Canadian federal parties haven’t released platforms for election

With the Canadian federal election just over a week-and-a-half away, the clock is ticking for the parties to unveil their full costed platforms.

None of the major parties have released them yet, and one expert says voters can expect to wait even longer.

Kwantlen Polytechnic University political scientist Shinder Purewal tells 1130 NewsRadio that most don’t want to because it welcomes further scrutiny at a time when they’re trying to win over voters.

He says parties used to release their platforms at roughly the same time, but that’s no longer the case.

“Now the parties release their platforms little by little, and they do it region by region. So, if something is affecting Quebec, for example, they will only release it in Quebec. Some of the bigger programs like childcare or pharmacare, they’ll do it on a national scale,” Purewal explained.

Purewal adds that the goal is to avoid criticism from journalists, organizations, the public, and of course, opposing party leaders.

“You know, you’re saying this, how are you going to fund this? How are you going to finance this? Are you going to run a deficit? Are you going to cut services? What services are you cutting?”

He says that despite all this, he suspects the majority of the public already knows who they’re voting for, and most won’t flip through the documents once they’re released.

However, the downside is that voters don’t know where parties stand on other big issues that don’t include jobs, the economy, and the U.S.-provoked trade war — the issues that have so far dominated the campaign trail.

Purewal says people require more information about health care, the environment, and $10 a day daycare.

He suspects platforms will be unveiled by the end of advance voting days, which is Easter Monday, or by the weekend before election day, April 28.

Overall, Purewal thinks NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh could lose his seat in Burnaby after being at the helm of dwindling support for the New Democratic Party.

“The NDP has a lot of strategic voters whose main purpose is to make sure Pierre Poilievre doesn’t become prime minister. So, they’re not losing support, they’re losing support to the Liberals,” he explained.

Various polls released over the last couple of weeks have shown the Liberals have pulled ahead of the Tories, but that gap has somewhat closed with voting day closing in.

Federal election day is April 28. Make sure to check out the CityNews guide to the 45th federal Canadian election here.