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I love when the news tries to blame Trudeau for provincial issues instead of, y’know, the provincial leaders
The federal government could absolutely help but you are correct this is primarily a provincial responsibility and the province has all the tools to fix this but they choose not to. There's too many domestic speculators in power that have a lot to lose.
I don't buy this idea. The feds have all sorts of things they can do. Can they solve the crises alone? Of course not. But they can sure as hell help.
Let's start with capital gains on the sale of a home...
What tools do they really have, other than money?
Really, what tools do the federal government have that can be used, and have effect, in local legislation?
They have the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), the same people who currently provide mortgage insurance. In their original 1945 mandate, they were responsible for building housing for returning war veterans, as well as loans to purchase them. It was only later, in the 1980s, that the building part was dropped and they took up their current role.
So the federal government has the option of returning the CMHC to its original mandate.
Like I said in the comment they could change capital gains exclusion on a primary residence. Add taxes for homes past your primary home (like Singapore). They could stop with the RRSP withdrawals for home buyers, kill the first time home buyers savings account, ban foreign buyers without all the loop holes, add legislation around cooperate ownership etc.
Other countries are doing things at the federal level. For some reason our Feda only institute programs that actively make things worse.
Other countries are doing things at the federal level.
Of course, other counties often have it easier there. For instance, looking to our neighbours to the south, their federal government reigns supreme. It can push policy down on the states. That is not the case in Canada. The provinces are of the highest power.
For some reason our Feda only institute programs that actively make things worse.
Well, yes, trying to make the provinces look bad is kind of the federal government's thing. Presumably it is because it wants to convince the public that it needs that supremacy, so that one day it can take it.
The cost of living and housing crises are happening across the entire country so I would say, yes, it very much does become a question of federal policy at that point and existing federal mandates (immigration) are one of the biggest sources of high demand putting stress on housing.
Even if that federal policy is working with provinces to figure their shit out on housing.
You don't think the federal government has any responsibility for the housing crisis?
Not OP but it's clearly both a provincial and federal issue.
Both levels of government are responsible. Pretending anything otherwise is ignorant. The provinces have the majority of tools to solve this by taxing domestic speculators high amounts to force them to stop hoarding stock and in provinces like Ontario uploading public housing to the province as municipalities can't generate the revenue required to pay for it.
I don't believe the federal government can fix the problem if the provincial governments don't want help.
Considering the federal government is taking the brunt of the provincial government failures it's not really surprising the provinces aren't rushing to take action.
Many homes are vacant due waiting to make money via AirBnB.
Many office towers are empty and could be converted to apartments
Some homes are empty because they are investment vehicles and must be kept pristine to keep their value.
Homes are made unaffordable by Corporations outbidding anyone trying to buy a home.
Please note that all these issues are provincial domain. (b/c of division of powers) The PROVINCES are the ones doing nothing but it's politically advantageous for them to make the Federal look bad.
Since JT is probably not going to win the next election, could he call the Provinces' bluff and declare martial law on provinces that shirk their responsibilities on the housing issue?
With you until the last sentence, and it's "martial law" not "marshal". Handing over government to the military would be a very weird reaction to failures in provincial housing policy.
Yeah there's no way anybody genuinely believed he's going to declare martial law over the housing crisis he doesn't give a shit about.
AirBnB is horrible, in Montréal there is families in the street and a lot of people struggling to find something/just live, and there is something like 13'000 airbnb, most of them illegals. They are building thousands and thousands of condo, at 400k+, I checked some around me, they are 600k+, plus easily 400$/month for taxes, and have like 600$ fee every fucking month on top of that. Who can buy that? Or they are building "condos for rent", you can not buy them, only rent them, 2k+/month. How can people earning 2k/month can live?
These are provincial domain you're right, but I think the point of this editorial is that since the provinces aren't doing their part (not by a LOT) the federal government needs to do more where it can.
The feds could start building affordable homes again like they used to. They have a history of building homes, I dont know why this isnt being discussed.
They could also study what other countries have done with their housing policies and copy what works. They need to take this crisis seriously and think outside the box.
Both provincial and federal government need to be taking major action here.
Two things would work:
-Fix the fucking restrictive residential zoning regs. This is provincial turf.
-Build more public housing. This is also provincial turf, but the feds had been involved in the past.
The difficulty with point 2 is that there has to be an agreement between the feds and the provinces. If the provinces don't want to build public housing, that's the end of it. The federal government can't just barge into provincial jurisdiction because they feel like it.
In the article they're talking about the peak of federal involvement in housing being the 1970s. That's not coincidental, as it was prior to the patriation of the constitution. If zoning doesn't allow for the typical 1970s 3-floor walk-up apartment blocks, the feds don't get to overrule those restrictions.
The federal government can't just barge into provincial jurisdiction because they feel like it.
Say it louder for the people in the back.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
The situation has brewed for decades, and the blame can be pinned on city councils whose restrictive zoning laws keep the supply of housing well below demand.
The fact that Ottawa thought such a minor announcement was worthy of a press conference with the Prime Minister shows a poor grasp of reality.
First of all, as this space has argued, Ottawa’s aggressive immigration policy ignores Canada’s long-standing deficit of homes, as does its open door for international students paired with no plan for where they’ll live.
The failure of cities across the country to allow enough housing to be built has recently – finally – led to interventions by provincial governments in Ontario and British Columbia, where the problem is the worst.
One option is the numerous tax levers Ottawa can pull, similar to the 1970s, to help build housing such as affordable four-storey rental apartments.
While housing isn’t technically among Ottawa’s primary responsibilities, the federal government needs to redouble its efforts to make change happen.
I'm a bot and I'm open source!
If housing is to be a human right in practice, it makes sense to bring its protection under the federal government. By whatever means necessary.
I can't believe how far he put his foot in his mouth.
Trudeau most certainly does.
This guy traits reminds me of Cameron Diaz , don’t know why