Trudeau’s Liberal party defeated former Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative party in the October election.
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“What I am going to do is what I’ve always done is say, look, we are going to put forward a plan that is going to invest in Canadians in education, in innovation, in infrastructure that’s going to create growth”.
He did not have specific promises for housing or transit, stating Ottawa won’t dictate projects but will be a partner to cities across the country.
In terms of other hot-button local issues like housing and transportation, Trudeau says Vancouver and other cities have a “partner” in Ottawa.
“What we were elected on was a commitment to help Canadians grow the economy and that’s what we’re going to stay focused on”. “But what’s most important is that we recognize that this is a problem that we face together”.
“I can’t tell you what happened but, oh, it’s so good”, he said. So hopefully with this new investment in transportation with federal and provincial government, we can get an improved system for tolling.
When asked about the shifting deficit talk during the town hall, Trudeau said the Liberals had also promised to be transparent with Canadians about the country’s financial picture. “We will work with the new government in its efforts to ensure we have the best possible standards and process moving forward”, a company spokesperson said in an interview. Given that beleaguered oil sands firms still suffer from insufficient pipeline capacity to get their oil to global markets, it’s no surprise Trudeau was asked about his government’s planned approach to TransCanada’s made-in-Canada solution: the proposed Energy East pipeline, connecting Alberta with the East Coast.
“However, we do need to continue to allow processes … underway where proponents of a broad range of projects can attempt to acquire the social license that simply was not available, even as a theoretical option, over the past years”, he added.
“As we have said many times, our plan is to reduce taxes for the middle class and that’s what we are focusing on”.
A long receiving line consisted of everyone from the three chiefs of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, to city councillors, park and school board chairs, the police and fire chiefs, and the heads of every department.
“I think one of the things that Canadians expect is a level of fiscal responsibility that we’ve been able to demonstrate in the past and we’re certainly going to demonstrate it in the future”.
Trudeau said the government has dedicated $20 billion in transit funding over the next 10 years.
He first shied away from commenting on another country’s election, saying Canada must have a relationship with whoever wins next year’s presidential vote.
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“His priorities are the priorities of the people here in Vancouver”.
