| Category | Issue | Details |
| Crime and law enforcement | Internet surveillance and warrant-less wiretapping | The Conservatives promised to re-introduce Internet surveillance legislation that they were not able to pass, and bundle it with the rest of their crime bills. They said they plan to fast track the legislation within 100 days after taking office.[excessive citations] |
| Long gun registry | Harper pledged to scrap the long-gun registry. |
| Crime strategies | The Conservative platform included a promise to consolidate twelve crime bills into at least one omnibus bill and pass it within 100 days of forming a majority government. The bills included within that list would crack down on organized drug crime, end house arrest for violent criminals and establish tougher sentences and mandatory jail time for sexual offences against children. The opposition parties claimed the crime bills were not costed fully, and the opposition parties countered that this would create a US style system of prisons. The Conservatives have not released the costs for expanding the prison system. The other parties state that more focus should be given on crime prevention, so that it doesn't happen in the first place. The New Democratic Party (NDP) stated that their promise to hire 2,500 more police officers to patrol the streets, will help in preventing crime from occurring in the first place. |
| Defence policy | The Conservatives plan to purchase 65 F-35 Lightning II jet fighters. Stating that "Our defence policy is broken", the NDP announced that they would prioritize investment in naval ships over new fighter jets. The NDP stated that this would be a good opportunity to keep shipbuilding expertise and jobs in Canada. |
| Economy and fiscal policy | Balanced budget and recession | Conservatives argued that they steered the economy through the 2008 financial crisis, and promised to eliminate the budget deficit by 2014–15. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin, campaigning for the Liberals, challenged assertions, noting that his Liberal government left a $13 billion budget surplus, before the Conservatives took power. In 2010, Paul Martin had been invited to the prestigious Global ARC conference to discuss that elimination of the Canadian government deficit. Martin also claimed that when he was Finance minister working under Jean Chretien, his blocking of proposed bank mergers is what actually sheltered Canada from the worst effects of the recession. The New Democratic Party (NDP) released its platform promising a balanced budget in four years. After the NDP surge, the Liberals called the NDP platform "science fiction" stating it contains over $30 billion in new spending derived from sources that are not credible, and that implementing a cap and trade system that would take years to realize rather than provide the in-year contributions as claimed. |
| Corporate tax cuts and job creation strategy | The Conservatives stated that their plan to cut corporate taxes from 16.5% to 15%, will create more jobs. Harper stated that an increase in corporate taxes will create job losses across Canada. Layton countered by saying currently the jobs are shipped overseas, and pledged a $4,500 job creation tax credit to all businesses per new hire. Layton further went to say that small business are the ones creating more jobs, thus he promised to lower the tax rate for small business from 11% to 9%. He then went on to say the big business are using the corporate tax cuts by providing their CEOs with big bonuses, and thus pledged to increase their tax rate to 19.5%. The Liberals on the other hand, will raise the rate to 18%, stating that it will be competitive but not excessively low. |
| Increasing Canada Pension Plan | The NDP promised a gradual doubling of Canada Pension Plan and QPP benefits, in conjunction with the provinces, with an increase in payroll deductions of as much as 2.5 per cent. |
| HST referendum in BC | If BC voters were to reject the Harmonized Sales Tax in the upcoming referendum, the NDP promised to ensure that the penalties to be imposed by Ottawa on the HST agreement will be cancelled. |
| Personal taxation | Conservatives promised income splitting for tax purposes for families with children to be implemented once the budget is balanced in 2013. |
| Electoral reform and political honesty | Political honesty | The New Democratic Party stated that both the Conservatives and the Liberals cannot be trusted. The NDP accused the Conservatives of creating "Liberal-style scandals" and accused the Liberals of flip-flopping on issues such as corporate tax cuts, and the Afghanistan mission. Throughout the election various polls had shown the political honesty issue to be low on the list of priorities for voters. Post-media conducted a survey that found health care, the economy, taxes and jobs all more important to Canadians. Further, half of voters identified Harper as the best suited to be Prime Minister followed by Layton with one third support and Ignatieff with less than twenty percent support. On the question of a hidden agenda, Ignatieff is viewed by three times more of those polled to have a hidden agenda than Harper. |
| Political financing | Conservatives pledged to phase-out per-vote subsidy over two years, with its eventual cancellation. |
| Senate | Stephen Harper promised Senate reform without changing the constitution. The NDP pledged to abolish the Senate, stating it is a waste of tax revenues and a form of patronage. |
| Promised government programs | Newfoundland hydroelectric project and Quebec's HST | Conservatives, New Democrats and Liberals promised $4.2 billion in loan guarantees to support the Lower Churchill River power project. Due to outcry from Quebec over the pledge to provide loan guarantees for the Lower Churchill project, the Conservatives promise Quebec a $2.2 billion transfer to ease the Quebec Sales Tax to Harmonized Sales Tax transition. |
| Post-secondary education | Liberals promised a "Learning Passport" for high school students seeking post-secondary education. The NDP's plan is to reduce the tuition fees, by increasing transfer payments to the Provinces. |
| Immigration Fairness Commissioner | Liberals proposed the establishment of an "Immigration Fairness Commissioner" to provide oversight on the entry of immigrants with professional qualifications (doctors, engineers, etc.), and to increase the number of family reunification visas. |
| Health care | The NDP pledged to train 1,200 more doctors and 6,000 more nurses. All parties promised to continue to increase healthcare transfers to provinces by 6% annually. |
| Government regulations | Improved internet and usage based billing | The New Democratic Party (NDP) promised a ban on all forms of usage based billing by ISPs, and enshrine net neutrality in law, which would prevent bandwidth throttling. The Liberals promised net neutrality as well as "functional separation" with regards to usage based billing as well as enshrining net neutrality in law, which would prevent bandwidth throttling. Almost all of the established parties, with the exception of the Conservatives, outlined policies that they claim will improve Canadian Internet access. |
| Cap on credit card interest rates | The NDP promised to cap credit card rates at five percentage points above the Bank of Canada's prime interest rate. |
