Liberal grassroots push for healthcare overhaul, CPP shield, and electoral reform at 2026 policy convention
Delegates at the Liberal Party of Canada's 2026 national convention will vote this week on a slate of resolutions that signal a muscular federalist posture on provincial legislation, a deep restructuring of the Canada Health Act, and a renewed—though still divided—push to change how Canadians cast their ballots.
The policy package, obtained by The Provincial Times, contains 19 separate resolutions advanced by provincial wings and party commissions. While non-binding, the votes will provide a clear window into the ideological priorities of the party's grassroots as it prepares for the next federal campaign under new leadership.
The most densely packed policy area is health care, with six resolutions collectively diagnosing the current system as anachronistic and understaffed. A resolution sponsored by the Alberta wing explicitly calls on the government to “initiate amendments” to the 1984 Canada Health Act to “strengthen universal health care” and push back against the contracting of for-profit surgical and diagnostic clinics.
A separate but complementary resolution from the Senior Liberals' Commission advocates for modernizing the CHA to establish "measurable national standards" for wait times and access. It notes that wait times from family doctor to specialist have ballooned by 208% over the last three decades.
Notably, a resolution from the National Women's Liberal Commission urges the government to adopt the specific prescription outlined in former health minister Jane Philpott's book Healthcare For All. This would include creating a new Canada Primary Care Act and tying federal health transfers to the goal of providing every Canadian with a "primary care home" within a decade.
Electoral reform and the pension shield
Amid ongoing tensions with Alberta over the Canada Pension Plan, delegates from that province are sponsoring a resolution that would effectively neuter any provincial attempt to leave the CPP. The resolution demands that if a province creates its own plan, individuals must be given the option to stay with the federal plan rather than have their funds transferred. Such a measure would likely render a provincial alternative financially unviable.
In another assertion of federal authority, British Columbia's resolution calls on the government to invoke the rarely used power of disallowance against any province that proactively invokes the Charter's Notwithstanding Clause before court challenges are exhausted.
The party's fraught relationship with electoral reform is on full display in two competing visions. An Ontario resolution resurrects the 2015-era Liberal preference for a ranked ballot system requiring a candidate to secure 50 per cent plus one vote. It argues this reduces "dead votes" and encourages more civil campaigns.
In contrast, the National Women's Liberal Commission is sponsoring a resolution for full Proportional Representation, to be designed by a Citizens' Assembly. The resolution acknowledges Canada's First Past the Post system "distorts representation" and heightens regional divisions. The existence of both resolutions ensures the internal debate that plagued the party in 2016 will resurface on the convention floor.
Economic nationalism and AI safeguards
On the economic front, resolutions embrace a nation-building ethos. A proposal from New Brunswick calls for a new Crown corporation to run electric regional rail service connecting Saint John to Halifax and beyond. The Young Liberals are pushing for a national strategy to accelerate technology transfer from universities to private industry—a direct response to Canada's lagging productivity and patent filings.
Two resolutions address artificial intelligence and social media regulation. A Quebec-sponsored resolution demands a ban on children under 16 accessing AI chatbots and "potentially harmful" AI interactions. A separate resolution from Saskatchewan and Quebec sets a minimum age of 16 for social media accounts and mandates age-assurance tools.
While these digital safety measures reflect growing anxiety over youth mental health, the proposed age-gating mechanisms are likely to draw scrutiny from privacy advocates and civil liberties groups. Requiring platforms to verify the age of every Canadian user would, in practice, almost certainly necessitate a form of digital identification or biometric age estimation tied to user accounts. Digital rights activists argue this would erode online anonymity for adults and create a centralized honeypot of sensitive personal data.
As delegates prepare to debate the resolutions, the votes will serve as a barometer for where the party's base wants the next government to expend its political capital: on a more muscular federation, a restructured health system, and a cautious but firm hand on the levers of the digital economy.
