Justin Trudeau Unveils 2019 Liberal Platform at University of Toronto Mississauga

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Published September 29, 2019 at 8:52 pm

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Speaking today to an audience of students, faculty, and reporters at University of Toronto Mississauga, Justin Trudeau unveiled the Liberal Party’s platform for 2019.

The platform will reportedly prioritize three key issues: Helping the middle class, fighting climate change, and strengthening gun control.

To aid the middle class, the Liberals are proposing a tax plan in which Canadians don’t pay federal taxes on the first $15,000 they earn yearly, which they estimate will save the average family nearly $600 a year.

The Liberals have pledged to make education more affordable by increasing Canada Student Grants to give full- and part-time students up to $1,200 more per year. The plan will also give students two years after graduation before they need to begin paying off their student loans.

Additionally, graduates won’t have to start repaying their loans until they make at least $35,000, and if their income ever falls below this level, their payments will be put on hold, according to the platform.

“Young Canadians heading off to school should be excited about embarking on this new journey, but instead are losing sleep and racking their brains over how to pay for it,” Trudeau said. “That’s not okay.”

While explaining how the Liberals plan to make education more affordable, Trudeau criticized Andrew Scheer for the Conservative Party’s lack of action in this regard — as well as Doug Ford, citing the Ontario government’s recent cuts to education.

“Conservative provincial governments are trying to balance the budget on the backs of families and students, all while the cost of tuition keeps going up,” he said.

“Cuts to education, to healthcare, to environmental protection. We can’t afford to double down on the Conservatives — not here in Mississauga, not across Ontario, not anywhere in Canada.”

In the fight against climate change, Trudeau has committed to bringing Canada’s emissions to net zero by 2050, planting two billion trees, and “making our country the best place in the world to build a clean tech company.”

The platform also cites increasing gun violence in the country, promising that a re-elected Liberal government will strengthen gun control — going as far as banning assault weapons in Canada.

Some of the platform’s other priorities include investing in middle class jobs, supporting Canadian veterans and their families, promoting equality and diversity in Canadian communities, and strengthening the relationship with Indigenous Peoples by supporting Indigenous communities.

“In this election, Canadians are faced with an important choice – will we move backward, or will we stand together and choose forward? I’m for moving forward for our planet, for our students, for families, and for everyone,” Trudeau concluded.

Following the unveiling of the platform, Trudeau took questions from students regarding the platform and the Liberal Party’s plan to make post-secondary education more affordable.

To view the party’s full 2019 platform, click here.

What do you think of this platform and how the Liberals plan to address these key issues?

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