特鲁多大选承诺（一）：从税制改革到儿童福利

新当选的总理特鲁多将于2015年11月4日带领他的内阁宣示就职。那天起，他的竞选承诺将开始实施。支持和反对他的选民都会看他是否兑现那些承诺，而很多承诺都需要在预订的时间期限内兑现。

The newly elected Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will be sworn in along with his cabinet on November 4, 2015.  On that day, the clock will start ticking on his many campaign promises. The voters along with his opponents will track his effort to meet those promises; many of them need to be accomplished within specified timeframes.

 

在接下来的几个星期，我将某些承诺向读者展现，并就其中一些进行讨论。现在就来看看这些承诺大体有什么内容，以及兑现这些承诺所（可能）面临的障碍：

Over the next few weeks, I will try to identify these items and provide some discussions on them. Here is a look at most of these promises and some of the associated difficulties (if any):

 

1）税务改革（100天之内）
1) Tax Changes (within 100 days): 

 

向加拿大人中的高收入者征收更多的税，“中产阶级”减少税务。保守党曾经把“免税储蓄”账户的限额提高到1万元，现在则要减少到5500元，不过会把通涨因素考虑在内。他还承诺取消幼儿家庭的收入分割政策，而老年人的收入分割不会受影响。

More taxes for the highest income earners and less for “middle-income” Canadians. Reverse of the Conservative Party’s policy for “Tax free saving account” yearly limits from $10,000 back to $5500 but with inflation adjustments and eliminating the incoming splitting for families with young children. The senior’s income splitting is not affected.

 

这几项承诺较容易实施，不会成为明年新政府的难题。

These are easily manageable and should not be an issue for their administration for the next calendar year.

 

2）就失踪与被杀害的原住女性居民问题进行调查：

2) Holding Inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women:

 

就过去三十年内逾1000名原住女性居民失踪或者被害的问题发起公开调查。与这项承诺一起，联邦政府还将与加拿大的原住民社区建立“全新的关系”。

Initiate public inquiry into the more than 1000 missing and murdered aboriginal women over the last 3 decades. Along with this pledge, the Federal Government is to build a “renewed relationship” with Canada’s Indigenous people.

 

开展调查并非难题。不过如何处理调查所得的结论将较棘手，所需的资源与投入可能会超过政府的短期能力。

Setting up the inquiry will not be an issue. Dealing with its findings can be difficult as it may involve resources and efforts beyond the government’s capabilities in the short term. 

3）儿童福利改革：

3) Child benefits reform:

贾斯汀承诺一套“全新的”加拿大儿童福利政策，以全面取代现有的儿童福利。新政策将与受益者的收入挂钩。这个政策规定有幼儿的家庭和年收入低于20万的家庭今后将得到更多补助（免税）而收入更高的家庭则得不到任何儿童福利。

Justin promised a “new” Canada Child Benefit to replace all of the existing child benefits and it is tied to the recipients’ income. It was proposed that families with young children and with a household income under $200,000 will get more money in future (tax-free) while those with income level above will not receive any money at all.

这一政策将耗资巨大并需要修改立法，不过在多数政府的议会中可顺利通过。

This item is costly and will require legislative changes but with a majority in Parliament, it will get approved.

4）C-51法案让加拿大政府机构能够更为便利地分享个人信息。该法案还扩大了加拿大安全情报局（CSIS）的职能。自由党承诺在当选后将修改这个法案，增加监督，因为“在维护国家安全的名义下，严重侵犯人权的事情可能发生。”

4) C-51 is an Act of the Parliament of Canada that broadened the authority of Canadian government agencies to share information about individuals easily. It also expanded the mandate of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS). The Liberals promised to amend the bill to increase oversight if elected as "serious human rights abuses can occur in the name of maintaining national security”.

我们知道他们会设立一系列“夕阳条款”――结束那些让联邦政府部门有权分享个人信息的条件。但自由党目前并没有提供有关此事的任何细节，因此到该议题得到国会正式讨论之前，我们不知道到底会修改到什么程度。新民主党、魁人政团、以及绿党希望把整个C51法案全部撤销。各党之间会有争斗，有的党可能利用一些拖延讲演等技巧来延缓法案的通过，不过在一个自由党多数的议会里，法案最终会得到通过。

We know that they will set a series of “sunset Clauses” – conditions to end some of the powers given to federal government departments to share personal information. Without any further details given by the Liberals at this time, we will not know the extent of the changes until it comes before Parliament for amendment. The New Democratic Party (NDP), Bloc Quebecois, and the Green Party wanted Bill C51 to be “scrapped” all together. There will be a fight for these parties and a delay of passing this Bill using filibuster techniques to achieve some political gains but the Liberal majority will look after this matter.

 

下一次，我们将继续讨论特鲁多（自由党）政府的竞选承诺。

Next time, we will continue with the other Election Promises made by the Trudeau (Liberal) government.