AUPE is a non-partisan union, but we are definitely political. Our members are facing a provincial government with an agenda of cutbacks and privatization, and a proven disregard for workers’ rights.
Because our members know first-hand that the decisions politicians and governments make impacts the public services we all rely on and the lives of the workers who deliver them, COPA wanted to know what each of the federal parties vying to be Canada’s next government had to say about issues important to our members. So, we sent letters to the Conservative Party of Canada, the Green Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party asking them to respond to questions about investing in public services and their positions on privatization and free collective bargaining - including the right to strike. We asked them to respond by October 17th.
Their responses are reproduced below, unedited. [sic] is used to indicate errors in the original.
In the case of those parties that didn’t bother to respond, we’ve offered some examples of their past actions to help our almost 97,000 members decide how to vote this coming Monday.
Does your party support the right to free collective bargaining including the right to strike, without legislative interference through measures such as “back-to-work” legislation or laws that limit what an independent arbitrator may award?
THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY OF CANADA DID NOT RESPOND.
COPA: We know that former CPC leader Stephen Harper met secretly with anti-union and anti-LGTBQ rights Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in July 2015. We also know that his government, of which current leader Andrew Scheer was part, was no friend to workers. From the Temporary Foreign Worker program which helped drive down wages of Canadian workers to reductions in eligibility for Employment Insurance to interfering in collective bargaining so many times we’d run out of space to list them all, it is fair to assume that Andrew Scheer’s CPC would answer this question with a resounding “NO!” had they bothered to respond.
Greens believe in the rights of workers to organize and in the free collective bargaining process. Labour rights are human rights. We are committed to respecting the labour rights of all Canadian workers. Greens will work unions [sic] to ensure that we have the best possible legislative framework to uphold workers’ rights, including the right to free collective bargaining. We will oppose any legislation that infringes on the constitutionally-protected rights to collective bargaining and strikes, such as back-to-work legislation.
THE LIBERAL PARTY OF CANADA DID NOT RESPOND.
COPA: Although the Liberals introduced some modest improvements to the federal labour code this past year and extended Employment Insurance benefits for some Albertans in 2016, we know that when it comes to respecting the rights of workers to free collective bargaining, the Liberals are not much better than the Conservatives. Just last year, they passed back-to-work legislation to end the Canadian Union of Postal Workers’ rotating strikes.
New Democrats believe the federal government has an important role to play in making work better, fairer and more secure for everyone. We understand that membership in a union is the best ticket into the middle class – and lifts up workers and our entire economy. We believe that it should be easier – not harder - to join a union that will protect your rights and ensure fair working conditions.
We will defend the Rand formula, so that unions can effectively advocate for workers, and will never impose legislation that suspends employees’ rights to bargain or to strike. We believe that it’s time to update the Canada Labour Code to enhance safeguards for workers and ban the use of replacement workers in labour disputes – once and for all.
Thanks to collective bargaining and the labour movement, Canadians are able to enjoy so many things we all take for granted. The weekend, overtime and holiday pay, the eight-hour workday and 40-hour work week – all hard-fought victories by working people, acting together. New Democrats will always fight to protect and promote these rights. We’re in it for you.
Does your party support expanding universal public health care, and which services would your government work with the provinces to add to universal public health insurance?
CPC: DID NOT RESPOND.
COPA: Stephen Harper’s government changed the method used to calculate the amount of federal money going to the provinces for health care, resulting in millions of dollars less in transfers. Given Harper once led the National Citizens Coalition, an organization that was established in the 1960s with the goal of killing public medicare, this was no surprise. Andrew Scheer has given no indication that he would waver from Harper’s agenda of decreased funding and increased privatization of health care delivery. He has flat out refused to consider a pharmacare program.
GPC: The Greens fully support the Canada Health Act (CHA) and all of its principles. We oppose any level of privatized, for-profit health care. We will continue to fight against the threat of privatized medicine. We have full faith in the public medical system, and we believe we are well-positioned to improve it.
A universal, single-payer national pharmacare program is urgently needed. No Canadian should have to make a choice between filling the prescriptions they need and paying rent or putting food on the table for their family. Greens were the first to call for a universal pharmacare system in Canada, and we remain committed to implementing such a program.
In addition to pharmacare, we will provide dental care to all low-income Canadians. While our ambition is to provide dental care for all Canadians, no matter their income, our initial work with the Parliamentary Budget Office was only able to generate enough new revenue for full pharmacare and dental care for low-income Canadians and we want to be responsible in our promises. We hope to expand this policy in the future.
LPC: Upon taking power in 2015, the Liberals did not reverse the course set out by Stephen Harper with Health Minister Jane Philpott announcing in 2016 that the Liberals would not be increasing the health-care funding formula that was unilaterally imposed by the Harper government.
NDP: Yes. While the Conservatives unilaterally cut health care funding by over $30 billion, it was actually Justin Trudeau’s Liberals who implemented these cuts. And now, Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives are promising more cuts in the future. The reality is, decades of Conservative cuts and Liberal inaction have left too many Canadians digging deep into their pockets to pay for health care. Too many cannot afford to buy their medication because of skyrocketing drug prices. Or afford to get the dental, vision or mental health care they need.
Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives have closed the door to universal pharmacare. And while Justin Trudeau and the Liberals claim to support expanding drug coverage, this is a twenty-two-year-old broken promise. And in this election, Liberals are not even pretending to move forward with any urgency – or putting any money behind a new program.
New Democrats are different. Jagmeet Singh and the NDP have a bold vision to provide Canadians with head to toe coverage, starting with an historic investment of over $10 billion a year to expand medication coverage for all Canadians. We will also move immediately to extend benefits to the 4.3 million Canadians without a private plan.
Our national dental care plan will be free to uninsured Canadians with household incomes below $70,000. For uninsured Canadians with household incomes between $70,000 and $90,000 there will be a minimal co-payment. And then we will work to extend dental care to everyone.
We will also work with the provinces and territories to tackle wait times and improve access to primary care, long-term care and home care across the country. Over the next four years we will increase health care investments by over $50 billion. And we will pay for this through fair, progressive taxation –asking corporations and Canadians at the very top to pay a little bit more. We will follow through on Tommy Douglas’ original vision for a public, universal Medicare system that covers Canadians from head-to-toe, regardless of your income or where you live.
Does your party support ending Canada’s first past the post system and adopting proportional representation?
CPC: DID NOT RESPOND.
COPA: The Conservatives have, in the past, said they were open to reform but only after it was approved by citizens in a referendum.
GPC: Yes. Greens, like so many Canadians, were deeply disappointed by the Liberal government’s choice to renege on their promise to implement electoral reform. We firmly believe that these reforms are needed so that Canadians can feel properly represented in Parliament, and stop feeling the pressure to vote strategically rather than with their conscience. Our party will ensure that the 2019 election is truly the last “first past the post” election.
By March 2020, we will launch a Citizens Assembly on Electoral Reform with the mandate to make recommendations to parliament on an electoral system that would “make every vote count.” Legislative changes to implement the recommendations of the Citizens Assembly would be made in time for the 2023 federal election.
LPC: DID NOT RESPOND.
COPA: Prior to the 2015 election, Justin Trudeau promised that that election would be the last under the first past the post system. He ultimately cancelled that promise in 2017 claiming that no clear choice had emerged for an alternative system and ruled out a referendum on the matter. The Liberals 2019 platform makes no mention of electoral reform.
NDP: Four years ago, Justin Trudeau declared that 2015 would be the last election under the first-past-the-post system – and many progressives flocked to support him. But Justin Trudeau’s pretty words became just more cynical broken Liberal promises. Justin Trudeau pulled the plug on making our elections fairer and now here we are, four years later, and we still [sic] at risk of a party getting all the power despite only getting about a third of the voters supporting them.
New Democrats are different. Our government will bring in a mixed-member proportional representation system that works for Canada – and we will do it in our first mandate in government.
We’ll establish an independent citizens’ assembly to recommend the best way to put it in place for the next election to ensure we have both local representation and a federal parliament that reflect the choices of Canadian voters.
Does your party support the elimination of post-secondary tuition while providing equivalent funding to the provinces to meet or improve current service levels at post-secondary institutions?
CPC: DID NOT RESPOND.
COPA: Conservatives have promised a boost to the Registered Education Savings Plan (RESP) that would raise contributions from 20 per cent to 30 per cent for every dollar invested up to $2,500 a year, to a maximum of $750 a year. The party would create a post-school jobs program for international students to help them stay in Canada. (Source: CBC Canada Votes 2019)
GPC: Yes. The financial burden of student debt is at historic levels. The Green Party of Canada believes that universal access to quality post-secondary education and skills training is a right, not a privilege. A Green government will make college and university education free for all Canadian students. It will forgive the portion of existing student debt held by the federal government, remove the two per cent cap on increases in funding for Indigenous students and ensure that all Indigenous youth have access to post-secondary education.
Many universities are caught in a spiral of fundraising to provide education of diminishing quality. Dramatic funding cuts dating back to the 1990s mean universities have come to depend on part-time contract instructors, higher tuition fees and fundraising to balance the books.
A Green government will reinvest in the system and allocate $10 billion to post-secondary and trade school supports. This will be funded by redirecting existing spending on bursaries, cancelling tuition tax credits, saving the costs of administering the student loan system, and redirecting the hundreds of millions of dollars of student loan defaults written off every year.
LPC: DID NOT RESPOND.
COPA: The Liberal platform proposes making student loans interest-free for two years after graduation and promise graduates won’t have to pay until they earn over $35,000 annually. The party also proposes allowing parents to pause loan payments with no interest until their youngest kid turns five. It plans to boost the maximum Canada Student Grants for full-time students from $3,000 to $4,200. (Source: CBC Canada Votes 2019)
NDP: Justin Trudeau’s Liberals made a lot of progressive promises four years ago, but they failed to deliver. Over the past four years they have charged students over $3 billion in interest on student loans – while just last year they wrote off over $6 billion in loans to corporations. Justin Trudeau says one thing in public but then behind closed doors he continues to put the interests of corporations first.
New Democrats are different. We believe improving access to education is how we ensure the next generation can get the start they deserve – a top policy priority for Jagmeet Singh and the NDP.
Every Canadian should have barrier-free access to quality post-secondary education, regardless of their income. Over the long term, this means working with the provinces and territories to reduce tuition fees and building towards making post-secondary education part of our public education system, so kids can go from kindergarten to a career without the barrier of cost.
But we don’t have to wait for provincial and territorial negotiations to get started making post-secondary education more accessible. We will move on our first day in government to eliminate all interest on student loan debt. And we will move urgently to start moving away from loans, significantly increasing access to non-repayable Canada Student Grants.
Does your party support improved retirement security measures such as expanding the Canada Pension Plan, protecting defined benefit pensions, and protecting workers’ pensions when companies go bankrupt?
CPC: DID NOT RESPOND.
COPA: The party has promised to increase the Age Tax Credit by $1,000, available to seniors making less than $87,750. It also promises to keep old age security at 65, a diversion from Stephen Harper’s stance. Conservatives would make federally regulated companies disclose the solvency of their pension funds and allow for transfers from one pension plan to a “more successful” one. (Source: CBC Canada Votes 2019)
GPC: The Green National Seniors Strategy will enhance and protect the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and introduce pension reform to keep the elderly out of poverty. The Green Party is also committed to a Guaranteed Livable Income for all. The Green Party will give pension debts priority during insolvency proceedings by a company, making cash owed to the pension fund and existing pensioners the first to be paid out over other creditors. This amendments [sic] to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act are needed to protect pensioners, and we will fight for it whether or not our party forms government.
LPC: DID NOT RESPOND.
COPA: Liberals are promising to boost Old Age Security at age 75 by 10 per cent and increase the Canada Pension Plan by 25 per cent for widows and widowers. They haven’t said whether this would translate to higher premiums to cover the cost.(Source: CBC Canada Votes 2019)
NDP: Retirement should be a time of new opportunities and new experiences, not worry and stress. Every Canadian should be able to count on a dignified, secure retirement and the pensions they earned from their years of service. But after four years of Justin Trudeau’s government, workers pensions remain at risk.
When he had to choose between protecting the banks and protecting workers’ pensions, Justin Trudeau and the Liberals choose the banks every time.
New Democrats understand that pensions are deferred wages and belong exclusively to the workers who earned them – and we are committed to taking legal action to protect your pension.
We will pass legislation to make sure that workers –not banks and wealthy investors –are at the front of the line when a company goes bankrupt. And we will also stop companies from paying out dividends and bonuses when pensions are under-funded to make sure no worker is deprived of the retirement benefits they’ve earned.
We also believe that the federal government has a critical role to play in protecting defined benefit pensions across the country. The Liberals’ openness to target benefit plans in the public sector, which don’t guarantee stable benefits for retirees, puts defined benefits at risk for all Canadians. As government, we will put a stop to this chipping away of retirement security. And a New Democrat government will create a Pension Advisory Commission to develop a long-term plan to protect and enhance Old Age Security, boost the Guaranteed Income Supplement, and strengthen the Canada Pension Plan.
We’ll also make automatic enrollment in OAS and GIS retroactive, so no retiree misses out on benefits that they should be receiving, and support efforts to make sure Canadians have good retirement financial literacy.