Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, defending housing measures announced in this week’s budget, says homes should not be used as tools for quick profit.
“We do not want people to think of buying homes as a way to make money rapidly,” Mr. Trudeau told a post-budget news conference held Friday in Hamilton. “Homes should be for families to grow in.”
The Prime Minister’s comments came a day after the tabling of the latest federal budget, which includes a two-year ban on home purchases by foreigners, following a pledge in the 2021 election campaign. However, many foreign buyers will be exempt from the ban, including individuals on work permits who are living in Canada.
The Prime Minister said the government will be cracking down on the “financialization” of the housing market.
“Houses aren’t supposed to be assets for wealthy investors. They are supposed to be homes where families can raise their kids and create neighborhoods and communities.”
Overall, the budget includes more than $10-billion in new spending on various housing-related initiatives, largely aimed at increasing supply.
During question period Friday, Conservative Dan Albas, the MP for Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola, said the “so-called ban” on foreign buyers is not real. “Under this policy, a foreign national can still purchase a home. If they separate from their spouse, they can buy another home. If their child turns 18 and wants to buy the house across the street, they still can.”
He said the plan does nothing to put first-time homebuyers first, and asked why the ban is so full of holes it’s like Swiss cheese.
Replying for the government, Terry Beech, the parliamentary secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, responded to Mr. Albas by citing the key elements of the Liberal government’s housing plan.
“Our government will increase housing supply by doubling residential construction across Canada over the next 10 years. We will ensure that homes are treated as a place for families to live instead of as an investment vehicle,” said Mr. Beech.
It was the last Question Period, and chance for the opposition to question the government on the budget, for a two week break that will see Parliament resume on April 25.
On housing supply, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, who attended the news conference in Hamilton along with Mr. Trudeau, said there are no easy answers to providing the housing that Canadians want, and that the federal government can work to clear some roadblocks preventing more new homes from being built.
“It’s not going to be fixed in one day. It’s not even going to be fixed in one year. We’re going to have to continue to invest and invest and invest,” she said, adding the federal government will need help from municipalities, the provinces, private sector and non-profit organizations.
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TODAY’S HEADLINES – THE BUDGET
$56B IN NEW SPENDING IN FEDERAL BUDGET – The federal government’s 2022 budget lays out more than $56-billion in new spending over six years as part of what Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says is a package that will boost innovation and green technology, but some economists say falls short of a long-term growth agenda. Story here.
BUDGET DETAILS – The federal budget promises $10-billion to make housing more affordable, $5.3-billion to provide dental care for lower-income Canadians, a sprinkling of new tax measures for individuals and the creation of an independent complaints body to address consumer complaints involving banks. Story here.
FEDERAL LOAN TO HELP UKRAINE – The federal government is proposing to assist Ukraine’s war-ravaged economy by offering a $1-billion loan through a new Canada-led international financial program. Story here.
OTTAWA DEPLOYS ARM’S LENGTH APPROACH TO INNOVATION – Ottawa is again deploying arm’s-length interventionism to spur innovation in the Canadian economy, announcing two big, top-down programs in the federal budget similar in approach to the troubled Canada Infrastructure Bank and the superclusters initiative. Story here.
PLANS ON TAX OF BANKS AND LIFE INSURERS – Ottawa’s two-part tax on Canadian banks and life insurers will bring in $6.1-billion over the next five years, according to the federal budget, about 40 per cent less than projected during the most recent federal election campaign. Story here.
PRAISE FOR BUDGET FOCUS ON HOUSING – Provincial and municipal governments praised Thursday’s federal budget for its focus on the housing crisis, including its $4-billion fund to encourage local governments to speed up construction approvals and its two-year ban on foreign home purchases meant to curb speculation. Story here.
BUDGET DETAILS HEALTH-CARE SYSTEM EXPANSION, INCLUDING DENTAL CARE – The federal government is moving ahead with the largest expansion to the country’s health-care system in decades, with plans to cover the cost of dental care for lower income Canadians and the first steps toward creating a national pharmacare program outlined in Thursday’s federal budget. Story here.
BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS – Federal budget 2022 highlights: What you need to know about housing, defence and climate spending. Story here.
OTHER STORIES
BUDGET IN NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR – Newfoundland and Labrador forecast a $351-million deficit in its spring budget tabled on Thursday, projecting a significant drop in oil royalties for the 2022-23 fiscal year at a time when oil prices are skyrocketing. Story here.
KENNEY FOE NOW AN ELECTED MEMBER OF THE PREMIER’S PARTY – Premier Jason Kenney’s arch foe Brian Jean is now a member of the Alberta legislature and expects to sit at the United Conservative caucus table despite his public displeasure with the party’s leader. Story here.
PERMANENT RESETTLEMENT OF UKRAINIAN REFUGEES MAY BE NECESSARY: UN COMMISSIONER – The UN High Commissioner for Refugees says the world may have to consider permanent resettlement of Ukrainian refugees if Russia’s war develops into a protracted crisis. Story here.
WONG-TAM LEAVING MUNICIPAL POLITICS – Veteran Toronto City Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam is leaving City Hall to run for the Ontario New Democrats in the June provincial election. Story here from CityNews.
CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP RACE
BROWN BALANCING MAYORAL RESPONSIBILITIES – Conservative Party leadership hopeful Patrick Brown has not officially stepped back from his mayoral duties almost a month after entering the party’s leadership race. Story here from Global News.
CHAREST TARGETS POILIEVRE – Conservative leadership hopeful Jean Charest is turning up the heat against perceived frontrunner Pierre Poilievre, taking him to task for his support of the trucker protests that took over downtown Ottawa and led to blockades at border crossings. Story here from CTV.
CANDIDATE WHEREABOUTS – Pierre Poilievre is in British Columbia on Sunday, with stops in Kelowna, Vernon and Langley. Leslyn Lewis will be in British Columbia next week, starting Tuesday, with stops in Penticton and Vernon and then Chilliwack and Abbotsford and Vancouver through Thursday. MP Scott Aitchison was in Saskatchewan on Friday.
THIS AND THAT
THE COMMONS – The House is adjourned until Monday, April. 25 at 11 a.m. ET.
CALEY OUT AS LIBERAL COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR – Weeks after the communications director for the federal Conservative Party announced his departure, the senior communications director for the federal Liberals has also announced his exit. Braeden Caley has had the Liberal job for six years. The former press secretary and policy and communications director for former Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson did not explain why he’s leaving or where he’s going. In a social-media post, he wrote, “Soon I’ll share more about what I’ll get up to next (including, hopefully, a diet of a *lot* less pizza).” After eight years as communications director for the Conservatives, Cory Hann announced late last month that he was leaving.
MEETING ON DISASTER RESPONSE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA – On Monday, federal Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair and British Columbia Solicitor General Mike Farnworth will hold a news conference in Vancouver after the third meeting of the Committee of British Columbia and Federal Ministers on Disaster Response and Climate Resilience.
THE DECIBEL
Friday’s edition of The Globe and Mail podcast took listeners inside the “lockup” where journalists got an advance look at the federal budget. The Decibel was in the lockup at a hotel in downtown Ottawa, where Globe journalists explained the main takeaways from the budget, covering spending in the areas of housing, defence, reconciliation, finance, immigration, inflation and more. Guests on Friday episode were the Globe’s Bill Curry, Steven Chase, John Ibbitson, Rachelle Younglai, Kristy Kirkup, Kathryn Blaze Baum, Mark Rendell, and Patrick Brethour, as well as Scotiabank Economics Director Rebekah Young. The Decibel is here.
PRIME MINISTER’S DAY
In Hamilton, the Prime Minister held private meetings on Friday. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland were scheduled to meet with local families and make an announcement highlighting Budget 2022 investments in housing, and then hold a media availability. The Prime Minister was also scheduled to meet with members of the local Ukrainian community.
LEADERS
No schedules released for party leaders.
OPINION – THE BUDGET
The Globe and Mail Editorial Boardon grading Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s federal budget: some passes, many question marks: “That said, today’s deficit is modest enough that the debt-to-GDP ratio is back on a downward slope. And Ms. Freeland has mostly avoided the fallacy of trying to fight inflation by handing out free money. Many of her provincial counterparts, in contrast, have been unable to restrain themselves. Alberta is temporarily ditching its gas tax; Ontario is refunding vehicle licensing fees; British Columbia is cutting public car insurance rates; Quebec is sending $500 cheques to almost everyone, just because. Still, her government couldn’t resist the temptation to hand out money in the one place where it’s most likely to stoke inflation: housing.”
Patrick Brethour (The Globe and Mail)on how the Liberals’ ‘spend, tax and pray’ 2022 federal budget devoid of bold growth measures: “The Liberals correctly diagnose the deep-rooted economic problems that Canada faces, and that threaten to mire this country in a low-wage, less prosperous future. An intensifying global competition for capital, a persistent lack of private-sector investment and the resulting flaccid productivity growth are huge challenges that the budget acknowledges. “This budget is focused on economic growth for today, tomorrow and for decades to come,” Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Thursday. The government even gives a nod to a recent report from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development that places Canada dead last in potential economic growth through to 2060. And Ms. Freeland framed the issue well, saying that it comes down to ensuring that the next generation of Canadians “have more prosperous lives than we do.” It’s just that the government is not proposing any policy shake-up that would alter the projection of Canada’s last-place standing in that critical economic race.”
Rob Carrick (The Globe and Mail)on the Liberals staking their reputation as inflation-fighters with help for homebuyers in budget 2022: “Inflation today is caused by low interest rates, tangled global supply chains, disruptions related to war in Ukraine and the many households eager to spend money after two years of pandemic lockdowns. A government can’t fix that kind of stuff in a budget, but it has to act like it can. So while the word “inflation” appears 86 times in the document released Thursday, the only fresh, highlighted measure that isn’t connected to housing is coverage for dental care, which starts this year for children under 12 in lower income families.”
Kelly Cryderman (The Globe and Mail)on how the 2022 Liberal budget has a before-the-war feel as Ottawa abandons oil-industry lifelines: “In the annex of the federal budget, there’s an analysis of a “high-impact scenario” in which the invasion of Ukraine doesn’t end quickly, and the reduction in Russian energy exports leads to an even sharper spike in global oil and gas prices. This would cause the price for North American oil, currently at just below US$100 per barrel, to hit $180 before the end of June. This would contribute to a number of undesirable outcomes, including weaker economic activity and higher inflation. Even for Canada’s oil and natural gas industry, which would initially benefit, the high prices would lead to a collapse in demand by 2023. But you wouldn’t know this scenario is even a possibility based on much of the budget text.”
Konrad Yakabuski (The Globe and Mail)on Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s missed opportunity: “Amid the war in Ukraine, Ms. Freeland’s budget amounts to a missed opportunity to position Canada as the world’s most responsible provider of the natural resources the planet needs now, and those that it will increasingly need in the future, to transition to a low-carbon economy. The Liberals are still constrained by their unwillingness to embrace Canada’s strengths. And that only makes the country weaker.”
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New Brunswick voters have elected a Liberal majority government, tossing out the incumbent Progressive Conservatives after six years in power and handing the reins to the first woman ever to lead the province. Liberal Leader Susan Holt spent much of the campaign rolling out proposed fixes for a health-care system racked by a doctor shortage, overcrowded emergency rooms and long wait-times. She promised to open 30 community health clinics across the province by 2028. (Oct. 22, 2024)
Susan Holt has made history in New Brunswick by becoming the first woman to serve as the leader of the province’s Liberal Party, a significant milestone in the province’s political landscape. Holt’s leadership victory signals a new era of representation, gender equality, and change in the region, which has long been dominated by male politicians.
Holt’s journey to the top has been one of perseverance and dedication. Before entering politics, she built a distinguished career in the private sector, where she held numerous leadership positions. Her experience in business development and public policy has equipped her with the skills needed to navigate the complex world of politics.
In a province where women have historically been underrepresented in politics, Holt’s election represents a watershed moment. Women’s involvement in leadership roles has been steadily increasing nationwide, but New Brunswick, like many parts of Canada, has seen slower progress in achieving gender parity. Holt’s rise to the top of the Liberal Party not only shatters a glass ceiling but also serves as an inspiration for future generations of women aiming for political leadership.
As the leader of the New Brunswick Liberal Party, Holt has laid out a vision of inclusivity and progress. Her policies focus on economic development, healthcare reform, environmental sustainability, and addressing social issues that have plagued the province. She has also emphasized the importance of transparent governance and creating opportunities for underrepresented communities, making her platform both modern and forward-thinking.
Holt’s leadership arrives at a time when many voters are calling for change, especially in the face of challenges like economic uncertainty and the need for healthcare improvements. She aims to bring fresh ideas to tackle these issues while ensuring that all citizens, regardless of their background, have a voice in government decisions.
Susan Holt joins the ranks of other trailblazing women across Canada who have led provincial parties and governments. Women like former Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Ontario’s Kathleen Wynne have paved the way, and now Holt is contributing to this growing legacy of female political leadership in Canada.
Her achievement highlights not only the growing number of women entering politics but also the demand for leaders who can bring diverse perspectives to the table. In a field often dominated by entrenched traditions, Holt’s election is a step toward a more inclusive and representative political landscape in New Brunswick.
Holt’s leadership signals a broader shift in Canadian politics, where more women and diverse voices are gaining prominence. For young women across the country, her rise serves as a powerful reminder that leadership roles are within reach, even in traditionally male-dominated spheres.
With her election, Susan Holt has proven that perseverance, skill, and a vision for change can break even the toughest barriers. Her leadership will not only reshape New Brunswick’s political future but also inspire others across Canada to pursue leadership positions and continue to challenge the status quo.
NDP Leader Carla Beck has two planned campaign events today, starting the day with an availability in Moose Jaw and then later this evening attending an event in the capital with the Regina Medical Staff Association.
Saskatchewan Party Leader Scott Moe, meanwhile, will speak in Prince Albert at the start of Voting Week in the province.
Saskatchewan residents can vote for five days starting today in the lead-up to next week’s provincial election, although polls won’t be open Sunday.
The NDP and the Saskatchewan Party are urging voters to cast their ballots early.
Voters can find their polling stations on their information cards or by visiting the Elections Saskatchewan website.
Chief electoral officer Michael Boda says there are about 810,000 registered voters in Saskatchewan.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
