2008 Federal Election Links - Canadian Social Research Links

Registered Political Parties for the 2008 General Election

NOTE: Click on the Google Search Result links below for the latest and most relevant content on the Web and in the news.

Liberal Party of Canada

Liberal Party of Canada - home page

Liberals release plan for a richer, fairer, greener Canada
September 22, 2008
News Release
OTTAWA – The Liberal Party of Canada today released a fully-costed, fiscally-responsible platform, “A Richer, Fairer, Greener Canada,” which lays out a progressive, inclusive vision to make Canada a stronger country for the next generation.

Richer, Fairer, Greener : An Action Plan for the 21st Century
The 2008 Liberal Party Platform
- links to PDF files with detailed info on each plank of the party platform:
* A Richer Canada * A Greener Canada * A Fairer Canada (see the direct link below) * A Safer Canada * Canada and the World * Costing (see the direct link below)

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From the Liberal platform:

A Fairer Canada (PDF - 745K, 17 pages):
Includes: The 30-50 Plan, Investing in Our Children, Health Care, Women’s Equality, Immigration: Welcoming New Canadians, EI Changes, A New Relationship with Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Métis, Minority Language Rights, A Safer Canada, Respectful Federalism

Costing : Canadians Demand Fiscal Responsibility (PDF - 345K, 5 pages)
Related Backgrounder (PDF - 23K, 3 pages)
September 2008
"(...)The Liberal platform [also] commits to building a fairer, more inclusive society by:
Implementing the 30-50 Plan to reduce poverty: We will launch a full-scale attack on poverty in Canada, with the goal of reducing the number of people living below the poverty line by at least 30 per cent, and the number of children living in poverty by at least 50 per cent."

Media analysis of the 2008 Liberal Party platform - from Google.ca

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Dion Unveils the Liberal Plan to Win the War Against Poverty
November 9, 2007
TORONTO - Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion today unveiled a comprehensive plan to dramatically reduce the number of Canadians living below the poverty line by at least 30 per cent and cut in half the number of children living in poverty in five years. Mr. Dion called it the Liberal 30-50 Plan to Reduce Poverty.
Source:
Liberal Party of Canada

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Stéphane Dion's websites:
* Entre les branches... avec Stéphane Dion
* This is Dion [there's also a Flash version of the English Dion site. Why is this necessary, I wonder...]

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Scandalpédia - "the free encyclopedia of Conservative scandals"

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Liblogs
Liblogs is a group of bloggers who support the Liberal Party. They are average Canadians from coast-to-coast who have decided to write down their thoughts about politics online. While we do our best to help the Liberals, we are not organized, endorsed, edited, controlled or in any way spokespeople for the Liberal Party.

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Google Web Search Results : "2008 Federal election, Liberal Party"
Google News Search Results : "2008 Federal election, Liberal Party"

Conservative Party

Conservative Party - home page

Protecting Canadian families amid global economic uncertainty
Conservatives implementing a proven plan; Liberals still trying to find one
News Release
October 07, 2008
Toronto – Prime Minister Stephen Harper today laid out the time-tested and true path his Conservative Government has charted consistently over the past two and a half years to prepare and protect Canadian families and the economy amid increasing global economic uncertainty.
- includes a backgrounder with Tory platform highlights

The True North Strong and Free:
Stephen Harper's Plan for Canadians (PDF - 2.6MB, 44 pages)
NOTE: there's no direct link to the Tory platform on their website because the link itself is a javascript popup window.
There are many compelling security-related reasons NOT to use javascript or popup windows when you want to spread your message on the Internet. And I think the Tories know very well that both javascript and popup windows will reduce the number of visitors who will actually read their platform. Forcing visitors to flail around the site to even find the link to the PDF file is also funny but not funny-ha-ha. You can go through the motions to find the file on the Tory website, or you can access a copy of it that I've posted to my own site for information and to get around the javascript/popups issue.]

View a copy of the PDF file (PDF - 2.6MB, 44 pages) - posted to my web hosting server for anyone who doesn't have javascript or popups enabled.

To view the Tory party platform
PDF file on the Conservative Party's website:
1. Click the link below.
2. On the next page that opens, click the secret link (the cover page of the party platform) to view the 44-page PDF file.
NOTE: you must have both javascript and popups enabled to view the PDF file on the Tory website.

A plan for the economy vs proposals for financial disaster
October 07, 2008
- incl. a link to the Tory platform in PDF format

Source:
Conservative Party of Canada

Related links:

Assessing Harper's platform
October 7, 2008
Analysis of the Conservative platform by Greg Lyle (former chief of staff for premiers Gary Filmon and Gordon Campbell), Scott Reid (former communications director for Paul Martin) and Gerald Caplan (former NDP campaign manager).
Source:
Federal Election 2008
[ The Globe and Mail ]

Two editorials from the 2008 Federal Election Page (Toronto Star):

Harper proposes little on economy
October 8
Prime Minister Stephen Harper tried hard in his speech in Toronto yesterday to regain momentum in this election campaign by focusing on the economy. Tried, but ultimately failed. He failed because in his speech he did not display any empathy for Canadians who have lost their jobs as the economy has slowed or who have seen their retirement savings severely reduced as the markets have crashed. Instead, in TV interviews yesterday he talked of "some great buying opportunities emerging in the market."

... and a vapid platform
October 8
More than a month after calling the election – and only a week before Canadians cast their ballots – Prime Minister Stephen Harper released his party's election platform yesterday.That he would wait until the 11th hour to unveil his master plan says a great deal. That the 41-page plan would say so little speaks volumes about Harper's calculations. And that it would feature 22 colour photos of the Prime Minister in its 41 large-font pages says it all.

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Layton releases platform that puts families first:
Prudent plan chooses the middle-class over corporate tax cuts
September 28, 2008
TORONTO – New Democrat Leader Jack Layton released his party’s platform today at a community centre in his east-end Toronto riding. The platform focused on helping middle-class and working families make ends meet. “While Stephen Harper’s priority is a $50 billion corporate tax cut, my priority is investing in families and their children,“ said Layton. The centerpiece of the platform is the New Democrats’ new Child Benefit, an initiative that unifies, simplifies and enhances existing programs such as the Child Tax Benefit and the Universal Child Care Benefit.
Source:
New Democratic Party

NDP Platform 2008
PDF version (617K, 46 pages) - all in one file
HTML version - scroll about halfway down the page for a table of contents and links to individual sections of the platform

*Helping Families Make Ends Meet - and Ending Poverty
Jack Layton and the New Democrats will introduce a Poverty Elimination Act to eliminate poverty in Canada by the year 2020:
* This act will set firm targets, and make the government accountable for achieving these targets.
* The act will make the government accountable for eliminating poverty in Canada by 2020.
* Every five years the government will have to report on its progress and deliver an action plan, to be approved by the House of Commons.
* Initial targets will include reducing child poverty by more than 50 percent and the overall poverty rate by more than 35 percent in the first five years.
* The act will establish a poverty elimination office housed within HRDC to assume overall responsibility for implementing our poverty-reduction strategy and developing concrete poverty indicators.

* Affordable Housing: "Bring Canada Home"
To help ensure Canadians will have adequate and affordable housing, Jack Layton and the New Democrats will implement a durable, comprehensive and fully-funded affordable housing strategy that meets Canada's international obligations, as set out by the United Nations. We will build towards the 10-year goal of the One Percent Solution – with one percent of federal spending allocated for truly affordable housing.

Bloc Québécois
NOTE : the party's site is in French only, but the party platform is available in English.

* The official party platform:
Looking Forward : A fresh perspective on Canada’s future (PDF - 299K, 8 pages)
(...)
• Bring in income splitting and low-income support as part of our Green Tax Shift.
• Eliminate income tax for those earning $20,000 or less.
• Work toward a Guaranteed Annual Income in place of the current maze of programs.
• Ensure universal access to excellent childcare and early childhood education.
(...)

An excerpt from Vision Green:
11. Eliminating poverty:
"The Green Party of Canada believes it is time to re-visit a major policy initiative -- the use of a negative income tax, or Guaranteed Livable Income (GLI) for all. The use of a GLI could eliminate poverty and allow social services to concentrate on problems of mental health and addiction. The essential plan is to provide a regular annual payment to every Canadian without regard to a needs- test. The level of the payment will be regionally set at a level above poverty, but at a bare subsistence level [*bolding added - see Con Alert below] to encourage additional income generation."
Source:
Part Four : PEOPLE (this section also covers child poverty, child care, seniors, homelessness, women, people with disabilities, Aboriginal people, and much more...)
[ Vision Green ]

* Green Tax Shift

*Con Alert! "bare subsistence level"?
As usual, the Devil's in the Details.
Groups like the fiscally- and socially-conservative Fraser Institute are enthusiastic supporters of the guaranteed annual income (GAI) concept. That's because it means scrapping a significant number of Canada's social programs to fund the GAI, and it means that the savings to the Treasury can be increased by setting the GAI income level at the lowest possible level, i.e., the basic subsistence level. At least according to the Fraser Institute and the Green Party's election platform...

Senate Roundtable on Guaranteed Income (June 13, 2008)
Senate Sub-Committee on Cities
Transcript of the proceedings of the roundtable (51 printed pages)
June 13, 2008
Highly recommended reading --- valuable insights on guaranteed income from recognized experts in the field of guaranteed annual income, including Derek Hum (father of Mincome Manitoba), Senator Hugh Segal, Sheila Regehr (Director, National Council of Welfare), Rob Rainer (Executive Director, National Anti-Poverty Organization), professors Lars Osberg and Jim Mulvale, Michael Mendelson of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, Marie White (Council of Canadians with Disabilities) and several others.

Housing, homelessness, health, and the 2008 federal election
Election Housing Primer:
* Housing insecurity at record levels
* Federal investments lowest in two decades
* Key federal investments renewed, but funding frozen despite growing need
* Analysis of housing in 2008 political party platforms

On The Record
Make Poverty History asked the leaders of the five main political parties a series of questions about their plans to reduce poverty, here in Canada and overseas.
Questions:
* Support for the goals of Make Poverty History
* Giving 0.7% of national income in foreign aid
* A national plan to reduce poverty
* Poverty in First Nations communities
* Support for the Kelowna accord or similar plan to reduce First Nations poverty

Conservatives:
Have not proposed any poverty-reduction plan. The Tories would introduce a $500 tax credit to help parents pay for children’s arts programs. No new initiatives on child care, employment insurance or other income supports for low-income Canadians...

Liberals:
Within five years, would reduce the number of Canadians living in poverty by at least 30 per cent and cut the number of poor children by half...

NDP:
Would introduce a Poverty Elimination Act to end poverty by 2020, with a goal of cutting overall poverty by 35 per cent and halving child poverty within five years...

Greens:
Would introduce a Guaranteed Liveable Income – a new payment to all Canadians – to ensure no one lives in poverty. Promise to eliminate income taxes for those earning less than $20,000 annually...
NOTE: See the Green Party platform (this link takes you elsewhere on the page you're now reading) for a commentary about the Green Party's promotion of a "liveable income" that's based on "bare subsistence levels."

Source:
The Toronto Star Election Special
NOTE: this resource from the Toronto Star also includes links to poverty-related news items from the campaign trail, and this section is frequently updated. The parties' views on poverty and poverty reduction will be contained in their respective election platforms, which you can find in the Registered Parties section of the page you're now reading.

Political Parties and Elections in Canada
- 2008 Federal Election-
(Focus on Social Issues)

Les élections et les partis politiques au Canada
- Élection fédérale 2008-
(La perspective sociale)

Political Parties and Elections in Canada- 2008 Federal Election-(Focus on Social Issues)

Les élections et les partis politiques au Canada- Élection fédérale 2008-(La perspective sociale)

Political Parties and Elections in Canada
- 2008 Federal Election-
(Focus on Social Issues)

Les élections et les partis politiques au Canada
- Élection fédérale 2008-
(La perspective sociale)