Trudeau's promises

“Sunny ways, my friends, sunny ways!” said Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau in his victory speech. “This, my friends, is what positive politics can do.”

“A positive, optimistic, hopeful vision of public life isn't a naive dream - it can be a powerful force for change,” he said to cheers.

In this campaign Mr. Trudeau made ambitious commitments to Canadians and Canadians will have high expectations for their next parliament.

Trudeau' promises :

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

# Amend the Access to Information Act so that all government data and information is made open by default in digital formats

# Eliminate all fees associated with the Access to Information process except for the initial $5 filing fee.

# Improve open data accessibility.

# Create a central, no-fee portal for personal information requests.

# Create a common, quarterly, and more detailed parliamentary expense report.

# Release key information that informs decision-making and devote a fixed percentage of program funds to experimenting with new approaches to existing problems.

ELECTIONS
 
# End first-past-the-post voting system and explore alternative options.
 
# Ban partisan government ads.
 
# Restore the voter identification card as an acceptable form of identification.
 
# Increase election fraud penalties.
 
# Provide Elections Canada with the resources it needs to investigate voter fraud and suppression, illegal financing, and other matters that threaten the integrity of the electoral process.
 
# Restore the independence of the Commissioner of Canada Elections so that they are freely able to prosecute electoral violations.
 
# Scrap Bill C-50 (Citizen Voting Act).
 
# Review the limits on how much political parties can spend during elections, and ensure that spending between elections is subject to limits.
 
# Establish an independent commission to organize leaders’ debates.


PARLIAMENT

# Introduce a Prime Minister’s Question Period.

# Empower the Speaker to challenge and sanction Members during Question Period, and allow more time for questions and answers.
 
# For members of the Liberal Caucus, all votes will be free votes except those that implement the Liberal platform, traditional confidence matters, and those that address the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
 
# Parliamentary committees will be given more resources to acquire independent, expert analysis of proposed legislation.
 
# Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries may not be, or stand in for, voting members on committees.
 
# Do not use prorogation to avoid difficult political circumstances.
 
# Change the House of Commons Standing Orders to end practice of using inappropriate omnibus bills to reduce scrutiny of legislative measures.

SCIENCE

# Create the post of Chief Science Officer.
 
# Consolidate government science so that it is easily available to the public at-large through a central portal.
 
# Revoke rules and regulations that muzzle government scientists and allow them to speak freely about their work (with limited public exceptions).
 
# End MSM blood donation ban.
 
# Introduce new restrictions on the commercial marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children (similar to those existing in Québec).
 
# Bring in tougher regulations to eliminate trans fats and to reduce salt in processed foods.
 
# Improve food labels to give more information on added sugars and artificial dyes in processed foods.

SENATE

# Create a non-partisan, merit-based, broad, and diverse process to advise the Prime Minister on Senate appointments.

SERVICE QUALITY

# Revert plan to end Canada Post door-to-door mail delivery.
 
# Create individualized secure accounts for those who want to access all of their government benefits and review key documents.
 
# Create new performance standards for services offered by the federal government, including streamlining applications, reducing wait times, and money-back guarantees.

STATSCAN

# Restore mandatory long-form census.
 
# Make Statistics Canada fully independent.

TAXPAYER DOLLARS

# Provide costing analysis for each government bill.
 
# Restore the requirement that the government’s borrowing plans receive Parliament’s pre-approval.
 
# Ensure accounting consistency among the Estimates and the Public Accounts.

WOMEN AND YOUTH

# Include an equal number of women and men in the Cabinet.
 
# Ensure gender-based impact analysis in Cabinet decision-making.
 
# Register young Canadians to vote as a part of their high school or CEGEP curriculum.
 
# Create a Prime Minister’s Youth Advisory Council, consisting of young Canadians aged 16-24, to provide non-partisan advice to the Prime Minister on issues the country is facing.