A10 O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| SATURDAY,OCTOBER19,
PLATFORMS: GRITS,
NDP,GREENSVOW
PHARMACAREFUNDING
Guncontrol
LIBERALSAfter 2018’s Danforth shooting
in Toronto, Mr. Trudeau assigned one of
his cabinet ministers to study a national
ban on handguns. Those are the weapons
of choice in most Canadian mass shoot-
ings, unlike the military-style assault-rifle
attacks seen in the U.S. But the gun-con-
trol plan Mr. Trudeau unveiled in Septem-
ber instead focuses on banning and buy-
ing back assault rifles, leaving any hand-
gun bans to municipalities and provinces.
In Toronto, where the mayor and city
council support a handgun ban but the
Ontario Premier doesn’t, it’s unclear how
any ban could succeed under the Liberals’
proposal.CONSERVATIVESMr. Scheer is the only
federal leader to own guns, and has ad-
vocated for “honest firearms owners” ever
since he ran for his party’s leadership. He
has proposed to take away the RCMP’spowers to reclassify guns, and create an
ombudsman to act on gun owners’ behalf.
In this campaign, his “A Safer Canada”
plan proposes new mandatory sentences
for gang- and gun-smuggling-related
crimes and lifetime firearms bans for
those deemed violent offenders.NDP The NDP’s platform document
pledges to “work to keep assault weapons
and illegal handguns off our streets, and
to tackle gun smuggling and organized
crime.” It does not propose new types of
firearms restrictions, although Mr. Singh
has previously supported giving cities
more power to ban handguns.GREENSMs. May has proposed a buyback
program for handguns and assault weap-
ons, as well as redirecting Canada Border
Service Agency efforts to combat weapons
smuggling.Immigration
LIBERALSMr. Trudeau walked a fine line during his
term in office between welcoming more immi-
grants, including tens of thousands fleeing Syria’s
civil war, and discouraging asylum seekers from
crossing the U.S.-Canada border. The most recent
Liberal target is 350,000 immigrants by 2021, up
from 310,000 in 2018, but the party platform site
says only that the party will “move forward with
modest and responsible increases to immigration.”
It also promises to work with the U.S.government to
“modernize” the Safe Third Country Agreement,
which includes a loophole leading to the large num-
bers of border crossers.
CONSERVATIVESEarlier this year, Mr. Scheer’s
main immigration-policy speech emphasized “fair-
ness, order and compassion,” but didn’t set a target
number of newcomers, saying only that levels
would be “consistent with what is in Canada’s best
interests.” He also said he’d close the Safe Third
Country Agreement loophole and stop unautho-
rized border crossings, but it’s unclear how.NDPThe New Democrat platform, which also
doesn’t set an immigration target, stresses that im-
migration should match Canadian labour needs
and that clearing backlogs for family reunification
should be a priority. Mr. Singh, arguing that the
United States under President Donald Trump is not
a safe country for refugees, would suspend the Safe
Third Country Agreement and let asylum seekers
claim refugee status at official crossings.GREENSThe Greens would increase immigration
over all, give foreign professionals easier access to
the credentials they need to work here and cancel
the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, address-
ing labour-force shortages with more immigration
instead. They would also terminate the Safe Third
Country Agreement.Childcare
LIBERALS Past Liberal budgets have
pledged $7.5-billion over a decade to ex-
pand child care across Canada, but uni-
versal daycare became a more distant
dream when one of Mr. Trudeau’s major
partners in the child-care framework –
the Ontario Liberal government of Kath-
leen Wynne – was defeated last year. The
federal Liberal platform promises spend-
ing that would cut before- and after-
school child-care fees by 10 per cent, and
increase the Canada Child Benefit by up
to $1,000 for children under a year old.CONSERVATIVESMr. Scheer has pledged
to revive two Harper-era refundable tax
credits for families enrolling children in
sport and artistic learning programs. Only
children at the age of 16 and under would
be eligible, and the 15-per-cent tax credit
would apply to a maximum of $1,000 for
sports programs and $500 for arts pro-
grams. Mr. Scheer also wants to make em-
ployment-insurance benefits tax-free for
new parents.NDPThe New Democratic platform calls
for “legislation that enshrines Canada’s
commitment to high-quality, public child
care in law,” singling out Quebec as a
model to follow and pledging $1-billion in
federal child-care funding in 2020, with
annual increases after that.GREENSThe Greens plan to work with
provinces and First Nations on “a road
map to affordable child care for all chil-
dren,” and would raise federal funding to
eventually reach at least 1 per cent of GDP
a year. The Greens would also exempt
child-care-related construction costs from
the GST.Pharmacare
LIBERALSAfter commissioning two major
fact-finding studies that each concluded
Canada needs universal pharmacare, the
Liberals embraced the idea – but only up to
a point. Mr. Trudeau billed his $6-billion,
four-year health plan as a “down pay-
ment” on pharmacare, but acknowledged
a re-elected Liberalgovernment would
have to negotiate with provinces first.CONSERVATIVESMr. Scheer has opposed
national pharmacare in the past. His plat-
form’s only mention of public drug cover-
age is a pledge to work with provinces and
territories to find ways to reduce the cost of
“orphan drugs” that treat rare diseases.NDPMr. Singh’s plan would enact Canada
Health Act-style legislation to make phar-
macare happen by the end of 2020, and
he’s promised $10-billion a year in federal
money. A national formulary would make
a list of drugs that would have at least one
version available at no cost, or a $5 co-pay
for those who want brand-name drugs
with available generic equivalents.GREENSAs with Mr. Singh, Ms. May wants
pharmacare introduced by 2020, but she’s
promised to have Ottawa pick up the full
tab for the first two years. That would cost
about $26.76-billion in 2020-21, rising to
nearly $40-billion (including provincial
contributions) in 2028-29, according to the
Parliamentary Budget Officer.DARRYLDYCK/THECANADIANPRESSJ.P.MOCZULSKI/THEGLOBEANDMAILELECTION
FROMA