Together, we can.

PLATFORM | ELECTION 2009

A LETTER FROM GARETH HEALY
Michael Corcoran, the current leader of the Liberal Party, criticized the New Democrats as a
party that stood on its principles. Unlike Mr. Corcoran, I don’t see the problem with that.
The New Democratic Party was formed on a number of firm principles that we continue to
believe in and fight for today. We continue to stand in Parliament as Ottawa’s conscience.
We believe in what we say, and we say what
we believe.

Those principles that we still believe in today

- freedom, equality, fairness, and compassion -
come to serve as the foundational blocks for
which this platform is constructed. This party
would be no where without our principles,
and we will continue to campaign on them.

I hope that as you read on, you’ll see some of

your own principles contributing to the dialogue within our platform. We are just like you:
Canadians who believe in a more just society, a greener economy, a commitment to
peaceful interaction, and an expectation for accountable, transparent government. For
decades, New Democrats through out Canada have been called radicals. When we
instituted the first-ever public healthcare program, we were called radicals. When we
fought for the elimination of child poverty, we were called radicals. Read on, and you might
find out we are not as radical as you might have been lead to believe.

This short document is just the beginning. It should hopefully give you an idea of where we
stand and what your New Democratic candidate can do if elected to Parliament. If you have
any questions, ask us at one of the many events we will be holding coast-to-coast in our
election campaign to be your elected representatives in Ottawa.

Best wishes,

Gareth Healy
 TOGETHER, WE CAN FIX OUR ECONOMY
Employment. The New Democrats will:
- Ensure easier access to Employment Insurance for all Canadians who need it.
- Guarantee all EI revenue is used to provide EI benefits and employment training.
- Double the number of unemployed Canadians who can be insured under the EI plan.
- Create tax breaks for companies that hire more Canadians.
- Make it harder to import from countries with unacceptable environmental and
employment standards.
- Establish a fair minimum wage of $10/hr and index it to inflation.
- Guarantree the pensions of workers, even if their employers go out of business.
- Implement the recommendations of the Pay Equity Task Force for a more pro-active
process to ensure pay fairness.

Fiscal Policy. The New Democrats will:

- Update the tax code to make sure that corporations pay their fair share of taxes and stop
their off-loading into international tax havens.
- Reverse the corporate tax breaks from the Harper and Martin governments.
- Make sure that banks are properly capitalized and regulated, to make sure that the fiscal
crisis doesn’t hit Canada because of irresponsible decisions by CEOs.
- End the Canadian penny, creating a convenience of Canadian families and cutting waste
for the Canadian government.
- Push for the phasing in of the child benefit, which will slowly expand over a period of time
to $5,000 per child.

Public Works & Transportation. The New Democrats will:

- Work with the provinces to establish public works projects investing in expanded public
transit, affordable housing, expanded child care, and immigrant settlement. Set this
program to the equivalent of one cent of the GST.
- Make affordable housing a priority by allocating 1% of the federal budget.
- Create a grant program to pay for up to 50% of any buys, LRV, subway train, or commuter
train program made in Canada.
- Enact the Airline Passenger’s Bill of Rights.

Agriculture. The New Democrats will:

- Ban the use of Terminator seeds and protect every farmer’s right to choose, save, and control
their seeds.
- Support the development of more producer-run co-operatives to act as a counterweight to the
power of the multinational agribusiness.
- Support the CWB as the single desk marketer for Canadian wheat and barley.
- Improve access to farm safety net funding for natural disasters and poor markets, particularly for
small farms.
 TOGETHER, WE CAN IMPROVE OUR HEALTH
Healthcare. The New Democrats will:
- Hire more doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to make sure waiting times are
lowered, and increase the efficiency of the Canadian health system.
- Forgive student loans for medical school if they work the first 10 years of their careers in
family medicine.
- Expand alcohol and drug prevention programs across Canada.
- Establish Mental Health Crisis Response Centres similar to the one set up by the Manitoba
NDP that will enable professionals to provide better care.
- Expand homecare to free up hospital space, therefore speeding up the system.
- Reduce the costs of prescription drugs for Canadians and provinces by working with the
provinces to create a bulk-purchasing plan.

Healthy Foods & Choices. The New Democrats will:

- Promote good health and physical fitness across the country.
- Support and expand healthy school lunch programs for your children.
- Mandatory labeling for farmed fish and GE food, as is done in Europe, Asia, and Australia.

TOGETHER, WE CAN SAVE OUR ENVIRONMENT

Environment. The New Democrats will:
- Implement legislation to mandatory vehicle emission standards.
- Complete our national parks system.
- Stop subsidies for big oil and gas industry.
- Add energy conservation and efficiency criteria to the Canadian Building Code, working
with the provinces.
- Create a cap-and-trade carbon pricing system to establish hard limits on pollution.

TOGETHER, WE CAN SUPPORT EDUCATION

Environment. The New Democrats will:
- Establish and fund a comprehensive, high quality, affordable, and accessible child care
program for all.
- Pass the Early Learning and Child Care Act, which will begin investing in our children at an
early age
- Work with provinces and territories to keep tuition low, and increase aid and grants to
students to make university more affordable for all students
- Implement “net neutrality” provisions to protect ever Canadians’ rights to freely access
the internet content of their preference.
 TOGETHER, WE CAN BE WORLD LEADERS
Foreign Affairs. The New Democrats will:
- Ratify the UN Optional Protocol on Torture and encourage other international partners.
- Accelerate our promise to debt forgiveness towards the world's poorest countries.
- Meet our Millennium Development Goals.
- Ensure that development assistance is not used to force privatization of developing
countries' public assets and services, such as water.
- Give robust support for the United Nations and its work with conflict resolution and
peacekeeping.

Defense & National Security. The New Democrats will:

- Withdraw our troops now with the appropriate consultation with our allies in Afghanistan
and recommit to our original objective of training and supporting Afghani forces for the
eventual take-over.
- Participate in international efforts to bring peace, justice, and stability to the Darfur region of
Sudan and the DRC.

International Trade. The New Democrats will:

- Match acceptance for a stronger, globalized economy with more stringent provisions within
the Investment Canada Act on job protection and creation, head office location, and the
promotion of research and development in Canada.
- End the restrictive 2007 US-Canada softwood lumber agreement.
- Introduce environmental, human rights, and labour standards to our trade agreements.
- Renegotiate NAFTA's Chapter 11 to ensure that Canada maintains sovereignty over
multinational corporations working in Canada.

Northern & First Nations Affairs. The New Democrats will:

- Transfer the Canadian Coast Guard to the Department of Public Safety and increase
resources to improve effectiveness in protecting our sovereignty in the Arctic.
- Support the sea bed survey work in the Canadian Arctic, which supports our sovereignty over
those waters and complete the work for submission to the United Nations in 2013.
- Station more RCMP, Search &Rescue, and fisheries staff in the Canadian North.
- Immediately ratify the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and incorporate
its provisions in with Canadian law.
- Recognize the jurisdiction of indigenous governments.
 TOGETHER, WE CAN KEEP POLITICS HONEST
Accountability. The New Democrats will:
- Establish a Public Appointments Commission to end patronage appointments between the
Conservatives and Liberals.
- Make the Parliamentary Budget Officer an independent Officer of Parliament.

Democracy. The New Democrats will:

- Institute the fairer election method of Mixed Member-Proportional, preserving the true
voice of Canadians in Ottawa.
- Pass legislation prohibiting floor crossing in Parliament without that MP running for a by-
election.
- Abolish the undemocratic Senate.

TOGETHER, WE CAN WELCOME NEW CANADIANS

Citizenship & Immigration. The New Democrats will:
- Repeal the unfair C-50 passed by Harper government.
- Increase funding for integration programs into Canadian society like literacy and French/
English language programs.
- Place a priority on family reunification in Canada.
- Work for annual target of immigration of 1% of the country’s population.
- Eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities in admission processes.
- Allow people without status in Canada to apply for legal status within Canada.