Elizabeth May

Defend supply management

The other end of this axis: Liberalize supply management

Repeatedly criticizes erosion of supply management and defends farmer-elected boards and single-desk marketing.

Speaker, the dairy farmers on Vancouver Island are very concerned because every single time a trade deal is negotiated, it chips away at supply management. If we add up the Trans-Pacific Partnership, CETA and what has been happening in other trade deals that were negotiated under both Conservatives and Liberals, there is less protection for supply management than there used to be, just as there is with this adoption of the CETA rules for our dealings with the U.

Faster fossil phase-down

The other end of this axis: Slower phase-down, production first

Repeatedly criticizes government for missing targets and failing to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies or meet Paris commitments.

We cannot keep subsidizing with tax dollars the very thing we are trying to reduce, which is the emissions of fossil fuels.

Ottawa leads

The other end of this axis: Provinces lead

Opposes removal of federal environmental assessment triggers and insists on federal responsibilities.

These and other changes represent a threat and a retreat from federal responsibilities for which no foundation was laid in the budget itself.

Tighter prudential rules

The other end of this axis: Lighter capital rules and more competition

Welcomes more regulation of banking sector especially foreign operations and calls for robust consumer protections.

This legislation is encouraging. It is good to see a government that is willing, although it tends to be very anti-regulation, to say that more regulations are needed, particularly over the Canadian banking sector going into more foreign territories.

Higher taxes and public spending

The other end of this axis: Lower taxes and tighter spending

Criticises lowest corporate tax rates and increased debt from tax cuts; supports larger public spending measures.

It does not deal with the fact that part of the reason that debt has increased and that cuts are being made to the services that we care about is that we now have the lowest corporate tax rate in the industrialized world, approximately half that of the United States.

Expand public coverage

The other end of this axis: More private delivery

Strongly supports public single-payer health care, dental care and pharmacare as core public services.

Public health care, our single payer, universal health care, is at risk, and I think it is important that we revisit our history.

Public supply and demand controls

The other end of this axis: Market supply and deregulation

Presents petition for a national homelessness strategy and purpose-built rental incentives.

It calls upon the Government of Canada to develop a national homelessness strategy.

Higher permanent intake

The other end of this axis: Lower intake

Repeatedly rejects notion of a refugee queue and opposes restrictive detention rules for irregular arrivals.

However, there is no queue for refugees. Refugees show up with the clothes on their backs.

Stronger unions and standards

The other end of this axis: More flexibility for employers

Supports right to strike, criticizes back-to-work legislation, and calls labour rights human rights.

Labour rights are human rights.

Diversify away from one partner

The other end of this axis: Deeper continental integration

Opposes investor-state dispute mechanisms and criticises trade deals that prioritise corporate profits over environment and public policy.

The case of this agreement, CUSMA, is the first time, certainly in recent decades, that any trade agreement represents an improvement over what has preceded it in giving up more clout in protecting the environment and reduced the corporate powers that have been expanding ever since the neo-liberal era began.