Jack Layton did a public Q&A session with the Canadian public yesterday, hosted by the CBC at the Vancouver Library. I have to say that - although dodging some questions, as all good politicians do - he came off quite well.

He had two people ask him how he planned to pay for all of his social programs, given that the average Canadian was already "taxed to death".

Layton explained that he'd use the surplus the Liberal government has had for the past couple of years, as well as repealing overly generous corporate tax cuts. He also wants to implement an inheritance tax on inheritances over $1 million.

Layton also went into how Canada would implement the Kyoto Accord within Canada by giving two examples. The first was retrofitting every building in Canada to be more energy efficient. His payment scheme for this was "through the energy savings", which to me sounds like we'll be paying the same amount for our energy, but have more energy efficient houses as a result. There's no time limit mentioned for how long it would take to pay off the retrofitting. His second example was to remove GST from hybrid vehicles, and sponsor manufacture of hybrid vehicles within Canada. All good if we can get it, but it would mean a slightly more expensive vehicle, labour rates being what they are in Canada.

One other NDP platform that is likely to be highlighted is the removal of income tax for individuals making less than $15,000 per year. This, I think, is a very good idea. Though it wouldn't impact students such as Kirsten (who, due to tuition, receives all her taxes back at the end of the year), it would make a big difference for Canada's working poor. They'd be provided with an additional $1,000 or so throughout the year that they wouldn't ordinarily have.

I think where Layton really won here was in his personality. He's clearly one of the more energetic and excited candidates, and I think that may resonate well with the Canadians that meet him or watch him in debates. He's excited about the future of Canada, and sees it as a time of building.