What you need to know about the Green Party platform
Some called the Greens a single-issue party but Elizabeth May has outlined a number of commitments in the party’s platform, including funding for enhanced health care services and housing benefits.
Here are some highlights from the Green Party platform:
Taxes
Establish an arm’s length Federal Tax Commission to analyze the tax system for fairness and accessibility
Close “tax loopholes” that benefit the wealthy (the stock option loophole and capital gains loophole)
Apply a corporate tax on transnational e-commerce companies doing business in Canada
Impose a financial transactions tax of 0.5 per cent in the finance sector
Increase the federal corporate tax rate from 15 to 21 per cent
Charge a five per cent surtax on commercial bank profits
Apply a one per cent tax on net (family) wealth above $20 million
Housing
Legislate housing as a legally protected fundamental human right
Increase the National Housing Co-investment Fund by $750 million for new builds
Increase the Canada Housing Benefit by $750 million for rent assistance for 125,000 households
Eliminate the first-time home buyer grant
Restore tax incentives for building purpose-built rental housing
Health
Expand the single-payer Medicare model to include Pharmacare for everyone as well as free dental care for low-income Canadians
Increase funding to community-based organizations to test drugs and make Naloxone kits widely available to treat overdoses
Establish a national mental health strategy and a suicide prevention strategy
Climate Change and Environment
Hold global warming to no more than 1.5 C global average temperature increase
Pass into law a Climate Change Act requiring a 60 per cent cut in climate-changing emissions by 2030 reaching net zero in 2050
Establish a cross-party inner cabinet to deal with climate change
No new pipelines, or coal, oil or gas drilling or mining
Bitumen production phased out between 2030 and 2035
Fracking operations will be banned and the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion will be cancelled
By 2030, 100 per cent of Canada’s electricity will come from renewable sources
Develop a national transportation strategy with a goal of reaching zero-carbon public ground transportation everywhere in Canada by 2040
Ban the sale of internal combustion engine passenger vehicles by 2030
Exempt new and used electric and zero-emission vehicles from federal sales tax
Establish a Canadian Sustainable Generations Fund to make critical investments in trades, apprenticeships and education required for the transition to a green economy
Dedicate $5 million per year to develop a food waste strategy
Set national targets to reduce the production of solid waste
By January 2022, ban the production, distribution and sale of all unnecessary or non-essential petroleum-based single-use plastics
By 2021, require all new washing machines sold in Canada to have a removable, cleanable filter to capture micro-fibres
Expand marine protected areas from 10 to 30 per cent of Canada’s territorial waters by 2030
Immigration and Refugees
Ensure professionals being considered for immigration have the licensing requirements for their professions clearly explained before entry
Lead a national discussion to define the term “environmental refugee,” advocate for its inclusion as a refugee category in Canada and accept an appropriate share of the world’s environmental refugees
Eliminate the Temporary Foreign Workers Program and address labour shortages by increasing immigration
Establish a program to process the estimated 200,000 people living in Canada without official status
Terminate Canada’s Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S.
Governance
Increase the powers of the Privacy Commissioner to protect identity and personal data, and to enforce privacy laws
Launch a Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform in March 2020 to replace the first past the post electoral system
Lower the voting age to 16