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I already posted this on another Canadian politics site I belong to but the people there seemed more inclined to political partisanship than actually thinking along a completely different track, so I thought I'd bring it here and see what Army.ca pundits could do with it.
Stricken with too much time on my hands, a fertile imagination and no federal party which truly reflects my ideals I began to wonder what would my ideal party look like? What would be the policies? How would I tackle the problems facing the federal government in the most general way?
Well I began to write this and realized that for one person to come up with a party platform was kind of like mental masturbation, it felt good but really didn’t accomplish anything else. With no give and take I’m unable to measure the validity of my suggestions and left only to look to myself for good ideas. Though I believe I do have a few.
So now I’m bringing my ideas here for the good people of this site and those of a similar and perhaps not so similar a political persuasion to assist me in this little mental activity.
I welcome all constructive criticism you have, but please let’s try to keep this purely in the realm of the possible. Let us also not stray too far into conspiracy or turn this into another platform in which to attack the current political parties in this country.
Feel free to add a section of your own if you think I’ve missed something important.
I hope this hypothetical exercise can lead us all to realize just how close we may be on the issues of the day.
Without further ado, I give you the…
National Progressive Party:
Socially progressive, fiscally conservative, unabashedly Canadian.
Policy/Platform Debates
Foreign Affairs
1 Strengthen and aggressively defend Canada’s claims of northern sovereignty over the Northwest Passage.
2 Work with Denmark and the USA to establish and recognize Canada’s arctic borders.
3 Continue to honour our treaty commitments to NATO, NORAD and the UN.
4 Establish a Canadian center for democratic assistance, to foster liberal democratic ideals in emerging/transitioning states.
5 Proactively assist or guide emerging, transitioning and failing states.
6 Utilize NGO’s to deliver foreign aid to states who’s governments are, or are suspected, of diverting such funds to their own ends
7 Deliver on the promised 0.7% of GDP for foreign aid.
8 Promote and foster Canadian trade and industry abroad
National Defence
1 Establish binding force levels for the Canadian Forces (75,000) and Reserves (50,000)
2 Organize the Army into 1 Heavy Mechanized Brigade Group (Stationed in Wainwright Alta), 2 Light Mechanized Brigade Groups (Stationed in Gagetown NB and Valcartier PQ) and 1 Airmobile/Airborne Expeditionary Force (Stationed in Petawawa On.)
3 Reorganize the Army into permanently formed Battle Groups within these 4 brigades while maintaining Regimental titles, traditions and heritage.
4 Establish two permanent Northern Battle Groups located in Whitehorse and Iqualuit
5 Honour the commitment to purchase heavy lift aircraft and ships for the Airforce and Navy.
6 Investigate the feasibility of using armed ocean going hovercraft for ice breaking and patrolling the Canadian Arctic.
7 Investigate the practicality and utility of Ballistic Missile Defence
Trade
1 Work with the Council of the Federation to eliminate all trade barriers between provinces.
2 Actively and aggressively seek free trade opportunities outside of NAFTA.
3 Work with our NAFTA partners to streamline and fix the dispute resolution system.
4 Institute limits of foreign ownership and control of sensitive National Resources/Industries.
5 Establish the Canadian Defence Industry as a protected industry requiring not less than 50% Canadian content for all defence procurement.
Immigration and Asylum
1 Institute a national immigration policy that recognizes and rewards not only professional credentials but skilled and unskilled trade’s qualifications of immigrants as well.
2 Reserve the right to settle immigrants in regions which require their expertise or skills and require them to remain in that area for a period of not less than 3 years.
3 Institute a no tolerance policy toward any immigrant who is convicted of a federal, violent or drug offence in Canada before gaining citizenship, requiring immediate deportation from Canada to his/her homeland without appeal.
4 Make fraudulent asylum claimants subject to immediate deportation.
5 Fast track citizenship for immigrants who serve for a minimum of 5 years in the Canadian Forces.
6 Require extended families of immigrants to be assessed for immigration on an as required basis.
Health Care
1 Investigate alternate delivery of medical services and infrastructure within the universally accessible publicly funded system.
2 Guarantee federal assistance to the provinces on a per capita basis to assist with universal public healthcare.
3 Guarantee Health Care monies allocated to the provinces are spent on public health care.
Education
1 Work together with all the Provinces to create a single Canada wide education standard.
2 Work with the Provinces to institute Canadian civics instruction at the high school level.
3 Work with the Provinces to ensure access to official second language education.
4 Work in conjunction with public and private sectors to create a Federal Scholarship Plan.
o Guaranteed entry and paid tuition to University for all Students in a University entry level program that achieve a minimum average of 80% in grades 9 through 12.
o Guaranteed entry and paid tuition to College for all Students in a College/Technical School entry level program that achieve a minimum average of 80% in grades 9 through 12.
o Continuation of the Federal Scholarship would be guaranteed for all students who achieve a 75% average during each full time University or College year.
Law and Order
1 Harmonize the age of maturity. All persons legally an adult at 16. Work with provinces to harmonize the age of consent.
2 Toughen sentences for violent crime, crime involving the use of a weapon, crimes against children, the elderly and infirm.
3 Regulate, tax and legalize Marijuana similarly to Alcohol.
4 Regulate, tax and legalize prostitution in designated areas.
5 Uphold the current marriage definition.
6 Require all Justices of the peace hired from now on to perform all legal marriages.
7 Grandfather current JP’s with conscientious objections to SSM but guarantee citizens access to the service where conscientious objectors currently practice.
8 Affirm that Canadian Law as the only recognized law in Canada.
Abortion
1 Respect a woman’s right to choose but place a reasonable time limit (4 weeks from discovery of the pregnancy?) after which abortion can no longer be carried out unless required for medical reasons.
Democratic Reform
1 Voting age reduced to 16.
2 Investigate Proportional Representation in conjunction with the Council of the Federation and a Citizens Caucus and commit to a system of proportional representation within 3 years.
3 Appoint only democratically elected Senators, Assist the provinces with the cost of senatorial elections.
4 Make voting in Federal elections mandatory.
5 Include on all federal ballots a “none-of-the-above” selection
6 Cease all governmental assistance to news agencies
7 Prescribe limits on Federal advertising immediately prior to an election or during a minority government parliament.
Culture
1 Continue to respect Canada’s Multicultural mosaic.
2 Continue to support official bilingualism.
3 Cease government funding of all community associations and cultural centers.
4 Continue to support Canadian art, literature and entertainment.
Environment
1 Set incremental (3 year) environmental objectives to bring Canada into compliance with the Kyoto Protocol by 2021.
2 Utilize federal powers to legislate compliance with environmental objectives.
3 Resolve to never buy environmental pollution credits from the developing world
Welfare
1 Institute federally and provincially funded skills retraining and enhancement programs to enable persons to achieve financial independence of government subsidies.
2 Eliminate welfare fraud
3 Limit the length of time an able-bodied person can receive welfare benefits.
4 Institute workfare programs in conjunction with the provinces directed toward works for the public good for those able bodied persons unwilling to undergo retraining or skills enhancement.
Provincial Federal relations
1 Work with the Provinces through the Council of the Federation not as the director of the process but as an interested third party and honest broker
2 Treat all provinces equally
3 Invite provincial authorities (in a limited capacity) to join federal government authorities at international conferences, meetings or symposiums in which a significant segment of the provinces revenue, industry or culture is affected by the negotiations or outcome of negotiations.
Monetary Policy
1 Investigate the economic effects of placing a substantial reserve requirement on all banks including the Bank of Canada in order to reign in paper credit transactions.