The Conservative Party of Canada recently held its first ever policy convention in Montreal. At that convention, delegates adopted a series of resolutions on a raft of topics. These are the the resolutions adopted under the broad heading of Fiscal and Economic Policy. (The headings were chosen by the party and the resolutions were placed in various groups by the party.) Reproduced below is each resolution in the broad grouping as it was voted on by delegates. All of the following were adopted or carried by at the convention. The acronym EDA in the following stands for Electoral District Association. The resolutions here are presented in the order in which they were voted on by delegates. When the following documents talk about inserting new clauses or replacing new clauses, they are referring to modifying what's known as the “Base Document” — starting point for policy discussions put together by senior party officials in September, 2004.
Fiscal and Economic Policy
P-26: Family Tax Fairness | P-29: Industrial Development | P-24: Tax Relief – Personal Income Taxes | P-27: Debt Repayment | P-32: Equalization | P-21: Tax Relief | P-34: Mining |
P-26: Family Tax Fairness
It is moved that the current Clause 15 be amended by adding a new subclause as follows:
“ii) A Conservative government will amend the Income Tax Act to eliminate all tax disadvantages to families including those who care for children at home and to recognize the economic value of stay at home parents by introducing tax fairness measures such as income splitting.”
Combined resolution reflecting Eastern Ontario and Abbotsford RJPMs. Similar resolution moved by Mississauga-Oakville RJPM
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P-29: Industrial Development
It is moved that the current Clause 18 be replaced with the following:
“18. Industrial Development and Economic Growth
i) The Conservative Party of Canada favours reducing subsidies to for-profit businesses. We believe it will be possible to not only reduce, but eventually to eliminate subsidies to for-profit businesses by focusing on improving overall economic growth through facilitating competition, improving productivity, streamlining regulation and fostering innovation in concert with free and fair trade agreements.
ii) A Conservative government will work with international organizations and individual nations to reduce protectionist policies to secure free trade agreements. Our goal in negotiations will be to secure agreements that benefit Canadian manufacturers by allowing them to compete and succeed through competition on a level playing field. Where there is injurious harm caused by a trade action, and we have a reasonable chance of winning and/or reversing this action, we will support an industry on a temporary basis until the trade action is resolved.
iii) A Conservative government would amend the Investment Canada Act to expand the review process to include not only the net benefit to Canada in reference to our industrial, economic and cultural policies, but also a consideration of our national security interests. This would include security of supply, technology transfer and any anti-trust implications.
iv) A Conservative government will privatize crown corporations that compete directly with comparable services from existing private sector institutions.
Moved by National Caucus.
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P-24: Tax Relief – Personal Income Taxes
It is moved that the current Clause 14 be amended by replacing the first sentence of subclause ii) with the following:
“iii) A Conservative government will introduce immediate and long-term tax relief, focusing on personal income tax by reducing personal income tax rates and substantially raising both the Basic Personal Exemption and the Spousal Exemption under the Income Tax Act.”
Moved by Alberta RJPM. Similar resolutions moved by Greater Toronto, Greater Vancouver, Manitoba RJPMs and Peace River EDA.
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P-27: Debt Repayment
It is moved that the current Clause 17 be amended by deleting the current subclause ii) and replacing it with the following:
“A Conservative government will introduce a debt repayment plan with the main part of budget surplus being allocated to debt repayment, in order to have a debt-to-GDP ratio well under 20% as soon as possible, thus having greater flexibility to deal with the fiscal pressure coming from the aging of the Canadian population.”
Moved by Quebec RJPM. Similar resolution moved by Greater Vancouver RJPM.
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P-32: Equalization
It is moved that the current Clause 23 be replaced with the following:
“Equalization is an essential component of Canada's nation building efforts. The Conservative Party supports changes to the equalization program to ensure provinces and territories have the opportunity to develop their economies and sustain important core social services. We will remove non-renewable natural resource revenue from the equalization formula to encourage the development of economic growth in the non-renewable resource sectors across Canada. The Conservative party will ensure that no province is adversely affected from changes to the equalization formula.”
Moved by National Caucus.
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P-21: Tax Relief
It is moved that the current Clause 14 be replaced with the following:
“i) A Conservative government will provide broad based tax relief, starting with personal income taxes. Reducing personal income taxes will hike the take home pay and raise the living standard of all Canadians.
ii) A Conservative government will reduce business taxes. Reducing business taxes would encourage both foreign and domestic businesses to invest in Canada, meaning more and better jobs for Canadian workers. Lower business taxes mean greater returns for pension plan members and those who own RRSPs, mutual funds and common shares.
iii) A Conservative government will reduce capital gains taxes. Lower capital gains taxes encourage saving and investment which means more capital for Canadian businesses, more jobs for Canadian workers and bigger returns for Canadian investors.
iv) A Conservative government will reduce payroll taxes. Payroll taxes that exceed the amount necessary to properly fund Employment Insurance are a tax on job creation. Lower payroll taxes encourage hiring and business expansion.
v) Canada's tax system must be built on a foundation of fairness. The Conservative Party of Canada will take steps to close loopholes such as the use of offshore tax havens which erode the Canadian tax base and allow companies to avoid paying Canadian taxes.”
Moved by National Caucus.
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P-34: Mining
It is moved that a new clause be added in Section D) as follows:
“Mining
The Conservative Party of Canada shall support positive policies pertaining to the mining industry for the future such as increased investment in geosciences programs and research and by streamlining regulatory processes related to these industries
.”
Combined motion reflecting Yukon and Western Arctic EDAs.