Prime Minister Justin Trudeau started his post-shuffle re-pitching of his government as affordability-focused to Canadians on Thursday, seeking to draw a sharp contrast between the Liberals and their Conservative rivals. Housing was another key change made as part of the shuffle, and now the minister in charge says his file will be a 'complete priority.'
I’m always surprised by the lack of imagination when folks bring up jurisdiction with respect to the housing crisis. The federal govt has an abundance of tools it can use to leverage pressure on the provinces. Even if we were to go by your rather narrow view of the issue, that the federal govt has yet to even begin to make noises about supply-side tweaks certainly suggests that it is simply not a priority for them, that they are comfortable with the seriously disturbing rise of unhoused Canadians and tent encampments in most major Canadian cities.
Personally, I’m pretty shocked that things have progressed to where we are now, and, despite being quite left of centre, this is such an issue in my area that voting Liberal again is simply unimaginable. I’m certainly not proud to be forced into considering voting blue (orange is a much likelier option but i cant say I’m particularly pleased with them having tied their cart to the govt’s horse) but I simply can’t reward a govt for such inaction on such a fundamental issue.
Like you say the feds have leverage on the provinces, but in reality we just saw how long the provinces dragged their feet on childcare, and they’ve been dragging their feet on healthcare.
I like to imagine that the feds have more influence, and if they wanted to spend all their political capital they might be able to force through a single issue like this (but take your pick on what that single issue is).
You’re delusional if you think voting blue would make this situation any better, orange is a much better bet, but even better, vote red or orange at the provincial level or even better, vote in your municipal elections, both those levels have much more direct tools at solving this issue.
At this point I’m convinced the federal conservatives and provincial conservatives are intentionally trying confuse voters by shifting the blame from the currently in power provincial conservative governments to the federal liberals, and it feels like it’s working 😞.
I’m always surprised by the lack of imagination when folks bring up jurisdiction with respect to the housing crisis. The federal govt has an abundance of tools it can use to leverage pressure on the provinces. Even if we were to go by your rather narrow view of the issue, that the federal govt has yet to even begin to make noises about supply-side tweaks certainly suggests that it is simply not a priority for them, that they are comfortable with the seriously disturbing rise of unhoused Canadians and tent encampments in most major Canadian cities.
Personally, I’m pretty shocked that things have progressed to where we are now, and, despite being quite left of centre, this is such an issue in my area that voting Liberal again is simply unimaginable. I’m certainly not proud to be forced into considering voting blue (orange is a much likelier option but i cant say I’m particularly pleased with them having tied their cart to the govt’s horse) but I simply can’t reward a govt for such inaction on such a fundamental issue.
Like you say the feds have leverage on the provinces, but in reality we just saw how long the provinces dragged their feet on childcare, and they’ve been dragging their feet on healthcare.
I like to imagine that the feds have more influence, and if they wanted to spend all their political capital they might be able to force through a single issue like this (but take your pick on what that single issue is).
You’re delusional if you think voting blue would make this situation any better, orange is a much better bet, but even better, vote red or orange at the provincial level or even better, vote in your municipal elections, both those levels have much more direct tools at solving this issue.
At this point I’m convinced the federal conservatives and provincial conservatives are intentionally trying confuse voters by shifting the blame from the currently in power provincial conservative governments to the federal liberals, and it feels like it’s working 😞.