Canadian Politics – Liberal Party of Canada
Fiscal Balance, Social Liberalism & Political Moderates
Sep 14, 2008
The Liberal Party of Canada represents the political center of Canadian politics, combining a slight inclination towards fiscal conservatism from the right and a great deal of social liberalism that is inherent in the Canadian political economy in order to cement the party's reputation as the “natural” governing party of Canada – a scene somewhat evidenced by the fact that the LPC held power for more years in the 20th century than any other party in the western world.
Economic Policy
The Liberal Party has often prided itself in governing to the centre, that is, with a balance being struck between free market capitalism and a social welfare apparatus. The exception to this particular rule would be the highly controversial leadership of Pierre Trudeau during his stint as party leader and Prime Minister between 1968-1979, a period in which social spending and the accompanying debt skyrocketed. The Chretien Liberals were very successful financially in balancing the books and in managing the debt. In recent years, the Liberal Party of Canada has focussed on repairing the damage caused by a sponsorship scandal as well as numerous reports of corruption – Stephane Dion having taken the helm in order to promote a more principled, greener image.
Social Policy
The Liberal Party has always prided itself on having created the “social safety net” that now ensures a standard of living to unfortunate citizens who may find themselves down and out due to circumstance or habit. They are credited with the creation of the Canada Pension Plan, Canada Student Loans, and several other social assistance programmes. The modern Liberal Party is supportive of same-sex marriage and is unlikely to press for changes to women's reproductive rights issues. Further, before exiting his term, Jean Chretien spoke out in support of decriminalization of marijuana, and made Canada's stance very clear in remaining firmly against supporting the invasion of Iraq.
Election Campaign 2008
The major planks of the NDP's platform for the election of October 14 include the following:
- A most prominent piece of policy - Stephane Dion's “Green Shift”, an emissions tax plan. While it is slated to tax producers of emissions, it presumably also drops the corporate tax rate, the small business tax rate, adding personal tax exemptions for consumers who choose greener products.
- A reinstatement of the CCP – or Court Challenges Programme, a programme designed to financially enable individual Canadians to exercise and legally defend their Charter rights. The CCP was cancelled in 2006 by incoming Prime Minister Stephen Harper, critics of the controversial programme alleging the programme was subject to waste and abuse of the system by litigious individuals.
- A plan to create an office for an Independent Commissioner for Gender Equality, ensuring legislation and policy for the federal government be examined through the lens of equity.
For more information on the Liberal Party of Canada, visit http://www.liberal.ca
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