Liberal Party of Canada Policy

The Leader

Justin Trudeau was elected to lead his party in early 2013. Following the 2011 election, which reduced the Liberals to third party status for the first time in the party’s history, many Liberal supporters were hoping that Trudeau would be able to unite the party and bring voters back into the “big red tent.” Over the course of 2014, Trudeau enjoyed strong support in the polls, topping out at close to 40 per cent last summer. Liberal support has steadily declined over the first half of 2015, with voters increasingly considering the NDP as a viable alternative.

Trudeau is untested as a leader during an election period, which represents both a risk and an opportunity for the Liberal Party. Since his election as leader, Trudeau has shown that he has the capability of being polished and composed, but is not always quick on his feet. When Trudeau goes off message, he tends to make mistakes, which the other parties use as evidence that Trudeau is “just not ready” to be Prime Minister.  However, it was widely reported that his performance in the McLean’s Leadership Debate was strong enough to put him back on the radar as a viable, formidable candidate… for now.

The Strategy

Trudeau and his team will likely employ a two-part strategy. The first is to position Trudeau as a Prime Minister-in-waiting and combat the Conservative tagline that Trudeau is “just not ready.” Although advertising will play a large role, Trudeau will be most successful if he is able to conduct himself well during the televised debates.

The second part of the strategy will be to solidify their base of “centrist” voters. The Liberal Party of the past was able to secure majority governments by appealing to voters from both left and right of centre. In this particular campaign, the Liberals and the NDP are looking to secure the support of a large cohort of Canadians (some polls point to over 60%) who do not want to see another Harper government, but have not yet decided which party is best positioned to defeat the Conservatives. The Liberals will likely stick to their traditional election strategy of avoiding overtly negative attack ads, focusing on policy, and target middle class voters, women, and minorities.

Regionally, the Liberal Party has always done extremely well in the Atlantic Provinces. In order to regain official opposition status (or have a shot at forming a government) they will need to shore up support in Ontario, take seats back from the NDP in Québec, and make gains in B.C.

The Policy

In an effort to combat the criticism that Trudeau was “light on policy”, the Liberal Party released three major platform documents in advance of the writ drop. These documents outline the Liberal Party vision for the environment and the economy, for government openness and reform, and for the middle class.

Highlights include:

• Introducing a new Canada Child Benefit. This plan will cancel tax breaks and benefits to the wealthy, including income-splitting, and provide Canadian families with a tax-free per-child benefit relative to their income.
• Cutting taxes for middle-income earners by 7% and introduce a new tax bracket for incomes over $200 000.
• Introducing national greenhouse gas targets but leave implementation up to the provinces.
• Investing in “clean tech” sector jobs and technology
• Introducing a number of measures to improve the function of parliament, including non-partisan senator appointments, gender parity in cabinet, and end the use of omnibus bills.

Click here for the Election Platform