NDP Platform Notes

A few observations on the NDP's platform released this morning.

First, the platform stands out from those of the NDP's competitors in its focus on actually eliminating poverty. In addition to promising an immediate end to seniors' poverty through the GIS, the NDP is also pushing for a quickly-implemented Child Benefit aimed directly at child poverty, as well as legislated goals and targets for general poverty reduction which don't seek to pass the buck to other levels of government.

That focus on taking immediate action toward eradicating poverty contrasts nicely with the Libs' platform, which merely paints the GIS as a reduction to seniors' poverty and try to depict such unrelated measures as RESPs and volunteerism as somehow dealing directly with general poverty issues. And of course the Cons are looking to pretend that there's no problem worth fixing.

So for Canadians who see eliminating poverty as a top priority for their federal government, the NDP's platform offers both the most immediate action, and the strongest commitment to ensuring that a country as wealthy as ours doesn't leave any of its citizens behind.

Second, there's plenty of material dealing with jobs and economic development. And while I'm not a huge fan of how the platform accepts framing like "job creators" (albeit meaning those who actually creating jobs, in contrast to the Cons' definition where it tends to mean the wealthy) and "competitiveness", the combination of some direct reference to those with direct incentives for hiring through the Job Creation Tax Credit (along with investments in capital, infrastructure and renewable energy) should do plenty to ease any concerns about how an NDP government would handle the economy.

And on the democratic reform front, the NDP nicely pairs much-needed values as to a willingness to work with competing parties and encourage dialogue with civil society with new legislation to limit some of the abuses of prorogation and patronage that we've seen under the Harper Cons. (And yes, PR is also a part of the platform.)

On the downside, the NDP has followed the Libs' mistake in leaving any near-term emission reduction targets to be determined later. Which is of particular concern given that proceeds from a cap-and-trade system are included as a part of the platform's costing starting this year.

In all, the platform looks to have accomplished much of the political task of providing realistic commitments which are easily understood and measured. But there's work left to be done in differentiating the NDP's plans from the often similar-sounding (if weaker) promises already released by the Libs - and in establishing that the NDP should indeed be in a position to make good on its promises when the campaign is done.