OTTAWA – Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has responded to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s invitation to outline Liberal priorities for the upcoming session of Parliament.

In his letter, Mr. Ignatieff directly expresses the dismay of Canadians that Parliament is not currently sitting, and encourages the Prime Minister to create a special committee to review the Liberal party’s recommended prorogation reforms.

“Mr. Harper sacrificed his entire legislative agenda simply to avoid the kind of accountability and transparency he once promised to deliver,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “That’s why our party has come forward with a proposal to place reasonable and responsible limits on the Prime Minister’s ability to request a prorogation, and limits on the overall impact of prorogation.”

The Liberal Leader also put forward a number of policy proposals arising from the recent “Liberals are Working” policy roundtables, in addition to those announced over the past several months.

“Over the past month, Liberals have hosted 24 public hearings that have produced a wealth of substantial policy proposals from Canadians of all political stripes,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “We’re putting forward a number of these proposals to provide the basis for a productive session of Parliament – assuming that Mr. Harper is interested in making our minority Parliament work.”

Mr. Ignatieff encouraged the Prime Minister to implement the following initiatives:
• Job creation proposals to support manufacturers and young Canadians, and to encourage investment in start-up companies;
• Increase investments in clean energy and energy efficiency;
• Adopt a made-in-Canada climate change plan, including a binding and verifiable cap-and-trade system with hard caps, absolute reductions, and fairness to all industries and regions;
• Reform pensions to help Canadians save more and protect Canadians whose pension income is threatened by employer bankruptcy;
• Strengthen oversight of our independent watchdog agencies;
• Reaffirm the principle of equal pay for work of equal value as a non-negotiable right;
• Call an investigation into the national shame of missing and murdered Aboriginal women;
• Increase supports for Canadian veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder;
• Develop a National Neurological Strategy to address Alzheimer’s and dementia;
• Reaffirm Canada’s traditional support for a woman’s right to access contraception and reproductive health services as part of the maternal health initiative;
• Protect victims of white collar crime with measures like mandatory restitution and tax relief;
• Pursue proven crime-prevention solutions that reduce crime, prevent victimization and enhance community safety; and
• Provide the public with transparency over the government’s role in the transfer of Afghan detainees by reconstituting and ending Conservative boycotts of Parliament’s Afghanistan committee, and respect the will of Parliament by handing over unredacted documents in a manner that protects legitimate claims of national security.
“This Parliament has important work to do and can still achieve results for Canadians,” concluded Mr. Ignatieff.

View the letter to Prime Minister Harper