RESOLUTIONS 22nd BIENNIAL CONVENTION NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA QUÉBEC CITY, SEPTEMBER 8-10, 2006109 3. INVESTING IN EACH OTHER A. ECONOMY 3 A1 WHEREAS the ideals of the Olympic Games include fair play, international cooperation, sustainability and building a strong legacy that serves the interests of the community; and WHEREAS the experience of most Olympic games have been the enrichment of a few developers and special interests, and that experience has sorely failed to yield benefits for most people of the affected communities; and WHEREAS, without a proper planning model, hosting the Olympic Games can lead to massive deficits, ephemerary benefits and environmental damage; and WHEREAS the 2000 Summer Olympic games in Sydney proved to be a model of cooperation between Olympic organizers, governments and the labour movement, and remained well within budget and environmentally friendly, all while providing economic benefits to the community; and WHEREAS the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee has yet to produce any sort of sustainability plans within a collaborative framework; and WHEREAS the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee is already incurring cost overruns and has only offered cosmetic commitments to preserve the integrity of ecosystems, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that no further federal government funding, either direct or indirect, be provided towards the Whistler-Vancouver 2010 Games until a plan is presented based on a collaborative strategy that brings together Olympic organizers, governments and the labour movement, ensures labour and management co-ordination and training, a comprehensive environmental assessment and a fair wage policy that meet industry standards for the construction of Olympic sites and for the Games themselves on the basis of the Sydney Olympics model; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party require that the Vancouver Organizing Committee create a transportation plan for the Games that will emphasize environmentally viable methods of transportation before supporting federal government funding; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party demands that all new facilities be sustainable and built with a post-Games legacy in mind and that all of the materials needed be purchased from companies that adhere to the highest ethical, labour and environmental standards; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party will support an Olympics that: Is environmentally sustainable; That leads to the construction and expansion of infrastructure that furthers the interests of the community as a whole long after the Games are over; and Is economically sustainable and ensures that workers involved in the Games are well compensated for their efforts and dedication. BURNABY-NEW WESTMINSTER NDP110 3 A2 WHEREAS the people of Canada’s North face the highest costs of living of all Canadians; and WHEREAS the Northern Residents Tax Deduction was instituted to help off set these high costs of living; and WHEREAS the residence portion of the Northern Residents Tax Deduction has not increased since its inception while the cost of living for Northern Canadians has continued to increase, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP supports an increase to the residence portion of the Northern Residents Tax Deduction be increased by 50 per cent and that this portion of the tax deduction be indexed in order to keep pace with inflation based upon a Northern inflation measurement. WESTERN ARCTIC NDP 3 A3 WHEREAS the federal government recognizes the higher cost of living in Northern communities through the Northern Tax Allowance; and WHEREAS many Northern communities that are either isolated or have a higher cost of living receive either partial or no Northern Tax Allowance, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP support a full review of the Northern Tax Allowance to ensure greater fairness to Northern communities. CHURCHILL NDP111 B. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS 3 B1 WHEREAS the cattle industry has been devastated by the prolonged closure of the closure of the American border to the Canadian beef; and WHEREAS farm families continue to suffer from uncertainty and loss of income; and WHEREAS the federal assistance program announced by the Liberal government is inadequate and inaccessible to many producers, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal Council encourage our Caucus to demand that the federal government immediately put in place a cost-shared compensation program accessible to all Canadian beef producers; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Federal Council encourage our Caucus to demand that the federal government work with all our partners to pressure the American government to open the border to live animals and beef products. FEDERAL COUNCIL – SEPTEMBER 2003112 C SOCIAL POLICY 3 C1 BE IT RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party call on the federal government to increase funding for settlement and integration services, including training and language programs for immigrants and refugees. BC FEDERATION OF LABOUR 3 C2 WHEREAS foreign workers are increasingly recruited to work in Canada to meet our labour needs on both a temporary and permanent basis, and this trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future; and WHEREAS significant concerns have emerged about national and provincial public policies, as well as the administration of HRDSC programs regarding the role and rights of migrant and immigrant workers in the Canadian economy; and WHEREAS these concerns include the impact on Canadian workers’ employment and training opportunities, the effectiveness of protections of foreign workers against exploitation and for their right to engage in trade union activities, the adequacy of credential recognition and immigrant settlement programs, and temporary workers’ access to health care, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party demand the federal government initiate a full public consultation and review of Canada’s immigration and human resource policies to ensure the rights and interests of both Canadian and foreign workers are protected. BC FEDERATION OF LABOUR 3 C3 WHEREAS the issue of poverty and homelessness in Canada is at staggering levels considering the country’s proclaimed vibrant economy and the current financial stability of the federal government, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal New Democratic Party of Canada make poverty and homelessness a high priority campaign issue in the next federal election so that all Canadian citizens, no matter what social or economic status, can share in the wealth of the country with a degree of dignity in income and poverty through a comprehensive legislative and funding action program comparable to the approach to universal Medicare as per the Canada Health Act. NORTH VANCOUVER NDP113 3 C4 WHEREAS currently the federal government charges significant fees for applications for Canadian citizenship; and WHEREAS some permanent residents who meet all other eligibility requirements for Canadian citizenship report having to delay their application for citizenship, and their full participation in Canadian society, solely because they cannot afford to pay the application fee; and WHEREAS income levels should never be the determining factor in attaining Canadian citizenship, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP urge the government to eliminate fees for applications for Canadian citizenship to remove any economic barrier to the full participation in Canadian society by those who meet all other requirements for citizenship, or do so itself when it forms government. BURNABY-DOUGLAS NDP 3 C5 WHEREAS studies have shown that in Canada all growth in the labour market will come entirely from immigration in the next decade and all population growth will also come entirely from immigration by the mid 2020s; and WHEREAS Canada will need immigrants to ensure the viability of our social programmes and our economy; and WHEREAS Canada must do a better job of integrating immigrants and refugees into our communities and our workforce, ensuring that barriers to full participation in Canadian society are reduced and eliminated and that the current “brain waste” is ended; and WHEREAS current processing times for immigration applications, especially those for parents and grandparents, are unacceptably long; and WHEREAS Canada’s immigration law defines family in a way that does not match the experience of people from many other cultures; and WHEREAS many Canadian citizens and permanent residents experience terrible frustration with visitor visa policies given their inability to have family members who live in other countries enjoy the simple pleasure of a family visit or to have family members attend important family occasions; and WHEREAS the Right of Landing Fee introduced by the Liberal government in 1995 and not fully eliminated by Conservative government in 2006 causes significant hardship for many immigrant families who need all their financial resources as they relocate to Canada and try to establish themselves here, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that: 1. The NDP urge the government to set immigration levels that meet the needs of family reunification, protection of the vulnerable, nation building and the Canadian economy, moving to an annual immigration level of 1% of population, or do so itself when it forms government; 2. The NDP urge the government to increase settlement funding, to ensure equity in settlement funding between regions and to ensure the ability of all new immigrants and refugees to adapt to life in Canada and integrate into communities and the114 workforce, with a particular emphasis on levels of language training that enable success in the workplace, or do so itself when it forms government; 3. The NDP urge the government to develop and fund significant new programmes that will ensure the recognition of international credentials and work experience and to undertake a review of the immigration application system to ensure changes that would more closely link immigrant skills with the reality of work in Canada thereby ensuring direct entry into the workforce for immigrants, or do so itself when it forms government; 4. The NDP urge the government to allocate resources to ensure the development and achievement of appropriate standards for the timely processing of immigration applications and the reduction of backlogs including family reunification applications, or do so itself when it forms government ; 5. The NDP urge the government to include a definition of family in immigration and refugee legislation that recognizes the diversity of family groupings in Canada and in other cultures, or do so itself when it forms government ; 6. The NDP urge the government to recognize the importance of facilitating the ability of Canadian citizens and permanent residents to have family members from other countries visit them in Canada, particularly for important family occasions such as weddings, funerals, celebrations of the birth of children or grandchildren, or when close family members are seriously or terminally ill, or do so itself when it forms government; and 7. The NDP urge the government to immediately eliminate the Right of Landing fee and undertake a complete review of the immigration and refugee application fee structure, or do so itself when it forms government. BURNABY-DOUGLAS NDP 3 C6 WHEREAS almost every Canadian immigrant and refugee serving agency, and many international organizations, have called on Canada to establish an appeal of refugee status refusals that is based on merit and fact; and WHEREAS Canada won the Nanson Medal from the United Nations for its commitment to refugee resettlement based largely on the success of the Private Sponsorship Programme with its commitment to direct community involvement; and WHEREAS many failed refugees who cannot be removed due to generally unsafe conditions in their countries of origin have their lives put on hold indefinitely without hope of gaining status in Canada; and WHEREAS refugee settlement agencies report the need for significant increases in support for service provision, language training, adaptation programmes, and trauma counselling for refugees; and WHEREAS refugees whose status is determined in Canada have to pay significant fees for applications for permanent residence (unlike those whose status is determined overseas) causing significant hardship to individuals and families who usually live well below the poverty line; and115 WHEREAS in its first year of operation the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States reduced the number of refugee claims at Canada’s land borders by over 50% denying some people in need of protection a fair hearing of their claim; and WHEREAS many refugees, including children who obtain refugee status in Canada independently of their parents, wait far too long to be reunited with their immediate family, causing significant hardship and putting terrible stress on family relationships, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that: 1. The NDP urge the government to respect the law and immediately implement provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to establish the Refugee Appeal Division, or do so itself when it forms government; 2. The NDP urge the government to take measures to ensure the viability and success of the Private Sponsorship Programme as a key element of Canadian refugee policy, or do so itself when it forms government; 3. The NDP urge the government to establish a policy whereby a failed refugee claimant is landed in Canada after a three year period of having their removal from Canada deferred because of generally unsafe conditions in their home country and that during this three year period steps be taken to ensure access to full health care, the ability to work without restriction, and education without paying higher foreign student fees, and that the list of countries on which there is a moratorium on deportations and removals be reviewed regularly to ensure it conforms to the list of countries that Canada has raised concern with regards to human rights violations, or do so itself when it forms government; 4. The NDP urge the government to increase settlement supports for refugees, including language training, adaptation programmes and trauma counselling, or do so itself when it forms government; 5. The NDP urge the government to remove application fees for permanent residence for those who have their refugee determination made in Canada, or do so itself when it forms government; 6. The NDP urge the government to end the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States and pursue an independent policy that ensures the safety of and a fair hearing for legitimate refugees who reach this country, or do so itself when it forms government; and 7. The NDP urge the government to put in place policies and procedures that speed reunification in Canada of the immediate family members of refugees, and that it pay special attention ensuring the ability of children who make successful refugee claims in Canada to be immediately reunited in Canada with parents and siblings, or do so itself when it forms government. BURNABY-DOUGLAS NDP 3 C7 WHEREAS the federal government has instituted a "foreign worker" program that allows employers to fast track immigration visas for short-term "contract" workers from other countries; and WHEREAS these "foreign workers" do not have the same rights as Canadian citizens or landed immigrants in Canada and are easily exploited by unscrupulous employers; and116 WHEREAS the federal immigration program has focused on "entrepreneurs" and other immigration which has not met the legitimate demand for labour in Canada, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the federal government revise its immigration program to allow an appropriate level of immigration to meet the labour needs of Canada; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the "foreign worker" program be replaced and all current and former "guest workers" who have contributed to the building of our country be given the right to permanently immigrate to this country if they so choose. VANCOUVER EAST 3 C8 WHEREAS the federal government has closed numerous offices that have provided government services to Canadians in their own communities; and WHEREAS in many cases the offices for services such as employment insurance are often located hundreds of kilometers away from the people that they serve, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP call on the federal government to work with public sector employees and local communities to decentralize the provision of government services CHURCHILL NDP 3 C9 WHEREAS Canada has operated the Season Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) since 1966 to provide factory farm employers with necessary seasonal labour, and WHEREAS many workers currently in this federal program have returned to work in our fields for as long as eight months a year for as many as 20-25 or more years, and WHEREAS this program offers no provision for the workers to apply for residency status in Canada, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the NDP promote amendments to the SAWP to include a landed immigrant process for migrant seasonal agricultural workers and their families after 24 months of accumulated Canadian employment. UFCW CANADA 3 C10 WHEREAS the Government of Canada is expanding its temporary low-skilled foreign workers programs to other industries including, but not limited to, tourism, construction, hospitality, oil and meat packing, and WHEREAS the potential for exploitation is greater for this precarious “just-in-time” workforce,117 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED the NDP promote changes to our immigration policies to reflect Canada’s reliance on this foreign worker low-skilled workforce by revising the Immigration point system to genuinely reflect Canadian labour needs including needs for caregivers, agricultural workers and others whose skills are currently unrecognized or inadequately recognized and that they be granted equal access to permanent residence, to the social services accorded to permanent residents and to family reunification, in recognition of their human dignity and their significant contribution to Canadian society. UFCW CANADA118 D AGRICULTURE 3 D1 WHEREAS the future of the Canadian Wheat Board was a significant agricultural issue raised during the recent federal election; and WHEREAS the newly-elected Federal Conservatives have argued for the dismantling of the Wheat Board; and WHEREAS the Canadian Wheat Board has been and continues to be is crucial to the future viability of farming in Manitoba and on the prairies; and WHEREAS the Minister of Agriculture has defended the right of producers to use orderly marketing systems in international trade meetings; and WHEREAS producers, through democratic process, have shown their support for the CWB, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal NDP continue to strongly defend the Canadian Wheat Board and the right of producers to use orderly marketing systems. SAINT BONIFACE NDP MYND 3 D2 WHEREAS the potential negative effects of GURTS (Genetic Use Restriction Technologies or Terminator Gene seeds) far outweigh the positive impacts, requiring the ongoing implementation of the precautionary principle to insure that the rights, safety and food security of indigenous and local communities are not threatened; and WHEREAS Terminator Gene seeds may have negative impacts, including: reducing and limiting traditional seed exchange practices; reducing the knowledge and local innovation capacity of local and indigenous communities for crop improvement and threatening local food security; could precipitate the loss of local knowledge and reduce or negatively affect local agro-biodiversity; could displace traditional farming systems and the social, cultural and spiritual dimensions associated with them; may cause seed dependency or crop failure through the potential misuse or unintentional use of Terminator Gene seeds; could negatively and irreversibly create changes in the environment caused by gene flow or other problems with environmental containment; and the use of Terminator Gene seeds as a form of biological intellectual property protection could facilitate the appropriation and enclosure of some elements of indigenous knowledge and genetic resources in a permanent and irreversible manner, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP supports a ban on Terminator Gene seed technology nationally and internationally; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP calls on the Government of Canada to support the efforts of civil society, farmers, indigenous peoples and social movements in their campaign against Terminator Gene seeds; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP calls on the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to undertake, within their respective mandates, studies on the factual record of patents granted, as well as any pending patent applications and related patent policies on genetic use restriction technologies and on the ethical and spiritual consequences of genetic use restriction technologies. WINNIPEG CENTRE NDP119 3 D3 BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP develop a clear and comprehensive rural strategy that is designed to protect the family farm from the intrusion of agribusiness and factory farms. PETERBOROUGH NDP 3 D4 WHEREAS Canadian agriculture is in a state of crisis, with negative average farm income, many family farm bankruptcies, and shriveling rural communities; and WHEREAS industrial agriculture as promoted by governments and agribusiness is proving to be unsustainable, as demonstrated by declining soil fertility, diminishing nutritional value of food products, high levels of water, air and land pollution, and diminishing genetic diversity in crops and livestock; and WHEREAS rising energy costs, declining global water supplies, and rising global population means food security must become a Canadian priority; and WHEREAS previous NDP national conventions have adopted excellent resolutions addressing these issues, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party of Canada will create a national NDP Policy for Sustainable Food and Agriculture. Building on the current document “A New Vision for Agriculture,” and incorporating material from resolutions 01D1.1, 91D1.5, 97D2.1, 99D2.2, 99D4.1, and 01D4.1 adopted at previous national conventions. The policy should also draw upon provincial NDP agricultural policies such as that adopted by the BC NDP. SAANICH-GULF ISLANDS NDP 3 D5 WHEREAS workers in Canada’s agricultural industries face many disparities, differing from province to province; and WHEREAS these disparities and inequities include denial of health and safety legislation, mandatory workers compensation coverage and exclusion from basic employment standards provisions; and WHEREAS in Ontario and Alberta, agricultural workers are still denied the freedom to associate and bargain collectively, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP promote legislative change establishing basic national standards for all workers in Canada’s agricultural industries. UFCW CANADA120 3 D6 WHEREAS it is a known fact that locally produced and distributed foodstuffs are more nutritious, cleaner, safer and economical; and WHEREAS locally produced and distributed foodstuffs encourage community economic development, create less stress on energy and transportation resources, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that a Federal NDP government would provide the support, education and encouragement of (CSA's) Community Supported Agriculture. LONDON-FANSHAWE NDP 3 D7 WHEREAS Canadian farmers have made the most impressive productivity gains of any sector of the Canadian economy in recent years; and WHEREAS Canada's productive farmers still face challenges such as rising transportation costs, difficulties accessing emergency funds, and attacks on the single-desk marketing model of the Canadian Wheat Board, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP reaffirm its support for the Canadian Wheat Board, including the right of Canadian farmers to democratically decide the future direction of their CWB; and BE IT FUTHER RESOLVED that the NDP promote a permanent farm communities emergency fund that better responds to the needs of Canada's farming families; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP support producer ownership of the grain transportation system and that such support extend beyond producer ownership of hopper cars to producer control over other parts of the grain transportation system, including grain terminals. WASCANA NDP 3 D8 WHEREAS the international trade of goods benefit mostly large food businesses, distributors and speculators; and WHEREAS there already is a management system for milk, chicken and turkey, and shell and hatching eggs that is fair for our Quebec agricultural producers; and WHEREAS globalization of the food production, via the great distances that our food travels, contributes increased emission of greenhouse gas; and WHEREAS the distance our food travels from their production site to our table keeps increasing; and WHEREAS Canada is able to provide for most of its own food requirements, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP foster a national approach to local food production and distribution. QUEBEC SECTION121 3 D9 WHEREAS genetically modified organisms (GMO) represent both a potential and actual threat; and WHEREAS conventional and biological growers are at the mercy of the consequences of these technologies; and WHEREAS the right to full information on products we are consuming is not reached; and WHEREAS biotechnologies do not aim at a mechanisation and patent of the living seeking only to break the natural protection barrier of species; and WHEREAS approval time for GMO products is only a few months, which is not long enough to know and assess accurately their effects on our health and the environment, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP commit to fill the legal gap on GMO labelling, making it binding; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP set up a transitory help program towards viable agriculture for various agricultural stakeholders so as to steer the market towards one that targets informed customer needs. QUEBEC SECTION122 E TRANSPORTATION 3 E1 BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal Party and Parliamentary Caucus commission a study on light rail technology and other related technologies to develop a comprehensive plan to best use this technology to meet Canadian transportation needs in an environmentally sustainable manner; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study research and make recommendations on the following: Creation and operation of a federal infrastructure fund for municipalities dedicated to light rail technology; Employment and investment in this technology in Canada; Skills training required to support light rail; Incorporation of universal design principles to ensure accessibility of the vehicles, stops and on street approaches by persons of all levels of ability; Inter-urban revival: using light rail to connect adjacent communities as was done in the past; Use of light rail to promote urban renewal; Cold weather operational issues; and Other issues related to light rail as identified by study participants. SCARBOROUGH CENTRE NDP SCARBOROUGH SOUTHWEST NDP PICKERING-SCARBOROUGH EAST NDP 3 E2 WHEREAS opening a new airport in the Greater Toronto Area is counter to Canada's Kyoto commitments and other environmental objectives; and WHEREAS the local community in Pickering strongly opposes the proposed airport; and WHEREAS Hamilton would like to make better use of its existing underutilized airport; and WHEREAS the airport's high cost risk its financial viability and will deny badly needed infrastructure funding from other more worthwhile projects; and WHEREAS an improved VIA Rail service in the Windsor to Quebec City corridor would help preclude the need for this airport, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal New Democratic Party oppose the proposed Pickering Airport; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Party and Caucus work to immediately suspend all federal funding for planning this airport including the environmental assessment and the site office; and123 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this funding be redirected to pursuing alternatives to this airport, including high speed rail service in the Windsor to Quebec City corridor and shifting of freight from air and truck to rail. PICKERING-SCARBOROUGH EAST NDP PARKDALE-HIGH PARK NDP 3 E3 WHEREAS the use of private automobiles is one of the greatest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions; and WHEREAS the use of the private automobile has many other negative environmental and health impacts, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP Caucus call on the federal government to develop funding programs designed to enhance public transit services in both urban and rural areas and to enhance funding support for other sustainable transportation measures such as bicycle trails, pedestrian paths and other innovative transportation and recreation modes that will limit the use of private automobiles. SAANICH-GULF ISLANDS NDP 3 E4 WHEREAS a draft aeronautics act exists which is not enforced and includes coverage of noise and environmental concerns; and WHEREAS many aviation companies are increasing their flights without regard for these issues and their effect on citizens living on the flight path, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal NDP urge the federal government to enact and enforce these regulations immediately. SAANICH-GULF ISLANDS NDP 3 E5 BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal Party and Parliamentary Caucus commission a study on light rail technology to develop a comprehensive plan to best use this technology to meet Canadian transportation needs in an environmentally sustainable manner; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study research and make recommendations on the following: Creation and operation of a federal infrastructure fund for municipalities dedicated to light rail technology; Employment and investment in this technology in Canada; Skills training required to support light rail;124 Incorporation of universal design principles to ensue accessibility of the vehicles, stops, and on street approaches by persons of all levels of ability; Inter-urban revival using light rail to connect adjacent communities as once was done in the past; Use of light rail to promote urban renewal; cold weather operational issues; and Other issues related to light rail as identified by study participants. PARKDALE HIGH PARK NDP 3 E6 WHEREAS the City of Toronto is the economic capital of Canada and a comprehensive public transit network is essential to the economic well-being of the city; and WHEREAS improved public transit between the City of Toronto's two main transportation hubs – Union Station and Lester B. Pearson International Airport – would have a positive economic and environmental impact, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that this publicly-operated railway link utilize the existing rail infrastructure along the Union Station to Pearson Airport corridor, including servicing all stations between the two transportation hubs without adversely affecting the residential and commercial communities along the corridor; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this publicly-operated railway offer a service that is affordable and features "Made in Canada" equipment and technology; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP oppose any existing and future plans for a privately-operated railway link between Union Station and Pearson Airport. YORK SOUTH-WESTON NDP 3 E7 WHEREAS light rail (streetcar) technology is used in small and large urban areas around the world including Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary. As Canadian communities struggle to improve their local air quality and help the nation meet its Kyoto commitments we require bold and exciting measures. Besides being flexible and energy efficient, when properly designed, light rail is attractive to users and can aid in revitalizing communities. Many more Canadians need access to this mode of transportation in their communities, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal Party and Parliamentary Caucus commission a study on light rail technology to develop a comprehensive plan to best use this technology to meet Canadian transportation needs in an environmentally sustainable manner; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study research and make recommendations on the following:125 - Creation and operation of a federal infrastructure fund for municipalities dedicated to light rail technology; - Employment and investment in this technology in Canada; - Incorporation of universal design principles to ensure accessibility of the vehicles, stops and on street approaches by persons of all levels of ability; - Inter-urban revival: using light rail to connect adjacent communities as was done in the past. PERSONS LIVING WITH DISABILITIES COMMITTEE 3 E8 WHEREAS 2005 was a record year for rail accidents across the country including many involving hazardous wastes; and WHEREAS the Conservative government is increasingly favouring unworkable self-regulated safety management systems that have led to record numbers of rail accidents; and WHEREAS some of the accidents, such as the August 5, 2005 Canadian National Railway derailment in Squamish, British Columbia which spilled 40,000 litres of sodium hydroxide into the Cheakamus River wiping out fish stocks, and the August 3, 2006 CNR derailment near Edmonton that dumped 730,000 litres of bunker C oil and wood preservatives in Lake Wabamun, have had dire environmental consequences that will take decades to resolve; and WHEREAS the Conservative government has indicated that it will follow the direction of the Liberal Party and continue to take measures that diminish safety regulations in the air sector, including decreasing the mandated number of flight attendants on large aircrafts to evacuate passengers in case of an emergency; and WHEREAS an investigation by experts and the Transport Safety Board is currently under way on the Air France Flight 358 crash in Toronto last year to establish the importance of a full crew of flight attendants for the survival of all passengers on board; and WHEREAS journalists have exposed dangerous practices that have put the lives of 80,000 Canadians at risk over the last five years due to near misses, and Air Canada Jazz mechanics have exposed dangerous practices in alleging that the airline has allowed an average of one flight a week to operate even with serious mechanical problems; and WHEREAS four Air Canada Jazz mechanics were recently suspended for highlighting dangerous practices by the airline after their complaints to Transport Canada yielded no results; and WHEREAS Transport Canada has been lax in enforcing marine safety regulations; and WHEREAS Transport Canada negligence led to preventable deaths on the Queen of the North, a single compartment deck vessel that should not have been allowed to operate on the North coast of British Columbia in its condition, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party opposes the measures of both the former Liberal and current Conservative governments: Reducing the number of flight attendants on Canadian flights; Allowing single compartment vessels to carry passengers in Canada without additional safety measures being added; Increasing secrecy on safety issues and information; Creating self-regulated safety management systems where companies create their own safety guidelines with no public enforcement or accountability; and126 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party rejects deregulating the transport sector which ensures that public safety takes a backseat to corporate profits; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party believes that building the safest transport system in the world would be a major comparative advantage for all Canadian transportation enterprises and that competitiveness in transportation fundamentally comes from having the best possible reputation, the strongest environmental and safety regulations, along with high labour standards and universal social programs that lower the cost of training and benefits for firms; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a NDP government would ensure the highest possible safety and environmental standards in the world in each mode of transportation and ensure the right to access to information on safety standards, issues and records. BURNABY-NEW WESTMINSTER NDP 3 E9 COMPOSITE OF 3 E1, 3 E5 AND 3 E7 WHEREAS light rail (streetcar) technology is used in small and large urban areas around the world including Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary and as Canadian communities struggle to improve their local air quality and help the nation meet its Kyoto commitments we require bold and exciting measures; and WHEREAS besides being flexible and energy efficient, when properly designed, light rail is attractive to users and can aid in revitalizing communities many more Canadians need access to this mode of transportation in their communities, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal Party and Parliamentary Caucus commission a study on light rail technology and other related technologies to develop a comprehensive plan to best use this technology to meet Canadian transportation needs in an environmentally sustainable manner; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the study research and make recommendations on the following: Creation and operation of a federal infrastructure fund for municipalities dedicated to light rail technology; Employment and investment in this technology in Canada; Skills training required to support light rail; Incorporation of universal design principles to ensure accessibility of the vehicles, stops and on street approaches by persons of all levels of ability; Inter-urban revival: using light rail to connect adjacent communities as was done in the past; Use of light rail to promote urban renewal; Cold weather operational issues; and Other issues related to light rail as identified by study participants SCARBOROUGH CENTRE NDP SCARBOROUGH SOUTHWEST NDP PICKERING-SCARBOROUGH EAST NDP PARKDALE HIGH PARK NDP PERSONS LIVING WITH DISABILITIES COMMITTEE127 J ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES 3 J1 WHEREAS cruelty to animals remains a serious and persistent problem in Canada today; and WHEREAS Canadians tend to view animal cruelty as morally reprehensible and socially unacceptable; and WHEREAS research has indicated links between animal abuse and domestic violence and violence against others in general; and WHEREAS the current animal anti-cruelty provisions under the Criminal Code are antiquated and inconsistent and do not provide penalties that are effective deterrents to animal cruelty nor promote the rehabilitation of violent offenders; and WHEREAS Canadians support tougher animal anticruelty legislation; and WHEREAS since 1999, seven attempts to introduce updates to animal anti-cruelty legislation have failed passage, including the most recently Bill C-50 which passed first reading in May 2005, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP will work to re-introduce Bill C-50 and in so doing, usher Canada’s animal anti-cruelty laws into the 21st Century, providing for both greater deterrence and appropriate penalties for those who do offend. PARKDALE HIGH-PARK NDP 3 J2 WHEREAS arable land is limited in Canada; that subtle encroaching development is destroying millions of hectares daily; and that land use regulations are nearly non-existent, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP realize the urgency in determining the extent of development and intended development of these arable areas, and to declare a moratorium on future development until a stringent land-use plan is put in place. LONDON-FANSHAWE NDP 3 J3 WHEREAS proponents of the development of superb Agriculture Reserve farmland on Barnston Island cite the South Fraser Perimeter Road as the reason this area needs to be turned into port-related industrial land; and WHEREAS port expansion at Deltaport on Roberts Bank which this road is said to be a necessary component of will obliterate rich marine habitat, and result in the conversion of vast areas of superb oceanfront ALR farmland into container storage and other port and transportation related facilities, if the joint intention of the port and treaty-negotiating Tsawassen First Nations are realized; and WHEREAS the operations at Surrey Fraser Docks, a key component of the South Fraser128 Perimeter Road system are compromised by shallow water over the Deas tunnel and require massive dredging harmful to the Fraser River ecosystem; and WHEREAS saltwater ports can more sensibly handle this dock’s freight, Prince Rupert being a day closer to China by sea and in an open windy, relatively unpopulated area; and WHEREAS already unacceptable atmospheric pollution in this trapped airshed will be significantly worsened on both sides of the border by increased ship, rail, and vehicle traffic should South Fraser Perimeter Road and the port expansions go ahead, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal NDP oppose South Fraser Perimeter Road and the expansion of Deltaport at Roberts Bank. NEWTON NORTH-DELTA NDP129 M GENDER EQUALITY 3 M1 WHEREAS equal pay for work of equal value (pay equity) is not yet a reality in Canada; and WHEREAS women are still being paid as little as seventy (70) percent of men’s wages for work of equal value; and WHEREAS the federal government is on record supporting equal pay for work of equal value in Canada and internationally in ILO accords and in UN Conventions such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; and WHEREAS the federal government established a Task Force to review the federal pay equity legislation, section 11 of the Canadian Human Rights Act, and the Task Force’s recommendations are expected early in 2003, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP reaffirm its commitment to pay equity; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party support mandatory, proactive, effective pay equity legislation covering both private and public sector workers under federal jurisdiction, including timely, efficient, non-bureaucratic dispute resolution mechanisms, and full federal funding for education, training, information and enforcement; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP support extending pay equity legislation to race- based and other forms of wage discrimination; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP work with pay equity coalitions, the labour movement and the women’s movement to make sure that positive recommendations from the Federal Pay Equity Task Force be acted on and that the federal government introduce a progressive pay equity law; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP work with pay equity coalitions, the labour movement and the women’s movement to broaden and deepen awareness among Canadians of the need for economic equality and pay equity and challenge the media to report accurately on economic equality in Canada. LONDON NORTH CENTRE NDP LONDON WEST NDP 3 M2 WHEREAS women’s salaries are still lower than men’s, even though pay equity is guaranteed by Section 11 of the Canadian Human Rights Act; and WHEREAS in 2003, women working full-time, year round in Canada earned only 71% as much as men occupying similar positions; and WHEREAS this reality is even more pronounced among women of colour, immigrant women, women with disabilities and Aboriginal women; and WHEREAS the current complaints-based pay equity system is not working; and WHEREAS in June 2001, the departments of Justice and Labour set up a working group n pay equity that submitted an exhaustive report in May 2004 entitled Pay Equity: A new approach to a fundamental right, containing 113 recommendations; and130 WHEREAS the Standing Committee on the Status of Women wrote to the ministers of Justice and Labour and Housing in June 2005 asking that a draft bill on pay equity be presented on October 31, 2005; and WHEREAS thousands of women are still waiting for justice, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP reaffirm its commitment to pay equity. VANCOUVER SOUTH NDP 3 M3 WHEREAS pay equity is a priority for women and society as a whole; and WHEREAS in Canada, women still earn an average of 71% of what men earn and the female dominated employment categories remain undervalued; and WHEREAS in 2004, the Federal Task Force on Pay Equity submitted to the federal government a report including 113 recommendations which could serve to develop a proactive Pay Equity Act, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal NDP press the federal government to adopt without delay a proactive, universal and distinct law aimed at obtaining and maintaining pay equity in the public and private sectors. The law will allow for the necessary funds and resources to support the law. OUTREMONT NDP PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN COMMITTEE131 N FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL AFFAIRS 3 N1 WHEREAS the cost of operating government programs and services in Canada’s North is at a higher per capita rate than the rest of Canada; and WHEREAS the current federal approach of providing funding to the governments of the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut uses a population based formula rather than a real determination of the costs involved in delivering government programs and services; and WHEREAS the territorial governments are bearing increasing costs due to development of their vast resources for which they see little monetary benefit; and WHEREAS in their joint submission to the Expert Panel on Equalization and Territorial Formula Financing the three territories rejected using a formula based on population, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party of Canada supports negotiating a financing formula with the three territories which uses the real costs of delivering programs and services as its basis for funding the three territories. WESTERN ARCTIC NDP 3 N2 BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP of Canada thoroughly examine the fiscal equalization system in Canada as well as tax transfers in Canada, specifically in the case of Quebec, to better capture the synergy of the two fund transfer methods from the federal government to the Province of Quebec. QUEBEC SECTION 3 N3 WHEREAS federal and some provincial governments have downloaded responsibility for services to the municipalities; and WHEREAS property taxes are inadequate for providing those services; and WHEREAS there is a $60 billion municipal infrastructure deficit, as defined by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Canadian Urban Transit Association, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party support the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ objectives to: Clarify and re-align the roles and responsibilities of each order of government, reinvent the way governments work together to find efficiencies, and to provide revenue adequate to the task; Develop a long-term plan to eliminate the $60 billion municipal infrastructure deficit.132 Diversity municipal fiscal tools to enable municipal governments to reduce their dependence on property taxes and allow for a more equitable sharing of the fiscal resources among all orders of government; Focus on integrated approaches to rural and Northern development and provide economic diversification and development opportunities to rural and Northern communities to lessen their dependence on single industries; and Invest in public transit to move people in gridlocked urban economies and provide economic, environmental, and social benefits. PARKDALE-HIGH PARK NDP 3 N4 WHEREAS federal and some provincial governments have downloaded responsibility for services to municipalities; and WHEREAS property taxes are inadequate for providing those services; and WHEREAS there is a $60 billion municipal infrastructure deficit, as defined by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Canadian Urban Transit Association, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party support the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ objectives of: Clarifying and re-aligning the roles and responsibilities of each order of government, reinventing the way governments work together to find efficiencies, and providing revenue adequate to the task; Developing a long-term plan to eliminate the $60 billion municipal infrastructure deficit; Diversifying municipal fiscal tools to enable municipal governments to reduce their dependence on property taxes and allow for a more equitable sharing of fiscal resources among all orders of government; Focusing on integrated approaches to rural and Northern development and provide economic diversification and development opportunities to rural and Northern communities to lessen their dependence on single industries; Investing in public transit. WESTERN ARCTIC NDP 3 N5 WHEREAS Canada’s local governments have suffered the most from any “fiscal imbalance”, have inadequate revenues to meet their growing responsibilities and increasingly consider privatization of public services as a solution, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP commit to: Develop a plan to eliminate the municipal infrastructure deficit; Create a national public transit and pedestrian/cycling transportation program;133 Make the federal gas tax transfer permanent; Increase federal transfers to municipalities by the equivalent of 1 percentage point of GST revenues (~$5 billion per year); Ensure that federal transfers only go to publicly owned, operated and delivered services and infrastructure and to environmentally sustainable projects. CUPE 3 N6 COMPOSITE OF 3 N3 AND 3 N4 WHEREAS federal and some provincial governments have downloaded responsibility for services to the municipalities; and WHEREAS property taxes are inadequate for providing those services; and WHEREAS there is a $ 60 billion municipal infrastructure deficit, as defined by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Canadian Urban Transit Association, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party support the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ objectives to: Clarify and re-align the roles and responsibilities of each order of government, reinvent the way governments work together to find efficiencies, and to provide revenue adequate to the task. Develop a long-term plan to eliminate the $60 billion municipal infrastructure deficit. Diversity municipal fiscal tools to enable municipal governments to reduce their dependence on property taxes and allow for a more equitable sharing of the fiscal resources among all orders of government. Focus on integrated approaches to rural and Northern development and provide economic diversification and development opportunities to rural and Northern communities to lessen their dependence on single industries. Invest in public transit to move people in gridlocked urban economies and provide economic, environmental, and social benefits. PARKDALE-HIGH PARK NDP WESTERN ARCTIC NDP134 P CONSUMER AFFAIRS 3 P1 WHEREAS the track record of the federal government regarding food policy has been poor; and WHEREAS the NDP motion in 2005 forced the federal government to backtrack on the position that Hydrogenated fats (trans fats) were safe resulting in the labeling of trans fats; and WHEREAS the official policy of the federal government is that Genetically Modified Foods are safe, despite the fact that they haven't been around long enough to assess long-term effects; and WHEREAS the genetic manipulation of food is a recent scientific and corporate phenomenon whose effects on the environment and the human body are still not fully understood; and WHEREAS the European Union, Australia, New Zealand, China and Japan all require labeling of GM foods, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP make it a priority to ensure that the Government of Canada adopt a policy that requires the mandatory labeling of all Genetically Modified Foods. VANCOUVER EAST NDP135 Q. HOUSING 3 Q1 WHEREAS homelessness has increased over the past ten years and many people are living in marginal housing and on the verge of becoming homeless, and WHEREAS New Democrats believe that all Canadians deserve adequate housing, food, clothing, health care, education and a decent quality of life; and WHEREAS private-sector developers are not interested in creating affordable housing for poor and working class Canadians, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that a NDP government take initiatives, with the cooperation of the municipalities and the provincial governments, to create universally affordable and accessible cooperative and social housing, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP actively campaign for the federal government to allocate 2% of federal government expenditures for cooperative and social housing. OAKVILLE NDP 3Q2 WHEREAS homelessness is unacceptable; and WHEREAS many people are living in marginal housing and on the verge of becoming homeless; and WHEREAS homelessness has increased in the last ten years; and WHEREAS homeless people are dying on the streets; and WHEREAS developers are not interested in creating affordable housing, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP in government will take initiatives, with the cooperation of the municipalities and the provincial governments, to create universally affordable and accessible cooperative and social housing; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP must have both long-term and short-term policies for creating universally affordable and accessible cooperative and social housing for all people; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP actively campaign for the demand that the federal government allocate $2 billion in federal expenditures for cooperative and social housing. TORONTO-DANFORTH NDP136 3 Q3 BE IT RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party recognizes housing as a human right; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party calls on the government to adopt a national housing strategy and housing supply program, in co-operation with the provinces, that recognizes housing as a human right and meets the goal of providing an additional one percent of federal budgetary spending to meet basic housing needs in Canada; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party calls on the federal government to build on the social union framework and conduct consultations with housing stakeholders and provincial and territorial governments to establish national objectives and standards for the development and maintenance of affordable non-profit housing; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a key component of this federal investment must include capital funding of the construction of new social housing and co-operative housing units; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Canadian Human Rights Act should be amended to include the provision of shelter and social condition, as a prohibited ground of discrimination; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party supports the establishment of the co-op sector’s proposed Agency to administer co-operative housing programs. ANCASTER—DUNDAS—FLAMBOROUGH-WESTDALE NDP 3 Q4 WHEREAS homelessness is unacceptable; and, WHEREAS many people are living in marginal housing and on the verge of becoming homeless; and WHEREAS homelessness has increased in the last ten years and homeless people are dying on the streets; and WHEREAS developers are not interested in creating affordable housing, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP must have both long-term and short-term policies for creating universally affordable and accessible cooperative and social housing for all people; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP actively campaign for the demand that the federal government allocate 2% of federal expenditures for cooperative and social housing. TRINITY-SPADINA NDP 3 Q5 WHEREAS the previous Federal Liberal Government slashed funding for social housing programs in the 1990s; and WHEREAS the federal government's inadequate funding has led to a shortage of affordable housing across Canada; and137 WHEREAS the housing conditions in many Northern and Aboriginal communities are often appalling, with mould contamination, poor ventilation and overcrowding; and WHEREAS the NDP was able to have additional funds for social housing added to the 2005 budget, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP call for a major national initiative to improve existing housing and construct additional housing units that recognize access to decent housing as a human right; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP call for immediate action to deal with the housing crisis in Northern and Aboriginal communities. CHURCHILL NDP 3 Q6 WHEREAS homelessness is unacceptable; and WHEREAS many people are living in marginal housing and on the verge of becoming homeless; and WHEREAS homelessness has increased in the last 10 years and homeless people are dying on the streets; and WHEREAS developers are not interested in creating affordable housing, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP in government will take initiatives, with the cooperation of the municipalities and the provincial governments, to create universally affordable and accessible cooperative and social housing; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP must have both long-term and short-term policies for creating universally affordable and accessible cooperative and social housing for all people; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP actively campaign that the federal government should allocate 2% of federal expenditures for cooperative and social housing. EDMONTON-STRATHCONA NDP KITCHENER CENTRE NDP 3 Q7 WHEREAS the Liberal and Conservative federal governments have done virtually nothing to provide the basic necessity of affordable housing to ease the considerable suffering of Canadians living in poverty, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP advocate a dedicated transfer of federal funds to provinces that is assigned solely for the purpose of building affordable housing. SAANICH-GULF ISLANDS NDP138 3 Q8 WHEREAS homelessness arises from various mental health problems, social problems, and poverty; and WHEREAS some cities in the United States have discovered the clear benefits of working under the auspices of an available U.S. federal program, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, which supports state and city officials in providing apartments to the homeless with no strings attached, and has seen a significant drop in homelessness and in the cost to society of social assistance, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party of Canada introduce and support a "housing first" policy, a no homelessness plan through which homeless men, women and children would be provided with an apartment in supportive housing units. SAANICH-GULF ISLANDS NDP 3 Q9 WHEREAS the United Nations Economic and Social Council has called Canada’s current housing status a “national emergency” and recommends that the Canadian government “implement a national strategy for the reduction of homelessness that includes measurable goals and timetables, consultation and collaboration with affected communities, complaints procedures, and transparent accountability mechanisms”, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP supports the Federal Caucus demand for a long-term national housing strategy that involves all levels of government – including First Nations – to build affordable, not-for-profit housing including, but not limited to, co-operative housing initiatives, rent subsidies and emergency shelters; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that NDP government would put at least one percent of federal program spending into affordable housing. LONDON-FANSHAWE NDP LONDON NORTH CENTRE NDP 3 Q10 WHEREAS the United Nations Economic and Social Council has called Canada’s current housing status a “national emergency” and recommends that the Canadian government “implement a national strategy for the reduction of homelessness that includes measurable goals and timetables, consultation and collaboration with affected communities, complaints procedures, and transparent accountability mechanisms”, THERFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP supports the Federal Caucus demand for a long-term national housing strategy that involves all levels of government – including First Nations – to maintain existing and to build additional affordable, not-for-profit housing including, but not limited to, co-operative housing initiatives, rent subsidies and emergency shelters; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a NDP government would put at least one percent of federal program spending into affordable housing. LONDON WEST NDP139 3 Q11 COMPOSITE OF 3 Q1, 3 Q2, 3 Q4, 3 Q6, 3 Q7 WHEREAS homelessness has increased over the past ten years and many people are living in marginal housing and on the verge of becoming homeless; and WHEREAS New Democrats believe that all Canadians deserve adequate housing, food, clothing, health care, education and a decent quality of life; and WHEREAS private-sector developers are not interested in creating affordable housing for poor and working class Canadians, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP in government will take initiatives, with the cooperation of the municipalities and the provincial governments, to create universally affordable and accessible cooperative and social housing; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP must have both long-term and short-term policies for creating universally affordable and accessible cooperative and social housing for all people; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP actively campaign for the demand that the federal government allocate 2% in federal expenditures for cooperative and social housing; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP advocate a dedicated transfer of federal funds to provinces that is assigned solely for the purpose of building affordable housing. OAKVILLE NDP TORONTO-DANFORTH NDP TRINITY-SPADINA NDP EDMONTON-STRATHCONA NDP KITCHENER CENTRE NDP SAANICH-GULF ISLANDS NDP 3 Q12 COMPOSITE OF 3 Q9, 3 Q10 WHEREAS the United Nations Economic and Social Council has called Canada’s current housing status a “national emergency” and recommends that the Canadian government “implement a national strategy for the reduction of homelessness that includes measurable goals and timetables, consultation and collaboration with affected communities, complaints procedures, and transparent accountability mechanisms”, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP supports the Federal Caucus demand for a long-term national housing strategy that involves all levels of government – including First Nations – to maintain existing and to build additional affordable, not-for-profit housing including, but not limited to, co-operative housing initiatives, rent subsidies and emergency shelters; and140 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that an NDP government would put at least one percent of federal program spending into affordable housing. LONDON-FANSHAWE NDP LONDON NORTH CENTRE NDP LONDON WEST NDP141 R. ARTS, CULTURE & COMMUNICATIONS 3 R1 WHEREAS the Internet has revolutionized communications, allowed for greater innovation, and provided a more equal playing field for businesses, charities, political groups, alternative media, and individuals of all sizes and across the political spectrum; and WHEREAS this has been made possible by Internet Service Providers providing consumers equal access to any website of his or her choice, a principle herein after referred to as Network Neutrality; and WHEREAS telecommunications companies are lobbying for the right to charge content providers in order to have their websites load faster, thus threatening Network Neutrality and hurting consumers, small businesses and Internet entrepreneurs, charities, alternative media an political organizations; and WHEREAS in 2005, Telus Corporation blocked its subscribers from viewing a website set up by the union representing Telus workers during a strike, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP urge the federal government to amend the Telecommunications Act to require telecommunications companies to abide by Network Neutrality, and that enforcement of such provisions would fall under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission. BRANDON-SOURIS NDP 3 R2 WHEREAS proposed changes to Copyright Legislation could cost the Canadian education system millions of dollars, threaten research into computer security and invade personal privacy, harm Canadian culture by enlarging the billion dollar Canadian culture deficit, and put Canadian business at a competitive disadvantage; and WHEREAS Canadian schools currently spend millions of dollars each year on copyright licenses to provide students with access to educational materials, and that the Supreme Court of Canada recently ruled that teachers, students and schools do not have to pay for certain uses of these materials (including research, private study, and certain classroom instruction); and WHEREAS contrary to the Court's ruling and despite the millions of dollars schools already pay for copyright materials, last year's C-60 proposal would have required schools to divert millions of dollars more from education budgets – from students, schools and taxpayers – to pay for publicly available material on the Internet; and WHEREAS proposed changes would have outlawed the disabling of technological protection measures, including spy ware such as the Sony “root-kit”, that monitored how you listened to a song, read an e-book or watched a DVD, or that it would have made it illegal to break locks on this content, even if your actual use of the content was perfectly legal; and WHEREAS previous proposals called for a "notice and termination" system where, on the basis of untested claims and potentially without judicial oversight, copyright holders would be able to use computer generated notices to pressure ISPs to cancel Internet access for142 potentially thousands of Canadians, thereby blocking access to health and financial websites as well as e-mail; and WHEREAS multinational corporations must not be entitled to use technology to block small amounts of copying for personal use that copyright law traditionally permits, or make efforts to get around that technology to exercise your legal rights illegal; and WHEREAS our culture depends upon the ability to use and re-use creative work; and WHEREAS Canadians should not be denied the right to fairly use materials for which they have paid, such as copying material they already own from 8 tracks or cassettes to CD; and WHEREAS business rivals have inappropriately used copyright laws to create artificial monopolies and stifle competition, forcing small and medium sized businesses – the engines of our economy – to face the threat of copyright lawsuits as they seek to bring products to market; and WHEREAS many Canadian recording artists, including Avril Lavigne, Sarah McLachlan, Chantal Kreviazuk, Sum 41, Broken Social Scene, Stars, Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, Dave Bidini of Rheostatics, Billy Talent, John K. Sampson of Weakerthans, Sloan, Andrew Cash, Bob Wiseman, a co-founder of Blue Rodeo, and the Barenaked Ladies have recently launched the Canadian Music Creators Coalition and are concerned with the prospect of record-label lawsuits against MP3 file sharers, and the continuing march toward greater restrictions on the use of music; and WHEREAS the Canadian Music Creators Coalition has stated they believe that the use of technological protection measures increase the labels' control over the distribution, use and enjoyment of music, nor do they support laws that prohibit circumvention of such technological measures, including Canadian accession to the World Intellectual Property Organization's Internet Treaties that are designed to give control to major labels and take choices away from artists and consumers, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the New Democratic Party promote the adoption of the following principles in copyright legislation: 1. Copyright law should protect creators and consumers, not restrictive technologies. We must not allow technological protection measures to remove consumers fair and legal use of material they have already purchased; 2. The NDP supports balanced copyright law that promotes the advancement of society as a whole by giving effective protection for the interests of creators as well as the rights of users for fair and reasonable access in order to encourage creativity, innovation, research, education and learning; 3. Copyright law must not be used to force consumers to use a particular make, model, or brand of software to enjoy the content they have legally purchased; 4. Copyright law must not be used to protect old and outdated business models at the expense of consumers and companies or organizations with new distribution models; 5. Copyright law should protect creators from inequalities in bargaining power; 6. Copyright law should not allow collecting societies to charge for access to publicly available material on the Internet; 7. It should be illegal to use technological protection measures that surreptitiously modify, damage, spy on user’s computer systems or other products, or otherwise prevent the legal use, including use for personal purposes of the product purchased or acquired through legal means; 8. Technological protection measures must expire when the term of copyright has expired;143 9. Reformatting of material to make it accessible for visually, aurally or learning disabled persons should not be considered an infringement of copyright and should be considered as reasonable and fair access; 10. For works in digital format, without incurring a charge or seeking permission all users of a library should be able to: 11. browse publicly available copyright material; 12. read, listen to or view publicly marketed copyrighted material privately, on site, or remotely; 13. copy, or have copied for them, by library and information staff a reasonable proportion of a digital work in copyright for personal, educational or research use; and 14. The term of all copyright shall not be further extended. NANAIMO-COWICHAN NDP 3 R3 WHEREAS community broadcasting provides analysis of current issues and cultural events in a manner not available from either private broadcasters or national and provincial public broadcasters; and WHEREAS there is presently no public funding for campus and community radio; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP work to expand funding for public broadcasting to include campus and community radio. SAANICH-GULF ISLANDS NDP 3 R4 Culture -- Policy Framework Culture, as the term is used within the New Democratic Party, is looked at in two different ways. The first is anthropological, while the second refers to the arts and contemporary cultural expression. According to the Dictionnaire encyclopédique Auzou [Auzou encylopaedic dictionary] (Éditions Philippe Auzou, Paris, 2003), an identifying culture is ³the¹ collectve traditions, costumes, institutions, works and thoughts, that continue to be part of a civilisation, a nation, or a social group, and that characterizes them². The second definition of culture forms a subset of the anthropological one. In this context, culture may be defined as the expression through language, art, religion and technology of our species and social uniqueness. Language and culture are inseparable. This is the fundamental reason why the protection of languages is deemed essential by those who find that their historic languages are in danger of becoming artifacts. This is particularly true in Canada for many First Nations communities. This does not pertain in the same way to people who chose to immigrate to Canada for any144 number of reasons -- always with the clear understanding that they would come to live in one or both of Canada¹s official languages while maintaining and valuing their culture of origin. Canada has many regional cultures; it also has a unifying culture -- that which allows us to know who we are as Canadians. In one sense the Canadian culture may be seen as the sum of many distinctive parts; for many it is greater than the parts. Canada’s culture has evolved slowly in some places and times, and with incredible speed in others. For Canadians to live in mutual respect and harmony, acknowledging, allowing, and as possible celebrating the commonalities and differences are essential. Canada’s sovereignty is in very large measure dependant upon the protection we provide to its culture. Certain Canadian institutions have contributed to this sense of culture and community. These include the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio Canada, the Canada Council for the Arts, the National Film Board and the places and spaces dedicated to the preservation and creation of the best of what we have and are: parks, historic sites, beautiful buildings, operas, art galleries, theatres, Canadian films, dance, symphony orchestras and other musicians, museums, literature, composition, paintings, sculpture, regional foods and agriculture, ... and not least, contemporary expressions of culture in an incredibly diverse and wide variety of arts and crafts. Protecting and enhancing Canadian culture also provides a livelihood for many talented and worthy Canadians. We firmly believe that arts and culture must be totally free of political interference. At the same time, we believe that the state has a particular role to play in developing culture and the arts as instruments to develop Canadian society. Furthermore, as New Democrats, we see culture and the arts as potential tools for resisting the steam roller of economic neo-liberalism and dehumanized globalization.. A New Democratic cultural policy must seek to develop a citizen awareness they is both discerning and critical. There must be access for everyone, regardless of income, to the cultural, artistic and spiritual domains. New Democrats believe that Canadian culture must be respected and its manifestations protected. To this end, the New Democratic Party of Canada will work to: 1. Ensure that the mandate of the CBC/SRC is to support national and regional broadcasting, and to provide Canadian perspectives on local, regional, national and international affairs. Implicit in this mandate would be greater support for Canadian drama in prime time. This would include an emphasis on English language drama generally and French language drama which also reflects la francophonie hors Québec. The New Democratic Party of Canada will also work over a reasonable period of time to provide funding sufficient from general revenues to allow the CBC/SRC radio, television, cable and evolving electronic forums to provide quality service to all regions of Canada without financing through advertising. 2. Overhaul the governance structure of the CBC/SRC to end for all time patronage appointments. 3. Replace the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission with a new body with expanded responsibility to define Canadian cultural content in order to protect, encourage and support Canadian broadcasters and artists of all kinds, their development, work and heritage. In addition, this body would be responsible for strictly limiting American and other non-Canadian programming carried by Canadian privately and publicly owned radio and television. This new body would work with public and private media to establish guidelines to assist in providing balanced coverage of news, opinion, and cultural events. 4. Establish limits on the ownership and distribution of print media. 5. Assist Aboriginal, First Nations, Inuit and Métis communites in preserving their languages. This would be done by funding both research and language education in schools and post- secondary institutions.145 6. Continue to support English/ French first-language minority and second-language education since languages are the greatest protectors of culture. Knowledge of both official languages provides a greater capacity for Canadians to participate in their country's cultures. 7. Preserve and protect the places and spaces representative of the best of what we have and are: archives; parks; historic sites; buildings of historic and/or aesthetic importance; art galleries and their paintings, sculpture and other expressions of visual art; libraries; theatres and museums. 8. Through the Canada Council for the Arts, support Canadians involved in the expression of our culture through dance, interdisciplinary and performance art, media arts, music, theatre, visual arts, and writing and publishing. 9. Restore and strengthen the capacity of the Office national du film/ National Film Board by providing an appropriate level of funding 10. Through a system of grants, support regional foods and traditional agriculture, as well as regional contemporary culture as expressed through a diverse and wide variety of arts and crafts. 11. Protect our cultural rights as defended by the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and Products by providing clear direction to trade negotiators that would ensure that domestic cultural rights are not undermined under any circumstance in international trade talks. 12. The development of digital culture will continue to have profound implications for cultural, political and social ineraction. The NDP supports policies that encourage the growth of digital culture and new technologies that enhance the exchange of ideas and information. Digital cultural policy must be based on ensuring fair renumeration for artists while ensuring open and fair use of cultural products. BE IT RESOLVED that the preceding policy framework serve as a guide for future resolution development and provide direction to the NDP Federal Caucus in the matter of Cultural policy. MEDIA CULTURE AND COMMUNICATIONS COMMITTEE 3 R5 WHEREAS recent attempts to amend the Copyright Act are influenced by a variety of circumstances, including technological developments, the changing economics of information, and new international treaties and trade agreements on digital copyright issues; and WHEREAS since the last set of amendments to the Copyright Act in 1997 emerging information technologies have created new possibilities for the rapid transfer of digital information but have also raised serious challenges to the existing business models of the information and entertainment industries, leading to pressures from these industries to amend the Act; and WHEREAS such pressures have been exacerbated by new international agreements dealing with digital copyright issues including the WIPO treaties which Canada has signed but not yet implemented or ratified; and WHEREAS right-holders groups (such as the Canadian Recording Industry Association, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, Access Copyright, and the Canadian Publishers Council as well as their U.S. based counterparts) have aggressively argued for measures that will increase their control over their materials including licensing146 regimes for the use of content, collectives to pursue licensing fees for communications technologies, extensions of the term of copyright, the use of encryption devices, the criminalization of circumvention activities, and various other limitations upon users’ rights; and WHEREAS user-rights advocates (such as associations representing educators, researchers, librarians and students) argue for measures that will give them broadest possible access to information and knowledge and oppose extensions on the term of works, oppose measures imposing TPMs (technological protection measures) or DRMs (Digital Rights Management) and oppose restrictive interpretations of “fair dealing” and limiting other traditional users’ rights; and WHEREAS while the Supreme Court of Canada has issued a series of rulings strongly favoring the rights of users, industry lobbyists and some Members of Parliament continue to push for further restrictions on users’ rights including amendments which would bring Canadian Copyright Act more into line with more restrictive U.S. laws; and WHEREAS while Bill C-60 (an Act to amend the Copyright Act introduced in 2005) died on dissolution of the 38th Parliament leaving these issues unresolved, it is anticipated that similar legislation might appear in the future, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP recognizes the general principles that: Information and knowledge, especially that developed with the help of public resources, is the shared heritage of humanity and builds on the efforts and ideas of previous generations and will in turn be used by future generations; While creators need to be adequately compensated for their works, a strong public domain is essential to the creation of new knowledge and alternative policy tools exist for rewarding creators other than extending copyright restrictions and enforcement mechanisms (such as enhanced subsidies for the arts, targeted tax relief for artists, and support for a strong cultural and educational infrastructure) Measures that would erode the vitality of the public domain, impede fair-dealing and public access to knowledge, or hamper the development of new technologies should be opposed; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the NDP seek to work together with users’ rights advocates from the artistic, educational, library, and research communities in the development of responses to particular legislation which may be tabled and in the refinement of the above principles. LONDON NORTH CENTRE NDP 3 R6 BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal NDP maintain its policy of support for the CBC and add financial support for alternative media, such as campus and community radio stations, and street newspapers. VICTORIA NDP147 3 R7 WHEREAS there are francophone and Acadian communities in every province and territory of Canada; and WHEREAS there are Anglophone communities in every province and territory of Canada; and WHEREAS linguistic duality is integral to national unity and the Canadian identity; and WHEREAS the Official Languages Act and Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms recognizes the equality of French and English throughout Canada; and WHEREAS linguistic minorities need federal government support to develop and to consolidate their gains, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the NDP will ensure the protection, promotion and viability of Canada’s two official languages by supporting the Official Languages Act and by solidifying the rights of linguistic minorities to education in their own language as well as to federal government services and communication in their own language. ACADIE-BATHURST NDP 3 R8 COMPOSITE OF 3 R3, 3 R6 WHEREAS community broadcasting provides analysis of current issues and cultural events in a manner not available from either private broadcasters or national and provincial public broadcasters; and WHEREAS there is presently no public funding for campus and community radio, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Federal NDP maintain its policy of support for the CBC and add financial support for alternative media, such as campus and community radio stations, and street newspapers. SAANICH-GULF ISLANDS NDP VICTORIA NDP