With advance voting already underway, Liberal Leader Mark Carney released his party’s official platform Saturday.
The 65-page platform promises to expedite infrastructure approvals, overhaul defence procurement and reassert federal authority in everything from trade to infrastructure to national identity.
Carney’s plan proposes a $62.3-billion deficit in the current fiscal year, and projects that nearly $225 billion would be added to the federal debt over the next four years.
“It’s said there are no atheists in foxholes,” Carney told supporters at a platform launch event in Whitby, Ont. Saturday morning. “There should be no libertarians in crises.”
The platform, branded as Carney’s “Canada Strong” plan, is the first fully costed look at how his party would govern if elected to a full four-year term.
‘Time to build again’
Carney has said his government will improve the regulatory environment for major infrastructure projects by streamlining federal review processes.
“We used to build things in this country,” Carney said at the Saturday rally. “It’s time to build again, big time.”
The platform says Liberals would create a new Major Federal Project Office and require it to render final project decisions within a maximum two years — significantly faster than the Trudeau government’s five-year timeline.
“This will enable businesses to navigate regulations more quickly and with fewer redundancies,” says the platform. “This office will uphold rigour when it comes to environmental protection and Indigenous consultation and participation.”
It also says a re-elected Liberal government would sign agreements with all willing premiers, as well as with Indigenous leaders, to enable Ottawa to recognize provincial, territorial and Indigenous-led assessments.
Additionally, the plan promises a new $5-billion Trade Diversification Corridors Fund that will invest in ports, railways, airports and highways.
Defence
Carney says his government would add $30.9 billion in defence-related spending over the next four years as part of a push to strengthen Canada’s military and meet Canada’s NATO spending commitment by 2030. This is the single largest line item in the budget.
“In a more dangerous and divided world, it’s essential to secure our borders, to secure our sovereignty, and to secure our country,” said Carney at the Whitby event.
The Liberal plan proposes a Bureau of Research, Engineering and Advanced Leadership in Science (BOREALIS) agency to modernize Canada’s military procurement strategy. The agency would support domestic innovation in quantum computing, artificial intelligence and secure communications.
The platform includes commitments to procure icebreakers and submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy. It does not specify the type or quantity of ships government would purchase.
The platform also says that, “if needed, [Canada would] build on our peacekeeping heritage and step up to guarantee Ukraine’s security.” It does not outline any specific defence commitments to Ukraine.
More for the CBC
Unlike Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, who has vowed to defund the CBC, Carney is promising to increase the organization’s annual operating budget by $150 million.
The CBC’s annual budget is currently $1.4 billion, making it by far the largest media organization in the country.
“A strong culture is forged by the history we share and the stories we tell that are uniquely our own,” says the platform. “In a sea of American media and disinformation, we need Canadian voices more than ever.”
Additionally, the platform says a re-elected Liberal government would protect CBC and Radio Canada by introducing legislation to establish statutory funding.
“Funding for our national public broadcaster should not be subject to the whims of government,” the platform says. “Our national institutions deserve to be protected by Parliament and changed only with the consent of the House of Commons and the people it represents.”
In his Saturday announcement, Carney sought to contrast his fiscal approach with that of the Trudeau government, which he said was too focused on operational spending rather than capital investments.
“Our plan gets government spending under control because the government has been spending too much, and Canada has been investing too little,” he said, referencing his platform’s separation of operating and capital spending. Carney has pledged to balance the operating budget by 2028.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh also released his party’s platform on Saturday at an event in Burnaby, B.C. The Conservatives are expected to release their platform in the coming days.
