Policy Statements
Public declarations of values and policies of the RPC.
Themes from our platform include:
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The government must guarantee human needs (e.g., food, water, air, shelter) to all
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Tax the ultrawealthy and support the poorest Canadians first
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Make all healthcare and education free
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Update the electoral system to better represent Canadian voting results
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Spread governmental power much thinner and wider
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Update antiquated laws to address modern challenges
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Expanded Human Rights
Capitalism's supporters have brainwashed us to prioritize corporate profits above people's lives. In the Manifesto of Human Needs, we propose a number of significant and irrevocable expansions to the human rights of Canadians to rectify these grave injustices.
Simply put, humans have basic needs to survive and we believe these are not a reasonable sacrifice when balancing our national budget. Only once everyone's needs are met can we begin to enjoy luxuries and debate how to divide excess spoils of our labour.
Basic Human Needs
Food, air, water, and shelter are proven necessities for human survival.
The RPC will irrevocably add them to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Needs of Humans in Society
Free, reliable, and equitable access to education, healthcare, representation, safety, and justice systems form the lowest acceptable standard that provides for the needs of any human living in any society.
We will continue to increase taxes on the ultrawealthy until we have enough money to fund all of these critical social programs for everyone without burdening the average Canadian.
Human Needs in Modern Society
The current Canadian electoral system is intentionally designed to minimize the voices of most Canadians. As a first matter of business, the RPC will legislate an immediate transition to a mixed-member proportional electoral system.
While we agree it's worthwhile to re-examine older laws still on the books, we can't ignore modern issues which were beyond the imagination of Canada's earliest lawmakers. For that reason, the RPC will commence an overhaul review on federal Canadian laws through a modern lens.
The exponential growth in need for energy has transformed it from a futuristic luxury to a fundamental modern necessity. For this reason, the RPC will add personal access to energy to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - no different than food or water.
Human Needs in Future Societies
While we can't begin to imagine the possible futures that are thousands or millions of years away, we can already see a number of rapidly approaching challenges humanity will face (e.g., space exploration, cybernetics, transhumanism, cryopreservation) in the coming centuries, pushed inevitably forward by the steady march of technological advancement.
As we go, we must remember that humans have needs and must be treated ethically, equitably, and compassionately.
Government and Election Reforms
With so many conflicting opinions on the best form of government, any government reform will surely be a contentious topic. Our position is that we must select the best currently known form of democratic government that achieves two main aims:
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To create a body of democratically elected representatives which accurately and proportionally reflects the composition of the entire population of Canada in government policies and activities.
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To limit corruption and the amassing of influence of individuals by distributing power widely among more people, with expansive oversight and regulation.
We believe that strict limits on personal power and proportional representation in government are required components of every successful democracy - which is why we based our Constitution on those principles.
Abolishment of Lifetime Appointments
The RPC will limit individual power and influence by irrevocably abolishing 'lifetime' appointments and elected positions across the entire public sector.
Abolishment of the Senate
The RPC will abolish the antiquated,. ineffectual, and unelected Senate.
Mandatory Retirement
The RPC will limit individual power and influence by legislating mandatory retirement from elected office after 20 years of combined service in elected public office of any kind.
Mixed Member Proportional
The RPC will replace the current first-past-the-post electoral system with a modified version of a mixed member proportional system, similar to the one currently utilized by New Zealand, as was recommended in 2004 by the Law Commission of Canada, while adapting the system to remove the identified flaws and shortcomings.
Platform Allegiance
The RPC will enact new legislation which prevents members of parliament from changing allegiance without first resigning and being re-elected, preventing a candidate from successfully running on our socialist platform before sneakily changing allegiance to a capitalist party. This RPC policy of 'allegiance to platform over party' applies equally in the other direction. Candidates from other parties wishing to run as candidates of the RPC must first resign their current office and seek re-election.
Party Funding Reform
The RPC will improve the equitability of individual influence on political power by reducing the maximum annual donation from $1,700 (2023) to $200 and making the entire amount tax deductible.
Abolition of the Monarchy
The RPC will legislate the complete and irrevocable abolition of the British monarchy in Canada by 2050, including all political, economic, social, and other ties and influences.
Leader Triumvirate
The RPC will limit individual power and influence by replacing the current one-person Prime Minister role with a rotating three-person leadership group, with each leader serving a maximum 1 year term as Prime Minister Pro Tempore (aka 'temporary PM') while the other two serve as Deputy Prime Ministers (aka 'shadow PMs').
Parliamentary Privileges
The RPC will legislate reductions of individual (e.g., exemption from appearing as a witness) and collective parliamentary privileges (e.g., right to publish defamatory materials) to increase accountability among active Canadian politicians.
Parliamentary Dogma
The RPC will update the processes, procedures, customs, titles, forms, technology, and terminology of Canadian parliamentary activities for simplicity, efficacy, and to reflect modern cultural norms.
Notwithstanding Term Length
The RPC will reduce the maximum length from 5 years to 1 month to reflect the intended temporary, reactive nature of its use as a response to emergencies. Simply put, by having a maximum term of the clause the same length as politicians' term of office they effectively have the ability to indefinitely ignore the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms overriding court rulings and violating the separation of power.
Postal Service
The RPC will add interpersonal postal mail services to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to every community in Canada including remote indigenous communities; this is a personal right and so will exclude commercial and industrial advertisements, solicitations, and deliveries.
Service Standards
The RPC will legislate minimum speed and quality standards for public service programs provided by the government, including postal services, employment Insurance, veterans support, Indigenous services, passports, Canada Revenue Agency, and all other federal services.
Foreign Policy Reforms
As much as we believe in the Manifesto of Human Needs, we firmly support international sovereignty and self-determinism. As such, we propose a strict policy of non-interventionalism, where we focus on ourselves to provide the people of the world an example of how altruistic socialism can be done correctly.
We believe Canada can be a shining example of a progressive society that the whole world can emulate.
Education Reform
Education is the fuel of the modern economy. Limiting higher education to people with the financial means to afford to attend puts the economy in a choke hold. We propose making education entirely free to ignite the Canadian economy.
The foundations of today's education system were established well over a century ago. Society is fundamentally different now and Canadian education needs to be updated and redesigned to keep pace well into the future.
We will create individualized job and career training programs which consider each person's unique learning capabilities, methods, and interests to provide a lifelong learning plan practical skills and theoretical research which evolves as the person's interests and capabilities change over time.
Education as a Right
The RPC will update the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to irrevocably provide every Canadian citizen lifetime access to all levels of education that meets all their personal education needs.
Education for Humans
The RPC will legislate a new national educational standard ensuring every Canadian citizen, to best of their individual capabilities and interests, has all the practical life skills to thrive as a human with a unique body and mind.
Education for Citizens
The RPC will legislate a new national educational standard ensuring every Canadian citizen, to best of their individual capabilities and interests, has all the practical life skills to thrive as a citizen in modern society.
Vocational Focus
The RPC will legislate a new national education standard ensuring every Canadian citizen has lifetime access to academic education, hands-on job training, and research and arts commissions which address their individual capabilities and interests.
Exclusively Secular
The RPC will legislate that non-secular boards of education will no longer receive public funds or government support of any kind; existing non-secular school boards can continue to exist only as privately funded organizations.
Universal Childcare
The RPC will create a national public childcare system which provides universally accessible services for no more than $10 per child, per day, where fees are tied to the consumer price index (CPI) to ensure they stay affordable.
Cultural Diversity
The RPC will support non-religious groups seeking to promote cultural education within the Canadian school system; for example, to offer remotely instructed Mohawk, French, Mandarin, and Hindustani language courses in places where a qualified teacher is physically unavailable to attend.
Official Languages
The RPC will recognize popular Indigenous languages, such as Cree, Ojibway, Inuktitut, Oji-Cree, Mi'kmaq, and Iroquoian languages as official languages, with the same rights and supports as English and French; for example, we will invest heavily in the capacity for government services to be made available through computer-aided translation where human support is not available.
Healthcare Expansion
Undoubtedly a mark of pride for most Canadians is our globally-respected healthcare system. Every Canadian who has needed our healthcare system in recent years knows that despite how great it is to not worry about bankruptcy from medical bills, it still needs much more investment in additional staff and facilities, as well as updated technology.
As importantly, there are a number of unacceptable gaps in the provincial application of healthcare which fail to meet all necessities of human life. The Manifesto of Human Needs declares that all aspects of physical, mental, and emotional care are human rights; this means we believe that pharmacare, oral/dental healthcare, hearing care, vision care, and mental healthcare must be no-cost services at point-of-care to every Canadian, regardless of their employment status.
Healthcare as a Right
The RPC will update the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to irrevocably include comprehensive universal healthcare from the beginning of life to the unplanned end or self-determined end of life.
Expanded Definition of Healthcare
The RPC will expand the definition of healthcare to include all necessary testing, medicines, treatments, implants, prostheses, and other technological and compassionate supports for the complete physical, mental, and emotional health of humans from before birth until death.
No Privatization
The RPC update the Canada Health Act (CHA) to explicitly prohibit privatization of any aspect of healthcare (e.g., family doctors, dentists, hospitals, labs) in Canada. To give this policy de facto, as well as de jure power, the RPC will make all future federal transfer credits to provinces entirely conditional on each province's exclusive use of public healthcare systems. Any province which privatizes any portion of essential healthcare services will immediately and continually be disqualified from transfers until they entirely revoke the privatization.
Specifically, changes such as those proposed in 2023 by the Ontario government[source] are unethical and have been proven ineffective, so we will update Canadian federal laws to irrevocably prohibit future governments from selling our healthcare system to the highest bidder one piece at a time.
Free at Point of Care
The RPC will update the Canada Health Act (CHA) to mandate all healthcare services (whether currently covered by provincial programs or otherwise) are to be entirely free at the point of care (aka completely and directly billed to the insurance provider); specifically, this means not requiring patients to pay up-front and receive insurance reimbursement later - which is a major hurdle for many low-cash Canadians, even if they have insurance coverage.
Free Menstrual Products
The RPC will legislate free and ubiquitous access to menstrual products to Canadians that need them.
Pandemic Preparedness
The RPC will invest materially and immediately in developing national research, manufacturing, logistics, education, emergency response capabilities to prepare for the next pandemic.
Eliminable Diseases
The RPC will also commit Canada to significant investment in developing national research, manufacturing, logistics, education, and response capabilities to assist with the global fight to eliminate diseases, such as Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)[link], which are killing millions and severely impacting billions of people every year.
Smoking Cessation
The RPC will legislate a steadily increasing minimum age for purchasing cigarettes and provide additional programs and supports to assist individuals that want to quit smoking. This approach protects the rights of Canadians who already smoke while also dramatically reducing the number of smokers in future generations.
Public Gyms
The RPC will legislate public ownership and operation of gym facilities, which are an essential part of a comprehensive healthcare regimen, and will be initially available to low income individuals and families (at no cost), eventually expanding availability to all Canadians (for a small, but proportionally fair means-based fee).
Global Perspective
The RPC will invest materially and immediately in developing global healthcare capabilities; we acknowledge that most severe healthcare issues can affect humans as a single, collective species.
Science-Based Policy
The RPC will work to ensure all healthcare legislation, policies, standards, and procedures follow the objective, fact-based guidance of the relevant scientific institutions.
Pseudo-science
The RPC will enact tough new legislation outlawing unproven and other pseudoscientific and predatory forms of healthcare.
End-of-Life Care
The RPC will expand individual's end-of-life freedoms and legislate additional end-of-life healthcare systems to support them; accordingly, we will also legislate expansion of existing medical assistance in dying (MAID) programs.
Ethics and Compassion
The RPC will work to ensure all healthcare legislation, policies, standards, and procedures meet strict ethical standards and incorporate compassion for the diverse human experience.
Police Reform
The government monopoly on the sanctioned use of force has numerous dramatic advantages and inherent problems, the main issue being its tendency to be politicized, manipulated, and corrupted by outside influences.
A self-reinforcing cycle of asking too much of an impossibly unprepared group and politicizing their successes and failures has resulted in a police force that has lost their original purpose. We want to invest heavily in an entirely modernized police force that prioritizes protecting all human life - including their own lives - over all types of property crime.
Purpose of Policing
The RPC believes the current purpose of police in society has changed dramatically since its conception and society needs to re-evaluate its place in our future society.
Much Needed Investment
The RPC will legislate the significant expansion of public safety and community support services, such as social workers and emergency mental health intervention specialists, to alleviate pressure on overworked and undertrained police forces.
Modernize the Force
The RPC believes the police need modern tools, training, and support to be effective and stay safe in their difficult and dangerous jobs and commits to providing what is needed.
Disarmament
The RPC will legislate the disarmament and demilitarization of aspects of Canadian police forces where the presence of force has been ineffective or been shown to escalate problems.
Justice Reform
The very first finding in a 2019 review of the Canadian criminal justice system, was that "the [current] system is archaic and has not kept pace with social change [and] some of its values and principles are outdated, including relying too heavily on punishment and incarceration and not enough on rehabilitation."
The RPC believes the justice system should be restorative, proportional, compassionate, ethical, and equitable, not focused on punitive outcomes or corrupted for personal and political gain.
Restorative Justice
The RPC will legislate broad and deep new support systems for victims, those around them, and the accused, during and after the criminal justice process, focused on restoration, healing, reflection, problem-solving, understanding, compassion, and equitable justice.
Specialized
Courts
The RPC will legislate the creation of many specialized courts, such as drug treatment courts, mental health courts, domestic violence courts, and Indigenous courts, each of which with the necessary education and experience to handle the complex justice issues of modern societies with appropriate compassion and understanding.
Proportional Justice
The RPC will legislate that justice outcomes should be proportional to the nature of the crime or offense, but also proportional to the people involved; for example, government-imposed fines and fees should be scaled up or down as necessary to ensure fair and equitable outcomes based on each individual's financial means.
Decriminal-ization of All Drugs
The RPC will completely decriminalize personal possession of all drugs and legislate new healthcare support services to provide meaningful assistance to every Canadian facing addiction today or in the future; all Canadians, alive and deceased, previously convicted for personal possession or use will be given full pardons.
Legalize Sex Work
The RPC will legalize sex work and legislate new healthcare support services to provide meaningful assistance to every Canadian facing sex work-related issues today or in the future; all Canadians, alive and deceased, previously convicted will be given full pardons.
Unified Age of Majority
The RPC will legislate that the new national age of majority will be 19, overriding all provincial laws; this new standard will apply to voting, military service, the ability to enter into contracts, purchasing restricted substances and objects, child protection purposes, and justice.
Mandatory Minimums
The RPC will legislate the elimination of mandatory minimum sentencing at all levels of the justice system.
Solitary Confinement
The RPC will abolish solitary confinement in prisons.
Capital Punishment
The RPC will legislate the irrevocable abolition of capital punishment.
Timely Justice
The RPC will legislate standards for case completion times, at all levels of the justice system which consider the impacts on victims and the accused caused by unreasonable delays and will set the justice system budget accordingly to consistently meet those compassionate justice standards.
Weapon
Reform
The RPC will entirely and irrevocably ban assault-style weapons regardless of the impact it will have on hunters and hobbyists.
The RPC will also legislate strict new standards for the personal manufacturing, purchase, ownership, and sale of weapons; while protecting individual rights for subsistence hunting and sport shooting, we will actively work to dramatically reduce the number of weapons held by government, non-governmental groups, and individuals.
Anti-Terrorism Act
The RPC will repeal racial profiling measures, such the those in the Anti-Terrorism Act.
Labour Reform
The purpose of our economy is primarily to create and maintain the necessities for society. We are lucky enough to have surplus in our economic production which can also provide for many of our personal wishes and desires, beyond just our needs. Building a strong, resilient economy is critical to ensuring this continues to be the case.
An economy is not a playground for the ultrawealthy capitalists to extract surplus value by exploiting labourers.
Labour Rights
The RPC will expand existing laws protecting workers rights to form unions and negotiate for themselves better working conditions and preventing employers from discouraging or preventing unionization.
Labour for Humans
The RPC will legislate new federal labour standards and requirements which follow evidence-based science as to human capabilities; for example, reduced weekly hours as workers get older.
The Gig Economy
The RPC will legislate new federal labour standards and requirements which require gig workers to be treated equally with other worker classes, especially as it pertains to minimum wage, vacation, and other benefits.
Pay Transparency
The RPC will legislate mandatory transparency for all compensation (e.g., salary, stock, options, commissions) and benefits (e.g., health benefits, vacation, free or discounted goods and services, and other perks), including in all job postings (i.e., full time, part time, permanent, and contract) and throughout the entire course of employment, to reduce pay inequity and wage theft.
Leadership Pay Inequity
The RPC will legislate a new scaling tax for leaders which earn more than 5x their lowest compensated employee; the greater the ratio, the higher their personal income tax. To be clear, this means the leader(s) will themselves be required to pay a tax surcharge as consequence of their exploitative practices.
Organization Pay Inequity
The RPC will legislate a new scaling tax for organizations in which one or more employees earn more than 5x their lowest compensated employee; the greater the ratio, the higher their corporate tax rate. For egregiously unfair scenarios (e.g., one or more employees earning 20x more than their lowest compensated employee), the tax surcharge will equate to a 100% corporate tax rate.
Regulated Living Wage
The RPC will mandate a federal minimum wage of $20 per hour which is tied to the consumer price index (CPI), with increases automatically taking effect twice each year. Regions identified as exceptional, such as anomalously large or remote locations (e.g., Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Yellowknife), will have their own locally monitored and regulated living wage index.
Unpaid Internships
The RPC will entirely abolish unpaid internships nationally, including in education programs.
Industry Disruption
The RPC recognizes that rapid advancements in technology have threatened the viability of entire industries and commit to fully support those workers as they transition into new industries or retire from the workforce.
Automation Tax
The RPC recognizes that rapid advancements in robotics and artificial intelligence have allowed for dramatic gains in operational efficiency resulting in shrinking of the manual[source] [source] and cognitive labour[source] workforces. To ensure this is not exploited to the detriment of society and further expansion of wealth inequity, we will legislate an automation tax.
Job Guarantee
The RPC will ensure every Canadian who wants to work, but is unable to find suitable employment in the private sector, will have access to a range of public sector jobs, each and every one of them paying a living wage.
Favouring Domestic
The RPC recognizes the importance of ethically participating in the global economy, while also acknowledging the current global economic situation requires we establish a procurement policy which strongly favours domestic and strictly ethically-sourced foreign sources of goods and services to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to shipping and reduce the international economic inequalities created by capitalist globalization.
Universal Basic Income
The RPC will replace the current Employment Insurance (EI) system with a Universal Basic Income (UBI) program which, in coordination with the other proposed changes, will ensure every Canadians' needs, as described in the Manifesto of Human Needs, are fully met.
Parental Leave
The RPC will legislate a new federal minimum of 12 months for all biological parents and 24 months for one parent or guardian, defaulting to the person who carried the baby unless otherwise elected the parents.
Paid Sick Leave
The RPC will legislate a federal minimum of 5 paid sick days per year and may, as a result of events that may warrant it such as pandemic, mandate the one-time addition of paid sick days.
Increased Vacation
The RPC will legislate a federal minimum of 4 weeks vacation per year and increase the vacation allocation for part-time employees to 8%; this increase will happen in two phases over no more than 10 years.
Whistleblower Protections
The RPC will expand existing whistleblower protections and extend their scope to include all workers in all sectors, public and private.
Ethics and Compassion
The RPC will work to ensure all labour legislation, policies, standards, and procedures meet strict ethical standards and incorporate compassion for the human experience.
Housing Reform
Without shelter, the harsh Canadian climate would eventually claim even the heartiest human. With this in mind, our unique and diverse climate requires special housing considerations (e.g., winter heating and summer air conditioning), not necessary in many other parts of the world.
Regardless of the inhospitable realities of life in Canada, we believe everyone has a fundamental right to a basic standard of living accommodations. The RPC will look to modern socialist examples already in practice, such as the desirable, high-end affordable housing in Vienna, Austria[source] [source].
Housing as a Right
Already established in the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA)[link] as a fundamental human right, the RPC will add these same guarantees to safe, reliable access to housing to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and legislate the availability of housing that meets all the personal needs of every Canadian. To be clear, this means the RPC will commit Canada to end homelessness regardless of the financial cost.
Housing Availability
The RPC will legislate national investment in the construction and operation of no less than 100,000 supportive housing units and build or otherwise acquire a minimum of 500,000 units of non-market, co-op, and non-profit housing, over 10 years.
Deprivatize
Housing
The RPC will prohibit corporations from owning, acquiring, and operating housing in Canada; we strongly believe each citizen should fundamentally control their own housing situation. Individuals will be limited to owning one additional housing unit (e.g., a 'granny suite' or the other half of a duplex; this does not apply to modest personal use vacation properties), but also prohibited from owning multiunit dwellings. The costs for owning and operating such additional housing units will no longer be tax deductible.
Ban Foreign Investment
The RPC will entirely and permanently ban all new investment purchases of Canadian housing by foreign individuals and corporations and legislate materially increased "empty home" taxes.
Sustainability
The RPC will work to ensure 100% of new housing projects in Canada exclusively use renewable or otherwise sustainable resource and energy sources and existing housing is replaced with sustainable resource and energy sources as fast as is ethically, technologically, and logistically possible, regardless of financial cost.
Ethics and Compassion
The RPC will work to establish a body of representatives from diverse sources with the power to start, modify, pause, and cancel housing projects to ensure housing in Canada meets established ethical and compassion standards.
Energy Nationalization
The information age, powered by electronics like computers, has cemented humanity's inevitable arrival to a future where electricity has become an essential ingredient to modern human survival and where such lack of access invariably leads to poverty, disease, starvation, and death.
Energy as a Right
The RPC will legislate the provision of free, safe, and reliable access to energy that meets all their personal needs for every Canadian citizen.
Deprivatize
Energy
The RPC will legislate the requirement that energy generation and distribution be exclusively and irrevocably the domain of the government with an operating policy which explicitly prioritizes the common interests of all Canadians.
Charging Stations
The RPC will create a ubiquitous national network of charging stations for electric vehicles and personal electronic devices.
Clean Energy Requirement
The RPC will legislate a requirement that 100% of new energy projects in Canada are clean energy sources and 100% of existing polluting energy sources are entirely replaced with clean energy sources as fast as is ethically, technologically, and logistically possible, regardless of financial cost.
Sustainability
The RPC will legislate a requirement that all new energy projects in Canada are renewable or otherwise sustainable energy sources and 100% of existing unsustainable energy sources are entirely replaced with renewable or otherwise sustainable energy sources as fast as is ethically, technologically, and logistically possible, regardless of financial cost.
Nuclear Power
The RPC believes that with further research and development, nuclear (fusion and fission) power can provide Canadians clean, safe, and renewable energy for all our current and future needs.
Ethics
The RPC will work to establish a body of representatives from diverse sources with the power to start, modify, pause, and cancel energy projects to ensure energy generation and distribution in Canada meets established ethical standards.
Water Nationalization
As one of the chemical requirements for human survival, reliable access to safe water is a basic human right. The lack of such access to water invariably leads to death.
Water as a Right
The RPC will update the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to ensure every Canadian citizen has free, safe, and reliable access to potable water that meets all their personal needs.
We believe it is a crime against humanity to force a community (or even a single person) to go without clean drinking water for 28 years[source] and will commission an investigation focused on real accountability, not just transparency.
Deprivatize All Water
The RPC will legislate that the collection, creation, and distribution of potable water is exclusively and irrevocably the domain of the government with an operating policy which explicitly prioritizes the common interests of all Canadians. This includes legislating a permanent end to the predatory bottled water industry in Canada.
Sustainability
The RPC will legislate that 100% of new water projects in Canada are renewable or otherwise sustainable water sources and 100% of existing unsustainable water sources are entirely replaced with renewable or otherwise sustainable water sources as fast as is ethically, technologically, and logistically possible, regardless of financial cost.
Ethics
The RPC will establish a body of representatives from diverse sources with the power to start, modify, pause, and cancel water projects to ensure water collection, creation, and distribution in Canada meets established ethical standards.
Food Nationalization
Comprising the majority of the chemical requirements for human survival, reliable access to safe food is a basic human right. A lack of access to food invariably leads to death.
Food as a Right
The RPC will legislate the creation of a public food industry sufficient to ensure that every Canadian citizen has safe and reliable access to nutritional, edible, and ethical food that meets all their personal needs.
Deprivatize Some Agriculture and Distribution
The RPC will work to ensure a sufficient portion of agricultural and food distribution capacity is owned and operated by the government so as to ensure every Canadian has safe and reliable access to the food which is their human right, with an operating policy which explicitly guarantees food security to all Canadians.
Unit Price Information
The RPC will legislate the requirement for unit price information (e.g., $/100g, $/100ml) on all products where applicable and require it to be at least the same font size on the price tag as the total price.
Meat Alternatives
The RPC will fund the research and development of commercially viable meat alternatives, such as vegan substitutes and lab-grown meat, and consequently fund the development of the large-scale production capacity to provide Canadian consumers high fidelity, ethically sourced, cost equivalent meat alternative options.
Sustainability
The RPC will work to ensure 100% of new agriculture and food distribution in Canada is renewable or otherwise sustainable and 100% of existing unsustainable agriculture and food distribution is entirely replaced with renewable or otherwise sustainable operations as fast as is ethically, technologically, and logistically possible, regardless of financial cost.
Ethics
The RPC will work to establish a body of representatives from diverse sources with the power to start, modify, pause, and cancel agriculture and food distribution operations to ensure they meet established ethical standards.
Environment Policy Reform
We're long past the point of acknowledging climate change; we now need to commit ourselves to solving the crisis as a united species. By putting green technology research ahead of the profits of the ultra-wealthy, we can protect our planet for generations to come.
Net Negative Target
The RPC will enact a national strategy which requires Canada to be at least net zero emissions (all GHGs) by 2045 and to be materially net negative by 2050.
National High-Speed Rail
The RPC will create a publicly-owned, clean energy-powered national high-speed rail network to facilitate movement of Canadians from coast-to-coast and between major centres of commerce, starting with five key routes: a Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal loop, a Montreal-Quebec City corridor, a Vancouver-Kamloops-Calgary corridor, a Calgary-Edmonton corridor, and a Toronto-Kitchener-London-Windsor corridor.
By 2050, we aim to construct the Trans-Canada Railway (TCR), a rail system equivalent to the Trans-Canada Highway (TCH), which emulates the best parts of the Japanese, French, German, Chinese, and Spanish systems and serve Canadians with the second-most kilometres of high-speed rail (8,000km) in the world (behind only China)[source].
National Airline
The RPC will create a publicly-owned national airline to facilitate movement of Canadians, first prioritizing the 50 most populated Canadian cities and communities reliant on air travel (i.e., especially Indigenous communities in northern areas), before expanding to serve all of Canada, as necessary.
Until clean air travel technology (e.g., solar, electric, and hydrogen-powered airplanes) has developed far enough to provide a practical replacement for fossil fuel air vehicles, we believe a general policy of limited air travel should be encouraged to limit creation of greenhouse gas emissions that contributing to our imminent climate crisis.
Private Jet Landing Fee
The RPC will introduce a new proportion means-tested landing fee for private jet travellers arriving at Canadian airports.
Lumber Export
The RPC will legislate a ban on the export of raw logs to take effect as soon as is practicable.
Right to Repair
The RPC will legislate strong 'right to repair' consumer protection rights for all imported goods and all goods manufactured domestically.
Planned Obsolescence
The RPC will work to reduce planned obsolescence for all imported goods and all goods manufactured domestically.
Phase Out Fossil Fuels
The RPC will immediately cancel all new oil exploration, cancel all new pipeline projects, ban hydraulic fracturing (fracking), end all subsidies to the fossil fuel sector, require federal investment funds to divest entirely from fossil fuels, and create a plan with an aggressive timeline with strict penalties to end leasing of federal lands for fossil fuel production and ensure companies and their executives are held accountable for paying for the entire costs of cleaning up and restoring land.
Research & Development
The RPC will invest heavily in the cleantech sector (e.g., direct, passive direct, and electric carbon capture and storage (CCS)) and in renewable energy (e.g., wind, solar, tidal, fusion), with the aim of being a net exporter of such products, services, and energy.
Specifically, we aim to become a major net exporter of clean energy to the USA in the short term, South America after that, and eventually the rest of the world to support our shared international environmental goals.
Weather Modification
The RPC will provide the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)[link], working in conjunction with Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC)[link], Canadian post secondary institutions, a one-time grant to form and lead a technical working group with the primary purpose of researching the feasibility of commencing construction of a meso-beta-scale weather modification test system [source] by 2070. The findings of the working group's report will describe the necessary technologies which don't currently exist and the materials which aren't currently available, which will in turn inform future government research grants and infrastructure investments.
Carbon Tax
The RPC will increase the carbon tax by $25 per tonne each year for 8 years, or as long is necessary to help achieve strategic environmental protection goals.
Parking Lot Solar Panels
The RPC will require large parking lots to install solar panels, wherever it is safe and feasible to do so, which will contribute to the public electric grid.
Induction Stoves
The RPC will legislate incentives for replacing inefficient electric coil and environmentally unfriendly gas fueled stoves with induction element stoves.
Heat Pumps
The RPC will legislate incentives for researching heat pump[link] and associated technologies as a means to provide Canadians a more energy efficient means to heat and cool their homes in the increasingly dynamic future climate.
Banking Reform
Fast, reliable, and easy transactability powers modern commerce, allowing businesses to adapt quickly to rapidly-changing market and economic conditions. To ensure the banking sector doesn't limit the Canadian economy's ability to compete globally, we must ensure our banking system continues to be at the forefront.
Public Option
The RPC will establish a public banking organization, called the Canadian National Credit Union, to compete fairly with our strong private banking institutions.
Deprivatiza-tion of Interac
The RPC will legislate the deprivatization of Interac to ensure Canadians have the ability to move their money freely without private taxation by the "Big 5" banking oligopoly[Wikipedia].
Predatory Fees
The RPC will abolish predatory banking fees, starting with entirely banning non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees at all banks in all situations.
Commitment to Cash
The RPC will commit Canada to maintain a physical cash currency for at least the next 20 years and until we can ensure the privacy of citizens and security of vulnerable individuals and groups in a fully-digital currency society.
Banking Surtax
The RPC will add a 10% surtax on commercial bank profits.
Credit unions, caisses populaires, and co-ops meeting strict requirements of customer profit sharing will be exempt from this surtax.
Rural Banking
The RPC will develop a plan to ensure rural communities have equitable access to personal and commercial banking services as is available to people and businesses in large urban centres.
Insurance Reform
Insurance, more than most other industries, has become corrupt and lost sight of its primary purpose. No longer is their focus to restore people who have suffered an unexpected loss, but instead they have optimized statistics to produce profit for the few - at the cost of heartbroken victims of circumstance.
There is no reason the insurance industry needs to make a profit; for that reason, we will work toward the complete deprivatization of the insurance industry.
Public Option
The RPC will establish a public insurance organization, called the Canadian National Insurance Service (CNIS), to compete fairly with our strong private insurance businesses.
Personal Insurance
The CNIS will offer personal insurance services, such as home and auto insurance.
Commercial Insurance
The CNIS will offer commercial insurance services, such as general business liability, business interruption, errors & omissions, equipment breakdown, malpractice, event hosting, and privacy and cyber risk insurance.
Industrial Insurance
The CNIS will offer industrial insurance services, such as crop and livestock insurance, machinery and infrastructure insurance, cargo and storage insurance, and stevedore insurance.
Information Law Reform
Access to reliable personal communications services, a free and accurate press, public domain research, and the high-speed Internet that powers them are each critical to the safety, stability, and growth of modern societies.
Information as a Right
The RPC will add reliable, personal access to electronic audio, video, and textual communications services, free press, and high-speed Internet to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Deprivatize Core Network
The RPC will legislate the derivatization of core national and international networks, including terrestrial and extraterrestrial components, classifying them as critical infrastructure and invest heavily in their advancement, expansion, and maintenance.
Net Neutrality
The RPC will legislate complete and irrevocable net neutrality across all public core networks.
Quantum Safe Encryption
The RPC will mandate complete replacement of current encryption in banking and government standards with quantum-safe equivalents .
Public Option
The RPC will establish a public telecommunications organization, called the Canada Communications Network, to compete fairly with our strong private telecommunications businesses.
Sovereign Control
The RPC will prohibit foreign ownership of Canadian telecommunications and media organizations and enact stricter limits on foreign ownership, control. and censorship of content services offered to Canadians.
The CBC
The RPC will increase the CBC's budget and strengthen protection against future governments' ability to defund or editorialize our vital national media.
The CRTC
The RPC will increase the CRTC's budget, strengthen protection against future governments' ability to defund the organization or politicize their policy decisions, and expand their purview of oversight and power to enact meaningful and effective regulations.
Truth in Reporting
The RPC will legislate new and severe financial and criminal penalties for organizations and powerful individuals who abuse their platforms to intentionally spread disinformation.
Artificial Intelligence Limitations & Transparency
The RPC will legislate technical and non-technical requirements (e.g., audio/video watermarking, metadata source citations, digital signatures/certificates) to reduce the incredible potential for abuse of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as impersonation fraud and the spread of disinformation.
We will also enact new limitations on scenarios when and where AI cannot be used and rules governing AI decision making, especially as it pertains to self-modification and interactions with humans and the environment.
Scientific Intellectual Property
The RPC will legislate prohibiting personal and private ownership rights of scientific research in favour of putting all such research (e.g., medicine, physics, chemistry, engineering) into the public domain.
Music Copyright
The RPC will curtail ownership rights of musical concepts in favour of greatly strengthening the ownership rights of musicians producing musical expressions [link].
Software Copyright
The RPC will curtail ownership rights of software concepts in favour of greatly strengthening the ownership rights of software developers producing novel software.
Ethics and Compassion
The RPC will work to ensure all information legislation, policies, standards, and procedures meet strict ethical standards and incorporate compassion for the human experience.
Tax Reform
Money is one of the most powerful tools humans have ever invented. Like many other tools, originally created for the betterment of society, money has been co-opted by a few ultrawealthy (sometimes referred to as Ultra High Net Worth Individuals (UHNWI)) members of society as a weapon they use to exert control of others.
Given that money is only a representation of value, not value itself, and that society frequently makes changes to our financial and economic systems - we need to reform our taxation system to ensure our money is only the means to our other desired ends, not an end unto itself.
Wealth Migration
The RPC will legislate strong financial regulations and criminal offenses for ultrawealthy Canadians and ultrawealthy foreign nationals who try to circumvent Canadian tax law by moving or hiding money, including seeking extradition to Canada for accused who flee.
Global Corporate Tax Minimum
The RPC will work with international partners to implement a global minimum tax so that the biggest companies in the world are not able to escape the taxes they owe here in Canada or anywhere else.
Anti-Monopoly Measures
The RPC will legislate the expansion of scope and power to the Competition Bureau and enact new tax policies (e.g., scaling tax surcharges for businesses controlling greater than 33% of any market segment in any market region) to prevent the development of monopolies in the private business sector; this largely won't apply to critical infrastructure as it will be entirely nationalized.
Estate Tax
The RPC will create a new, extensive estate tax on the ultrawealthy to reduce the severe and ongoing societal harm caused by massively inequitable intergenerational wealth.
Luxury Tax
The RPC will implement a new tax on luxury goods such as planes, yachts, expensive cars, and valuable gems, jewellery, and works of art.
CRA Focus
The RPC will direct the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to focus their efforts on identifying people who hide vast wealth, rather than conducting random audits of ordinary Canadians.
Public Tax Returns
The RPC will legislate that all Canadian citizens' tax returns will be posted publicly to reduce tax evasion by the ultrawealthy as well as wage theft and pay inequity by unethical corporations.
Capital Gains Tax Exemption
The RPC will entirely remove the 50% capital gain exemption and instead tax capital gains at the nominal income tax rate. Fewer than 1 in 5 Canadians[source] benefit from this highly-inequitable policy, which is unique to Canada - even the USA does not have this exemption.
To offset negative impacts this change will have to middle-class Canadians that rely on this exemption as part of their annual budget, we will introduce a replacement program which is restricted to Canadians earning less than $250,000 per year. This limit will be tied to the consumer price index (CPI) to ensure it keeps pace with inflation.
Corporate Tax Rate
The RPC will increase the revenue limit from $500,000 to $1,000,000 to qualify for the lower rate, tie the limit to the consumer price index (CPI), gradually increase the higher corporate tax rate to 30% over 30 years, and work rapidly to close loopholes in corporate tax law which allow large successful corporations to avoid paying their fair share.
Personal Tax Rate
The RPC will increase the federal basic personal amount income tax exemption from $13,808 (2021) to $20,000, tie the exemption to the consumer price index (CPI), add two new federal tax brackets of 40% of taxable income over $500,000 and 51% of taxable income over $1,000,000, and work rapidly to close loopholes in personal tax law used by the ultrawealthy to avoid paying their fair share.
Complex Personal Status
The RPC will legislate recognition of complex modern interpersonal relationships, such as civil domestic partnerships including more than two adults, for all tax-related and other governmental purposes.
Prioritization at Point of Sale
The RPC will work to ensure all programs, policies, benefits, reductions, and exemptions can be received at the point of sale, specifically to reduce the barrier to entry for low income individuals and families; specifically, this means the elimination of as many rebates, tax deductions, and other post-paid schemes as possible in favour of instant-savings.
Process Simplification
The RPC will work to reduce or entirely eliminate the number of government forms, filings, paperwork, processes, and other red tape which are burdensome for businesses and intimidating and confusing for many individuals; this unnecessary complexity was intentionally added as a social barrier to give a further advantage the ultrawealthy with armies of lawyers and accountants - at the detriment of everyone else.
Immigration Expansion
The world has a growing number of people in need and Canada has one of the world's best resource-to-person ratios.
While it happens also to be in our selfish best interests to welcome new citizens to support our thriving economy, we also have an ethical obligation to help as many of our fellow humans as possible - simply because we can.
Refugees Welcome
The RPC favour open immigration policies welcoming Convention refugees, 'persons in need of protection,' and the most skilled and educated international workers.
All Refugees Welcome
The RPC will update Canada's immigration policy to explicitly add people who fear persecution as a result of their gender identity to the qualified list of 'persons in need of protection'.
Welcome with Arms Open
The RPC will work to expand Canada's annual capacity to welcome refugees, prioritizing people fleeing dangerous situations, stateless people, and people with skills and experience in areas where Canada is lacking at that particular time.
Reuniting Families
The RPC will prioritize support for the reunification of immediate families, such as children, parents, and siblings of Canadian citizens.
Education and Support
The RPC will expand domestic education and support programs for immigrants and new Canadians, with utmost respect and consideration given to their individual and collective plights, needs, and cultures of origin.
Immigration Barriers
The RPC will eliminate barriers to immigration such as fees, quotas, and complex application processes.
Reciprocal Education Recognition
The RPC will work to draft and ratify international treaties providing reciprocal education recognition in key fields (e.g., healthcare, sciences, technology) to fast-track doctors and engineers to alleviate skill shortages here in Canada, while also ensuring our treaty partners achieve the same high minimum standards of curriculum and instruction Canadians expect from our colleges and universities.
Trade Reform
Participating in the global economy is both a Canadian social goal and an unfortunate necessity of the current global capitalist machine.
We believe that fair and equitable trade between sovereign countries is positive and healthy for all involved parties. As is necessary for the support of the Manifesto of Human Needs and other national interests, Canada will continue to actively participate in international trade.
Prioritizing Necessities
The RPC will prioritize and actively seek to expand international trade with foreign entities to provide for the needs of Canadians over the profits of corporations.
Ethical Trade
The RPC will prioritize and actively seek to expand international trade with foreign entities which share the ideals proposed by the Manifesto of Human Needs.
Foreign Interests
The RPC will legislate strict new limits on foreign individuals and organizations control of critical Canadian assets.
Ban on Agriculture Dumping
The RPC will legislate a ban on the practice of agriculture commodity dumping, where exports are sold below the cost of production, which hurts domestic and foreign farmers alike.
Research Reform
Scientific research is the main reason we continue to live longer, healthier lives than our ancestors and science has only increased it's impacts, positive and negative, on humanity over time.
Because we believe that evidence-based science creates the foundation upon which many of our policies rely it makes sense that we must also invest in the research and development of all the sciences that give us those insights, including social and theoretical sciences, not just applied sciences.
R&D Spending
The RPC will increase research & development spending to 3% of GDP, exceeding the OECD average.
Fostering Collaboration
The RPC will restructure the Canada Research Chair (CRC) programme under Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and direct them to focus exclusively on identifying pragmatic research projects directly related to the most urgent and important challenges facing Canadians and humanity.
We will also expand the ISED mandate to include developing state-of-the-art national research facilities necessary to support the identified research projects.
The ISED will continue to be responsible for coordinating joint projects across universities, private industry, and national labs. To ensure effective cohesion between the groups, the ISED will invest in modernizing collaborative research and data sharing capabilities.
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
Support a framework on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in scientific research across all federal grant funding programs, and commit to strengthening Canadian scientific and engineering communities to include the full participation of equity-seeking groups, including women, visible minorities, Indigenous Peoples, people with diverse gender identities and people with disabilities.
Expanded Space Exploration
We are on the verge of an age of space exploration fueled by unprecedented capability of individuals to create and operate private space vehicles. As a result, it's time to catch up - and get ahead - of these changes to prevent repeating in space the same mistakes we've made here on Earth.
Update Outer Space Treaty
Written during the early years of space travel, the Outer Space Treaty is woefully outdated today. We will form an international commission to draft an update with modern understanding and which is consistent with the UN International Bill of Human Rights, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the Manifesto of Human Needs.
Canadian Outer Space
Jurisdiction
With the modern ability for private citizens of foreign countries to launch their own satellite constellations into outer space which can observe and interact all around the globe, Canada will need to internationally assert our jurisdiction over Canadian aerospace for the safety and security of all Canadians.
Canadian Participation
We believe investing heavily and research is important to understanding our universe and living sustainably within it; exploration of space will be an increasing key part of humanity's research into the future and we will ensure Canada is represented at the forefront.
Space Junk Cleanup
We believe sustainably of space exploration includes managing the creation of hazardous space junk to avoid the Kessler syndrome[source].
Personal Exploration
While private exploration and commercial exploitation of space must always remain strictly limited, we look forward to a time when individuals can make their own way around the stars only limited by the galactic speed limit[source].
Expansionism Reform
Hand-in-hand with exploration of space will inevitably come human expansion. In 1967, humanity had the foresight to create the Outer Space Treaty[source] which sought to protect space from unsustainable exploitation and dangerous weaponization. With all that's changed in more than 50 years, it's time to update international treaties governing human expansion into the infinite dark void.
International Cooperation
By the very nature of outer space, we must reach multilateral agreements which apply uniformly to humanity; a patchwork of unilateral policies will be completely ineffectual.
Demilitariza-tion
Until such time that humanity becomes aware of an external threat, there is no benefit to weaponizing outer space and so complete and continual demilitarization of outer space must be the foundation of any agreement.
Sustainability
For every colony formed, destination travelled to, and project undertaken, we must ensure we always do so sustainably; while the universe might be infinite, the resources in it are not.
Mutual Benefit
In keeping with the principles of the Outer Space Treaty, the use of outer space must be for the benefit and in the interests of all countries and be the domain of all humankind.
Kinetic Space Launch System
The RPC will provide the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)[link], working in conjunction with Canadian post secondary institutions, a one-time grant to form and lead a technical working group with the primary purpose of researching the feasibility of commencing construction of a small-scale test kinetic energy-powered space launch system (e.g., linear and rotational mass accelerators) on the Moon or Mars by 2040. The findings of the working group's report will describe the necessary technologies which don't currently exist and the materials which aren't currently available, which will in turn inform future government research grants and infrastructure investments.
Space Elevator
The RPC will provide the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)[link], working in conjunction with Canadian post secondary institutions, a one-time grant to form and lead a technical working group with the primary purpose of researching the feasibility of commencing construction of a small-scale test space elevator on the Moon or Mars [source] by 2050. The findings of the working group's report will describe the necessary technologies which don't currently exist and the materials which aren't currently available, which will in turn inform future government research grants and infrastructure investments.
Dyson Swarm
The RPC will provide the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)[link], working in conjunction with Canadian post secondary institutions, a one-time grant to form and lead a technical working group with the primary purpose of researching the feasibility of commencing construction of a small-scale test Dyson swarm[source] by 2060. The findings of the working group's report will describe the necessary technologies which don't currently exist and the materials which aren't currently available, which will in turn inform future government research grants and infrastructure investments.
Terraforming
The RPC will provide the Canadian Space Agency (CSA)[link], working in conjunction with Canadian post secondary institutions, a one-time grant to form and lead a technical working group with the primary purpose of researching the feasibility of commencing construction of two small-scale test systems one capable of terraforming Mars and another Venus by 2070. The findings of the working group's report will describe the necessary technologies which don't currently exist and the materials which aren't currently available, which will in turn inform future government research grants and infrastructure investments.
Bioethics, Cybernetics, and Genetic Modification Reform
We've been modifying our environment to suit our needs since before recorded history, but modifying the human condition itself is an area of modern science that's not well understood - yet. Different aspects are coming to the front pushed forward by technological advancement and the resulting rise of movements like transhumanism[source]. We believe steps forward in this area should be careful and thoughtful, being ever aware of the slippery slope it can become.
Bioethics
Most contemporary bioethical debates, on topics like stems cells, GMOs, organ lab-grown organ transplants, cloning, and whole genome diagnosis once seemed futuristic or pure fantasy. Tomorrow's debates have already begun involving near-future technologies such as cryonics and basic cybernetics, including Musk-funded Neuralink.
Like every other aspect of governance, we must first start from a place of ethics and sustainability, while also balancing and respecting individual rights and freedoms. We will invest in research and establish new committees focused on ensuring all new and existing legislation considers bioethics.
Cybernetics
We will legislate new protections for individuals that ensure they are not forcefully subjected to cybernetic modification (e.g., the implanting of tracking chips), while providing new protections for individuals who choose to undergo changes (e.g., ability enhancements or aesthetics) which may include anti-discrimination laws.
Genetic Modification
We will legislate new protections for individuals that ensure they are not forcefully subjected to genetic modification (e.g., the addition, modification, or removal of genes or similar), while providing new protections for individuals who choose to undergo changes (e.g., ability enhancements or aesthetics) which may include anti-discrimination laws.
Cryonics
The RPC will legislate protections for individuals that decide to undergo cryopreservation procedures (e.g., spermatozoon/ovum stasis, post mortem cryostasis, hibernation cryostasis) and consider investment in the most promising cryonics research for viable short-term healthcare applications.
Human Rights and Freedoms Commission
Replacing the unelected Senate, whose primary job it is to securitize new legislation, we will establish an elected Human Rights and Needs Commission with an expanded mandate to check the powers of the House of Commons.
Elected and Representa-tive
Becoming a Canadian Senator used to be a lifetime appointment. Today, although still appointed by the Governor General on advice from the Prime Minister, they are limited to serve until 75 years of age. To prevent a repeat of the current cronyism, all members of the Commission must be elected in a system comparable to the House of Commons.
Qualified
Unlike the House of Commons, members serving in the Commission must have the necessary qualifications relevant to the seat for which they serve. For example, the Bioethics Chair might have a degree in bioethics, a degree in organic chemistry, and a decade experience working in bioethics roles (i.e., a PhD in inorganic chemistry would not be an applicable qualification for the Bioethics Chair).
Purview
Beyond the oversight of new legislation from the House of Commons, the Commission will have purview over all federal governmental bodies, for example, including the CRTC. The Commission will not have any purview over personal activities or individuals otherwise not acting on behalf of the government.
Power
The Commission will primarily have the power to approve, reject, or require changes to new legislation from the House of Commons, but also to introduce new legislation, launch investigations, and refer findings for criminal investigation.