Time for federal government action on affordable housing crisis, Singh says

The federal NDP leader took his housing crisis message to Dalhousie University in Halifax on Monday.

“Talking about how hard it is to find housing, we are hearing this across the country but students are particularly hard hit,” Jagmeet Singh said on the sidewalk in front of the Dal student union building as students walked past, many stopping to listen to what the NDP leader had to say.

“There is simply nothing available,” Singh said after spending an hour talking with Dalhousie graduate students inside the building.

“The cost of renting a place is through the roof, people are living multiple people to a single room just to be able to afford rent,” he said. “Students should be worried about their school, worried about their courses, worried about their careers, not worried about trying to find a place to live.”

Casually clad in jeans, running shoes and a blazer, Singh said during eight years of governing, the Justin Trudeau-led Liberal regime has not taken the housing crisis seriously.

“They’re not building affordable housing and we are in a mess where housing is more expensive than it’s ever been before.”

Yet, Singh is not ready to topple the Liberals from office despite what he deems is their dismal record on housing.

The Liberals hold 160 of the 388 seats in the House of Commons, well short of a majority. The Conservatives have 117 seats, the Bloc Quebecois 32 and the NDP 25.

That configuration emerged from the federal election two years ago and the NDP agreed the following March to a confidence and supply deal with the Liberals to prop up the government in exchange for the Liberals promoting priorities that the two parties shared.

One of those priorities was more affordable housing, a top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit and a homebuyer’s bill of rights.

“So far, the Liberal government has not done enough to build affordable homes,” Singh said Monday as light rain began to fall on the outdoor news conference.

“We have forced the government to do things that they would not have otherwise done,” the NDP leader. “We brought in dental care for kids under 12 and by the end of this year we’ll have free dental care for seniors, kids 18 and under and people living with disabilities, so we’re forcing this government to do things that would have not done for people, we’re forcing people to act and we’re going to continue to do that.

“Our goal is not to play games like the Conservatives, not to ignore the plight of people like the Liberals.”

Singh said the NDP’s focus will be affordable housing when the House reconvenes later this month.

“Our focus is going to be one of making this government build more homes that people can afford.”

The NDP has long said that for too many families, safe and affordable housing is increasingly out of reach, thanks to skyrocketing rents, demo-victions and ballooning home prices. 

The party says Canada is in the midst of a national housing crisis impacting every area of the country, pointing to average rents that rose in every single province last year and the 1.6 million Canadian households who spend more than 30 per cent of their income on housing. 

Canada has the fastest growing house prices in all of the G7, a trend that shows no signs of slowing, the NDP says.

According to Rentals.ca, the average Canadian rental reached another record high in July of $2,078 per month, an 8.9 per cent annual increase.

In Halifax, the average one-bedroom rental was $1,863 in August, according to Rentals.ca, and the average two-bedroom apartment went for $2,259.

The NDP says that means families face constant stress as they grapple with the impossible choices between rent or food, living in substandard housing or relocating out of their community, or, even worse, the risk of homelessness.

In response, Singh said Monday that the Liberal and Conservative solution is to continue to let private developers do their thing.

“We know that that’s not going to solve the problem,” he said. “We have to be actively involved in this solution. I spoke with builders and they say that because of the high interest rates, it’s not actually profitable at this point in time to build the types of homes that we need for people.

“That’s why we’re saying we have to use federal land, federal power and federal resources to build homes that people can afford.”

Singh said that after the two world wars, “Canada set upon a mission of building homes that people could afford,” and “hundreds and thousands of homes were built for veterans that were returning from the wars.”

That type of effort is needed now, he said. 

“We can do that but it is going to take actively using the power that we have at the federal level to build those affordable homes and that is what we are proposing,” he said.

Singh’s plan appears light on substance but he did say that the government should explore a “wide variety of options,” including taking the GST off affordable builds to incentivize building homes that are affordable, not-for-profit and co-operative housing and “using all the tools we have to address student housing as well.”

Singh did not limit his housing inaction criticisms to the Liberals, instead painting Pierre Poilievre and the Conservatives (who in a recent poll opened a nine-point leader over the governing Liberals) with the same brush.

“Pierre Poilievre is not who he says he is,” Singh said.

Singh said the recent Conservative convention in Quebec City resulted in thousands of resolutions being brought to the floor but “not a 
single new idea on housing” came out of the meeting because housing is not something that either the Liberals or Conservatives care about.

“They don’t care to build homes that people can afford,” Singh said.

“I can tell you this is something I care deeply about. When I was in university, a little bit younger than some of the folks behind me, I was 20 years old and my kid brother had to come live with me because things at home were really rough. My dad was struggling with an addiction. So a 20-year-old taking care of a 15-year-old, I had to work multiple jobs to keep food on the table. I know how tough that is for a student to balance work, taking care of someone you love and pursuing your education. I’m fighting so people can have affordable housing so nobody has to worry about that.”

Singh’s message seemed to resonate with the growing number of Dal students gathering outside the student union building as they spoke enthusiastically, glad-handed and posed for photos with the NDP leader.