Federal Liberal and Conservative governments have ignored working families.
Unfortunately, Conservative and Liberal governments keep putting the well-connected first in line, leaving working families with less security and less opportunity. Look at the evidence:
- After 12 years of Liberal broken promises on child care, we still don’t have a national child care policy.
- After years of Liberals letting the US walk all over Canada’s softwood industry, Stephen Harper has signed a deal with George Bush that officially sells out softwood workers and communities.
- Most unemployed workers can no longer qualify for Employment Insurance, and social assistance has become an ineffective patchwork of programs.
- Liberals and Conservatives consistently teamed up to block progressive labour reforms — from banning strikebreakers to putting workers’ pensions first in line when employers go bankrupt.
The record is clear: Conservative and Liberal governments have consistently wasted Canada’s surplus on corporate tax cuts — leaving working families falling further behind. It is time the working people in Northern Manitoba and the rest of Canada that built this country get the recognition they deserve.
The NDP promotes effective strategies to make life more secure for working families.
- Affordable education & training – Ensure college and university education is accessible so young people and their families can afford to invest in their own futures.
- Early learning & child care – Create a national system of affordable, high-quality, learning-oriented child care that offers kids a head start in life and opens doors for parents who work or study.
- Better public health care – People want quality, reliable health care for everyone, not just those who can afford to buy it. The NDP created public medicare in this country, and we have innovative ideas to secure its future while improving patient care.
- Trade & industry: workers first – Implement a fair trade policy that makes workers and the environment a priority, and develop job-supporting sector strategies for industries from auto to aerospace to agriculture.
- Adequate Employment Insurance – Overhaul the EI system which, after 13 years of Liberal government, denies two-thirds of workers any benefits if they lose their jobs.
- Secure pensions – Move workers’ pensions to the front of the line when employers go bankrupt, and conduct the first full review of seniors’ income needs since the NDP introduced public pensions.
- Workers rights protected – Protect collective bargaining rights with progressive measures like outlawing replacement workers that prolong labour disputes.
- A reliable safety net – Reform the social assistance programs that have become an ineffective, unaccountable patchwork since last decade’s Liberals abolished the Canada Assistance Plan.
Federal Liberal and Conservative governments have ignored working families. The NDP will always fight to ensure that working people are heard in Parliament
