Federal Election 2019

It seems like just yesterday summer was beginning. The weather was warm, the days were longer and the 2019 Federal Candidates were surfacing to tell us how they were going to help Canada for the next four years.  If you're like most of Canada the amount of information that is being thrown at you is a lot to process. So with the election being 1 week away The 905 Sold team wanted to help condense the information and give you a quick introduction to the leaders wanting to represent Burlington in the Country's capital.

 

Liberal Candidate:

 

Karina Gould- Incumbent

                Karina was raised in Burlington and attended McGill University to study political science and Latin American studies. She completed her masters at Oxford University, upon completion she moved back to her home city. She worked as a trade and investment specialist for the Mexican consulate prior to her candidacy in the 2015 election.

Liberal Platforms:
  

Housing:

 

• Expand the First-time Home Buyer Incentive for people in Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto. The value of a qualifying home will go from 500,000 to nearly 800,000
• Help homeowners and landlords pay for retrofits by giving them an interest-free loan of up to $40,000
• Make Energy Star certification mandatory for all new home appliances, as of 2022
• Retrofit 1.5 million homes, over the next five years

 

Health care:
 

• Ensure all Canadians have access to a family doctor or primary health care team, as well as mental health services 
• Add $30 million in funding next year for pediatric cancer research
• Introduce legislation for “distinctions-based” health care for Indigenous people, emphasizing mental health, healing and long-term care
• End the ban on blood donations by men who have sex with men

 

Climate change & Environment:

 

• Commit to net-zero emissions by 2050, with legally-binding five-year milestones
• Conserve and protect 25 per cent of Canada’s land and 25 per cent of Canada’s oceans by 2025, working towards 30 per cent in each by 2030
• Require federal buildings to be powered completely by clean electricity by 2022 
• Plant two billion trees over 10 years

 

Education:
 

• Offer students two-years window after graduation before they start paying off student loans, interest-free
• Pause student loan repayments for new parents, interest-free, until their youngest child turns five years old
• Delay student loan repayments until graduates make at least $35,000 (and if their income ever falls below this level, payments will be put on hold)
• Increased Canada Student Grant by up to $1,200 per year

 

Conservative Candidate:

Jane Michael

                Jane has been a Burlington resident for the past 30 years. Raising four children here with her husband, they have invested in Burlington by owning and operating a local restaurant. She has dedicated a lot of time to the city by volunteering at schools and churches in the community. Jane has been a Chair for two terms at the Halton Catholic District School Board.

 

Conservative Platforms:

Housing:

 

• Increase amortization periods on insured mortgages to 30 years for first-time homebuyers
• Launch inquiry into money laundering in real estate
• Remove stress test for mortgage renewals

 

Health care:

• Increase the Canada Health Transfer and the Canada Social Transfer by at least three per cent every year
• Commit $50 million over five years towards a national autism strategy
• Invest $1.5 billion during first term to purchase MRI machines and CT machines
• Reduce the number of hours spent on therapy needed to qualify for the Disability Tax Credit from 14 to 10 hours per week

 

Climate change and Environment:

• End to the practice of dumping raw sewage in waterways 
• Create a two-year green homes tax credit for homeowners to help pay for energy-saving renovations
• Establish a green patent credit that will reduce the tax rate to five per cent on income that is generated from green technology developed and patented in Canada 
• Set emissions standards for major emitters that produce more than 40 kilotonnes per year of greenhouse gases, requiring them to invest in private-sector research and development of green technology 

 

Education:

No specific proposals yet.

 

NDP Candidate:

Lenaee Dupuis

                Lenaee has been a resident of Burlington for over 15 years, where she spends her time being a community ambassador and being a sports mom. She is an entrepreneur and member of the Rotarian and Chamber of commerce, and previously worked medical device industry.

 

NDP Platforms:

 

Housing:

• Re-introduce 30-year terms to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) insured mortgages for first time home buyers
• Create 500,000 units of quality, affordable housing in the next 10 years 
• Remove GST/HST on the construction of new rental units
• Set up “fast-start” funds available to communities to kick-start construction of co-ops, social and non-profit housing; amount not specified

 

Health care:

• Make dental care free for households making under $70,000, with a sliding copayment for those who earn between $70,000 and $90,000
• Force drug companies to disclose confidential price rebates they offer to public and private drug coverage payers 
• Establish a national suicide prevention action plan
• Declare a national public health emergency for the opioid crisis

 

Climate change and Environment:

• Ban single-use plastics by 2022 as part of broader waste reduction strategy 
• Protect at least 30 per cent of our land, freshwater, and oceans by 2030
• Reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions to 450 megatonnes by 2030, a 37 per cent reduction from 2017 levels
• Eliminate fossil fuel subsidies immediately 

 

Education:

• Eliminate interest on federal portion of student loans 
• Move away from loans by increasing access to Canada Student Grants
• Invest to bring all schools on First Nations reserves up to provincial standards

 

Green Party Candidate:

 

Gareth Williams
                Gareth has been a Burlington resident for over 20 years. For the last decade he has been a part of grassroots organizations to make the city safer and cleaner. He has been the chair of Burlington’s Sustainable Development Committee for the past six years trying to adopt tougher sustainability standards for buildings, public transportation, and to set a goal of carbon neutrality for city operations.

 

Green Party Platforms:

 

Housing:
 

• Get rid of the first-time home buyer grant
• Change the legislation that stops Indigenous organizations from accessing financing through CMHC 
• Restore tax incentives for building purpose-built rental housing 
• Legislate that housing is a legally protected fundamental human right for all Canadians and permanent residents

 

 

Health care:

• Expand national healthcare coverage by including basic dental care 
• Pass legislation that gives Canadians the right to a healthy environment
• End the ban on blood donations by men who have sex with men, and put in place policies based in public health evidence
• Ban for-profit blood collection services

 

Climate change and Environment:

• Double Canada’s emissions reduction target to 60 per cent by 2030
• Have 100 per cent of Canada’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2030
• Phase out Canada’s exporting of solid waste to other countries 
• By January 2022, ban the production, distribution and sale of all unnecessary single-use plastics  and non-essential packaging

 

Education:

• Eliminate post-secondary education tuition
• Forgive existing student debt held by federal government 
• Remove 2 per cent cap on increases to education funding for Indigenous students 
• Eliminate Registered Education Savings Plans

 

 

For more information on the Federal Candidates Platforms visit:
https://www.macleans.ca/politics/2019-federal-election-platform-guide-where-the-parties-stand-on-everything/#directory