The tutor offers commentary on the NDP election platform.

A party’s leader is perhaps the most important consideration for many voters. “You vote for the leader, not the party,” I’ve heard. Not everyone agrees, of course; some people are loyal to a specific party.

The federal NDP leader is, of course, Thomas Mulcair. He’s French Canadian, born in Ottawa; most of his career has happened in Quebec. He’s a lawyer. Born in 1954, he joined the NDP in 1974.

I like Tom Mulcair. I heard him interviewed on CBC radio (in French, I believe). However, while I like Mulcair as a man, I have reservations about the NDP platform, which you can view here. I fear it’s too optimistic. In particular, I believe the government will need substantial new revenue to make real improvements to health care and CPP, as well as the proposed infrastructure investments.

With government, new revenue generally means collecting more tax. To me, the NDP platform expresses hope that it can be funded by closing tax loopholes on CEOs and asking corporations to pay “their fair share.” While there’s nothing wrong with the sentiment, I just don’t believe there’s enough new money available from those sources to pay for what the NDP hopes to accomplish. My only available conclusion is that some of the platform will not be delivered, or else personal income tax will be increased.

Tom Mulcair is likely an idealist, for which I congratulate him. I’m sixteen years younger than he is; already, my idealism has been subdued. Anyone who loves Canada would love to believe that what Mulcair proposes is possible. Ironically, though they live in the world’s greatest country, Canadians aren’t primarily known for being optimistic.

Good luck, Tom.

Source:

Wikipedia

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