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NDP and Kyoto Kyoto is coming and if Canadian Homeowners don't make homes more efficient, one of the nasty sides of it will hit us all. Up here in the North End, we have old homes that definitely won't make the Kyoto Protocol standards. If people don't do something to upgrade by changing their heating systems, insulating, installing new High-efficiency windows or any other moves to get their energy costs down, we'll see more than this year's 140 city-wide homes scheduled for demolition. So what has the NDP done? They worked with the City to support the Neighbourhood Homeowner Assistance Grants of up to $10,000, way before the Federal Liberals Paul Martin grabbed the idea for his campaign promises. They helped fund the Neighbourhood Fix-Up Grants for homeowners in the older inner-city areas to improve the exteriors, including new Windows and roofing upgrades. They passed legislation to allow homeowners install renewable energy-producing systems and still stay on the Hydro grid, in case it wasn't enough during air-conditioning and high heating seasons. They encouraged Manitoba Hydro's study to install Wind Power farms. And this one blew me away, today, the folks at Manitoba Hydro have just set up a low-interest homeowner loan to switch to Geothermal heating and air-conditioning for up to $15,000 on their Hydro bill! I'm looking forward to not only saving about $3,600 a year in Heating costs, but having my own Solar panels chop even more on my Electricity bill, as well as up the value of my home by making it almost cost-free. Even the City's property tax grant of up to $1,500 for doing $10,000 of renovations may even make my home free of taxes for 3 years. What other Province has so much cooperation with its major cities? I can live with the payments on the Hydro loans, especially with the NHA grant to back me up. I can live with the near-zero property taxes, knowing that my improvements will make my home less costly to operate when my income comes down to the Pension plan years in the next 10 years. So while the NDP may have used some Hydro funds to give us more services, they also got the obstacles out for people to help themselves, saving money every year, and avoiding the nasty possibilities of a Federal Carbon Tax under Kyoto. And Hydro will have more clean energy to sell even more cost-effectively. That's good business. That's where government really does run a good ship, even if it is a Prairie Schooner like Manitoba. If Manitoba homeowners take advantage of all these benefits, we'll see other countries and cities ask us how come we don't pay the Kyoto penalties, or they'll by our Kyoto credits while they get their act together. Is Ontario listening? I can't wait to see what Gary Doer has up his sleeve over the next 4 years!
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