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Originally Posted by Only The Lonely..
Wow, you know what? I never thought in a million years i'd ever agree with anything said by Jack Layton. But his ideas regarding urban transit are probably the most insightful thing said yet from a politician in Ottawa.
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Layton promises transit cash
By: Joe Paraskevas | Winnipeg Free Press
Updated: August 13 at 11:28 AM CDT
Federal New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton stood on a corner of the Graham Avenue transit mall this morning and set out a plan that would deliver $108 million for Winnipeg public transit.
"Many Canadians understand now we have to take strong action to deal with climate change," Layton said at a news conference as buses rumbled by, a few metres away.
"In fact, in many ways Canadians are ahead of governments often times on these issues," he continued. "But they're looking for the solutions to be available to them so they can leave their car at home once in a while. But you can't do that if you haven't got transit that's affordable and available to you."
The NDP plan would channel federal dollars annually to municipalities with the only restriction that the money go towards public transit.
The money would come from a committment of one per cent per litre of the existing federal excise tax on gasoline, as well as a share of a cap-and-trade system of charging large polluters for the greenhouse gases they emit.
But Layton also had to respond to questions about the chances his plan had in becoming reality.
As the fourth largest party in the House of Commons, the NDP has limited influence.
Layton assured reporters he would try to sway the Conservative government, an administration he termed had "no interest in these matters."
"We remain eternally optimistic," Layton said, "and if (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper is unwilling, then we'll take it to the voters when that time comes. I believe it will have a lot of community support."
Among local politicians, the response to Layton's announcement seemed positive.
Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry Coun. Jenny Gerbasi, one of the strongest advocates at city hall for rapid transit welcomed the plan as "dedicated, predictible transit funding."
She said such ongoing federal investment is "what we've been missing."
Winnipeg is awaiting an announcement from city and provincial governments on rapid transit using a one-time allocation of about $18 million from Ottawa.
Moreover, Gerbasi and Layton said Mayor Sam Katz called the NDP's plan "awesome" when he spoke to the NDP leader yesterday.