It’s been a rough go for city residents across Canada the last 10 years. There’s been a definite sense that the things they care about are not at the top of the Conservative to-do list. But that has mysteriously changed this election. The prime minister announced some money for the Vancouver public library, for gawd’s sake. His party has also been flinging dollar promises around for transit in Calgary and Toronto. Liberal leader Justin Trudeau announced (on the grounds of the city’s engineering department, of all things) bags of money for the Broadway line. And of course he has something to say on Vancouver’s favourite topic, marijuana. The NDP’s Tom Mulcair has been talking a lot about money for housing. What the heck is this all about?
My latest column in Vancouver magazine looks at why this is happening. It’s not just because there are 30 new, mostly urban, ridings in the country.