The Important
In Stephen Harper’s pitch to keep his family living at 24 Sussex Drive, the Prime Minister visited the Toronto suburb of Vaughan on Tuesday morning to announce his party’s target to create 700,000 new homeowners by 2020.
Stephen Harper is set to appear this morning at this half-built suburban subdivision. pic.twitter.com/Klhpuva5bp
— Richard Warnica (@richardwarnica) September 29, 2015
Harper didn’t unveil any new policies to go with his announcement, saying this target could be achieved with the government’s previous tax breaks and new incentives, such as the home renovation tax credit. In Vaughan, the average price for a single-family detached home is more than $800,000, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board.
Justin Trudeau, meanwhile, spent Tuesday in Winnipeg, where Liberal support has nearly doubled since 2011 and some polls have the Grits ahead of the Tories. Trudeau talked of boosting high-tech innovation with his pledge of $200 million annually for the next three years for research facilities, small business incubators and exporters. The Liberal leader also promised another $100 million per year would be spent on an industrial research assistance program.
A celebrity vibe permeates Trudeau's visit to Winnipeg's Carte International. Some off-shift workers came in #cbcmb pic.twitter.com/WImNfgsS2m
— Chris Glover (@chrisgloverCBC) September 29, 2015
The Interesting
Though it may be part of the reason for his slip in Quebec polls, Tom Mulcair stood firm earlier this week in opposition to the Conservative government’s position to ban the niqab at citizenship ceremonies, saying: “No one has the right to tell a woman what she must—or must not—wear.” But several NDP candidates are now saying they don’t agree with their federal leader. Romeo Saganash, the NDP incumbent from the Quebec riding of Abitibi–Baie-James–Nunavik–Eeyou, said at a local debate, in French: “The niqab, for me personally—and my party would not necessarily agree with me—the niqab is a clothing oppressor.”
Saganash wasn’t the only NDPer in Quebec to speak up about the divisive issue that day. Danielle Landreville, the NDP candidate in Joliette, told Le Journal de Joliette on Tuesday morning that she thinks it’s important that a woman’s face is revealed to clearly identify her during the citizenship oath. Landreville’s statement came out after Monday’s election-registration deadline, which means that if the NDP decided to remove her from the party’s ballot, she could not be replaced.
Et ça continue… #niqab #elxn42 #assnat http://t.co/8yc8ucmJiA pic.twitter.com/miQkI5gtwp
— Sébastien Marcil (@marcilseb) September 29, 2015
Regarding replacing candidates, the Liberals barely beat the deadline for Maria Manna, who was previously seeking a seat in the Vancouver Island riding of Cowichan–Malahat–Langford. Manna stepped down on Monday afternoon after Facebook comments surfaced in which she called the official account of the 9/11 terrorist attack “the lie.” She was replaced by Luke Krayenhoff, who will only have three weeks of campaigning until election day.
.@mariamanna's candidacy mysteriously collapses. Was it an inside job? Will we ever know the truth? http://t.co/hXHoe9OQ1Z
— Rob Breakenridge (@RobBreakenridge) September 29, 2015
The Fun
It was a cheeky bit of campaigning on the part of NDP’s Matt Masters Burgener, until a Tory supporter tried to join in on the fun. Instead of having signs with his name plastered all over town, Burgener, who is running against Harper in the Prime Minister’s own riding of Calgary Heritage, asked folks to donate $50 to the NDP in exchange for a personalized sign that would “send Harper a message.”
Edwin won tonight. #elxn42 #ndp c/o @SendHarperAMsg pic.twitter.com/elbQxKL7LJ
— Matt Masters (@MastersMatt) September 23, 2015
Comprehensive list of things that are great about @pmharper c/o Raddost #elxn42 #yyc #cdnpoli http://t.co/EJweObZL5X pic.twitter.com/28pnrAICoM
— SendHarperAMessage (@SendHarperAMsg) September 24, 2015
But when a Harper supporter from Manitoba heard about the campaign, he donated $50 to the cause, except he wanted his sign to say: “Let’s make it four in a row. Go Harper go!”
@MastersMatt @SendHarperAMsg where is the sign I paid for?
— James Montgomery (@J_Montgomery78) September 26, 2015
@MastersMatt @SendHarperAMsg very unfortunate that you are not going to post my positive message. Or are you still trying to find the time?
— James Montgomery (@J_Montgomery78) September 26, 2015
The NDP candidate said they held the right to refuse any message and, in this case, opted to refund the donor’s money, telling media: “We’re running an NDP campaign supporting an NDP candidate: me.”