Thread by @nealjennings

Since the Greens and NDP have the only vaguely-progressive candidates running in my riding, I'm spending part of my Saturday night reading both platforms. (A thread may or may not follow, depending on how enthusiastic I get about it).

The "Green Vision: Canada in 2030" section is remarkable in that it's basically describing a #NUMTOT utopia. #NUMtopia? greenparty.ca/en/platform/in…

I'm impressed that (in the PDF document) indigenous issues are the first section, followed by climate change. We can't address one without the other and it's nice to see that recognised.

The GPC platform name-checks @GretaThunberg several times but, unusually for politicians, does so with some aggressive policy proposals that would be pretty effective. "Keep fossil fuels in the ground" is a refreshing thing to hear from politicians.

@GretaThunberg It's not often a platform document includes two-page photos of the party leader being arrested, but here we are.

@GretaThunberg It's kind of depressing to see a green party dedicating a chunk of their platform to adapting to climate change, but at least they're accepting the reality.

@GretaThunberg Actually, this is very, very, very depressing.

@GretaThunberg Obligatory hockey reference. 🇨🇦

@GretaThunberg Hey remember the Leap Manifesto? The GPC Just and Fair Transition to a Green Economy is borrowed heavily from it. It's remarkable how much the party has shifted leftwards over the past twenty years.

@GretaThunberg I'm also happy to see a connection between jobs-lost-to-their-unsustainability and jobs-lost-to-AI, because the reality is that literally everyone is at risk of being made redundant, and the fossil fuel industry isn't special in that sense.

@GretaThunberg Given the history of green parties in Canada with respect to labour rights, I'm happy to see GPC finally commit to rejecting back-to-work legislation.

@GretaThunberg I never like the misuse of the word "loophole" (I don't consider it to include intentional tax breaks), but I am glad to see major parties going after these benefits. We've given away a lot of tax dollars over the years to benefit wealthy investors.

@GretaThunberg "Increase the federal corporate tax rate from 15 to 21 per cent" ... this alone might get me to vote Green. Nice to see them not being timid.

@GretaThunberg Miscellaneous tax measures are miscellaneous. 🤔

@GretaThunberg Impressed that immigration section is basically "more immigrants please, and let's make their lives easier when they get here," plus a shout-out to ending the Safe Third Country Agreement with the US.

@GretaThunberg There's a lot of very specific measures which all seem fine, but I giggled at "Increase funding to CBC and Radio Canada by $315 million per year until the per-capita level of funding
is equal to that of the BBC."

@GretaThunberg I appreciate the promise to address a personal pet peeve: "Eliminate requirements for excess plastic packaging on legal cannabis"

@GretaThunberg Um, are "autonomous weapons" like a real thing that exists today? Because that's kind of terrifying.

@GretaThunberg Very glad to see universal pharmacare included, but fairly timid dental care (only for low-income) is not very ambitious.

@GretaThunberg I wish this statement weren't in the form of a euphemism: "removing barriers to blood donations not based on science"

@GretaThunberg I'm supportive of virtually all forms of mincome/guaranteed income/etc. but I'm unclear on which form this one is. Flat taxable payment to everyone? Means-tested payment to bring you to a certain level? And what would the dollar amounts be?

@GretaThunberg There's an obligatory housing policy which has some pretty decent measures going in the right direction, but it feels pretty timid overall. General support through CMHC for co-ops but not much to address supply of public housing at all.

@GretaThunberg eliminating tuition is a pretty great step.

@GretaThunberg Somebody call a copy editor!!!

@GretaThunberg OMG the Greens want to nationalise sex work.

@GretaThunberg Hmm, page 70 counters this with an "End the discriminatory blood ban" under LGBTQI2+ so that's slightly less euphemistic.

@GretaThunberg Electoral reform and bringing voting age down to 16. ✔️

@GretaThunberg Ugh the back cover page. 🙄

Splitting the thread... moving on to the NDP platform. It's 21 pages longer.

Calling the platform the "New Deal for People" is the most Canadian thing ever, in that it's just takes an American name for a thing and modifies it ever so slightly and calls it our own.

Like GPC, the NDP has a (shorter) visionary / future-looking intro. But holy cow is it ... needlessly graphic.

Ah, the NDP document is longer because each policy comes along with a lengthy story which I'm sure is to give candidates some talking points they can use (often bashing the other parties). My Millennial-brain appreciated GPC's bullet lists.

Like I'm reading the first page of each policy with "yadda yadda yadda, oh there's the thing they want to do." So far I've found the national pharmacare (yay) and a commitment to talk to provinces about making a plan to put dental care in the Canada Health Act.

Housing plan includes 500,000 units of new affordable housing (good start), but vague on the details of how - something about the "right mix of effective measures" and "fast-start funds" (?), plus waiving GST on new rental units.

Also helping with "closing costs" by doubling the Home Buyer's credit to $1,500. I'm all for this change but it won't help with closing costs - that credit doesn't come until you file your tax return the following April, long after you've paid your lawyer.

I'm rolling my eyes at the dog-whistling call for a Foreign Buyer's tax (on people who aren't citizens or PRs), especially since placed in the same paragraph as money laundering. No clear measure to deal with speculation, especially domestic speculators.

Cap and reduce, but not eliminate tuition. Eliminate interest on student loans. This is surprisingly centrist for the NDP, with the exception of a nod to providing more grants for low-income people.

A lot of tinkering with EI, including some stuff that is already in place (parental leave for self-employed for example). Good for unemployed workers in the short-term, not so sure about the long run.

Nice to see some comments about bringing our mobile phone costs in check, though a nationalised network would be even better IMHO.

Please don't do this to people. Phone screens are very personal.

In light of the climate crisis, I'm a little disappointed by the commitment to ensuring "Fair Gasoline Prices" rather than, say, taxing the fuck out of gasoline.

This is a really vague tax statement and... makes me think the NDP wants to *cut* taxes on intergenerational wealth transfer?

They're also committed to saving the auto industry for some reason, with barely a passing reference to electric cars in that section.

On tax, they propose bringing corporate tax rates back up by 3% (unclear if small business or general rate), and capital gains inclusion to 75%. They will "boost the top marginal tax rate" by an unspecified amount, and bring in a 1% tax on the 1%.

I'm on page 46 and finally at the bit about climate change (other than passing references). Hardly seems a priority. :(

Maintain carbon pricing, electrify government vehicles, and then... it veers into something about creating 300,000 jobs so that workers don't pay the price for action on climate change because I guess the NDP believes that climate action is harmful to workers?

Like literally the third page of the climate portion of the platform is all about expanding EI and creating unspecified jobs and defending pensions (against an unspecified threat) and then eventually insisting that clean technologies are manufactured in Canada.

Encouraged to see a commitment to "help build a path towards fare-free transit" in communities that identify that as a priority. Which is quite wishy-washy but a goal I support.

The commitment to re-establish rural bus routes abandoned by Greyhound rings kind of empty in light of the BCNDP's complete failure / refusal to do so here.

An NDP government will make it cheaper to buy a car (albeit an electric one). 🤷

A lot of the seniors and poverty strategies are just repeats of other stuff (protect pensions, pharmacare, etc.) but there's a shout-out to a basic income pilot project. Similarly lacking the details.

Page 69 finally references reconciliation. Calls for an Action Plan, based on the Calls to Action. Platform does go on to address quite a few of them specifically.

Not a lot of details, but various references to investment in public transit generally.

I'm really curious to know what "income tax averaging for artists and cultural workers" means and how it would be achieved. It sounds like a surefire way to ensure that accounting fees for artists go up.

On immigration, priorities on family reunification, skilled workers, and refugees, as well as suspending the Safe Third Country agreement, though all much less eagerly than the Greens.

On page 93 a first reference to electoral reform in the context of supporting women in politics. I'm not sure what the proposed legislation in the second half of the sentence would be.

A very clear commitment to end the ban on blood donation by MSM.

Ugh they're still hung up on abolishing the Senate, which I'm so not down with. Though, while MMP is not my first choice, glad to see the promise they'll just implement it if elected rather than dithering.

Found it on page 108 - the corporate tax rate increase is the general rate, with no proposed change to the small business rate.

And the top tax bracket would go to 35% from 33%, which seems like a good start for taxing the wealthiest.