‘Tax the ultra-rich’; NDP leader lays out election platform blueprint
Posted August 12, 2021 10:36 am.
Last Updated August 12, 2021 1:38 pm.
ST. JOHN’S – Federal New Democrat Leader Jagmeet Singh’s election campaign platform centres on making rich Canadians pay more to fund affordable housing and health care.
Singh laid out his party’s platform blueprint Thursday while speaking to a crowd of supporters in St. John’s, N.L.
“That’s the choice that we have and that’s the vision that we have for Canada. Making the ultra-rich pay their fair share so we can invest in people,” Singh said.
However, he says it will also include helping resource sector workers transition to more stable jobs.
“We know a lot of the workers in resource sectors are worried about the ups and downs, the bust and booms, the unpredictability of their jobs and they deserve better,” he said. “So we are going to commit to investing in creating jobs right now.”
Other commitments in the 115-page document include paid universal pharmacare and dental care, student debt cancellation, and rapid emissions reduction fuelled by green jobs.
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The platform is similar to the one the NDP used in the last election campaign, which resulted in the party coming in fourth place. Singh says he’s hoping the global pandemic has convinced people the NDP is a better choice than the Liberals or Conservatives this time around.
Reports from Reuters indicate an early federal election could be called within days.
Federal opposition parties are already flying across the country for pre-campaign stops to shore up support in key ridings.
On Wednesday in Waterloo, Ont., Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole laid out his plan to spur innovation by cutting the income tax rate in half on new patented technologies developed in Canada, which followed a pledge Monday to connect every Canadian with high-speed internet by 2025.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has also been jetting across Canada in recent weeks as he and his cabinet sign child-care funding deals with more than half the country’s premiers and make a flurry of funding announcements.
