This list was last updated on February 1st, 2010 bringing its total to 51 accomplishments, beyond the economic stimulus program. In order for an item to be considered an accomplishment, it must be: (1) legislation must have received Royal Assent; (2) agreements must have been signed; and/or (3) policy changes, equipment purchases and/or announcements must be, at a minimum partially underway.
(1) Age of consent legislation – from 14 to 16 effective May 1, 2008 (Link)
(2) Agent Orange compensation package of $96 million –$20,000 to all veterans and civilians who lived within 5 kilometers of CFB Gagetown in N.B.when Agent Orange was sprayed over a seven day period in 1966 and 1967 (Link)
(3) Apology to Native people — by Government of Canada on June 11, 2008 for residential school abuses (Link)
(4) Canada Employment Credit of $1000.00 (Link)
(5) Child Tax Credit ($2000 for every child under eighteen) (Link to all the family tax credits)
(6) Chinese Head Tax Apology– by the government on June 22, 2006 (Link) (Link)
(7) Chinese immigrant provision of $20,000 to every individual and/or surviving spouses who paid the head tax plus $24 million towards an “historical recognition program”(Link)
(8) Columbia Free Trade Agreement — signed at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation meeting in Lima, November 21, 2008 (Link)
(9) Criminal Code amended (Bill C-14 ) — measures against organized crime, with 25 years for murder without eligibility for parole — passed on June 23rd, 2009, coming into effect October 2, 2009 (Link)
(10) Disability Savings Plan, part of the 2007 budget, it was fully implemented in December, 2008 (Link)
(11) Doer, Gary, former NDP Manitoba Premier, appointed — the Ambassador to the United States on August 28, 2009 (Link) — an accomplishment because it is a concrete example how the Conservative gov’t can be bi-partisan
(12) Economic Action Plan — 12,000 “stimulus” projects approved across the country, with 8,000 already started (Link)
(13) Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario – officially launched on August 13th, 2009 in Kitchener- Waterloo, Canada’s fifth such regional organization (Link)
(14) European Free Trade Association – Canada Agreement — signed on July 2, 2009 — between Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland (Link)
(15) Food Labelling Initiative — to clarify and modernize labelling on food products, including “Product of Canada” and “Made in Canada” claims (Link) (Link)
(16) GIS — Guaranteed Income Supplement Improvements – for seniors, changed to allow for higher earned income – (Link) (Link)
(17) GST — Goods & services tax cut from 7% to 6% and then to 5% (Link)
(18) Haitian Earthquake Response – (Link)
(19) Hep C compensation redressed – for latest court rulings that clear the way for national $1 billion package (Link), as well as how to apply for compensation (Link)
(20) Human Rights Protection for First Nations — Bill C-21 received Royal Assent on June 18, 2008 and is now part of the Canadian Human Rights Act, allowing First Nations people the same human rights as other Canadians previously denied under Section 67 (Link)
(21) Identity theft legislation — (Bill S-4) — received Royal Assent on October 27, 2009 — for obtaining and possessing identity information, trafficking in that information or unlawfully possessing or trafficking in gov’t documents (Link)
(22) Income splitting for Canadian seniors and pensioners (Link)
(23) Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement (Link)
(24) Jordan Free Trade Agreement — signed by Canadian and Jordanian government officials and reported on June 28, 2009 (Link)
(25) Kid’s sport tax credit (up to $500 per child) (Link)
(26) Kuwait Foreign Investment Promotion & Protection Agreement (FIPA) — completed in April 2009 (Link)
(27) Land Claim Agreements — five-point plan for Aboriginal Canadians (Link) — to compare the years the Conservatives have been in power to previous years (Link) — 256 claims since the gov’t came into power, with 623 remaining (Link)
(28) Lobbying Act — passed July 2, 2008 (Link)
(29) Manley Report approved (Report) (Link)
(30) Marquee Tourism Events Program – part of the 2009 Harper government budget, it is intended to provide timely economic stimulus now and in the next 24 months. (Link) (See also the example of the Shaw Festival Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, which received $2.1 million dollars)
(31) Mental Health Commission of Canada — established and incorporated as a non-profit corporation in March of 2007 (Link)
(32) Military Equipment Purchases – As we discovered at the time of the Haiti earthquake, the Conservative government has purchased four C-17 Globemaster Heavy Lifting Aircraft, 17 C-130 Hercules, new battle tanks and German patrol cars, as well as several thousand trucks (Link)
(33) Northern Regional Development Economic Agency — announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 in Iqaluit, Nunavut (Link)
(34) Nunavik Inuit Land Claims Agreement (Link)
(35) Ombudsman for Victims of Crime established (Link)
(36) Panama-Canada Free Trade Agreement — signed in Panama on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 (but still to be ratified by Parliament) (Link)
(37) Peru – Canada Free Trade Agreement — adopted by Parliament June 18, 2009 (Link)
(38) Poland — Youth Mobility Agreement signed on July 14, 2008 that allows youth from either country to work and travel for up to one year (Link)
(39) Public transit tax credits (Link)
(40) Quebecois as a nation — a motion to confirm Quebec within a united Canada (Link)
(41) Savings Account that is tax free (Link)
(42) Self-employ Fairness Act — (Bill C-56) — provides special benefits to the self employed on a volunteer basis (Link)
(43) Softwood Lumber Agreement (Bill C-24) (Link)
(44) Street racing crack down (Link)
(45) Students exempted from taxation for scholarships, bursaries and fellowships (Link)
(46) Tackling Violent Crime Act (Link) (Link)
(47) Taxpayers Bill of Rights (Link)
(48) Taxpayers Ombudsman (Link)
(49) Truth in Sentencing Act — Bill C25 received Royal Assent on October 23, 2009 — ending the two for one credit for time served in pre-trial custody (Link)
(50) Ukrainian & Eastern European immigrants — $10 million to educate Canadians about the internment in Canadian work camps during WWI (Link)
(51) Universal Child Care Benefit — $1,200.00 per year for every child under age six (Link)
