Tag Archives: Housing

QP: Goading the Conservatives on Ukraine

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The prime minister was off to meet EU leaders in Newfoundland and Labrador, while his deputy was doing photo ops in Toronto. Even Pierre Poilievre was away today, as were every other leader. Andrew Scheer led off, and after giving the new “time’s up” slogan, he misquoted the Scotiabank report and demanded the government balance the budget. Randy Boissonnault got up to denounce the Conservatives for the voting against the Ukraine trade deal. Scheer repeated the lie that the government is forcing a carbon price on Ukraine, before repeating his demand for a balanced budget. Karina Gould pointed out that there was no carbon price in the trade deal, and brought up that Poilievre falsely called yesterday’s Rainbow Bridge incident a terror incident. Scheer demanded the government support their amendment to send more weapons and energy to Ukraine before rambling about the so-called “replacement” temporary foreign workers at the Stellantis plant, which again, has been debunked. Bill Blair got up to pat himsefl con the back for the billions in military aid sent to Ukraine. Gérard Deltell got up to repeat the demand for a balanced budget in French, to which François-Philippe Champagne praised the government’s efforts. Deltell railed that the government would force our great-grandchildren to pay the price for their mistakes, and Champagne implored for them to pass their affordability bill.

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he decried the plan for interprovincial labour mobility for healthcare workers, and railed that this would disadvantage Quebec. Boissonnault pointed pivot that the federal government transfers hundreds of millions of dollars to Quebec to help francisise immigrants. Therrien insisted that all the federal government needed to do was increase transfers so that Quebec could hire more doctors on their own, to which Pablo Rodriguez said that Canadians can work together, whether the Bloc likes it or not.

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and he accused the industry minister of not doing anything about the grocery CEOs. Champagne insisted that he stared down those CEOs and he forced them to stabilise prices, before imploring them to pass the affordability bill. Alistair MacGregor gave the English version of the same question, and Champagne accused the NDP of not doing anything for consumers and again implored them to pass that bill.

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Roundup: More reactions to the economic update

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Reactions to the Fall Economic Statement continue to roll in, so I figured I would highlight a couple of them. On the subject of housing, pretty much everyone is unhappy with what was on offer, in spite of the fact that the federal government didn’t have a lot of room to manoeuvre as they try to avoid juicing economic growth too much, which would put upward pressure on inflation (and the provinces are already doing just that).

To that effect, here’s a thread from Mike Moffatt on things the federal government could have done that won’t impact the inflation situation.

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1727301177833132254

Kevin Milligan delves into the debt and deficit figures in this thread, and provides a dose of perspective sauce for all of the hyperventilating that is coming from certain quarters and voices, particularly as debt servicing charges have risen. As well, I’m highlighting this one tweet about just how big the increase is in relative and historical terms, because again, perspective.

As well, Lindsay Tedds explains in this thread why she thinks the government’s plans to limit short-term rentals is going to be far easier said than actually done (and that they may not have thought it through).

https://twitter.com/LindsayTedds/status/1727491807834177690

Ukraine Dispatch:

The death toll from the Russian strike on the hospital in Selydove has risen to three. The Russians are reported to be sending fewer troops and less equipment to Avdiivka after failing to capture it in a major assault. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of a “difficult defence” on the eastern front as the winter cold sets in. Ukraine’s coal industry has had to start hiring women and overturning policies that barred them from working underground because of the war.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1727376980851486836

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QP: Outright lying about the Ukraine trade deal

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The prime minister was present while his deputy was not. All other leaders were in the Chamber, so it was going to be a spectacle. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and asked for an update about the incident in Niagara Falls, which he attributed to a terrorist event (which was far too early to determine at the time, which seem to have been disproven), to which Justin Trudeau stated that a vehicle blew up on the Rainbow Bridge, and they were still gathering information, but that the border has been closed at additional locations. Poilievre repeated the request in English, but slipped in a “bring home” slogan in there, and got the same response, and then excused himself to go get further updates. Poilievre returned to French to decry that the $20 billion in new spending from the economic update would keep fuelling inflation. Randy Boissonneault insisted that the update would be good news. Poilievre got back up and asked “what’s up?”, paused, then listed things that he insisted were up before declaring “time’s up” for the government, and decried that $20 billion in English. Boissonnault repeated his good news points before lambasting the Conservatives for failing to vote for the legislation on the trade deal with Ukraine. Poilievre declared that the federal government “betrayed Ukraine” with a list of mostly falsehoods, but didn’t actually ask a question. Gould noted that if that were true, they would have voted for the bill, but they didn’t because of a red herring.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, hoped that the situation at the border would be as un-dramatic as possible, before decrying the empty box that was the economic update. Boissonnault gave his own well wishes for the situation the borders before deploying his good-news talking points. Blanchet then demanded that the government stop intruding in provincial jurisdiction around housing, to which Sean Fraser praised the deal with the Quebec government.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and asked for his own update on the border situation, to which Karina Gould gave some fairly bland assurances as there were no further details. Singh switched to French to decry that the housing funds in the fiscal update were backloaded two years. Marci Ien got up to praise the tax-free housing savings plan, insisting that it was working for young people.

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Roundup: A relatively restrained update

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And so, the government tabled their Fall Economic Statement, and lo, it was relatively restrained. There was very little spending, most of it very targeted, nothing about booking particular promised but not yet delivered spending programmes (such as the disability benefit), and most of that spending was geared toward either housing, or some targeted tax breaks. Critics will point out that what is offered for housing is very little given the scale of the crisis, but we also have to remember that the federal government needs to be restrained in its spending so as not to juice growth too much and keep inflation high—several provinces are already doing that, which makes the Bank of Canada’s job much harder, and Freeland seems to be making the effort to do her part not to make things worse.

With this in mind, here are some of the stories that emerged:

  • A overall look, including the deficit situation.
  • Further promising changes to competition law.
  • Using part of the growth fund to guarantee carbon prices for major emitters (as insurance for investments against future government actions).
  • There’s a new voluntary “Mortgage Charter,” and measures to help CHMC revive projects that may have been shelved because of interest rates.
  • Debt-servicing charges are increasing mostly because of how much they needed to take on during the pandemic.
  • Enriching the payroll tax credit for media organizations.
  • The Canadian Press has a list of highlights and five key affordability measures in the update.

Meanwhile, here is some added reaction:

Ukraine Dispatch:

Russians hit a hospital in Selydove in the east, as well as a coal mine, as well as killing one while shelling Kharkiv. More than 10,000 civilians have been killed since the start of Russia’s invasion. The Russians claim to have scuppered more Ukrainian attempts to get footholds on the eastern banks of the Dnipro river. Two Ukrainian lawmakers are under investigation for trying to bribe reconstruction officials, one of them with Bitcoin.

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Roundup: Government land isn’t a slam dunk

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You have probably heard a lot of talk from both Pierre Poilievre and Jagmeet Singh about the federal government not doing enough about housing with the lands that they own. Poilievre is making grandiose promises about all the houses they’ll build on it, and all of the office towers they’ll convert, never mind that conversions are difficult and in many cases impossible because of how those buildings are structured, while Singh is demanding that any government-built housing on public land be “affordable,” never mind that there is still a need for market-priced housing, because otherwise wealthier households are competing for the same “affordable” spaces as low-income households if your supply is constrained. (Singh also believes that the federal government can build all of this housing on their own, as if they’ll hire the planners, architects and contractors on their own—not really feasible).

Meanwhile, just building on government-owned land is actually easier said than done. Why? Mike Moffatt lays out a lot of those reasons here:

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1726576778532340046

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1726577611722355121

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1726578211533054284

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1726578825230971074

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1726579784661242205

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces have been focused on containing attempted Russian advances near Bakhmut, while two people were killed in Russian shelling on Kherson. There was also a grenade blast that killed two in Kyiv, the cause of which remains unclear. Ukraine’s two top cyber defence officials have been sacked as an investigation into alleged embezzlement is ongoing in the cybersecurity agency.

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QP: The usual demands ahead of the fiscal update

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While the prime minister was in town today, he was not in QP, and neither was his deputy. Most of the other leaders were absent as well. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and cited a figure that claims the deficit is adding two percent of interest rates per month (erm…), and demanded a balanced budget. Anita Anand listed measures the government is taking to help people with affordability. Poilievre repeated the same claim and demand in English, to which Anand noted that much of the spending noted by that report was provincial and not federal, and that they were there for Canadians when they need it. Poilievre repeated his same points more emphatically, and this time Sean Fraser said it was hard to accept criticism from a member who didn’t get homes built when he was the minister charge of the housing file. Poilievre then pivoted to the carbon price, and proposed a “Canadian compromise” to freeze said price until the next election. Fraser then listed figures that poked holes in Poilievre’s revisionist history of his time as a minister. Poilievre pivoted again and worried that one of the battery plants the government is funding would rely on temporary foreign workers. Fraser got back up to carry on with the criticisms on housing, with a slight mention of the new economy. 

Alain Therrien led for the Bloc, and he demanded that the government extend the CERB repayment deadline lest there be millions of bankruptcies. Rechie Valdez read her talking points about extending the date and providing more flexibility. Therrien then demanded the fiscal update include the promise for a national school lunch programme, and more specifically transferring money to Quebec for it. Jenna Sudds reiterated that the government is working with the provinces to developing this programme together. 

Alexandre Boulerice rose for the NDP, and he decried the profits of grocery giants, and demanded a windfall tax in the economic update. Anand praised the government’s bill to increase competition, now that it is moving ahead again. Daniel Blaikie patted himself on the back for “improving” that bill and demanded more funds for housing in the fiscal update. Fraser suggested he wait for the update tomorrow.

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Roundup: A conspicuous lack of self-reflection

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It has not gone unnoticed that while Conservatives have been decrying the rise in antisemitism, there has been absolutely zero introspection about the kinds of deeply antisemitic conspiracy theories that they have been promulgating in an attempt to win the far-right fringe votes that they think will push them over the edge to electoral victories.

 

It wasn’t that long ago that there was a song and dance about how Kerry-Lynne Findlay’s tweets about how “shocking” it was that Chrystia Freeland interviewed George Soros when she was a journalist, were supposed to result in some kind of apology to Jewish groups, but nothing really came of it. Findlay is now the caucus whip, and the party is still sending out mailers about the dangers of the World Economic Forum, which Poilievre himself has denounced for incredibly stupid reasons. And yet, there is absolutely zero self-awareness that their pushing conspiracy theories is helping to feed this. And while there is a tonne of equivocating about how it’s really the “left” that is antisemitic and dangerous, they refuse to look at themselves in the mirror. This all remains so deeply stupid.

Ukraine Dispatch:

A Russian missile struck an apartment block in the eastern town of Selydove, killing two and wounding three. Ukrainian forces have confirmed that they have established a beachhead on the eastern banks of the Dnipro River, which is a milestone in the ongoing counter-offensive. Civil society groups in Ukraine estimate that the death toll on their side is around 30,000 troops.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1724784115210428863

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Roundup: Maybe not just an industrial price

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Because the vultures are circling around the carbon price, we’re going to be inundated with plenty of “proposals” about what to do. Like this one from Ken Boessenkool, who thinks that they should just kill the retail carbon price in favour of the industrial one, as though those costs won’t still be passed only (with less transparency), and it won’t give people incentives to change behaviour. Oh, and industrial carbon prices will disproportionately target Alberta, so I can’t see them being in favour of that either.

Meanwhile, Access to Information documents show that Danielle Smith was indeed lying about the “pause” on renewable energy products, but worse than that, she roped in the independent operators who should have maintained their independence. This is very bad, but she’ll continue to get away with it, like she always has.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces say that the Russians have intensified their assault on Avdiivka, but the Ukrainians’ defensive positions remains strong. A Russian missile struck a Liberian-flagged vessel at the port in Odesa. Ukrainian drone pilots are worried that they have lost the advantage as the arms-race between the two powers accelerates.

https://twitter.com/defenceu/status/1722682213399974066

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QP: More fiction, more soliloquies

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The prime minister was present today, while his deputy was on her way to Winnipeg. All of the other leaders were present, and it remained to be seen in today would be as abysmal as the past week has been. Pierre Poilievre led off in French, and he started off with a slam of the Bloc for voting with the government, claiming this was a new “coalition” and wondered what deal he offered them. Justin Trudeau said that he offered Quebeckers what he offered all Canadians, which was a plan to grow the economy with a plan to fight climate change. Poilievre decried that he mixed up the Bloc with all Quebeckers, and repeated his demand to know about the supposed deal. Trudeau noted that half a million Quebeckers still use home heating oil, particularly those in lower-incomes, which is why they were offering to replace them with heat pumps. Poilievre switched to English to mouth some slogans and again repeated the falsehood that there is a coalition with the Bloc, and his demand to know what he offered them. Trudeau said that the only division in the country was within the Conservative Party on the issue of climate change, and praised the rebates that the carbon price system offers. Poilievre raised the Environment Commissioner’s report that the government’s climate plan wasn’t going to reach its targets, and again claimed there was a coalition. Trudeau trotted out his line that while the country agreed to phase out coal, they are now doing the same with heating oil. Poilievre raised the premiers’ objections to the heating oil pause, and said that Trudeau was partnering with the separatists to divide the country. Trudeau went into a tear about about how the government was helping Canadians while the Conservative had no plan.

Yves-François Blanchet led for the Bloc, and he wanted the government to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. Trudeau recited his call for a “humanitarian pause” that can get aid in and Canadians out, while they support a two-state solution. Blanchet noted that Israel has broken the trust or the international community, and demanded stronger action from Canada in calling for a ceasefire. Trudeau said that they are working with partners around the world to protect civilians and restore peace in the region, but we also need to beware of the rise in hate seen in Canada.

Jagmeet Singh rose for the NDP, and denounced the “Liberal and Conservative corporate coalition” before he demanded support for the NDP’s Supply Day motion on eliminating the GST on heating and imposing a windfall tax on oil companies. Trudeau noted his “confusion and consternation” the NDP’s incoherent position in the Conservative vote, and said that it disappointed progressives around the country. Singh declared that the government has missed all of their climate targets (not actually true), before repeating his question in French. Trudeau repeated his same response. 

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Roundup: The premiers want their cut

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I have to say that it’s extremely precious to see the premiers getting bent out of shape because the federal government has started taking action on the housing crisis by dealing directly with municipalities and using the Housing Accelerator Fund to incentivise them to get rid of restrictive zoning practices that limit housing development. They’re claiming that the federal government is encroaching on their jurisdiction, but these very same premiers have abdicated this responsibility for decades now. They have the ability to eliminate these zoning restrictions with provincial jurisdiction, and they have time and again refused to. So, the federal government stepped in, and now they’re getting huffy about it. And to their credit, the federal ministers are pushing back on this, as well they should (especially because once again, they’re being blamed for the provinces’ failure to act on this crisis).

One of the excuses is that Quebec had a deal for money that flows to the province and not municipalities, because the province has legislation that forbids the federal government from cutting such deals. Okay, but what’s the motivation here? Are they sore because they’re not being invited to the photo ops when these deals are signed? Or are they sore because they can’t take a cut of those funds and use them for their own purposes, you know, like they have done with health transfers for decades now, or how they took funds meant for pandemic supports and simply applied them to their bottom lines so that they could run surpluses while letting their health care systems collapse around them? Because neither is a good look.

Even more to the point, the provinces keep insisting that Ottawa should be the one to pay for things cities need, like transit, or social housing, or major infrastructure, because they don’t want to have to spend the money. They keep crying poor and saying Ottawa has all of the money, but that’s also bullshit because the provinces have the same ability to raise revenues as the federal government does, but they choose not to because they don’t want to be the bad guy by raising taxes, even though it’s all the same taxpayer in the end. But this is how federalism has degenerated in this country, and it’s time people start holding the premiers to account for their failures (for a change).

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces say that they repelled more pushes along the various front lines and in particular around Avdiivka. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is calling for unity as he dismisses the notion of wartime elections, and when he has been publicly disagreeing with his top general about the current phase of the war.

https://twitter.com/ukraine_world/status/1721960135759741409

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