machinery to get energy-efficient new technologies onto factory floors.
  • Seek out new export markets for clean-energy technologies—in China and India and other new economic giants;
  • Enhance our commitment to our Pacific Gateway to build bridges to new markets and new opportunities;
  • Set mandatory clean-energy procurement standards across the federal government (ie. government vehicles will be electric, government buildings will be energy-efficient, introduce telecommuting to our public service to keep cars off the road).

 
Economic Development

“Canada prospers when Canada leads. We can do more than just recover. We can launch Canada forward, toward a better future.” – Michael Ignatieff

 
The Liberal Party of Canada is committed to creating a federal government which will take a key role in our nation’s economic development.

A Liberal government will take a key role in Canada’s long term economic growth. 
We will:

Champion Canadian business and technology

  • Improve upon Canada’s 13 out of 30 ranking in research and development by driving strategic investment to job-creating innovation throughout the economy, including clean energy, high-tech, advanced manufacturing, health sciences, forestry and farming. 

 

 

 

  • Support manufacturing research and commercialization to help businesses get new technologies to the factory floor and bring new products to market.
  • Investing in clean energy research and renewable to become the most efficient users of energy in the world.
  • Stand up for flagship Canadian companies, technology and jobs with an investment review process that guarantees our national interests.
 Invest in people and communities in every region
  • of rural, remote and northern communities by completing Canada’s broadband network and building roads and bridges.
  • Create incentives for small and medium businesses to hire and train workers. 

 Open new international markets

  • Re-establish Team Canada missions to India and to China to reverse our shrinking exports to these growing markets.
  • Enhance the commitment to the Atlantic and Pacific trade gateways and key border crossings to improve our export performance.
  • Provide federal leadership to engage the United States at all levels to bring down non-tariff barriers such as Country of Origin Labelling that are costing Canadian beef and pork producers their livelihoods.

 

In addition, a Liberal government would put forward a balanced, prudent and transparent plan to get Canada’s finances back in order, starting by opening the books with a full audit and making the Parliamentary Budget Officer independent.


Canada and the World

“What we do in the world helps define who we are. It reflects our personality. It reflects what we have to offer to make the world a better place. It's an extension of who we are as a people.” – Michael Ignatieff

The Liberal Party of Canada is committed to creating a Canada which makes an impact on the world stage, a Canada which is ambitious, and a Canada that leads by example.


A Liberal government will make Canada, once again, a Leader on the World stage. 
We will:

  • Be a champion on the world stage for international government reform;
  • Work to ensure a truly inclusive global form, we would offer to host and fund a permanent G-20 Secretariat in Canada;
  • Lead the world in rethinking economic global reforms.
  • Renew our relationship with the United States, work to engage with Americans in strengthening, not weakening the North American economic space;
  • Play a role in Afghanistan afer 2011 by focusing on humanitarianism to help rebuild the country and hard won gains;
  • Seek clemency for Canadians facing death sentences abroad;
  • Assert our sovereignty over the Arctic, not only by bolstering our air and naval presence, but also by investing in Northerners - their communities, their economic development, their health and education;
  • Take our place as a Pacific Power.  We will engage with China and India. We will reinstitute Team Canada missions to India and China. 
  • Make ending poverty a top priority, which means returning our focus to Africa;
  • Ensure Canada will represent good governance in the world, capable of leading the way to peace, capable of teaching federalism and harmony among nations, capable of proposing codes of conduct and supervising free elections.  To achieve this, we will establish a Secretariat of peace, order and good governance.


Women

"The Liberal Party of Canada is committed to equality for women and esnuring their voices are heard in Parliament from issues on pay equity, to fight for missing Aboriginal women, to respect of human rights. " - Michael Ignatieff

The Liberal Party of Canada remains staunchly committed to supporting the development of women's health, safety, equality and economic security.

Women in the Economy

The National Liberal Women's Caucus recommends that a new federal Liberal government:

  • Work with the provinces and territories to build a system of affordable, accessible and high-quality learning and childcare spaces across the country, including programs to meet the unique needs of rural families. 
  • Adopt a federal poverty reduction strategy to deal with the persistent poverty among women.
  •  Change the Employment (EI) qualification requirement to a temporary, uniform 360 hours during the economic downturn.
  • Implement a phased-in increase to the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) until the combined total of the GIS and the Old Age Security (OAS) reaches the level of the low-income cut-off (LICO) as defined by Statistics Canada.
  • Enact a truly proactive pay equity system in which human rights are the first priority when complaints are adjudicated.
  • Undertake a complete pension review to address the concerns regarding pensions of contemporary women including those not paid in the labour force.
  •  Develop, in cooperation with the provinces and territories, a comprehensive life-long learning strategy that will enable all Canadians to have the opportunity to improve their skills so they can better compete in the labour market.  Increase the participation of women in science, engineering, technology and the trades. 
  • Encourage the establishment of Women's Business Centres to help women entrepreneurs in all parts of Canada, based on the model of the Women's Enterprise Centres found across Canada. Develop a National Housing Strategy that is inclusive of women, including Aboriginal women, single mothers, immigrant/refugee women, senior women, disabled women and low-income women receiving social assistance. 


Women's Health and Safety

The National Liberal Women's Caucus recommends that a new federal Liberal government:

  • Work with the provinces and territories to implement a long-term strategy to ensure that by 2017 there are enough health professionals, including Aboriginal health care professionals, to serve all Canadians properly. Assume responsibility for providing health care and social services to immediate family members of CF and RCMP personnel. 
  • Develop a national action plan to combat violence against women that includes culturally sensitive training for law enforcement and court officials; increased sustainable financial support for transition houses; second-stage housing units and safe shelters for homeless women; and a public awarness campaign to highlight the magnitide of the problem.
  • Increase the level of funding to a designated fund for civil legal aid to ensure that women who need access to legal services for family matters will be able to receive it.
  • Set up a national 1-800 hotline for women who are being abused.
  • Immediately begin an independent inquiry into the circumstances of the missing Aboriginal women and girls.
  • Establish a national Seniors' Commissioner to advise the Prime Minister on the development of a national strategy to combat elder abuse and exploitation as well as other issues affecting seniors, including health, and financial and physical security.
  • Develop, in partnership with the provinces and territories, a national strategy to prevent the trafficking of girls and women that incorporate measures related to the prevention, protection, and prosecution. 


Gender Equality

The National Liberal Women's Caucus therefore recommends that a new Liberal government:

  • Establish the Office of the Commissioner for Gender Equity, who would present an annual report to Parliament, to ensure that legislation and poicies of the Government of Canada are examined with an equality lens.
  • Conduct a gender-based analysis (GBA) of all federal legislation and policies, including international policies, to determine how public policies differentially affect women and men. 
  • Establish an accountable and transparent mechanism to monitor the implementation of Canada's international human rights and obligations.  The process must involve both federal and provincial/territorial levels of governments and input from non-government organizations.
  • Support the establishment of a free-standing women's agency within the United Nations that would help all U.N. departments have a gender perspective in their work.
  • Reinstate the Gender Equality unit at the Human Rights Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and apply gender analyses to all of the department's policies. Reverse changes in the wording of government foreign policy back to "gender equality" from "equality of men and women" and back to "child soldiers" from "children in armed conflict."

 

 

 

 

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