Simplified Party Platforms:

Shining Mountains have been repeatedly asked for advice on who to vote for.  We can not in good conscience provide those answers, as voting is an individual decision, however we can assist with providing some comparisons.

Okay everyone, this is a VERY simplified overview of all the party’s stances on some of the key platform issues. If you want a more in-depth analysis, I strongly recommend you go review each party’s platform and make the most informed decision you can. That said, not everyone has the time or ability to go through all the party’s platforms I will summarize each party’s platform and try to minimize my personal opinion on them, but bear in mind, I like everyone have my own political biases. So that in mind, here is a simplified overview.
 
Stance on indigenous peoples:
As an Indigenous group, this is the first area we will look at. I will note that the ONLY party without a specific platform is the conservative party.
 
Liberals:

• A slight update to past liberal platforms acknowledging First Nations and Metis as well as incrementally increasing their living conditions, recognition, and political involvement.

 
Conservatives:

• No platform.
• Historically the conservative party has a rather negative view and interactions with the Indigenous peoples of Canada

 
NDP:

• The most comprehensive and in-depth plan for improving relations and living conditions of all indigenous groups as well as increasing Indigenous involvement in government.
• While the NDP have without a doubt the most involved and thought out platform on this issue, one should bear in mind that the NDP often talk the best game on progressive issues because they do not expect to form government, but rather use their standing to force a minority government to shift it’s policies into a more progressive direction.

 
Green:

• A more aggressive and progressive version of the liberal platform.
• While the platform holds similarities to the NDP platform on this issue, it is notably less detailed and composed of broader sweeping strokes.

 
Taxes:
Fair warning, taxes are complex, they impact the economy in many ways, neither lowering nor raising taxes is a solution in and of itself, this is going to be one of the most divisive areas of the party’s and of your own political opinions.
 
Liberals:

• Basically their current tax plan with slight tweaks and modifications.
• This might sound simplistic compared to the others, but the liberals already instituted a complex tax change after the last election and as the incumbent party they view this as merely an update to a multi-term solution, not a single term fix.
• Every other party will have a more complex tax plan because they want to replace large swaths of the current tax plan.

 
Conservatives:

• The conservative approach has always been that lower taxes overall stimulate the economy; however, they have a strong preference for lowering corporate and high-income taxes first and prioritizing those above lower- and middle-class incomes. This is not to say that low- and middle-class individuals will not see benefits but that they are not the primary beneficiaries of a conservative tax plan.
• One should note that tax cuts mean cuts to programs and services offered by the government, so while you might save money personally you could also be reducing your government-based benefits, notably the conservatives historically like to cut funding in health care, education and infrastructure.
• While the conservative tax plan has definite merits, it is my personal opinion that, given the parties history, they will be slow to implement the reforms that impact those in the middle and lower income brackets, likely only putting those reforms in place just prior to the next election, a tactic the party has done before under Steven Harper.

 
NDP:

• The NDP platform can be summed up simply as tax companies the 1% more, lower the taxes on the lower and middle class, expand social service programs and services.
• This has always been the NDP’s stance, and their focus has always been on taxing those with the most money more and taxing those with less money the least.
• Historically this tax plan has worked to boost national economies when fully implemented and was the economic model of choice following the great depression and war time economic boom that followed WWII.

 
Greens:

• The green party tax plan is similar to the NDP one in many regards; however, it has a more environmental and health-based focus, increasing taxes on classic combustion engine vehicles while offering tax reliefs and incentives to hybrid and electric vehicles, providing more medical tax exemptions, etc.
• Because of the focus on clean and renewable energy the green tax plan is a bit more of a scatter shot than the NDP one and does take certain ques from the conservative plan as well with incentives for green based technological development

 
Economy:
Okay, so this is another complex issue and a summary doesn’t do the complexities justice, the big topic of the economy this time however is adorability. And each of the parties has a different way of trying to manage the rising costs of living and the decrease in our spending power
 
Liberals:

• The key points on the liberal plan are an increase in the federal minimum wage to $15 and improved price regulation on cell phone providers to force lower prices.
• It should be noted ALL the parties except the conservatives plan on moving for a $15 an hour minimum wage
• The liberals also plan on updating the federal labor code to combat employers pressuring employees into overtime

 
Conservatives:

• This one is simple. The conservatives want to cut business subsidy programs to eliminate 1.5 billion from the budget.
• While this is a single line item, one should remember that the conservative party doesn’t like advertising where it will cut funding to, but, of all the places to cut funding available to them, this is the least harmful to the general public and pairs well with their tax policy.

 
NDP:

• The NDP plan incorporates the liberal policy of increasing wages and placing caps on cellphone service costs
• The NDP most notably differ from the other parties in that they have a suite of policies they would like to implement, ranging from massive and overdue updates to workers legislation to targeted programs that seek to alleviate cost of living burdens form lower and middle income families as well as create a luxury tax for those with wealthy exceeding $20 million in personal holdings

 
Greens:

• While the Green’s do have updates planed for workers legislation, and a $15 minimum wage, what truly sets them apart from the other parties is that they would like to create a universal livable income program.
• While a universal income program might sound like a single line item it’s honestly one of the most progressive moves any part has stated they would make and would entail a massive restructuring of government services. For those who have not done research on these programs, I will say, their implementation is rarely easy, the results however are worth it.
• When done correctly they reduce government costs by eliminating and condensing many programs into a single program accessed by literally everyone to ensure a decent standard of living.
• Making this program as a liveable income also connotates that this will be more then the bare minimum to survive and one could expect that with proper budgeting and saving, even a minimum wage job would ensure a middle class life style.