Skip to content

Letter: A whopping $30 billion in promises. How many will be kept?

Editor: It is the season of promises.
Election federal

Editor:

It is the season of promises. Three weeks into the 2019 Canadian federal election campaign and we have witnessed leaders of all the political parties promise spending billions of dollars for their party’s platform programs that are defining their positions and offering a differential factor.

Such promises have become a norm in election cycles as they unfold the real political stance of a party, its leader and their vision. It gives the leader and party the coal to fuel the conversation and turn up the heat in their favour.

Costing of intended programs by the federal political parties during this period requires the full national machinery of the party and its public policy advisors to undergo a thorough policy-platform configuration and a careful vetting process which aligns with the party’s over-arching objectives and principles.

Then the marketing gurus take over for a ‘message-massage’ and introduce marketing catch phrases and words that become fodder in promotional engagements by the party faithful. And so, the message gets delivered to the electorate with a hope of positive resonation.  

(There’s) a combined sum of over $30 billion already promised thus far by all the political parties for costing of their programs. Promises like the Conservative party’s plan to cut the tax rate on the lowest federal income bracket by 1.25%; or the Liberal party’s plan to create up to 250,000 more spaces for children in before and after child care programs; or the NDP’s plan to build 500,000 new affordable homes over 10 years; or the Greens plan to set the federal minimum wage at $15 per hour are all a snapshot of bite-size intentions that may or may not be fulfilled by the party if elected.

Implementation of any of these promises by the elected party requires careful budgeting, parliamentary approval, patience and right timing, grit, and treading competing priorities with a bit of luck.

The party promises showcase a somewhat calculated and genuine desire to commit to doing good in raising the quality of life for Canadians. Failing to deliver on these promises can leave a bad taste and lasting consequences which can sometimes take a generation to undo.

To avoid a catch-22 trap, parties could possibly look into promoting quantitatively fewer programs and replace them with holistically balanced quality programs which can be sustained and measured.

Alas, if only the mindset of the bold and brave amongst the party think-tanks could set in motion logistics that could make this happen, we would love our politicians and all would be fine.

Who am I kidding? 

Amin Rajwani, Burnaby