Housing, wildfires, economy: Federal leaders’ promises on day 4 of election campaign

VANCOUVER — Housing, the climate, tackling wildfires, and Canada’s economy were among the topics federal leaders focused on on day four of the election campaign.

Speaking in Burnaby, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh met with a young couple to talk about affordability and housing before speaking with the media.

“This is Justin Trudeau’s housing crisis,” Singh said, joined by, Jim Hanson, the NDP’s candidate for Burnaby North-Seymour.

“We’ve got a chart here that lays out how the price of housing has increased over the past number of years, and the reality is over the past six years, things have just gotten so much worse. People cannot find a home that’s in their budget.”

Saying many young people are putting their lives on hold because they can’t afford a place to live, Singh once again put the blame on Trudeau, adding he “let this happen.”

“We know one of the big causes is there’s a lot of big money in housing,” he told reporters, adding the NDP promises to “take big money out of housing so that it’s not people competing with large and wealthy corporations, but it’s people actually trying to get a home that’s in their budget.”

Singh also vowed to build half a million more affordable homes and promised to go after foreign buyers, saying a 20 per cent levy should be slapped on any home sale if the buyer isn’t a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

The Liberal leader was also in B.C. Wednesday, speaking from Vancouver.

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Trudeau’s campaign stop was focused on a subject that has been top of mind for British Columbians and many other Canadians of late: wildfires and rising temperatures.

“Everyone knows I’m a son of Quebec but I’m also a proud son and grandson of British Columbia,” Trudeau said, trying to appeal to B.C. voters.

“I know this has been a really tough time for people across the province,” he explained, noting record temperatures, ongoing wildfires, and the devastation that’s ensued — including the destruction of the entire village of Lytton.

The Liberal leader says this season has and continues to show more resources are needed to fight wildfires and keep communities safe. If re-elected, Trudeau says the Liberal Party promises to invest $500 million ahead of the next season for firefighters and equipment.

“To begin with, we’ll train at least 1,000 more firefighters in communities across the country who will be able to mobilize right away when major burn starts,” he said.

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Trudeau is also promising to invest hundreds of millions of dollars so provinces can buy the equipment they need, such as water bombers, so they don’t have to rely on other jurisdictions.

Meanwhile, Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole took aim at the Liberals and NDP on Wednesday, the same day Statistics Canada released its inflation numbers for July.

O’Toole is blaming his political opponents for the decade-high pace of price growth that was reported, with the inflation rate in July hitting 3.7 per cent, the highest year-over-year increase since May 2011.

The Tory leader said the Liberal government’s approach to the economy is fuelling the increase and is pinning the elevated reading on Trudeau and Singh.

If elected, O’Toole said he would take actions to curb inflation.

“Canada’s recovery plan addresses that. We get the country working, we get the economy growing, we address the overspending by Mr. Trudeau, and we help direct families — we give a $1 raise for working families,” he said from Quebec City.

He said Canadians have a right to be concerned about skyrocketing prices.

“The highest inflation numbers in two decades should worry Canadians. Mr. Trudeau’s spending, Mr. Trudeau’s economic approach is leading to inflation.

People are not being able to afford groceries, gas. We’re already in a housing crisis, for seniors on fixed income, for families at the margins.”

O’Toole also promoted his plan to toughen up the country’s ethics laws.

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