Look who dropped in at Carianne's place today!

Carianne Robinson was in Orillia, working 40 hours a week with three boys in daycare and pregnant for her fourth child.

That's when she found out she was going to be laid off.

"Enough is enough," she told herself.

Robinson told her parents, Marianne and Peter Reynolds, that she was coming home to the Sault to raise her children.

To help her out, the Reynolds took advantage of federal and provincial programs to renovate and retrofit a home for Robinson and her children.

Today, federal New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton and Sault MP Tony Martin dropped by to see what the family had done to warm up the place and make it affordable for Robinson and her children.

The federal program that Marianne, Peter and Carianne accessed has now ended.

But that's not stopping them.

"With or without the federal funding, I'm going to do this again," said Peter Reynolds today.

The family wants to retrofit and renovate another house for Carianne's brother, who also wants to move home with his family.

Reynolds told Layton he's really hoping the NDP will be successful and convince the Harper government to bring back the ecoEnergy Retrofit Program.

Real soon.

Meanwhile, the Reynolds and Robinson have managed to take a cold, drafty home that cost more than $250 a month to heat on equal billing and transformed it into a comfortable, draft-free home that costs up to $70 in the coldest winter months to heat.

"I no longer have to work extra hours to afford to heat my home on top of paying my rent, daycare and other bills," said Robinson.

She now lives the life she wants, spending plenty of time with her four children and taking care of her two stepchildren as well.

The full text of a news release from Jack Layton's office follows.

************************* Give Sault families a break on heat bills

NDP Jack Layton brings campaign to reduce home heating costs to Sault Ste Marie

SAULT STE MARIE - New Democrat leader Jack Layton says Stephen Harper has broken his promise to make life more affordable for Canadian families.

Layton is in the Sault as part of his Heat Your Home Tax Free tour.

Speaking at a recently retro-fitted home, Layton said that "people in Northern Ontario and across Canada have been hit hard by rising heating costs this winter.

Heating your home in Canada is not a luxury.

Stephen Harper must do the right thing - bring back the ecoEnergy Retrofit Program, and take the federal sales tax off home heating."

Layton was joined by New Democrat MP Tony Martin (Sault Ste Marie), and homeowner Peter Reynolds, who has saved money since using the ecoEnergy Retrofit Program.

"This is Northern Ontario - it gets cold here, and heating our home isn't cheap," said Reynolds. "We were able to retrofit our home and our daughter's home. As a single mother of four, those savings have made a big difference for her and her family."

"I just can't see how this government thinks it's okay to dole out billions in corporate tax cuts and subsidies to the tar sands, but they can't give middle-class Canadians a break on their skyrocketing heat bills," said Layton.

Since the Conservatives imposed the HST on Ontarians, the cost of many everyday essentials - like home heat - has risen 8 percent.

Meanwhile, the Harper government deprived Canadians of green jobs and home energy savings when it axed the ecoEnergy Retrofit Program last March.

The program saved an estimated three tonnes of green house gas per home, and cut the average home energy bill by 20 percent.

"The Harper government is just sitting back and saying everything will be okay, but they aren't the ones looking for work and trying to keep the lights on and house warm," said Layton. "New Democrats understand that Canadians need a break from the skyrocketing costs of living. And we can do that while creating jobs and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The Conservatives shouldn't be so afraid to move forward." *************************