This article is a part of a Narcity series breaking down the highlights of what you need to know about where Canada's Political Party Leaders stand on issues important to millennials. Each leader was contacted by Narcity for comment. You can read more of our coverage of Canada's 2021 Federal Election here.
As the Canadian Federal Election 2021's election day draws near, Justin Trudeau is travelling across the country vying for votes.
The Liberal Party of Canada has dropped its campaign platform, and we've rounded up some of the party's key promises this time around.
1. Housing
When it comes to housing, Trudeau's party says it wants to not only help buyers but renters, too.
The Liberals are promising to create a national Home Buyers' Bill of Rights to make the process of purchasing a home fairer. They say it would include banning blind bidding, establishing a legal right to a home inspection and ensuring banks and lenders offer mortgage deferrals for up to six months in the event of job loss or other major life events.
To help young Canadians own their own home, the party wants to introduce a tax-free First Home Savings Account that it says will let people under 40 save up to $40,000 towards their first home and then withdraw it for the purchase with no requirement to pay it back.
For renters, the Liberals are promising to stop renovictions by deterring unfair rent increases that are outside a normal change in rent along with requiring landlords to disclose the rent they receive pre- and post-renovation and then implementing a proportional surtax if the rent increase is excessive.
The party also plans to build or revitalize an additional 250,000 homes over four years. That's on top of the 285,000 homes currently being built each year, which would mean almost 1.4 million new homes preserved or revitalized by 2025-26 if they get re-elected.
2. Jobs
A re-elected Liberal government is pledging to restore employment to pre-pandemic levels and ensure the jobs that are created pay a wage that's "liveable."
The party also wants to introduce a new Employment Insurance (EI) benefit in January 2023 for Canadians who are self-employed. The party says it would provide assistance for up to 26 weeks and could mean almost $15,500. Another promise is to expand the Canada Workers Benefit to support about 1 million more Canadians who are working low-wage jobs.
A federal minimum wage increase to $15 an hour is set to come into effect in December 2021 and with a re-elected Liberal government, it would rise with inflation.
If re-elected, the Liberals have promised to provide up to five new paid leave days for federally regulated employees who have a miscarriage or stillbirth.
The party plans to address work-life balance in Canada by working with federally regulated employers and labour groups to develop a new policy so that workers have the right to disconnect at the end of their workday without having to worry about job security.
3. Climate Change
To address climate change, the Liberals want to cut pollution which would including make sure Canada's oil and gas sector reduces emissions to become net-zero by 2050.
The party is promising to invest an additional $1.5 billion in the Incentives for Zero-Emission Vehicles rebate program and expand eligibility to a wider range of vehicles to get more than 500,000 Canadians a zero-emissions vehicle. They have also promised to provide funding to add more charging stations to Canada's network and make sure buildings can retrofit to add those stations.
In a push to end plastic waste by 2030, they are promising to require all plastic packaging in Canada to be made of at least 50% recycled content by 2030 and to accelerate the implementation of their zero plastic waste action plan.
Also, they pledge to ensure 25% of Canada's lands and waters are conserved by 2025 and then 30% by 2030.
The Liberals also want to create 10 new national parks and 10 new national marine conservation areas in the next five years, establish at least one new national urban park in every province and territory by 2030 and continue building and connecting the TransCanada Trail.
4. Education
In terms of post-secondary education and the costs that come along with it, the Liberals are promising to permanently eliminate the federal interest on Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans.
If re-elected, they say they would increase the repayment assistance threshold of Canada Student Loans for people who are single to $50,000 so that new graduates won't have to start repaying their loans until they earn at least $50,000 a year.
For post-secondary students, the party wants to introduce a new fund to improve wait times and increase access to mental health care at colleges and universities in Canada.
5. Vaccine Mandates
The Liberals are in favour of vaccine mandates and would require travellers to be fully vaccinated if they're on interprovincial trains, commercial flights and cruise ships. The same goes for the federal public service.
The party promises to launch a $1 billion COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination Fund to support provinces and territories that implement a proof of vaccine requirement for non-essential businesses and public spaces.
A re-elected Liberal government says it would introduce legislation to ensure that all businesses and organizations that require proof of vaccination from employees and customers can do so without facing a legal challenge.
6. Other Priorities
Along with housing, jobs, climate change, education and vaccines, the Liberals include health care and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples as top priorities.
For health care, they're promising to hire 7,500 doctors and nurses, improve long-term care, hire 50,000 personal support workers (PSWs) and increase wages to $25 an hour. They have also promised to have publicly accessible mental health care, address the opioid crisis, ensure 10 paid sick days for federally regulated workers and protect sexual and reproductive health rights.
With reconciliation, the Liberals want to confront the legacy of residential schools, eliminate all clean long-term drinking water advisories, confront systemic racism — especially in the justice and health care systems — launch an Indigenous housing strategy and protect the wellbeing of Indigenous families and children.
To learn more about the Liberal Party of Canada's election promises, check out their campaign platform.
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