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A look at promises made so far in the campaign for the Oct. 19 election

OTTAWA — A running list of promises made by the federal political leaders since the election campaign began Aug. 2:

Conservatives

Sept. 29: Aim to create 700,000 new homeowners by 2020.

Sept. 28: Provide $700 million for light-rail transit in Surrey, B.C.

Sept. 27: Establish new RCMP human trafficking teams in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Winnipeg at an annual cost of $8 million for five years. Renew the national plan to combat human trafficking for five years at a cost of $20 million.

Sept. 26: By 2020, add 665 personnel to Canada’s special operation forces, which consists of 1,900 members.

Sept. 25: Bring in a “tax lock” law barring increases to federal personal and business income taxes, sales taxes and “discretionary payroll taxes” such as CPP and EI.

Sept. 23: Re-establish College Militaire Royal as a full-fledged, degree-granting military university. Impose travel bans against people who’ve already been sanctioned by the Canadian government and expand the list of reasons for implementing sanctions.

Sept. 22: Aim to create 1.3 million net new jobs by 2020. Issue official veterans cards as formal proof of service to every member of the military who completes basic training and is honourably released.

Sept. 20: Create a $100-million manufacturing technology demonstration fund available to large, pre-commercial projects in the advanced manufacturing sector.

Sept. 18: Bring in legislation to ensure that criminals sentenced to life are not eligible for parole. Toughen penalties for drunk drivers. Provide new money for child advocacy centres.

Sept. 15: Bring in a $2,000 tax credit for single seniors to help nearly 1.6 million seniors with pension income.

Sept. 11: Commit an additional $10 million over five years to the Kanishka Project, which was established in 2011 to fund research into preventing and countering violent extremism.

Sept. 10: Invest $20 million in the lobster industry over three years, including a $15-million partnership with the Lobster Council of Canada to market and promote lobster abroad, plus $5 million for research.

Sept. 8: Raise government contribution when low- and middle-income families invest in education savings plans. A family earning up to $44,000 would get $200 for the first $500 put away for a child’s higher education plan each year, while a family earning up to $88,000 would receive $100 on the first $500 each year.

Sept. 7: Increase the maximum annual Canada Disability Savings Grant for low- and middle-class families to $4,000 from $3,500.

Sept. 6: Create an endowment fund for museums that would match the money the institutions raise privately, with a cap of about $15 million a year.

Sept. 4: Allot $5 million annually for programs to sustain habitats that support bird, moose and turkey populations, starting in 2017. Create a family bird-hunting permit and allow the use of crossbows for hunting birds. Earmark $9 million over three years starting in 2016 for a tourism program to attract recreational anglers, hunters and snowmobiles from the U.S. Establish a Canadian Forces reserve unit in the Yukon, the first such unit in the territory since the Yukon Regiment was disbanded in 1968.

Sept. 2: Extend the existing 15-per-cent mineral exploration tax credit first implemented in 2006, and create a new 25-per-cent credit for hard-to-reach mines.

Sept. 1: Establish a not-for-profit agency in Burlington, Ont., to help develop new products and technology for manufacturing, with a budget of $30 million a year for five years. Set up a new trade-promotion office to help attract new business for exporters, paid for by reallocating other government resources.

Aug. 27: Add $40 million over five years for an existing federal loans program that offers financial support to new Canadians while they complete the foreign credential recognition process. The money comes on top of $35 million committed to the program in the last budget.

Aug. 26: Spend $200 million to expand the country’s high-speed broadband Internet network across remote and rural areas.

Aug. 25: Support for a new marine terminal in Montreal and an expanded cruise ship terminal in Quebec City.

Aug. 23: Provide a tax break on membership fees to organizations such as the Kiwanis, Lions and Royal Canadian Legion.

Aug. 21: An extended partnership with the Pacific Salmon Foundation and $15 million to restore British Columbia estuaries.

Aug. 20: Increase the value of the 15-per-cent non-refundable adoption expense tax credit to $20,000 from $15,000 and make it fully refundable.

Aug. 19: Cut “red tape” for businesses stemming from legislation and policy rules in addition to regulations. Better harmonize child car seat regulations with those of the United States to provide more choice and better prices. Simplify the calculation of home-office expense deductions.

Aug. 18: Resurrect the “life means life” legislation that died in the Commons when the election was called. The bill would mean that those who commit the most heinous murders or high treason would spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

Aug. 17: Add 6,000 people to the ranks of the Canadian Forces reserves at a cost of $163 million over three years and $63.4 million going forward once the target of 30,000 personnel is reached.

Aug. 15: Improve the earnings loss benefit for veterans with service-related disabilities or injuries by letting them earn up to $10,000 in outside work, without losing any government funding.

Aug. 14: Spend $14 million to pave a stretch of a scenic highway between Fort Smith and Hay River in the Northwest Territories.

Aug. 12: Raise to $35,000 the amount that first-time homebuyers can withdraw tax free from RRSPs to finance a home purchase. Track the impact of home purchases by foreign, non-residents to ensure this doesn’t skew the market against Canadian buyers.

Aug. 11: Another $4.5 million a year, on top of the $22 million currently budgeted, for an RCMP team designed to crack down on illegal drug labs and marijuana grow-ops. Allot $500,000 a year over four years on a national toll-free hotline for parents to call to get information about drug use among youth.

Aug. 10: Bring 10,000 additional refugees from Syria and Iraq. Spend $9 million over three years to help the Office of Religious Freedom protect places of worship and religious artifacts targeted by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Aug. 9: Expand federal laws that make it a crime for Canadians to head overseas to fight alongside groups officially identified by the federal government as a terrorist organization. Essentially it would declare certain areas no-travel zones for most Canadians, with exceptions for journalists and humanitarian workers.

Aug. 4: A permanent home-renovation tax credit — an update to the temporary credit introduced in 2009 — costing $1.5 billion a year, but contingent on a stronger economy. Applies to $5,000 worth of renovation costs, down from $10,000 in 2009.

Aug. 3: Increase the apprenticeship job creation tax credit, first introduced in 2006 to create incentives to foster skilled trades, to a maximum of $2,500, up from $2,000, and extend it to include the third and fourth years of eligible training.

NDP

Sept. 30: Establish an Office of the Parliamentary Science Officer and put $100 million toward helping 25 northern and remote communities wean themselves off diesel generation.

Sept. 29: Spend $32 million over four years to ensure more northerners have access to nutritious food.

Sept. 27: Launch a national cap and trade plan to combat greenhouse gas emissions. Provinces would be allowed to opt out if their efforts to bring down emissions are as good or better than those of the federal government.

Sept. 25: Boost the forestry sector with $55 million for manufacturing facilities, $40-million for research and development, and $10 million to promote Canadian wood products abroad.

Sept. 22: Freeze EI premiums for the next four years and spend more on training, while increasing benefits for young people, so-called precarious workers and new parents. Ease eligibility restrictions for EI benefits.

Sept. 21: Spend $454 million over four years to provide treatment for veterans suffering from the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Sept. 20: Reopen the maritime rescue sub-centre in St. John’s, N.L., and reopen the Coast Guard marine communications and traffic services centres in St. John’s and St. Anthony. Have coast guard search and rescue capabilities available at all hours.

Sept. 18: Provide $2.6 billion over four years and work with provinces to establish universal prescription drug coverage. Aim to cut drug costs by 30 per cent through bulk purchases.

Sept. 15: Set up a $100-million, four-year mental health innovation fund for children and youth, including $15 million a year for health-care providers and community mental health associations and $10 million a year for research and information-sharing among health-care providers.

Sept. 14: Invest $300 million to build 200 additional health clinics and spend $200 million on recruitment grants for health-care professionals. Devote $40 million to deal with Alzheimer’s and dementia, including money for research, screening, early diagnosis and treatment and help for families seeking care for afflicted relatives.

Sept. 13: Spend $1.8 billion over four years to help provinces bolster health care for seniors by expanding home care for 41,000 seniors, creating 5,000 more nursing beds and improving palliative care services.

Sept. 10: Provide up to $100 million a year to create more than 40,000 jobs, paid internships and co-op placements for youth over four years. End Canadian participation in the bombing campaign against ISIL in Iraq and Syria. Bring 10,000 Syrian refugees into the country by the end of the year.

Sept. 9: Invest an additional $90 million in the federal automotive supplier innovation program over the next five years.

Sept. 8: Create a $160-million, four-year fund to help small- and medium-sized aerospace companies adopt new technology and increase production.

Sept. 3: Convene a first minister’s meeting to discuss expansion of the Canada and Quebec pension plans within six months of taking office.

Sept. 2: Give $28 million for Sport Canada to help poor and disadvantaged youth to play sports.

Aug. 31: Invest $40 million over four years to restore cuts to shelters for women fleeing violence, creating or renovating 2,100 spaces in first-stage shelters and 350 spaces in transition houses.

Aug. 27: Reverse a planned reduction in the rate of increase in provincial health transfers, due to set in two years from now.

Aug. 26: A $40-million tax credit for businesses that invest in machinery, equipment and property used in innovative research and development.

Aug. 25: A balanced budget in the first year of an NDP mandate.

Aug. 24: Increase the guaranteed income supplement for the poorest seniors by $400 million; return the age of eligibility for old age security back to 65 from 67.

Aug. 20: Create a million child care spaces over eight years, including 110,000 in B.C., where child care costs are highest. The party says the cost to parents would be no more than $15 a day.

Aug. 19: Spend $250 million over four years to recruit 2,500 new police officers. Commit $100 million year thereafter to a recruiting program.

Aug. 18: Commit $7 million a year to a Joint Emergency Preparedness Program for disasters such as floods and fires and earmark an additional $2 million for emergency training programs.

Aug. 17: Invest $30 million over three years in Destination Canada, a Crown corporation responsible for promoting Canada as a tourist destination.

Aug. 14: Bring in legislation to make the parliamentary budget officer a fully independent officer of Parliament and require government departments and agencies to make financial information available to the PBO.

Aug. 11: Create a payment-protection program for farmers who don’t get paid if they sell their products to U.S. companies that go bankrupt.

Liberals

Sept. 30: Spent $3 billion over four years on home care and improve access to and reduce the cost of prescription medications through bulk purchasing. Establish a pan-Canadian Expert Advisory Council on Mental Health.

Sept. 29: Put up $200 million a year for three years to help research facilities, small business incubators and exporters and invest another $100 million a year for an industrial research assistance program.

Sept. 25: Ease rules to speed up family reunification for immigrants. Scrap the visa requirement for Mexicans travelling to Canada.

Sept. 22: Provide $380 million in additional funding for the arts and undo Conservative funding cuts to the CBC.

Sept. 20: Scrap the purchase of the F-35 fighter jet and instead buy cheaper planes to replace the aging CF-18s and use the savings to pay for offshore Arctic patrol vessels for the navy being built in Halifax.

Sept. 16: Provide $1.5 billion for public transit in Calgary as well as unspecified financing for flood control measures in the city.

Sept. 15: Give $500 million to the provinces for skilled trades training, and devote $200 million for federal training programs. Set aside another $50 million to help aboriginal people improve their skills and job prospects.

Sept. 11: Spend about $1.5 billion over four years on a youth job strategy to help 125,000 young people find a job.

Sept. 10: Put a moratorium on tanker traffic along the northern coast of British Columbia. Reinstate $40 million cut from the ocean science and monitoring program at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Increase protected marine and coastal areas to five per cent from 1.3 per cent by 2017, and to 10 per cent by 2020.

Sept. 9: Change the rules to allow people to dip into their RRSPs more than once to buy a home.

Sept. 8: Reduce EI premiums drop to $1.65 per $100 earned from $1.88. That’s less than the $1.49 rate that the Tories committed to in the 2015 budget, but the Liberals say the extra money would be reinvested, with $500 million going to the provinces for skills training. Reduce wait times for a first EI payment to one week from two at a cost of $710 million.

Sept. 3: Kill a planned toll system on a rebuilt Champlain Bridge in Montreal.

Aug. 27: Increase federal infrastructure investment to almost $125 billion, from the current $65 billion, over the next decade. Provide new, dedicated funding to provinces, territories and municipalities for public transit, social infrastructure and green infrastructure.

Aug. 26: A refundable tax benefit of up to $150 for teachers who spend their own money on school supplies.

Aug. 24: $300 million a year to reform veterans’ benefits and delivery of services to vets.

Aug. 20: Make employment insurance compassionate care benefits available to anyone caring for a seriously ill family member and make the program more flexible by allowing the six-month benefit to be claimed in blocks of time over a year-long period.

Aug. 19: Change labour laws to ensure that employees in federally regulated industries have the right to ask their bosses for flexible work hours.

Aug. 18: Invest $200 million a year to develop clean technologies in forestry, fisheries, mining, energy and farming. Put another $100 million into organizations that promote clean technology firms.

Aug. 17: Lower the federal income tax rate to 20.5 per cent on incomes between $44,700 and $89,401, paying for it by raising taxes on the wealthiest one per cent. Bring in a new, tax-free child benefit to replace the Conservative universal child benefit.

Aug. 13: Add $515 million a year to funding for First Nations education, rising through the mandate to a total of $2.6 billion. Add another $500 million over three years for education infrastructure and $50 million more a year for a program that helps aboriginals in post-secondary education.

Aug. 11: Bring in a merit-based appointment process for the Senate.

Greens

Sept. 16: Cut tuition fees for students and their families without adequate financial means. Forgive all student loans over $10,000. Abolish interest on new student loans and increase available funding for bursaries. Create a national Community and Environment Service Corps, to provide $1 billion a year to municipalities to hire youth. Provide a guaranteed livable income to ensure no person’s income falls below what is necessary for health, life, and dignity.

Sept. 10: Close all tax-haven loopholes.

Sept. 9: Set up national pharmacare program. Spend $6.4 billion on municipal infrastructure. Roll back cuts to Veterans Affairs, Canada Post and the CBC. Tax carbon and return benefits to individuals through “carbon dividend.” Protect environment from oil tankers and pipelines. Bring in a national housing strategy. Axe university tuition by 2020. Repeal Bill C-51, the anti-terror act. Scrap subsidies for the fossil-fuel industry and raise taxes on large corporations to 19 per cent from 15 per cent.

Sept. 2: Introduce a national seniors strategy, which would include a guaranteed livable income, a national dementia strategy and increases to the Canada Health Transfer to account for the age of a province’s population.

Sept. 1: Restore door-to-door mail delivery across the country and have Canada Post make up its budget shortfall by getting into insurance and banking services.

Aug. 25: Create a national housing strategy. More funding for the co-operative housing sector. Retrofit all homes by 2030 to increase energy efficiency. Implement a guaranteed livable income to help low-income Canadians and youth buy homes. Ensure a percentage of all newly built units are reserved for affordable housing. Increase access to social housing for First Nations on and off-reserve.

Aug. 18: Legislate a ban on super tankers on British Columbia’s coast and impose a moratorium on drilling for oil and gas in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Produce stronger environmental assessment laws to help defend coastal communities from risky pipeline and tanker schemes. Repeal the Conservative omnibus security legislation.

Aug. 14: Improve benefits for veterans. Provide any veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder a service dog if they want one.

Bloc Quebecois

Sept. 29: Table a bill that would force federally regulated companies to conform to Bill 101, Quebec’s language law.

Sept. 25: Table a “wood charter” that would promote wood construction for federal buildings.

Sept. 23: Increase taxes on major corporations to 16.5 per cent from 15 per cent and raise tax rates for big banks and oil companies to 20 per cent from 15 per cent. Impose a tax increase of 1.5 percentage points on those earning more than $150,000.

Sept. 16: Invest $40 billion in green technologies.

Sept. 15: Abolish the GST on books in the hope of saving $100 million for young readers and their parents.

Sept. 14: Invest more in federal infrastructure in Montreal.

Sept. 11: Entrust the Quebec government with collecting federal taxes by creating a single tax return administered by Quebec in the hope of saving the province’s taxpayers $600 million.

Sept. 10: Tighten security measures surrounding the rail transport of hazardous materials.

Sept. 9: Maintain home mail delivery in Quebec and have Canada Post called before a parliamentary committee to study the issue of community mailboxes.

Sept. 2: Keep employment insurance fund for people out of work and not loot it for other projects.

Aug. 28: Help the ailing forestry sector, including funds for companies undergoing a second and third restructuring.

Aug. 27: Compensate cheese producers with $300 million to help offset financial losses stemming from a free-trade agreement with the European Union.

Aug. 24: Have Quebec get its fair share of naval contracts.

Aug. 19: Keep the federal Health Department from interfering in the opening of supervised injection sites in Montreal.

Aug. 18: Ask the federal Competition Bureau to investigate fluctuating gas prices.

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