Sept. 12, 2008

Liberal Party of Canada campaign: week one


Here is a summary of what Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion announced in the first week of the campaign for a richer, fairer, greener Canada.

Greening the Economy

• A new Liberal government will significantly expand federal support to upgrade the energy efficiency of Canadian homes, including an enriched home retrofit program and a new green mortgages program.

• Only the Liberal Party is offering Canadians a plan to deal with the rising price of fuel.

Restoring Fiscal Order

• Liberals will clean up the financial mess created by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

• A new Liberal government will create jobs, keep the budget balanced, cut taxes, put money back into the pockets of Canadians and build the strongest, greenest economy in the world – all of which is at heart of the Liberal Green Shift plan.

Protecting Canadians

• A new Liberal government would move quickly to take military assault weapons off Canadian streets while still respecting the voices of legitimate gun owners.

• A new Liberal government will reverse the decision of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to weaken the protection of the rights of Canadians by reinstating the Court Challenges Program.

• A new Liberal government will invest an additional $50 million to build a more robust food safety net.

• While Prime Minister Stephen Harper works to turn the clock back on gender equality, the Liberal Party of Canada – which surpassed its commitment to having one-third of its candidates be women – will create an independent Commissioner for Gender equality to ensure that legislation and policies of the Government of Canada are examined with an equality lens.