NDP

Mental Health & Health Care

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If elected, the New Democrats have committed to: 

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• Establish mental health care for uninsured Canadians (NDP Platform)
   

• Establish a national perinatal mental health strategy to support families before and after the birth of a child (NDP Platform)

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They have also promised to: 

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• Declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency (NDP Platform)
   

• Launch an investigation into the role of drug companies in the opioid crisis and seek financial compensation for the public costs (NDP Platform)
   

• Establish a universal pharmacare program that would provide prescription drug coverage for all Canadians and permanent residents. (Toronto Star, CTV)
   

• Implement dental health care programs for Canadians without private insurance coverage (Toronto Star)
   

• End private, for-profit long-term care (CTV)
   

• Tackle wait times and access to primary healthcare (CTV)
   

• Create a long-term plan to implement ear care, eye care and fertility treatment (CBC)

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Intersections

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The state of our mental health is connected to what’s going on in the world around us. We can be hugely affected by things like our working conditions, our ability to make rent, intergenerational trauma, or the security of our planet. 

 

Here’s an idea of where the New Democrats stand on: 

 

>> Climate

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• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change by 50% below 2005 levels by 2030 (Toronto Star)
   

• Mandate steeper reductions in methane emissions (Toronto Star)
   

• Start a program to renovate all buildings in Canada so they are energy-efficient by 2050 (Toronto Star)
   

• Eliminate fossil fuel subsidies and target net-zero electricity by 2030, with a goal of moving to 100% non-emitting electricity by 2040 (CBC)

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>> Housing

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• Build 500,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years, with half of those in place within the first 5 years (CTV)
   

• Re-introduce a 30-year term on Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation-insured mortgages on entry-level homes for first-time buyers (CTV)
   

• Bolster public transit and high-speed internet access for every community in Canada (CTV)
   

• Implement a 20% foreign buyer’s tax on purchases of residential property to foreign corporations and individuals who are not citizens or permanent residents (CBC)
   

• Promise a $5,000 rental subsidy for those struggling to make rent (CBC)
   

• Double the first-time home buyers’ tax credit (CBC)

 

>> Labour

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• Create a basic livable income for all Canadians (Toronto Star)
   

• Create “more than a million good jobs” within the first mandate of an NDP government by spending money to retrofit buildings, build more renewable energy sources, public transit and affordable housing units (Toronto Star, CBC)
   

• Establish a $15-an-hour minimum wage that will climb to $20-an-hour in federally-regulated sectors, indexed to the cost of living (Toronto Star)
   

• Extend the wage and rent subsidies until small businesses are able to "fully reopen" (CTV)
   

• Implement a hiring bonus for employers to cover their portion of Employment Insurance and Canada Pension Plan for new hires (CTV)

 

>> Indigenous Rights

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• Implement all 94 recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (Toronto Star, CTV)
   

• Replace requirements to consult with Indigenous communities impacted by government policies and development proposals with a “standard of free, prior and informed consent” (Toronto Star)
   

• Ensure all First Nations have clean drinking water and lift all drinking water advisories immediately (Toronto Star, CBC)
   

• “Fully fund” the search for graves at all former residential schools (Toronto Star), as well as maintenance, commemoration, reburial, and protection of residential school burial sites per the wishes of survivors and their family members, and support and fund community-driven healing solutions (CTV, NDP Platform)

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• Close the health gap in Indigenous communities (CBC)
   

• Develop a First Nations justice and policing strategy while advancing Indigenous rights and self-determination (CBC)
   

• Work with Indigenous people to develop a National Action Plan for Reconciliation and will establish a National Council for Reconciliation (CTV)
   

• Work with Indigenous women, the families of those missing and murdered and their communities to implement the MMIWG Inquiry’s calls for justice, including a plan to address violence against Indigenous women, girls, and LGBTQ2S+ people (CTV)
   

• Work closely with First Nations, Metis, and Inuit to combat climate change, including expanding the Indigenous Guardians Program, creating Indigenous-led protected areas, and working closely with Indigenous leaders and communities to develop action plans to respond to climate change.  (CTV)
   

• Appoint a special prosecutor to pursue accountability for crimes committed in residential schools, pursue those responsible for the abuse or deaths of children, and require churches and governments to hand over all records (CBC)
   

• End the government's court battles against a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling on compensation for Indigenous children who faced discrimination (CBC)

 

>> Students

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• Cancel up to $20,000 in federal student debt per student (CTV)
   

• Put an immediate stop to loan payments during the pandemic (CTV)
   

• Eliminate student debt interest (CTV)
   

• Move away from loans and permanently double Canada Student Grants to make education more accessible (CTV)
   

• Work with provinces and territories to cap and reduce tuition fees to eventually make post-secondary education free in the long term (CTV)

 

Read the full New Democratic platform here.