Politics

Election 2015: The day that was

Sept. 15, 2015: A good old tax break, the Green leader strikes back and an orange wave in print

The important

Tuesday was Stephen Harper’s turn to appeal to seniors. Within days of both the NDP and the Liberals making platform promises to elderly Canadians, the Prime Minister was in Vancouver to announce that a Conservative government would introduce a $2,000 single seniors tax credit. When combined with the current $2,000 pension income credit, Harper said, it would double the tax relief for single and widowed seniors starting in 2017.

Having made his pitch to seniors a day earlier, Justin Trudeau spent Tuesday morning at a training facility for plumbers and steamfitters in Waterloo, Ont., where he promised a Liberal government would invest $750 million for skilled trades training. The majority of that money—about $500 million—would be set aside for the provinces, and $200 million would go toward training those not eligible for federal training. The last $50 million would go toward expanding the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy.

The NDP, meanwhile, started the day in Lethbridge, Alta., where the party promised $100 million would go toward a mental health innovation fund. The announcement comes after a summer when Alberta’s auditor general wrote that the province “failed to properly execute its addiction and mental health strategy.”

The interesting

Elizabeth May won’t let the lack of an invitation to the Globe and Mail federal leaders debate deter her from participating. The Green leader—who took part in the Maclean’s debate this summer—says she will be live-tweeting alongside Thursday night’s event, including making video answers.

Speaking of leaving leaders out, Abacus Data released a poll that asked who Canadians would vote for if Trudeau and Mulcair were the only two options. Turns out even Conservative voters are split on who they would vote for between the two.

While Harper remains in a virtual three-way tie with the other leaders in the polls, the feelings Canadians have toward the Prime Minister are not overly positive.

Related: Digging deeper beyond the topline with Abacus Data’s CEO 

The fun

NDP orange swept Alberta in the recent provincial election. Did it hit one of the city’s daily newspapers too? A change to the Edmonton Journal’s logo at least has a few folks talking.

Of course, this debate is all nonsense.

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