“Homelessness & Affordability Crisis”

John’s doctor just told him that he has high blood pressure, is seriously overweight and is on the verge of becoming a diabetic. This was not his first warning.

In response, John finally decided to do something. He promised to stop smoking. He promised to cut out junk food. He promised to eat more vegetables. And he drew up an exercise program, with a schedule of workouts mapped out to 2030.

If you listen to Canadian politicians, the solution to our housing crisis seems to be some combination of immigration reform and a herculean countrywide building effort.

But Paul Kershaw, a public policy professor at the University of British Columbia and founder of the affordability advocacy group Generation Squeeze, says the emphasis on increasing housing supply obscures an issue politicians are less likely to address.

Namely, that we, as a country, have become addicted to ever-rising home prices, largely because we’ve been conditioned to see our homes as financial assets.

This is a bit WEF’y for me.

The other dirty secret is that while Trudeau talks housing crisis he really doesn’t do anything that will decrease real estate prices as that would hurt his base of urban voters.

When the $86-million low-interest loan for SoHo Italia apartment tower in Ottawa was announced in the summer of 2020, the federal government press release led with the line: “Every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home.”

The project would provide housing for the middle class and “those working hard to join it,” said Ahmed Hussen, the cabinet minister then responsible for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., which lent the money under the largest program in the Ottawa’s national housing strategy.

The Liberals are relentless scammers.

Justin Trudeau is not going to solve the housing crisis.

He can’t do it on his own and he can’t seem to recruit the necessary collaborators among Canadian governments to get it done.

For several weeks culminating in an ambitious set of federal housing initiatives announced Friday the prime minister and his cabinet colleagues have crossed the country announcing housing initiatives.

When looking back on how the last few years have gone, Robert Quinn, 61, says he is full of gratitude and proudly pulls out his keychain.

You would not think a keychain could have so much significance, but for Quinn, it’s a constant reminder of how far he has come.

Quinn is quick to show off the tags he has collected, one for each of the agencies that helped him find housing — his ‘badges of gratitude,’ as he calls them and most importantly, two keys.

This is Trudeau’s Canada.

h/t Patti Jo