On the eve of the Thanksgiving weekend, Canada’s federal Conservative Party released its 2019 Federal Election Platform.
Regulatory Modernization
- Reduce the federal regulatory burden by 25% over 4 years by setting targets for each minister and each department.
- Implement a 2-for-1 rule requiring the federal government to get rid of two regulations before imposing any new one.
- Assign responsibility for red tape reduction to a minister reporting directly to the Prime Minister.
- Eliminate, where possible, regulatory discrepancies and duplication with the provinces.
- Call on experts from the private sector to support the cost-benefit analysis that accompanies all new regulations.
Innovation
- Mandate all ministers and regulators to support innovation, economic growth and competitiveness.
- Appoint an expert panel to review Canada’s innovation programs to improve Canada’s competitiveness to attract more jobs and investment.
Jobs
- Implement an Agriculture and Agri-Food Labour Strategy.
- Encourage new economic immigrants to consider jobs in rural and remote parts of the country.
- Rework the Temporary Foreign Workers Program to better align it with domestic needs including:
- Create a trusted employer system.
- Establish clear standards and timelines for Labour Market Impact Assessments.
- Revise zoning regions to make sure rural areas are not lumped into large geographic areas with urban hubs.
- Establish a path to permanence by allowing employers to sponsor applications for permanent residency.
Other measures of interest to the food industry include:
- Repeal the Liberal government’s Carbon Tax and introduce a new system based on Green Investment Standards.
- Develop a nationally harmonized regulatory regime for plastics recycling, including elements of extended producer responsibility and harmonized standards for products and packaging containing plastics.
- Break down interprovincial trade barriers.
- Sign free trade agreements with Mercosur, ASEAN, and the UK.
- Help farmers and agri-food businesses hit by market uncertainty.
- Deliver compensation to farmers affected by free-trade deals.
- Defend Canada’s system of supply management.
- Apply for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) negligible risk status.