Last summer — around the same time public support for the governing Liberals began seriously to erode — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the mistake of publicly acknowledging Canada’s constitutional division of powers.
“Housing isn’t a primary federal responsibility,” he said. “It’s not something that we have direct carriage of.”
He wasn’t wrong. He also said his government was willing to do its part. But he was quickly mocked and chided for appearing to dodge responsibility for a serious and widespread problem.
Trudeau seems to have learned the obvious lesson from that episode: in the current climate, there’s nothing to be gained from deferring to other levels of government. Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are apparently no constitutionalists in a housing crisis.
Six weeks after his comments about responsibility, Trudeau was in London, Ont. to announce the first agreement under the Housing Accelerator Fund — an idea first sketched out in the government’s 2022 budget. In exchange for the city’s promise to enact zoning and permitting reforms, the federal government would provide $74 million in housing funding.
One hundred and seventy eight municipalities and the province of Quebec have since made similar deals, totalling $4.4 billion in federal funds.
WATCH: Trudeau calls on provinces to back ‘ambitious’ housing plans
Trudeau says funds will flow to cities if provinces don’t back ‘ambitious’ housing plan
1 day ago
Duration 2:44
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he wants to work with provinces on housing — but if a province doesn’t step up ‘with ambition’ on needed infrastructure, Ottawa will work directly with municipalities who want to ramp up housing construction.
All these moves may or may not solve the Liberal Party’s profound political challenges. But the federal measures do shift some of the pressure onto the levels of government whose laws and bylaws tend to decide what gets built where. The full set of policies also gives the Liberals a response to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s own vow to take on “NIMBYism” and “big city gatekeepers.”
The federal spending power — now for housing
On one level, what the Liberals are doing is just another example of the federal spending power in action. While the federal government is limited in what it can do directly, it can still use its significant fiscal resources to encourage or compel provincial governments to take certain actions. Any number of national programs — from medicare to child care — owe their existence to the federal government using its financial muscle.
In this case, the federal government is using funds promised for housing and infrastructure to encourage municipalities and provinces to embrace policies that, it believes, will lead to the construction of more homes. In his own way, Poilievre says he would do the same.
Trudeau’s announcement on Tuesday leaned into the model created by the Housing Accelerator Fund.
In addition to adding $400 million to that program, the prime minister announced $6 billion for housing-related infrastructure, including wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. Of that $6 billion, $1 billion will go directly to municipalities. The remainder would be directed to provincial governments.
But to access their share of that $5 billion, provincial governments will have to agree to pursue a number of reforms, including changes to make it easier to build four-unit housing in residential neighbourhoods. And provinces only have until January 1, 2025 to agree to those terms. If they don’t, the federal government will again deal directly with municipalities.
Those terms present an interesting challenge for Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford attend an announcement at Seneca College in King City, Ont., on Feb. 9, 2024. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press)
With its announcement this week, the federal government is effectively asking the premier to make a choice: if he wants to take part in the photo ops, he’s going to have to accept greater housing density.
Asked about the federal proposal on Wednesday, Ford said that zoning decisions are best left to municipalities.
“I don’t believe in forcing municipalities,” the premier said. “I believe in working with municipalities.”
The City of Toronto might be surprised to learn that Ford believes so strongly in municipal sovereignty. But perhaps Ford would prefer Poilievre’s proposed approach.
The new bipartisan consensus on housing
According to the legislation laid out by the federal Conservative leader, under a Poilievre government, municipalities would receive more or less federal funding depending on whether they meet housing targets set by Ottawa. Poilievre’s plan does not dictate any specific policy changes — it also would apply to only 14 municipalities across the country.
Poilievre’s plan also has its critics. One expert has written that some cities will find Poilievre’s targets easy to meet, while others will find it impossible.
Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor, Ont., already has refused to agree to the federal government’s terms under the Housing Accelerator Fund, particularly as they apply to zoning rules for fourplexes. But Dilkens told the National Post earlier this year that Poilievre’s approach would unfairly hold him accountable for things he can’t control directly — namely, the housing market and the developers who ultimately decide whether to go forward with construction.
Municipal and provincial politicians likely have more reason to fear that suburban homeowners will blame them when a fourplex goes up next door. But the multi-level tendency to point fingers and object to solutions also likely helps to explain how Canada’s housing market ended up in this state.
Federal Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks about housing at a news conference in the Montreal suburb of Pointe-Claire, Que., Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press)
It’s probably not surprising that Poilievre — a populist who is constantly seeking someone or something he can be seen fighting — was quick to focus on how municipalities can stand in the way of new construction. Since becoming Conservative leader, he’s taken that a step further by directly attacking specific mayors.
But given how much accountability and media attention now disproportionately falls on the federal government, it was likely a matter of time before someone in Ottawa decided to stop waiting for other levels of government to fix the problem on their own.
The result is that the Liberals and Conservatives now have competing plans that aim to use the federal spending power to directly or indirectly steer municipal policies.
Strict constitutionalists — and fans of “open federalism” — might grumble. But voters will probably care only about whether it gets easier to find an affordable place to live.
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HALIFAX – Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says it’s “disgraceful and demeaning” that a Halifax-area school would request that service members not wear military uniforms to its Remembrance Day ceremony.
Houston’s comments were part of a chorus of criticism levelled at the school — Sackville Heights Elementary — whose administration decided to back away from the plan after the outcry.
A November newsletter from the school in Middle Sackville, N.S., invited Armed Forces members to attend its ceremony but asked that all attendees arrive in civilian attire to “maintain a welcoming environment for all.”
Houston, who is currently running for re-election, accused the school’s leaders of “disgracing themselves while demeaning the people who protect our country” in a post on the social media platform X Thursday night.
“If the people behind this decision had a shred of the courage that our veterans have, this cowardly and insulting idea would have been rejected immediately,” Houston’s post read. There were also several calls for resignations within the school’s administration attached to Houston’s post.
In an email to families Thursday night, the school’s principal, Rachael Webster, apologized and welcomed military family members to attend “in the attire that makes them most comfortable.”
“I recognize this request has caused harm and I am deeply sorry,” Webster’s email read, adding later that the school has the “utmost respect for what the uniform represents.”
Webster said the initial request was out of concern for some students who come from countries experiencing conflict and who she said expressed discomfort with images of war, including military uniforms.
Her email said any students who have concerns about seeing Armed Forces members in uniform can be accommodated in a way that makes them feel safe, but she provided no further details in the message.
Webster did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
At a news conference Friday, Houston said he’s glad the initial request was reversed but said he is still concerned.
“I can’t actually fathom how a decision like that was made,” Houston told reporters Friday, adding that he grew up moving between military bases around the country while his father was in the Armed Forces.
“My story of growing up in a military family is not unique in our province. The tradition of service is something so many of us share,” he said.
“Saying ‘lest we forget’ is a solemn promise to the fallen. It’s our commitment to those that continue to serve and our commitment that we will pass on our respects to the next generation.”
Liberal Leader Zach Churchill also said he’s happy with the school’s decision to allow uniformed Armed Forces members to attend the ceremony, but he said he didn’t think it was fair to question the intentions of those behind the original decision.
“We need to have them (uniforms) on display at Remembrance Day,” he said. “Not only are we celebrating (veterans) … we’re also commemorating our dead who gave the greatest sacrifice for our country and for the freedoms we have.”
NDP Leader Claudia Chender said that while Remembrance Day is an important occasion to honour veterans and current service members’ sacrifices, she said she hopes Houston wasn’t taking advantage of the decision to “play politics with this solemn occasion for his own political gain.”
“I hope Tim Houston reached out to the principal of the school before making a public statement,” she said in a statement.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Employers and the union representing supervisors embroiled in a labour dispute that triggered a lockout at British Columbia’s ports will attempt to reach a deal when talks restart this weekend.
A spokesman from the office of federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon has confirmed the minister spoke with leaders at both the BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514, but did not invoke any section of the Canadian Labour Code that would force them back to talks.
A statement from the ministry says MacKinnon instead “asked them to return to the negotiation table,” and talks are now scheduled to start on Saturday with the help of federal mediators.
A meeting notice obtained by The Canadian Press shows talks beginning in Vancouver at 5 p.m. and extendable into Sunday and Monday, if necessary.
The lockout at B.C. ports by employers began on Monday after what their association describes as “strike activity” from the union. The result was a paralysis of container cargo traffic at terminals across Canada’s west coast.
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint against the employers for allegedly bargaining in bad faith, a charge that employers call a “meritless claim.”
The two sides have been without a deal since March 2023, and the employers say its final offer presented last week in the last round of talks remains on the table.
The proposed agreement includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term along with an average lump sum payment of $21,000 per qualified worker.
The union has said one of its key concerns is the advent of port automation in cargo operations, and workers want assurances on staffing levels regardless of what technology is being used at the port.
The disruption is happening while two container terminals are shut down in Montreal in a separate labour dispute.
It leaves container cargo traffic disrupted at Canada’s two biggest ports, Vancouver and Montreal, both operating as major Canadian trade gateways on the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
This is one of several work disruptions at the Port of Vancouver, where a 13-day strike stopped cargo last year, while labour strife in the rail and grain-handling sectors led to further disruptions earlier this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Judicial recounts in British Columbia’s provincial election should wrap up today, confirming whether Premier David Eby’s New Democrats hang onto their one-seat majority almost three weeks after the vote.
Most attention will be on the closest race of Surrey-Guildford, where the NDP were ahead by a mere 27 votes, a margin narrow enough to trigger a hand recount of more than 19,000 ballots that’s being overseen by a B.C. Supreme Court judge.
Elections BC spokesman Andrew Watson says the recounts are on track to conclude today, but certification won’t happen until next week following an appeal period.
While recounts aren’t uncommon in B.C. elections, result changes because of them are rare, with only one race overturned in the province in at least the past 20 years.
That was when Independent Vicki Huntington went from trailing by two votes in Delta South to winning by 32 in a 2009 judicial recount.
Recounts can be requested after the initial count in an election for a variety of reasons, while judicial recounts are usually triggered after the so-called “final count” when the margin is less than 1/500th of the number of votes cast.
There have already been two full hand recounts this election, in Surrey City Centre and Juan de Fuca-Malahat, and both only resulted in a few votes changing sides.
A partial recount of votes that went through one tabulator in Kelowna Centre saw the margin change by four votes, while a full judicial recount is currently underway in the same riding, narrowly won by the B.C. Conservatives.
The number of votes changing hands in recounts has generally shrunk in B.C. in recent years.
Judicial recounts in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky in 2020 and Coquitlam-Maillardville in 2013 saw margins change by 19 and six votes respectively.
In 2005, there were a record eight recounts after the initial tally, changing margins by an average of 62 votes, while one judicial recount changed the margin in Vancouver-Burrard by seven.
The Election Act says the deadline to appeal results after judicial recounts must be filed with the court within two days after they are declared, but Watson says that due to Remembrance Day on Monday, that period ends at 4 p.m. Tuesday.
When an appeal is filed, it must be heard no later than 10 days after the registrar receives the notice of appeal.
A partial recount is also taking place in Prince George-Mackenzie to tally votes from an uncounted ballot box that contained about 861 votes.
The Prince George recount won’t change the outcome because the B.C. Conservative candidate there won by more than 5,000 votes.
If neither Surrey-Guildford nor Kelowna Centre change hands, the NDP will have 47 seats and the Conservatives 44, while the Greens have two seats in the 93-riding legislature.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
