On Thursday morning, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau held a press conference at a housing development in Saanich.
Trudeau took the opportunity to meet with a young family and talked about the challenges facing many first-time homebuyers in the red-hot Greater Victoria real estate market.
The Liberal leader was flanked by the seven Liberal candidates vying for seats on Vancouver Island, all hoping to break through and wrestle a seat away from the NDP and Greens, who hold all seven island seats coming into this campaign.
Trudeau pledged that – if elected – his party would take steps to help first-time buyers get their foot into the market, especially in the country's most expensive regions.
"So today, we’re announcing that a new Liberal Government will expand the incentive to give even more help to people living in Victoria, the Greater Vancouver area and the Greater Toronto area," said Trudeau.
"In those markets, we will increase the value of a qualifying home from approximately $500,000 to nearly $800,000."
At the press conference, Trudeau was asked why he's not attending tonight's leaders debate in Toronto, while Andrew Scheer, Jagmeet Singh and Elizabeth May are all attending.
Trudeau didn’t directly respond but emphasized that he's looking forward to participating in three other televised debates and is happy to be visiting with voters on the island.
"I’m also really happy to be here on Vancouver Island this morning to meet with families and talk about what we’re doing to make living more affordable for Canadians," said Trudeau.
Despite the excitement he expressed about being on the island, Trudeau's arrival here came with some complications. His campaign plane was struck by a media bus last night while parked on the tarmac.
The plane's wing was damaged and will need repairs. So, for his flights today, he and his team are using a new plane without the party logos that were on the damaged aircraft.
