TORONTO — The Conservatives, in their 2025 election platform, explicitly promise to ban federal agencies from dismissing workers “based on their COVID-19 vaccination status.”
The party will also ban the development of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and bring back the freedom for media outlets and social media users to share news on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Tory leader Pierre Poilievre announced his party’s costed platform at a press conference in Woodbridge, ON, on Tuesday, which includes $34 billion in new spending over four years and slashing the Liberals’ deficit by 70%.
The Tories’ 2025 election platform will cut $75 billion in taxes over four years, funded by $56 billion in spending reductions, Poilievre told reporters. He promised to save Canada $125 billion over four years compared to Liberal leader Mark Carney’s $130 billion platform.
The Tories, under their Protect Our Canadian Shared Identity plank of their platform, promise to “protect personal autonomy, privacy and data security.”
In addition to banning the dismissal of federal workers based on their vaccination status, the Tories will also halt the current Liberal government’s attempts to move toward mandatory digital ID systems.
Poilievre’s government will also “prohibit the Bank of Canada from developing or implementing a central bank digital currency” and remove the CRA’s home sale reporting requirement.
The Conservative platform also tackles the issue of free speech — including in the media — and promises to protect Canadian history and culture — all of which has been increasingly suppressed under the Carney-Trudeau Liberals.
“Wilfrid Laurier once said, ‘Canada is free, and freedom is its nationality,’” wrote the Tories in their platform.
“But during the lost Liberal decade, freedom of speech has been threatened, history erased, and voices silenced by censorship laws and corporate collusion.”
“A new Conservative government will restore free speech, protect personal liberties, honour our shared story, and promote Canadian culture and history.”
The platform’s free speech initiative specifically extends to university and college campuses and the media.
“Free speech is a cornerstone of Canadian democracy. We will ensure campuses remain places of debate, not censorship, by requiring universities to enforce the standards of section 2 of the Charter’s freedom of expression as a condition for federal funding,” states the Conservative platform.
The Tories promise to specifically support media freedom through a Freedom of Speech Act, which will “repeal Liberal censorship laws and restore Canadian news on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) and other platforms.”
Other steps the Conservatives will take in the media world are a $25 million increase to the Local Journalism Initiative and another $25 million for indigenous language media, “ensure all domestic government advertising dollars are spent on Canadian platforms only,” and maintain funding for French-language state broadcaster Radio-Canada.
They will, however, stay true to their promise to defund the CBC.
“English-language CBC should be a Canadian-owned, self-sufficient media organization that is not-for-profit and supported by listeners, donations, sponsorships, ad revenue, and licensing revenue,” states the platform.
