Team Realosophy in Urban Issues
Given their nation's relative disinterest, Stephen Harper and Stéphane Dion would be better off attacking Barack Obama and Sarah Palin than each other. But attack and unveil they must.
This week, some highlights of platform commitments to homes and cities. Visit us often for an ongoing tally.
A re-elected Conservative government would offer first-time
homebuyers a new tax credit of up to $5,000 to help cover closing
costs, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said on Monday.
The move would result in a maximum tax return rebate of $750 per
family, Harper said during a campaign appearance in Kitchener, Ont.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion proposed the establishment Thursday of
tax-free “Green Bonds” and a $70-billion 10-year plan to create jobs
and refurbish Canada’s aging bridges, roads, and sewage facilities and
supply more urban transit
Some of the money would be
distributed through an “infrastructure bank” providing a source of
low-cost financing for any level of government for high-speed rail,
regional energy grids and other big projects.
From the Toronto Star:
The killing of an innocent fruit vendor during a gunfight on a
bustling Toronto street "steeled" the resolve of NDP Leader Jack Layton
to outlaw handguns.
Layton said yesterday if he's elected Prime
Minister on Oct. 14 he would empower provinces, cities, and towns to
impose handgun bans.
From the Canadian Press:
Stretching about 640 metres along the tracks, the 22-car passenger
train carrying Green party Leader Elizabeth May on her retro-style
whistle-stop tour of Canada is larger than the jets preferred by her
political opponents - but it sure feels smaller.
May is staging
the first cross-Canada whistle-stop tour since former prime minister
John Diefenbaker's iconic trips in the 1960s, and life on the rails has
seen May forgo the carefully staged photo-ops and scripted
announcements of her counterparts.
...
The Green leader is also using the tour to highlight her call for
upgrades to Canada's rail system. Her party's platform calls for $1
billion for rail improvements.
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