After 8 years of making housing more unaffordable, the Liberals say they are finally going to fix it. Sure they are ...
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Justin Trudeau seems to have forgotten that he has been in power for the last eight years.
The prime minister keeps promising to tackle the latest “crisis” as if it had only just arisen, rather than being a problem created by the Liberals.
On Friday, Trudeau pledged to “solve the housing crisis” — that would be an issue that until a few months ago the prime minister said had nothing to do with the federal government.
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Now, it’s not only within the federal government’s remit, but it’s so urgent that the Liberals released what they called their most “comprehensive and ambitious housing plan ever seen in Canada.”
“It used to be that the deal was if you worked hard at a good job, you could afford a home. That doesn’t seem the case anymore,” said the prime minister. “That’s not fair.”
But, but, but … but the Liberals have been in power eight years. The cost of mortgages and rent have skyrocketed under their watch. People can’t afford a home because Liberals put it out of their reach.
Two weeks ago, the prime minister seemed to have another lapse of memory when he appeared shocked that Canada had an immigration problem, a major driver of the housing crisis.
“Whether it’s temporary foreign workers or whether it’s international students in particular, they have grown at a rate far beyond what Canada has been able to absorb,” said Trudeau at the beginning of April.
Non-permanent residents (NPRs), that’s temporary foreign workers, international students and asylum seekers, have soared under Trudeau. There were 1.3 million NPRs in 2021 and that figure has now doubled to 2.6 million.
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But the prime minister acted as if it was someone else’s fault, as if he had only just come to power.
He played the same trick on Friday. “Our goal is that no Canadian pays more than 30 per cent of their income towards their home,” he said.
A laudable aim since the latest RBC Housing Affordability report shows the income needed to own a home in Canada now stands at a “staggering” 63.5 per cent. In Vancouver it’s 106 per cent.
When Trudeau came to power in October 2015 that income figure stood at 39.3 per cent.
“We made a promise to Canadians that we were going to solve the housing crisis, so we rolled up our sleeves and we got to work,” the prime minister said Friday.
But that exact promise was made eight years ago.
“Trudeau promises affordable housing for Canadians,” was the headline on a Liberal press release in September 2015 — even before he became prime minister.
Now the prime minister is reduced to telling Canadians that this time he’s serious. “This isn’t simple slogans. It’s not some YouTube video filled with half-baked ideas and inaccuracies. This is a serious plan,” he said.
Right, sure. Eight years of slogans and half-baked ideas, but this time it’s real.
“It’s not right that housing prices have made cities and a lot of other places out of reach for young people, including millennials and Gen. Z,” Trudeau said.
See, it’s all the fault of housing prices. Nothing at all to do with Liberal policies.
This attitude of “We are going to solve this crisis now and don’t mention the last eight years” extends to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Housing Minister Sean Fraser
“Today, too many young Canadians feel as if the deck is stacked against them. They can get a good job, they can work hard, but far too often the reward of a secure, prosperous, comfortable middle-class life is out of reach,” said Freeland Friday.
If the Liberals really wanted to help those young people they should have started eight years ago when they were still in elementary school.
On Tuesday, Freeland will present the Liberal budget — the eighth since Trudeau came to power. That’s seven previous budgets that were squandered opportunities, that’s seven times the Liberals could have put young people entering the workforce on the road to a middle-class life.
“Too many younger Canadians feel that the dream of getting your first set of keys, of owning your own house is just that, a dream,” said Freeland.
It’s almost as if she is admitting that eight years of a Trudeau government have been a nightmare.
“We are using every single tool in our toolbox,” said Freeland.
Hurrah, the Liberals have found the toolbox. “Our renewed focus today is unlocking the door to the middle class for millions of younger Canadians,” she added.
That would be the door the Liberals locked, bolted and put a bloody great big piece of wood against.
“Do we want to talk about the housing crisis or do we want to solve it?” asked Fraser.
Well, that’s a great question, Sean. Here’s another one: Liberals have been talking about the housing crisis for eight years, do you honestly believe the public has any expectations that you are finally going to solve it?
National Post
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