What Are The Top Issues In Canada’s Election?

Mojisola Salaudeen, September 25, 2019

As Canadians deliberate on who will get their vote ahead of the October 21st general election, many parties are publishing their ideologies and rhetoric on popular issues in the hopes that they will gain more supporters.

A poll conducted by Ipsos for Canada’s Global News and La Presse looked at what these top issues are.

Participants were asked to choose the top three issues which would determine how they cast their ballot.

Where Do The Candidates Stand?

A report by Reuters summarises parties’ positions on top election issues, below:

Liberal Party, Prime Ministerial Candidate: Justin Trudeau
  • Health Care: No major policy announcements yet.
  • Affordability: Create 250,000 additional after-school care spaces for children under 10. Cut the cost of wireless services and cut cellphone bills by 25 per cent.
  • Climate Change: Continue increasing the carbon tax they implemented in 2018.
  • The Economy: Provide 2000 entrepreneurs with C$50,000 to launch a new business.
  • Taxes: Cut small business tax to 9% from 11%.
Conservative Party, Prime Ministerial Candidate: Andrew Scheer
  • Health Care: Increase federal transfers to the provinces.
  • Affordability: Make maternity benefits tax-free. Create a tax credit for children’s fitness programs.
  • Climate Change: Eliminate the carbon tax. Focus on incentives rather than punishment for exceeding carbon limits.
  • The Economy: No major policy announcements yet.
  • Taxes: Reduce tax on incomes below C$47,000 to 13.75% from 15%. Remove General Sales Tax from heating bills.
New Democratic Party, Prime Ministerial Candidate: Jagmeet Singh
  • Health Care: Create a national pharmacare system. Include dental, mental health, eye and hearing care and fertility procedures in the Canada Health Act.
  • Affordability: Invest C$1 billion in childcare. Implement a price cap on cellphone plans. Eliminate post-secondary tuition.
  • Climate Change: Invest $15 billion in climate-change measures.
  • The Economy: Create 300,000 jobs building clean-energy utilities and retrofitting buildings to be energy efficient.
  • Taxes: Increase corporate income tax rates to 2010 levels. Implement a 1% wealth tax on incomes over C$20 million.
Green Party, Prime Ministerial Candidate: Elizabeth May
  • Health Care: Include pharmacare and basic dental coverage in national health coverage.
  • Affordability: Implement a universal basic income. Eliminate post-secondary tuition.
  • Climate Change: Invest in a 100% renewable electricity grid. Cut federal emission-level goals to 60% below 2005 levels by 2030. Ban the sale of non-electric cars by 2030.
  • The Economy: Establish a Green Venture Capital Fund to support small green businesses.
  • Taxes: Hold taxation for small businesses at 9%. Impose a financial transactions tax of 0.2%. Apply corporate tax to transnational e-commerce companies like Netflix Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google.

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