EDITORIAL: Is Trudeau afraid to release his full platform? 

Article content

Canadians are easing out of summer vacation mode and starting to take the election seriously. They want to know what the different parties are promising.

One of the most common ways they do this is by going online and searching for the platforms.

If they do that for the Conservatives and NDP, they’ll find those platforms, written in full. If they do it for the Trudeau Liberals, they’ll come up short.

While Liberal leader Justin Trudeau has made a number of announcements since the election began, he hasn’t released his party’s full platform.

This is rather strange. The Liberals are the ones who called this election. The timing was all in their control.

Shouldn’t they have then been the ones to have their platform ready before anyone else?

Wouldn’t it have made sense for them to release theirs first?

If Trudeau has a record he’s proud of, and ideas he thinks are winners, wouldn’t he get them out there front and centre early to showcase them as much as possible?

Conservative leader Erin O’Toole has put forward a serious platform he’s calling Canada’s Recovery Plan, which focuses on rebuilding the economy in the aftermath of the pandemic.

NDP leader Jagmeet Singh released his platform, with a focus on a wealth tax along with child care, pharmacare and dental care plans.

It’s the usual NDP fare and not our cup of tea, but we applaud Singh for being open and transparent with his full platform. He clearly has no problem proudly selling it to the electorate.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

What’s the deal with the Liberals then? Why the reluctance? Is Justin Trudeau afraid of releasing his platform?

This campaign so far hasn’t gone the way the Liberals were hoping. The poll numbers show that Liberal support is slipping away and the Conservatives are on the rise.

It’s still early on, anything can happen. But it seems there’s now less support for Trudeau and for Liberal pledges.

Maybe the Liberal campaign team is nervous that their platform can’t withstand prolonged critical scrutiny or that it will only further turn Canadians away from them.

Whatever the reason, right now they’re the odd one out.