A new 15-minute video produced by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is the latest salvo in the political fight over housing policy, which has dominated the second half of this year in politics.
Poilievre made housing costs and affordability a key part of his message early in his leadership run, and housing has now become an issue that parties across the political spectrum agree is a crisis facing Canadians.
The Conservative leader’s video features statistics, charts and news articles that frame the housing issue as one of the Trudeau government’s own making.
“Like all countries, we’ve always had problems throughout Canada’s past, though almost anyone who got a job could save up and buy a home in their mid 20s. When did that all change? About eight years ago,” Poilievre says in the video.
Housing costs have been on the rise for years in Canada, with the national average home price sitting at roughly $650,000 in October 2023. Canadians are also facing increased pressure from rental costs, as well as mortgage costs as interests rate climb.
The government, for its part, agrees that the situation is dire.
“One of the things that I think it’s important to address off the top is that we are in a housing crisis and we need to build homes and we need to build them by the millions,” Housing Minister Sean Fraser said during an announcement in Richmond Hill, Ont., earlier this week.
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Eddie Sheppard, a vice-president at Abacus Data, says a recent poll conducted by his firm suggests housing is now the second-ranked priority for Canadians, behind the economy and the cost of living but just ahead of health care. And Conservatives hold an advantage on the issue, Sheppard said.
“Right now about one-third of Canadians think [the Conservatives] would be best able to handle the housing crisis, followed by the NDP and then the Liberal party,” he said.
“We’re really seeing the Conservatives take the lead here in the minds of Canadians in terms of who can best deal with the housing crisis.”
The Conservatives also hold a huge lead — 19 percentage points — in the top line polling numbers, a new Abacus Data poll suggests. That’s the largest Conservative lead, the polling agency says, since 2015.
Poilievre’s message has focused strongly on affordability, noting the rise in housing costs, inflation and other cost of living concerns. He recently dubbed the current situation as “living hell for the working class.”
Federal Housing Minister Sean Fraser makes a housing announcement in Kelowna, B.C., in October. (Brady Strachan/CBC )
Flurry of housing announcements
The government has responded in recent months with several measures on housing, including the elimination of the GST/HST on rental home construction and dedicated money to help boost construction. Housing Minister Fraser has engaged in a flurry of negotiations with municipalities to push for more aggressive local action in exchange for federal dollars through the Housing Accelerator Fund.
This last week also featured several housing announcements attended by prominent ministers, including Fraser, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“We’re facing a shortage of housing right now. This is a big reason why prices are just way too high. So we need to build more homes faster,” Trudeau said at an announcement in Ajax, Ont., on Thursday.
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The government also recently released the Canada Mortgage Charter as part of an effort to help guide hundreds of thousands of Canadians who have mortgages that may soon need to be renewed at higher rates.
Trudeau this week criticized Poilievre’s plan as “empty slogans.”
“He thinks that bullying municipalities and cutting funding for affordable housing will somehow get more shovels in the ground. Well, I think we can all agree that’s not responsible leadership,” he said.
Sheppard said that despite the government’s efforts over the last few months, the message did not seem to be breaking through to Canadians.
“But I think the challenge is that a lot of Canadians are really overlooking those [announcements] and not necessarily even hearing or seeing them,” Sheppard said.
FREDERICTON – A look at David Coon, leader of the Green Party of New Brunswick:
Born: Oct. 28, 1956.
Early years: Born in Toronto and raised in Montreal, he spent about three decades as an environmental advocate.
Education: A trained biologist, he graduated with a bachelor of science from McGill University in Montreal in 1978.
Family: He and his wife Janice Harvey have two daughters, Caroline and Laura.
Before politics: Worked as an environmental educator, organizer, activist and manager for 33 years, mainly with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.
Politics: Joined the Green Party of Canada in May 2006 and was elected leader of the New Brunswick Green Party in September 2012. Won a seat in the legislature in 2014 — a first for the province’s Greens.
Quote: “It was despicable. He’s clearly decided to take the low road in this campaign, to adopt some Trump-lite fearmongering.” — David Coon on Sept. 12, 2024, reacting to Blaine Higgs’s claim that the federal government had decided to send 4,600 asylum seekers to New Brunswick.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
FREDERICTON – A look at Blaine Higgs, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.
Born: March 1, 1954.
Early years: The son of a customs officer, he grew up in Forest City, N.B., near the Canada-U.S. border.
Education: Graduated from the University of New Brunswick with a degree in mechanical engineering in 1977.
Family: Married his high-school sweetheart, Marcia, and settled in Saint John, N.B., where they had four daughters: Lindsey, Laura, Sarah and Rachel.
Before politics: Hired by Irving Oil a week after he graduated from university and was eventually promoted to director of distribution. Worked for 33 years at the company.
Politics: Elected to the legislature in 2010 and later served as finance minister under former Progressive Conservative Premier David Alward. Elected Tory leader in 2016 and has been premier since 2018.
Quote: “I’ve always felt parents should play the main role in raising children. No one is denying gender diversity is real. But we need to figure out how to manage it.” — Blaine Higgs in a year-end interview in 2023, explaining changes to school policies about gender identity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – The pressing issues of climate change and food security join more familiar ones like violent extremism and espionage on a new list of Canada’s intelligence priorities.
The federal government says publishing the list of priorities for the first time is an important step toward greater transparency.
The government revises the priorities every two years, based on recommendations from the national security adviser and the intelligence community.
Once the priorities are reviewed and approved by the federal cabinet, key ministers issue directives to federal agencies that produce intelligence.
Among the priorities are the security of global health, food, water and biodiversity, as well as the issues of climate change and global sustainability.
The new list also includes foreign interference and malign influence, cyberthreats, infrastructure security, Arctic sovereignty, border integrity and transnational organized crime.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
