The Globe and Mail - 19.10.2019

A8 O THEGLOBEANDMAIL| SATURDAY,OCTOBER19,

THEDEFINITIVEGUIDE

TOTHEISSUESAND

PARTYPLATFORMS

Oneverythingfromclimatechangetopharmacare,thepartiesthatwanttowinyourvoteon

Oct.21havesharplydifferentvisionsforCanada.Here’saprimeronwhereeachofthemstand

CompiledbyGlobestaff.

WithreportsfromShawnMcCarthy,

MariekeWalsh,MichelleZilio,Bill

Curry,KellyGrant,JanetMcFarland,

EvanAnnettandTheCanadianPress

ILLUSTRATIONSBYROBDOBI

LIBERALSWhen Justin Trudeau’sgovern-

ment signed on to the 2015 Paris accord, it

joined a global consensus that human-

caused climate change threatens millions of

lives unless emissions are cut aggressively,

and now. A federal carbon-pricing program,

which took effect early this year, taxes prov-

inces that don’t have equivalent pricing or

cap-and-trade regimes, but compensates in-

dividuals with rebates. If re-elected, the Liber-

als will keep raising the per-tonne price –

from $20 now to $50 by 2022 – and are aiming

for net-zero Canadian emissions by 2050. But

the Liberals’ own numbers predict Canada

will still fall short of its 2030 targets.

CONSERVATIVESLeader Andrew Scheer op-

poses the carbon-pricing system, vowing that

his party would repeal it and instead use tax

incentives, levies on large industrial polluters

and spending on carbon-capture technology.

Modelling of the plan’s impact by Mark Jac-

card, a Simon Fraser University researcher

who sits on the UN’s advisory panel on cli-

mate change, found it would increase emis-

sions between 2020 and 2030.

NDPJagmeet Singh’s New Democrats would

keep the Liberals’ basic framework, but cut

rebates to the wealthiest Canadians and shift

more of the tax burden to industry. An NDP

government would also start a Canadian Cli-

mate Bank, create an independent office to

monitor emissions cuts and spend $15-billion

on a massive green overhaul of Canada’s elec-

trical grid, transit systems and housing stock.

That last part might create jurisdictional fric-

tion with provinces, who run hydro networks

and enforce building codes.

GREENSGreen Leader Elizabeth May says

Canada’s targets are too low, and would in-

stead aim for a 60-per-cent reduction below

2005 levels by 2030. To get there, the Greens

say they’d raise the carbon price by $10 an-

nually until 2030; invest even more than the

NDP in electrical, transit and housing retro-

fits; and aim for a zero-emission economy by

2050.

Pipelines

LIBERALSTo persuade former Alberta premier Rachel Notley to agree

to the carbon framework, Mr. Trudeau promised to back the Trans

Mountain pipeline expansion from Edmonton to the B.C. coast. Since

then, hisgovernment has bought the pipeline system for $4.5-billion

and pushed to get it reapproved after a court challenged the National

Energy Board to do more Indigenous consultations. British Columbia

and many First Nations along the route oppose the project, and Ms.

Notley’s successor, Jason Kenney, has threatened aggressive measures

to get it finished. Meanwhile, environmentalists say Mr. Trudeau’s sup-

port for Trans Mountain undermines Canada’s climate goals – notwith-

standing the two billion trees Mr. Trudeau plans to plant with the oil

revenue.

CONSERVATIVESMr. Scheer, a political ally of Mr. Kenney’s, also sup-

ports Trans Mountain and accuses the Liberals of mishandling the dis-

pute with B.C. He says a Conservative government would fast-track legal

challenges to oil pipelines straight to the Supreme Court to get final

decisions faster. Meanwhile, he is courting the oil patch with promises

to scrap carbon pricing, create a national energy corridor and eliminate

Bill C-69, a law requiring more regulators to take human health and the

environment into account when approving resource projects.

NDPMr. Singh wants to cancel the Trans Mountain expansion, end

federal subsidies for fossil fuels, shift toward fully electric-powered tran-

sit and give Canadians incentives to switch to zero-emission vehicles.

GREENSMs. May, who was once arrested at a demonstration against

Trans Mountain, says the Greens would cancel the project and reject

any new pipelines, oil and gas drilling or coal mining. They would

cancel fossil-fuel subsidies and ban hydraulic-fracking operations. They

want existing oil-and-gas projects phased out in the 2030s, by which

point they hope to have a 100-per-cent renewable electricity supply.

LIBERALSCurrently, wages in federal jobs hew to whatever the local province’s minimum wage is, but the

Liberals, as with the NDP and Greens, are proposing a $15-an-hour minimum (although if the provincial

wage is higher than that, the Liberals say the highest wage would take precedence). Mr. Trudeau would also

introduce a “Canada Training Benefit,” better guarantees for apprenticeship training and a “Career Insur-

ance Benefit” to compensate people laid off when their employers’ business closes.

CONSERVATIVESMr. Scheer has concentrated his job-creation rhetoric on the oil sands, promising that

the Trans Mountain pipeline and other new energy ventures will employ tens of thousands of people. He

also wants to undo most of the Liberals’ tax changes for small businesses, which were designed to keep

high-income earners from exploiting tax laws to pay less.

NDPThe New Democrats’ platform promises 300,000 “good jobs” in Canada within four years. That’s

75,000 jobs a year, a modest amount by recent standards (the country’s net gain for August was 81,100 jobs,

although that was larger than usual and most new jobs were part time). New Democrats would change

employment-insurance rules to give students and workers more job training, pour new money into the

auto, aerospace and forestry industries and reaffirm support for supply management in Canada’s in-

ternational trade deals.

GREENSThe green retrofits to Canada’s buildings alone will create more than four million jobs, the Green

platform says, citing trade-union research. The party also promises a guaranteed livable income, a “just

transition” to give oil sands workers new jobs, investment in job training for a green economy and the

creation of a Community and Environment Service Corps to employ young people.

Jobsandthe

economy

FREDLUM/THEGLOBEANDMAIL

Housing

LIBERALSThe Trudeaugovernment introduced a mortgage stress test

in 2018 to keep price growth in check in Canada’s hot housing markets.

The real estate industry has argued that it excludes too many people

from owning homes, but Mr. Trudeau is staying put on the stress test,

and adding a first-time home-buyer incentive. The Liberals would also

crack down on property speculation with a consistent national tax on

foreign-owned vacant properties and a joint effort with provinces to

combat financial crimes in real estate.

CONSERVATIVESMr. Scheer wants to let home buyers amortize their

insured mortgages for 30 years, up from the current limit of 25. That

could lower buyers’ monthly costs, but also encourage them to gam-

ble on more expensive properties and end up in deeper debt. The Con-

servative platform promises to “fix” the stress test, but doesn’t say

how, other than to say it should be removed for mortgage renewals. If

Mr. Scheer’s fixes weaken the test, some industry analysts fear it could

reinflame the housing market.

NDPMr. Singh says the NDP would create 500,000 affordable housing

units over 10 years and waive the federal portion of the GST/HST on

new affordable rental units. The NDP would also add to foreign-

buyers’ taxes in B.C. and Ontario with a national 15-per-cent tax on

home purchases by those who aren’t citizens or permanent residents.

GREENSMs. May wants to create a dedicated federal housing minister

to tailor long-term affordable housing solutions to each province,

would have new and existing housing redesignated as infrastructure

so it can be funded through the Canada Infrastructure Bank, and

would refocus the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. from commer-

cial lenders to affordable non-market housing. She would also elim-

inate the first-time home-buyer grant.

Carbonpricing

ELECTION