Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal party has sometimes been described as Canada's "natural governing party" because it has formed the government for most of the past century.
Its policies, for the most part, fall in the middle of the political spectrum, making them broadly acceptable to a wide number of Canadians. Although not as popular in the West as in other parts of Canada, the Liberal party has long-standing support in the key provinces of Ontario and Quebec.
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Paul Martin
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At the time of Parliament's dissolution, the Liberals had been in power for more than 10 years, largely under the leadership of Jean Chrétien. Current leader Paul Martin has been keen to distinguish himself from his predecessor, however, promising to "change the way things work in Ottawa."
Liberal Party:
www.liberal.ca
As part of that change, Martin says MPs should be allowed to vote according to their beliefs more often, rather than along party lines. His government has tabled a proposed plan for democratic reform, but critics have said it's not even as strong as changes proposed by Chrétien that weren't passed before he left office. Liberal MP John Bryden left the party in February, partly because there was less freedom for MPs, rather than more.
Martin has repeatedly said that health care is one of his top priorities. The throne speech emphasized the need to shorten waiting times for diagnoses and treatment.
But there is no mention in the Liberal policy documents of the Romanow commission's findings on health care. One of its recommendations was that the federal government guarantee it would pay 25 per cent of the cost of medicare. Although Chrétien's Liberal government commissioned the report, its recommendations have not been implemented. The premiers have been demanding action on the report.
Read more on the Romanow report.
Martin has already delivered on a pledge to boost health-care funding for this year by $2 billion.
In the throne speech, the Liberals promised to help aboriginal communities work toward self-governance, based on historic rights and agreements.
Another major element of Liberal policy is the promise of a "new deal" for municipalities, which includes, among other things, refunding municipalities the GST they pay. The party estimates that it will deliver $7 billion in stable new funding.
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