Canadian Action Party
Policies
Introduction to Policies
All of
CAP’s policies are common sense and solution oriented. They are fundamental and
basic to the very nature of a sovereign, free and democratic Nation. A nation
must have control over its monetary system in order to implement any social
programs. We must have truly responsible, transparent, accountable
representation in our elected officials. All trade deals must be in the best
interest of Canadians and our environment as the foundation of the deal. The
Canadian Action Party is committed to ensuring that we stop the erosion of
Canada as an independent nation capable of governing itself. Our policies focus
on these (4) main points, which all other policies connect to and are dependant
upon. Without these solid points addressed, Canada becomes a shell of a
country, a colony under corporate rule. (This is the short
version please refer to the pdf for the in depth version)
1-Sovereignty-
the ability to make laws and decisions for Canadians by Canadians
2-Monetary
Control- the ability to use our Bank of Canada as it was intended
3-Civil
Rights – as guaranteed under our Charter of Rights
4-Parliamentary
Reform-the changes needed to bring our country to a state of complete
interactive democracy, for the people, by the people
1) National Interest – Public Purse
Canada’s over $500 billion national debt is
unnecessary and a direct result of mismanagement by government
Less than 5% of Canada's federal debt is due to
program spending while the other 95% resulted from compound interest (owed to
private banks and investors)
§
The Canadian Action Party would :
-ensure that 50% of new money supply would be Government Created Money on which no interest is paid
-amend the Bank Act requiring banks and other deposit taking institutions to
maintain cash reserves with the Bank of Canada.
2)Freedom of Speech & Responsible Interactive
Democracy
Canadian
Nationalism – We agree with most
Canadians that now is not the time for another constitutional wrangle. In fact
we believe the threat of globalization and the loss of sovereignty it entails
is a greater threat to both Quebec and Canada than our internal differences.
A United and Independent Canada- Whether it is Quebec’s dissatisfaction or the
alienation feelings of the West, Canada has experienced internal turmoil for
over a quarter of a century. We must recognize that our internal differences
pale in comparison to the threat from external sources. Canadian Action Party
has repeatedly pointed out that Canada cannot survive as an independent country
if we continue to be the victims of the “national treatment” clause in the FTA
and NAFTA , and new agreements like
NAISP(North America Initiative for Security and Prosperity).
Arts, Culture and CBC –
Canadian Action Party believes that culture is the soul of a nation and for
that reason it would increase funding to the National Arts Council and the CBC
Although not all Canadians see the significance of
our CBC it provides much of the sinew of continuity that makes us Canadian. The
Canadian Action Party believes that a vibrant CBC is a symbol of a vibrant
Canada. We would like it to be a vehicle for our national voice reflecting all
regions and views of Canada.
Law, Order and Justice –
Canadian Action Party recognizes that fear is the most critical factor
threatening freedom in any country. Whether it be fear of freedom to speak,
voice opinions that differ from government or the freedom to walk at night on
our streets.
We believe laws are created to facilitate ease of
movement in a civilized society. They are not meant to control society as in a
police state.
There are several laws which are being passed or have
already been passed in the name of security which CAP believes are threats to
our civil liberties and democracy. (For details see the full text of our
policies)
An
elected Senate –Canadian Action Party sees the need to reform
the Senate. We see it as a very important vehicle for second thought before
legislation is passed. We have reviewed various ideas on senate reform and
believe that the ‘Jury Senate’ is by far the best proposal for real democracy
to function. (see our full policies for details)
Making Democracy Work –
Canadian Action Party fully supports the need to introduce more open
participatory democracy. There are several proposals open for discussion. We
believe that there are occasions when Canadians ought to be called on to assist
in choosing the right plan for Canada. Referendum is one of those options. We
are open to discussion on this subject.
Parliamentary Reform – Canadians
have expressed a great dissatisfaction with the way parliament works today.
Canadians are insulted by the way MP’s behave in Question Period, they don’t
like to see the party whip used to make MP’s follow party line; we understand
and agree. We would change the rules for question period-in part, limiting the
number of days ministers spend in Question period. (see full details in our in
depth policy)
3)Pro-Active Trade Deals
Canadians have been duped! We were led to believe that the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement
(FTA) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) were “free trade”
agreements. They were not! They
are a Charter of Rights for Corporations.
Canadian
Action Party fully supports fair and responsible trade.
FTA, NAFTA, CAFTA do not represent fair trade.
o
The National Treatment
Clause – the most under-discussed ‘clause’ means that foreign investors have
the unrestricted right to invest in Canada: (a) without conditions and, (b)
without limits. We have lost the right
to say that only foreign investment that is beneficial to Canada is welcome.
o
NAFTA must be abrogated
(it must be canceled!)
o
NAFTA is worse that FTA
because of ‘Chapter 11” which allows U.S. and Mexican investors the right to
sue us if any of our governments, federal, provincial or municipal, passes or
amends a law that affects their profits or future profits.
§
North American Security
and Prosperity Initiative must be canceled
§
Smart Regulations must
be canceled
4)Environmental-Cleaning Up Our Toxic Country
All
policies must be respectful of our environment. We must always strive to create
an atmosphere where people can live in a healthy manner. We must encourage
responsible decisions and penalize decisions which are detrimental to the
environment. Our food, water, air and soil are the basis to sustain all life
forms. We cannot afford to sacrifice one for the sake of greed or pursuit of
profit.
We support the family farm, organic foods, sustainable, responsible
agriculture, fisheries and forests.
We support the Kyoto
Protocol and water as a human right
5) Protecting the Nation and Peace in the World
Canadian Action Party is
fully committed to a Canadian National Defence
Program, for Canada, commanded by Canadians in the service of Canadian
interests, both domestic and international.
Years of under-funding and reductions in manpower have taken their toll
on morale in the Armed Forces. CAP is
committed to -increase number of personnel in the Armed Forces, fully fund,
fully equip and fully support our troops, in their mandate to defend Canada’s
interest both at home and around the world.
Canadian Action Party Would:
§
perform a parliamentary
review of future roles and capability of Canada's military.
§
use a common sense
monetary policy that would make it possible for us to afford funding for
defense without sacrificing social programs.
§
Ensure adequate funding
for the sole purpose of peacekeeping, protecting our sovereign coastal and
artic borders and disaster relief
§
Stop investing Canadian
Pension Plan funds in companies that manufacture 33 of the weapons used in the
War against Iraq
§
End government
contracts to military companies involved in missile defence, land mines and
weapons containing depleted uranium
§
Remove Canadian war
planners from the Bi-national Planning Group and NORTHCOM
§
End the culture of war
mentality that is driving the greed and lust for power, control and dominance
of people all over the world. CAP seeks to promote policies, which support
peace and freedom for all.
6)Health – Healthy Babies Healthy Society
Today, our health care
system is a national emergency. Canadian Action Party knows how to fix it
without turning the system over to private for profit interests. The Bank of
Canada could be used to finance its health and survival. This could be achieved
by creating and spending money into circulation specifically targeted
for health care needs: hospitals (see also CANADA INFRASTRUCTURE BONDS),
doctors, nurses, technicians, equipment, and so on.
After federal funding cuts of $25 billion
over the past ten years, CAP supports the minority government decision to put
federal funding back up to 25%. We need more, we need to immediately:
- make natural holistic remedies available under Medicare.
- conduct scientific studies on Genetically Modified Organisms, irradiation and
vaccines
- foster a genuine Canadian drug industry vs. giant for profit U.S. drug
industry
- promote preventative medicine with emphasis on how poverty, stress and
pollution affect health.
Canadian Action Party Supports the implementation of The Romanow Report, which
made it abundantly clear that Canadians want adequately funded universal health
care that includes home care and a drug plan. Two years of intergovernmental
bickering have brought federal funding back up to 25% however, there are no
conditions attached and Prime Minister Paul Martin has already created a new
cabinet post to oversee public-private partnerships.
To prevent the privatization of health care the
Canadian Action Party would:
-place a moratorium on all
public/private partnerships
-enforce labeling of genetically modified and irradiated foods
- ensure that Canada Health
Act is enforced
Finally, Canadians must understand that any
decent health-care system in this country requires three major changes:
We must cancel the Canada/U.S. Free Trade
Agreement and NAFTA because these "trade" deals give U.S.
corporations the right to challenge the very existence of Medicare by claiming
it is a trade irritant which distorts the "free" market. We can do so
with six months notice.
We must stop the sell-out of Canada to large
foreign corporations, and maintain control over our resources and industries. A
country is no longer independent -- and can't afford social programs -- if its
assets and decision-making are controlled beyond its borders. The end of Canada
means the end of Medicare.
We must reform our monetary system. Right
now, our money creation is a virtual monopoly of the private banks. The
Canadian ACTION Party will return to the economic and monetary system we had
from 1939 to 1974 when the money-creation function was shared between the
government of Canada, through the Bank of Canada, and private banks. This would
provide the fiscal flexibility necessary to fund health care and other essential
services without increasing taxes.
7)Social Policy
–Empowering the Citizenry
Social policies are tied to
our trade and monetary policies. Most importantly, CAP would abrogate (cancel)
trade agreements that contain a "national treatment clause" allowing
us to regain control over our social policies.
-we would ensure that money creation was shared between the Bank of Canada on
behalf of the people and private banks to adequately fund our social needs
- ensure that all of society has access to
affordable housing, especially our most vulnerable, our mentally ill, disabled,
elderly and our children.
-support construction of co-operative housing and (subsidized housing in mixed
income neighbourhoods to assist the working poor.
Ensure that the minimum wage across Canada is sufficient to sustain a
reasonable standard of living.
Elimination of Poverty
There is no greater problem facing Canada and the
world than the elimination of poverty. This very large task is within our
abilities because there is more than enough wealth and production ability in
the world to accomplish it. In 1989
the 3 main political parties in
Canada agreed to alleviate poverty in Canada by the year 2000. Today (16 years
later) poverty has increased by 20%
8)Education -
Investing in our Future
The Canadian Action Party
believes in universal access to a public educational system. And whereas
education is a provincial responsibility. All Canadians have a direct interest
in a well educated future generation .
To
ensure education is not just a choice dependant on family or personal wealth
CAP would:
- transfer between $1 billion to
$1.5 billion a year to the provinces for the express purpose of reducing
tuition fees and bringing them down to 1990-91 levels.
-make direct, low interest loans to students.
-allow the interest paid on existing loans to be deducted from taxable income
for tax purposes.
-support the teaching of the liberal arts and resist the effort to restrict
education to readily marketable skills.
-prevent corporations from having too much power and influence in the
educational process
-reinstitute the teaching of skills that encourage
how to think, calculate, assess and adapt to real life; as opposed to being
indoctrinated or taught what to think
-keep universities free of public/private partnerships which benefit private
corporate interests like military contractors and scientific experimental labs involved in the genetic modification of
life etc.
See http://torontoraginggrannies.nonprofitnet.ca/Militarization%20of%20OISE%20and%20UofT.htm
for background information
- bring back the basics of teaching government function, how it works, the
purpose of government and encourage all citizens to participate fully in the
democratic process
- Make monetary systems, (economics, how money is
created, etc.) part of the education curriculum from K to grade 12 mandatory,
in conjunction with Civic responsibilities
9)Research and Development
Canada has fallen behind
world leaders because so much of our industry is owned by foreigners. The
Canadian Action Party would:
-reinstate grants that were cut back to the National Research Council, Social
Sciences Research Council and Universities to help create high tech jobs in
microbiology, robotics, energy and communications replacing lost jobs in
manufacturing.
-invest in Research and
development into greener environmentally friendly products, alternative energy
choices are no longer an option they are mandatory for our planet and our
country.
-invest in Research into
cause and cure of illness such as Autism, Juvenile Diabetes and Learning
Disabilities must be a priority
-ensure that proper independent testing and approval
of all pharmaceuticals, agriculture products, pesticides etc., was conducted
before they enter the market.
10)First Nations
Concerns – Respecting Our Past
The Canadian Action Party
policy on Aboriginal rights is based on the spirit of the report of the Royal
Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Some specific points may be open to
discussion and negotiation but the Commission Report is a solid foundation on
which to build progressive and forward-looking solutions to long-lasting
problems.
Poverty on reserves in
Canada must be addressed without delay.
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11)Respecting Our Elders |
The pension system in Canada
is really a mess and the adjustments Paul Martin made to the Canadian Pension
Plan when he was finance minister were merely tinkering. They result in a huge
tax increase without producing either stability or equity. Generation X has no
confidence that the CPP will survive until they retire. In addition, some
people now retire with four or five pensions, while others have only one.
There is a need to call a round table on
pension reform that includes seniors, economists, pension consultants and
industry with federal and provincial governments. The objective will be to
devise a universal system that will be fully vested from day one, fully
portable, completely fair and adequate to meet retirement needs. Meanwhile the
existing pension rights for seniors will be fully guaranteed.
One of the great injustices in the present
system is pensions for Members of Parliament. CAP would change the law so that
MP's would not get their pensions until age 65. One of the objects of pension
reform would be to treat Members of Parliament in exactly the same way as other
citizens.
12)Responsible Fair Taxation
Responsible Fair Taxation
Cutting taxes is only part of the problem. The manner which our tax dollars
have been spent or mismanaged must be resolved immediately. Almost everyone
would like to see further tax cuts but the extent of these would have to be
weighed against other priorities like health-care, affordable housing,
day-care, and a dozen other areas including better safety inspection of our
food, water and transportation systems.
Corporate taxation needs to be reviewed
immediately. Everyone that does business in Canada uses the systems of Canada
and must pay their share to support a viable progressive system. We must ensure
that we have the funds in place to pay for corporate mistakes in environmental
issues and not put the burden solely on individual taxpayers.
There is one tax, however, that should be
removed and that is the Goods and Services Tax. So CAP confirms its
long-standing policy in that regard. The GST on books, newspapers, periodicals,
postage stamps and theatre tickets would be eliminated immediately. The tax on
all other items would be reduced from 7% to 5 percent.
In the second budget the GST would be
reduced from 5% to 3 percent.
In
the third budget the GST would be TOTALLY ELIMINATED.
The Canadian Action Party would pursue the
full employment strategy that was envisioned when the Bank of Canada Act was
passed. The unemployed people go back to work, Employment Insurance and welfare
costs would decrease, and tax revenues would increase to help offset the loss
of revenue from the GST. Computer
simulations show that the tax can be eliminated over three years, by injecting
68-70 billion dollars into the economy over 4 years without any new tax and
maintaining a balanced budget. ($68-70 billion equates to 50% of money supply
over 4 years).
When we say that the GST would go, it would
go.
Other Taxes
Payroll taxes should be further reduced. The
Liberal government has milked the system to bolster general revenue at the
expense of workers and employers. Our monetary policy would end the boom-bust
cycle so there would be no need to maintain big surpluses in anticipation of
the next recession.
Tax Reform
We would undertake a general review of our
extremely complicated tax system to make it fairer, simpler and more equitable.