Federal Party Platforms:
This page details the platforms of the major federal parties on issues of Public Health in Canada. The main parties of focus are the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party of Canada, the Conservative Party of Canada and the Green Party of Canada. All four of these parties do not have platforms or policy proposals on all aspects of public health. Note that the scope of this page is limited to official party platforms.
NDP Platform on Disease Control
The NDP healthcare/public health platform focuses on increasing social programs and funding with a focusing on more accessible and universal health care in Canada. When it comes to the prevention of communicable disease spread the New Democrats will work with provinces to create more secure access to virtual health care. They will re strengthen the Global Public Health Intelligence Network which monitors the spread of diseases and will invest in health research across Canada. When it comes to vaccines the NDP will create a crown corporation that will domestically produce vaccines and will increase long term funding for the Public Health Agency of Canada so they are better prepared to handle future crisis. The New Democrats commit to inshrining the independence of Canada’s Chief Public Health Office in law and increasing communication by having them report to parliament annually with recommendations. To improve future disease responses the NDP plan to ensure Canada has an adequate supply of protective equipment and that staff shortages are solved through effective recruitment plans. In addition the NDP promise the the simplicity of their universal pharmacare plan will open up resources that can be devoted to public health crisis’s such as disease response.
https://www.ndp.ca/better-care?focus=13934142¬hing=nothing
Conservative Platform on Disease Control
The Conservative party healthcare/public health platform focuses on maintaining provincial/territorial independence while also creating accessible and universal care for all Canadians. In terms of disease prevention the Conservatives plan to implement a Canada based response plan which includes domestic production of vaccines and protective equipment. They will work with provinces to invest in health research and jobs to manufacture health equipment. When it comes to vaccines the Conservative Party support the development of new biotechnology but assert the right of Canadians to refuse vaccination for religious, moral, medical or other reasons. The Conservatives also commit to amending workers rights to mandate that “at risk” workers such as those in health care have the legal right to know if they have been exposed to an infectious disease.
****https://cpcassets.conservative.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/23175001/990863517f7a575.pdf
Liberal Platform on Disease Control
The Liberal party healthcare/public health platform focuses on increasing funding and continuing with the response plan they implemented during the Covid 19 pandemic. In terms of preventing disease spread the Liberals will provide 400 million dollars to increase virtual health care access and increase funding for proper ventilation to provide safe indoor air. They will also amend the Canada Labour Code to provide 10 paid sick days for all federally regulated workers as well as increasing raises for health care workers to a guaranteed minimum of $ 25 per hour and training 50,000 new support workers. When it comes to vaccines the Liberal party (as of 2021) commits to mandating vaccination for all federal workers and travellers on all federally regulated vessels such as trains and planes. They will also provide free Covid 19 boosters to every Canadian who wants one. In their disease response efforts the Liberals will strengthen federal powers Canada Health Act and will develop the Safe Long Term Care Act that will help make sure seniors are protected from infectious diseases. They will also continue to support the economic recovery from the Covid 19 as they have done with many programs such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit available to millions of Canadians and investing $19 billion in provincial economy’s through the Safe Restart Agreement. The Liberal Party also commits investing $ 100 million in research on the impacts of the Covid 19 Pandemic.
****https://liberal.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/292/2021/09/Platform-Forward-For-Everyone.pdf
NDP Platform on Clean Water