Oral health is one of the most unequal aspects of health care in Canada. Some six million Canadians avoid visiting the dentist every year because of cost. 1 in 3 Canadians has no dental insurance whatsoever.
It’s time for a National Dental Care program.
Housing experts are calling out this Liberal government’s inaction on the housing crisis - and its attempts to mislead Canadians.
Canadians need real action on the housing crisis, not smoke and mirrors.
Don Davies and the NDP have a plan for Affordable Housing.
We’re calling for immediate action to:
- Add half a million new units of quality affordable housing over the next 10 years
- Provide immediate relief for families that are struggling to afford rent in otherwise suitable housing
- Take the pressure off first time buyers as they transition to homeowners by doubling the Home Buyer’s tax credit
In Canada, if you cut your finger, you go to a doctor and get treated with stitches. When it’s done, you walk out and never see a bill.
But if you walk into a doctor’s office and get diagnosed with an ailment that requires prescription medication, you’re at the mercy of your ability to pay.
It doesn't have to be this way.
Pharmacare for all means Canadians will only need their health card – not their credit card – to get the prescriptions they need.
Our pharmacare for all plan will save families more than $500 a year, and save $4.2 billion in prescription costs across Canada.
Show your support for Universal Pharmacare and sign our petition!
High-speed Internet and cellular services are essential in 2019.
But Canadians pay some of the highest prices in the world for service that’s far from reliable – all while the telecom companies rake in billions in profits and subsidies. For decades, Liberals and Conservatives have let these corporate giants take advantage of Canadians.
We need a government with the courage to stand up to telecom companies. That’s why the
New Democrats will:
1. Introduce a price cap on internet cellphone and Internet bills.
2. Require companies to provide a basic plan for wireless and broadband services.
3. End data caps for broadband Internet and mandate unlimited data plans at affordable rates for wireless.
4. Create a Telecom Consumers’ Bill of Rights to protect Canadians from price-gouging and outrageous sales tactics.
It’s time for a government that puts people ahead of telecom company profits.
Climate leaders don’t buy pipelines.
They don’t expand them.
They don’t triple bitumen exports.
The Trudeau government agreed to do all three.
Don Davies and the NDP strongly oppose the purchase and expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline.
- It disregards the right of Indigenous peoples to say no to any project affecting their lands, territories or other resources.
- It increases greenhouse gas emissions, making it impossible to meet Canada’s global climate targets.
- It means inevitable bitumen oil spills that put Canada’s environment, coastlines, waterways, and wildlife at risk.
- It threatens thousands of good quality jobs in Canada’s marine and tourism industry.
Instead of spending billions of public dollars on fossil fuel infrastructure and subsidies, Canada should invest in clean, renewable energy sources that create good quality, long lasting jobs for today's workers and the next generation.
Climate change is the defining issue of our times.
If we don’t act on climate change soon the collapse of our ecosystems and the extinction of many of the species on our planet is imminent. It’s time for governments to dispense with rhetoric and empty promises.
We need real action on climate change - now. That means implementing solutions for clean energy and transitioning away from a fossil fuel economy. But while we do this, we must ensure that workers aren’t left behind.
We need urgent, effective action to save our planet.
We need practical solutions that don’t leave people behind.
We need a Green New Deal for Canada.
Nobody should have to chose between essential health care services and putting food on the table.
That's why Don Davies and the NDP have a plan for head-to-toe healthcare starting will start expanding our health care system with comprehensive, universal, public pharmacare program.
We will also develop a long-term roadmap to including dental care, eye care, hearing care, mental health care, seniors care and more in the Canada Health Act.
It's time for the healthcare system that covers all of the services that Canadians rely on.
Do you agree?
Across Canada, too many families are tragically losing parents, siblings, and children to the opioid crisis.
From downtown neighbourhoods to our most remote areas, no community has been untouched by this epidemic. Last year alone, nearly 4,500 Canadians died from overdoses – more than from motor vehicle accidents and homicides combined. Over 11,500 Canadians died from opioid overdoses between 2016 and 2019, and opioid deaths have risen every year of the Liberal government's mandate. This is a new record and shocking statistic - but we must never forget the searing loss that each one of these preventable deaths represents for devastated loved ones.
The Liberals say they are doing everything possible to address this crisis, but they are not. We continue to witness the death toll climb as a poisoned drug supply floods our communities. Courageous volunteers and first-responders are doing everything in their power to save lives, but they need action and support from their federal government.
In order to bring this crisis under control, Don Davies and Canada’s New Democrats will:
- Declare a public health emergency.
- Provide direct federal support to overdose prevention sites.
- Improve access to treatment on demand for people struggling with addiction.
- Launch an investigation into the role drug companies may have played in fueling the opioid crisis, and seek meaningful financial compensation from them for the public costs of this crisis.
- Work with all levels of government and those on the front-lines of this crisis to end the criminalization of substance use, and provide access to a safe supply as a medically regulated alternative to the toxic street drugs offered by organized crime.
The number of Canadian lives lost to the opioid epidemic is sobering, staggering, and growing. It’s time to for a new approach.
It’s time for a Universal COVID-19 Emergency Benefit
Canadians are doing their part to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic by staying home and practicing physical distancing. But this means that many are left without regular sources of income.
The current federal emergency aid program, the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), is aimed at replacing income for some Canadians, while many essential workers and vulnerable Canadians are unable to access support.
As many as 1 in 3 Canadians are left behind by this program.
This list includes:
- students who have just finished their terms and were about to start summer jobs
- seniors who are retired
- workers who are concerned about their health and safety or those of their family members and need to stop working outside because of that
- people who hold multiple part-time jobs and have lost hours or earnings in one or more of them
- the very poorest Canadians, who earned less than $5000 in 2019 or the last 12 months
-
essential workers who have lost income and hours due to COVID-19, but still make more than $1000 a month
All Canadians are helping in the effort to beat COVID-19 - nobody should be left unable to pay their bills or afford necessities during this difficult time. That's why we're calling on the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to issue a universal emergency response benefit of $2000 per adult and $250 per child per month. For those who don't need it - the money could be declined or clawed back on 2020 tax returns. This is the fastest, fairest, most efficient way to support Canadians in this unprecedented crisis.
It avoids delay, paperwork, bureaucracy, complicated applications and confusing criteria, and, most importantly, the despair and unfairness of so many needy Canadians being unsupported.
Add your voice and send an email today to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance today!
Canadians are doing their part to stop the spread of COVID-19 by staying home, but this means many people are left with significantly reduced income. Even with benefits, many are struggling to get by and putting essential expenses on credit cards.
Credit cards have huge interest rates, which means that many people will have a hard time paying back expenses once the COVID-19 crisis is over.
Vancity credit union has taken the lead and reduced their interest rate to 0%.
It is time for the federal government to mandate other companies do their part and reduce interest rates to 1%.
Let's Keep Fighting for Universal Pharmacare
The NDP tabled Private Member’s Bill C-213, An Act to Enact the Canada Pharmacare Act, in February. Bill C-213 was groundbreaking new federal legislation, modeled on the Canada Health Act, to establish a universal, single-payer, comprehensive and public Pharmacare plan that would have delivered better healthcare and improved the health and lives of millions of Canadians. Unfortunately, most Liberal and Conservative MPs voted against this Bill.
No doubt, the MPs’ vote has devastating effects on the hopes of millions of Canadians who are making impossible choices every day because they can't afford their prescription medication. A no vote, of course, also meant that MPs were rejecting:
- Public and universal Pharmacare being included under the Canada Health Act framework.
- The clear recommendations made by the Hoskins’ report to establish with provincial governments a universal, public Pharmacare program.
- The Liberal Party’s 2019 election promise to deliver universal Pharmacare.
Canada is falling behind, being the only high-income country that has a universal healthcare system, but does not include universal coverage of prescription drugs. The lack of coverage results in 1 in 5 Canadians being unable to afford the medication their doctors prescribe. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us all the gaps in our healthcare system. Millions of Canadians have lost their jobs and are struggling to make ends meet. In a recent survey conducted by the Angus Reid Institute, nearly 9 in 10 Canadians support a national Pharmacare plan like Bill C-213. It is clear, Canada’s healthcare system is falling behind. We need universal Pharmacare to ensure that all Canadians can access the medication they need.
The NDP is going to keep fighting for universal Pharmacare but, we need your help to keep up the pressure. You can help by signing our petition to support pharmacare.
