For an NDP Government with a Socialist Programme
Ontario Socialist Caucus Platform for the June 1999 Ontario Election
PrefaceThe Socialist Caucus of the Ontario New Democratic Party was officially founded at a conference in Toronto in November of 1998. It unites NDP members dedicated to bringing the party back to its working class roots and fighting in an organized way for Socialist policies. The caucus is programmatically based on a Manifesto for a Socialist Canada which was adopted at its founding conference.Our perception is that the party is entering the crucial 1999 Ontario provincial election with an electoral programme that fails to adequately address many major issues facing working people today. We believe that the party's official platform cannot attract the energy and support of the great bulk of Ontario's working people who have, in recent years, been subjected to a most vicious attack on their living conditions and democratic rights. Given the chance, working people are ready to mobilize and to elect a government truly in their interests. We are therefore presenting an Election Platform which we believe is not only timely and necessary, but which could, if put forward vigorously and with tactical sense, win government for the NDP in Ontario.Introduction Never before in the history of Ontario have working people suffered under such an anti-worker government. The Mike Harris Conservative government's contempt for working people has been manifested in blatantly pro-business policies. As a result, the rights and well being of Ontario workers have been seriously degraded. Falling wages, continuing high unemployment, higher rates of poverty and homelessness, poorer quality education for young people, a health care system in crisis, and a growing gap between rich and poor all constitute a grave reality for working people in Ontario.In response to these reactionary policies, Ontario's working people, led by an alliance of trade unions and social justice organizations, engaged in mass mobilizations and city-wide strikes unprecedented in their size, scope and power. In addition, fifty-five thousand Ontario public service workers waged a successful five week strike early in 1996 against the drive of the Harris government to radically down-size and degrade public services. In response to the government's effort to harm Ontario's public education system through Bill 160, one hundred and twenty thousand teachers launched a two week long political strike in November 1997 which gained the support of the majority of Ontarians. These mass mobilizations and strikes clearly demonstrate the desire of broad sections of Ontario's working people to remove the Conservative government. In the coming election campaign the ONDP should call upon the working people of Ontario to mobilize for the election of a government committed to a workers' agenda. Today, only the NDP has the potential and capacity to meet this challenge.In campaigning to defeat the Harris government some working class organizations and leaders have advocated "tactical voting". That is, they advocate a vote for either the Liberal or NDP candidate most likely able to beat the local Tory candidate -- at least according to pre-election polls. >From where does this "tactic" come? Frankly, it stems from political demoralization, and legitimate dissatisfaction with the program and practice of the current NDP leadership. Nonetheless, it is a totally mistaken and destructive policy. Analysis of Ontario election results, from the 1940s forward, indicates that the best way to ensure defeat of the Conservatives is a strong three way race with the NDP exceeding its traditional share of the vote. In every case where the CCF/NDP did poorly, a Conservative government was elected. Alternatively, if the policy of tactical voting does contribute to the election of a Liberal government, we will be no farther ahead. The Liberal party is one of the major parties of big business. No matter what it says or promises in order to get elected, it remains committed to essentially the same global neo-liberal agenda as the Harris Conservatives. A Dalton McGinty-led Liberal government would be to the Mike Harris regime what the Jean Chretien federal Liberal government is to the earlier Brian Mulroney Tory regime. We urge all working people to vote NDP. Given the labour base of this party, it is currently the only political vehicle capable of pursuing objectives in the interests of working people. The principle of independent working class political action must not be compromised. Not a single vote for the bosses' parties!End the War on the Poor! Since June 1995, working people have been subject to a concerted attack by the right wing Harris government. The poor and the unemployed have been the most direct victims of this assault. Government policies and legislation such as the repeal of rent controls, the twenty-one percent cut to general welfare rates, combined with an end to any government participation in the construction of affordable housing, has had the effect of driving many thousands of Ontario working people into poverty, misery and homelessness. To make matters worse, the Harris government has increased surveillance and harassment of welfare recipients, and begun instituting a policy of forced labour for welfare recipients under the misleading name "Workfare".In the face of these attacks an NDP government should:Restore the general level of welfare eligibility and payments to their pre-June 1995 level.Repeal Bill 142, the Workfare law.Reimpose rent controls, and roll back rents to the inflation-corrected level in force prior to the enactment of the grossly misnamed "Tenants' Protection Act."In order to address the growing crisis of homelessness, pass legislation permitting vacant and unused buildings to be requisitioned for use as temporary housing.Embark on a massive program of construction of affordable rental housing.Save Public Health Care - No to a Two-tier System!Under-funding, hospital closings and a deteriorating system of home care has led to the serious degradation of Ontario's once world-renowned health care system. Under the guise of "reforming" the system, the government has cut back the funding available for medical services. This precipitated the layoff of thousands of nurses, technicians, service personnel and maintenance staff working in hospitals. Many hospitals and thousands of hospital beds have been closed . This has combined with the early release of patients from hospitals. According to the 1998 study done at the University of Toronto for the Ontario Hospital Association, "patients are being discharged from hospitals faster and sicker, and need more care after their hospital stay than ever before." Despite this, and as a result of under-funding and a bidding system that favors for-profit operators, the capacity and quality of available home care has continued to decline.Other results of these retrograde policies include: an insufficient capacity of hospital emergency facilities, the creation of dangerously long waiting lists for needed procedures, and under-capacity in ambulance services. We have been witness to ambulances driving all across and between the larger cities in order to find a hospital emergency room able to receive patients. De-listing of an increasing number of medical services and procedures has also eroded the quality of service.It is clear that the objective of the government is to privatize a significant proportion of health care. This will mean one system, degraded and underfunded for working people, and a "Cadillac" private system for those wealthy enough to afford fees for services. Giant U.S.-based health care corporations are waiting in the wings, ready to penetrate the health care "market" in Ontario. Already the proportion of privately provided medical services has grown significantly.Finally, we must recognize that under NAFTA rules, privatized services cannot easily be re-socialized. What is lost to the public system cannot be restored without huge financial cost, not to mention potential political and economic retribution from the U.S. government.In the face of this situation an NDP government should:Increase the level of government funding for health care to the 1995 level, corrected upwards to account for inflation and population growth.Undertake a systematic reform of the health care system to insure more efficient and effective utilization of available resources. Such a reform must be accomplished through close and genuine consultation with front-line health care workers, their organizations and unions. This would include a careful review of the services de-listed by the Harris government.Stop and reverse the privatization of all elements of medical services. Health care must be entirely in the public domain.As a cost-cutting measure, encourage and develop publicly-owned, not-for-profit, drug production facilities in Ontario.Re-staff health care services to bring them up to the required levels.Phase-in a full program providing adequate public dental care services for all.Rescind all user fees for medical services, in particular those charged for prescription drugs for seniors, and phase-in a universal prescription drug plan as part of general health services.Shift the focus from curative medicine to a system of health protection through good nutrition, clean air and a network of special mother and child clinics.Establish a fully funded system of free standing abortion clinics in all areas of the province to ensure access to medically safe and free abortion procedures for all women seeking these services.Save and Improve Public Education One of the most destructive zones of Conservative government policy has been education. The immediate objective of the Tories has been to eliminate all local, popular and democratic control of education -- to place the power over the school system in the hands of the central government bureaucracy.Beyond this, the government has seriously cut back funding for public education, combined with draconian measures such as the poorly conceived formula for school space per pupil. The objective of all this has been to degrade public education so as to make charter schools and other forms of private education seem more necessary, viable and attractive to those who can afford them.The Tories have also severely cut back funding for post-secondary education. This has had a number of ill effects. Cash starved universities and colleges, forced to seek funding from the corporate sector, increase their dependence upon and vulnerability to business interests. This finds expression in a widening range of pro-business policies and curriculum. The values and options associated with a Ôliberal education' and independence in research are subordinated to the imperatives of the Ômarketplace'. The funding crisis also results in skyrocketing tuition fees making university campuses increasingly the preserve of the wealthy and well connected -- denying higher education to the children of working people. A further effect has been the accumulation of unsustainable debt by those who's parents are unable to pay inflated tuition fees. .In the face of this an NDP government should:Repeal Bill 160, amendments to the Education Act, and Bill 104 the Fewer School Boards Act, and return the school system to democratic control through elected school boards with budgetary allocations no less than at pre-Bills 160 and 104 levels, augmented to reflect the growth of student population and special programme needs.Ensure the development of curricula that will give students a rounded and diversified educational experience, allowing for the fullest development of the interests, skills and aspirations of all students. Particular stress should be placed on the development of non-sexist, anti racist, anti-homophobic and pro-worker education. The curricula should also include a realistic, truthful and humane approach to issues of sexuality and substance abuse.Rapidly phased-out all tuition fees for university and college education, making post-secondary education accessible to all.Establish institutional arrangements requiring full and genuine consultation with teachers and their unions in the development of education curricula and policy.Restore and Strengthen the Rights of LabourSince the election of the Harris Conservatives, the rights of Labour have been seriously eroded. This government's labour legislation has erected numerous obstacles for workers wishing to unionize and has given employers weapons with which to resist unionization by intimidation or threat of job loss. The Tory government has also seriously degraded health and safety legislation and all but destroyed the system of adequate compensation and rehabilitation for workers hurt, crippled or diseased as a result of their work.An NDP government should:Repeal the current Ontario Labour Relations Act, and in consultation with the Labour movement, develop legislation patterned after the law passed by the 1990-95 NDP government. This should include anti-scab provisions, along with automatic union certification where fifty percent plus one of the workers in the unit have signed union cards, and/or in those instances where employers have engaged in illegal acts to resist and obstruct unionization. The NDP must pledge to uphold the right to strike for all workers, the right to free collective bargaining, and never again violate collective agreements as did the Social Contract Act in 1992.Strengthen the Employment Standards act and raise the minimum wage to $10.00 per hour.Enact regulations that ensure adequate maternity or paternity leave for working families.Expand the supply of free, public, non-profit 24-hour child care for working families. In the case of the work force of large enterprises, the cost should be borne by the employers.Pass Health and Safety legislation which includes the right to refuse unsafe work and the right to strike during the life of a contract after notice is given of a health and safety concern (which is not adequately addressed by the employer). Re-work the composition of joint health and safety committees to ensure a majority of worker representatives with the right of veto over the use of unsafe and/or unhealthy substances, or hazardous methods of production/operation.Provide adequate material resources and staff to the government's health and safety inspectorate and ensure vigorous enforcement of health and safely laws and regulations.Establish a publicly owned and administered workers' compensation system to meet the needs of injured workers and those suffering from occupational disease and permanent disability.Legislate zero tolerance of air contamination by known carcinogens used in plants.For Publicly Owned Auto Insurance Well before the 1990 provincial election the NDP campaigned for publicly-owned auto insurance. The failure of the Rae government to fulfill this commitment cost the party dearly in support and was an important factor in the defeat of the NDP in the 1995 election.Since then premiums for car insurance has risen significantly, and the private insurance companies have enacted policies and regulations which continue to gouge consumers.Therefore an NDP government should:Enact legislation that would create publicly-owned, no fault auto insurance.Towards a Full Employment Economy An NDP government should set as its number one objective the development of a full employment economy. So long as the private sector is considered the sole initiator of jobs we will continue to suffer the high rates of unemployment that have characterized the Ontario economy for the last decade. It is these high levels of unemployment, combined with high interest rates and low corporate taxation, rather than the levels of social spending, which are the primary source of budgetary deficits in the province. Policies leading to full employment would, as a result of increased tax revenue, go far towards achieving balanced budgets and the maintenance of manageable levels of debt.A major source of unemployment has been the cut back policies of federal, provincial and municipal governments. Some 32,500 public sector jobs were destroyed in Ontario in the first year of the Conservative government. An NDP government should institute public sector staffing policies that would achieve effective and efficient delivery of public services. This alone would lower unemployment while increasing government tax revenue.An NDP government should welcome private investment so long as the jobs created are accompanied by wages at trade union rates and acceptable working conditions. Beyond this an NDP government would undertake an ambitious, public enterprise-driven programme focused particularly on four areas:The creation of infrastructure projects to repair and improve transportation systems such as highways, bridges, rail lines, airports and marine port facilities, as well as existing public facilities such as schools, child care centers, libraries and hospitals.A bold programme for the construction of affordable housing as well as needed public facilities such as schools and training facilities.The establishment of a public enterprise to produce at lower cost the goods consumed in public institutions, such as health care units, schools and detention centres.The establishment of Community Full Employment Councils to encourage and initiate job- creating enterprises with an emphasis on local development, facilitating the devolution of regional and community job creation projects and planning.The extensive development of cheap and safe energy sources such as wind and solar power.The funding of these enterprises could be achieve in a number of ways. One way would be to mobilize capital through the public sale of low yield and secure bonds. Another means would be low interest loans through the already existing Province of Ontario Savings Office.Finally, an NDP government should initiate a programme to reduce work time while ensuring at the same time the maintenance of income and benefits. Efforts should be centered on reducing the work time of salaried workers, as well as increasing mandatory overtime premiums and legal limits on overtime for hourly-paid workers.Where Will the Money Come From? - Taxation For Greater Equity From a fiscal point of view the programme we are advancing is practicable, provided there is the political will of a party committed to the interests of working people. A major step towards achieving our goals is to abandon the foolish and destructive Harris tax cut for all those earning over $80,000 annually. This would add some $1.5 billion dollars to the provincial treasury.The Tory ÔCommon Sense Revolutionaries' admitted in their infamous election booklet that their proposed spending cutbacks would cause what economists call a drag effect on Ontario's economy. They conceded that the loss of over $8 billion in public investment, and the loss of thousands of jobs in the public sector, would actually shrink Ontario's economy by 0.4 % for each year they hold office. This has meant the loss of thousands more jobs in the private sector that depend on the spending of public employers and employees. It also meant the loss of billions of dollars in public revenue. Economists have reliably estimated that wiping out the drag caused by the Harris spending cuts would generate an additional $1 billion in revenue by 2001-2.Building on these two measures, our program would increase public spending from the 1995-6 base until it reaches the 1989-90 proportion of the Ontario economy of 13.75%, and then maintain that share. To sustain this level of spending, while attaining a balanced budget even within the time lines set by the Harris government, would require $3.5 billion in new taxes by the year 2001-2. The remaining $9.6 billion in increased revenue, compared with the estimates of income made by the Harris government, would result from eliminating the Harris income tax cut and the additional economic growth. This anticipated growth is well within the projections of Infometrica, a forecasting agency which closely follows authoritative private sector analysts.New Taxes Clearly, the constitutional and policy arrangements between provincial governments and the federal government severely limit the scope and type of changes to the provincial tax system that can be made. This makes implementation of a fair tax policy very difficult and forces choices that would not be made if these constraints were not present. Nonetheless a provincial government does have significant scope for increasing its revenue. Without doubt the most propitious way to increase revenue is to pursue policies which lead to economic growth, which also has the great advantage of creating jobs. We have already estimated the economic growth our programme would create and the increased revenue that this growth and the elimination of the Harris tax cut for the rich would generate.In addition, within existing institutional constraints, an NDP government could increase revenues by the required amount by levying new taxes that would fall primarily or exclusively on business and the wealthy. Examples include the following:Corporate Income Tax
In 1996-7 corporate income and capital taxes raised $5.7 billion.
The general rate is 14.5%. Each point raises $400 million. An increase in the general rate by 1.5% would add $600 million.
Ending corporate tax deductions for meals and entertainment raises $66 million.
Ending preferred treatment for large manufacturing and processing raises $88 million.Personal income tax
In 1996-7, personal income tax raised approximately $16.4 billion (taking into account the $1.2 billion announced cost of the Harris tax cut).
A 1% increase in provincial income tax from the normal level of the $17.6 billion would raise $176 million.Employer Health Tax
The employer health tax raised a total of $2.7 billion in 1996-7.
The rate of tax is on a sliding scale from 0 (for payrolls below $200,000) to 1.95% percent (for payrolls above $400,000).
Moving to a flat 1.95% tax would raise an estimated $260 million.Broadening the Base of Retail Sales Tax
There are several options for broadening the base of retail sales tax while leaving the rate of tax unchanged from the present 8%. The options listed below are for those services primarily consumed by business, and for financial services presently exempt from the GST.
Air transportation $346 million
Railway transport $178 million
Truck transport $481 million.
Legal accounting services $334 million
Financial services excluding real estate $568 million
Aviation fuel $ 28 millionFinally an Ontario NDP government, utilizing provincial and federal NDP structures, should initiate political campaigns aimed at restoring an adequate level of transfer payments from the federal government to the provinces.Fighting Racism, Sexism, Homophobia and Ableism Many millions of Ontarians suffer unfair and inequitable treatment because of their gender, religion, skin colour, sexual orientation or disability. An NDP government should press for, among its top priorities, tough policies and laws to combat racism, sexism, ableism and homophobia.An NDP government should:Enact strong employment and pay equity laws which would include heavy fines for businesses which do not fulfil the goals set out in these laws.Strengthen human rights legislation beyond the current prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation to include the legal recognition of same-sex marriages and the right of gay and lesbian people to adopt children.Ensure that matters brought to the Human Rights commission be expeditiously handled and impose a reverse onus on those charged for infraction of the human rights laws. In other words, those against whom complaints are lodged would be deemed to be guilty until/unless investigation proves that they are not guilty of the alleged practices.enact legislation that ensures access, no discrimination, and appropriate job opportunities for people with physical and mental disabilities.Reform the Justice System -- End Police Racism and Repression The so called "get tough on crime" stance of the Harris government is one of the most demagogic and reactionary aspects of Tory rule. It misrepresents the social roots of crime; it does not work as a deterrent; and it fosters a social atmosphere that renders a humane, serious and effective approach to crime prevention all but impossible. Measures such as strict discipline facilities for young offenders and a brutalizing prison system only increase recidivism and limit the possibilities of reform and rehabilitation. An NDP government should reject these approaches and develop a progressive and humane corrections system. Its objectives should include: minimization of incarceration for crimes against property, and a practical programme of rehabilitation of inmates, rather than retribution.One of the most bizarre aspects of the government's policy is its determination to privatize the correctional system of Ontario. Experience in the U.S. clearly shows that a privatized prison system not only does not save money, it opens the road to abuses and brutalities unacceptable to a humane and progressive society. An NDP government should reverse all steps towards privatization of prisons and correctional institutions and ensure that this system remains wholly in the public domain.Today in Ontario, particularly in large urban centers, people of color, aboriginal, gay and lesbian people suffer (on an ongoing and systemic basis) racist and homophobic treatment and repression by police forces. An NDP government should establish a democratically constituted civilian body with the necessary powers to institute civilian control and oversight of police forces, especially concerning the use by police of deadly force.An NDP government should quickly respond to the Native cry for justice, too long denied, and expeditiously establish a formal and fully empowered judicial investigation into the killing of activist Dudley George, which occurred in1996 during the police repression of the peaceful occupation of Ipperwash provincial park by aboriginal peoples claiming original title to the land.For a Clean, Safe, Sustainable Environment Huge cuts to staff and funding at the Ministry of the Environment have made enforcement of Ontario's environmental standards a sick joke. Deadly pollutants stream into the air, water and soil, while the depleted ranks of inspectors even lack an adequate budget for travel. Our forests and wildlife are in peril. Low level radiation from nuclear facilities and waste spread killer cancers far and wide. Urban areas are choking on paper and plastic. The time for action is now.An NDP government should:As an urgent priority, restore staff and resources to environmental standards enforcement.Immediately plug Tory-made loopholes, and work to strengthen environmental protection laws. Step up efforts to reduce commercial over-packaging, to reduce harmful car exhaust emissions, and to conserve, re-cycle and re-use limited resources.Require the polluters and despoilers of the environment to clean-up their own mess. Heavy fines should be imposed on corporate violators, and when necessary, expropriation of corporate and personal assets should occur to recover costs and ensure compliance.Phase out the nuclear industry, and invest in safe, clean, ecological energy generation, entirely under public ownership. Stop and reverse any privatization of Ontario Hydro, without compensation to private Capital.Reject the Social Union The so-called Social Union agreement recently signed by all provinces save Quebec is an exercise in federalist double think. In reality this agreement, using the legitimate national demands of Quebec as a pretext, codifies the increasing disunity of the Canadian federation and attempts to cover up the breakdown, since the 1980s, in cross-country standards and access to social, educational and health care programmes. The Social Union will speed up variation of standards from province to province. It creates almost insurmountable barriers to new federal programmes. And it will over time facilitate privatization of increasingly large sections of health care and education, thus creating two tier systems.An NDP government should therefore:In keeping with the principle of national self determination, support enhanced jurisdiction and powers for Quebec.For the rest of Canada, fight for defense and improvement of uniform high standards in health, education, welfare, and social services.Say NO to the Social Union agreement, and strive for its earliest termination.Conclusion It should be clear to the reader that this programme is an ambitious one. In our view it is not a radical programme, but it does depart significantly from the recent practice of NDP governments. Successful implementation of this programme it will mark significant gains for working people. It would reverse years of defeat and degradation of the living conditions of working people.Many of the measures outlined above will spark controversy. They will no doubt elicit strong responses from the parties of big business and the commercial media, which will no doubt fan any embers of confusion into flames of protest. We must learn from our party's experience in government, especially during 1990-95 in Ontario. Whenever the latter NDP government embarked on progressive reforms, the media pulled out all the stops to attack the government and to misrepresent its policies and objectives. In a number of instances our opponents launched reactionary mobilizations.An NDP government which implements measures clearly in the interest of working people, but contrary to the interest of Capital, must be prepared to fight. In concert with the trade unions, social movements and grassroots organizations, the party must be ready to mobilize the working people of Ontario, both to back up an NDP government and to ensure that the democratic will prevails.Working people have never made significant gains without struggle. We are certain that an NDP government committed to a workers' agenda will face challenges not unlike those recorded by history. This should not deter us from our course, but should strengthen our resolve to struggle and to win.For An NDP Government with a Socialist Programme!
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