Liberals successfully move housing amendment to budget bill

iPolitics.ca
June 7, 2019
Marco Vigliotti

Changes to the budget implementation bill successfully moved by the governing Liberals tweaks language on the right to housing to make it “consistent” with international treaties and expands the powers of the federal housing advocate, says Liberal MP Adam Vaughan.

The amendment to Bill C-97 passed Wednesday also establishes a review and reporting mechanism for the newly established national advocacy housing panel that will ensure Canada has a “full, public, independent rights-based approach to realizing” domestic housing needs, he said.

Vaughan told iPolitics that housing changes introduced in the bill are “really important” because they will “compel future governments, to approach the human rights needs of Canadians by having a housing strategy.”

“It clearly and explicitly through legislation requires the federal government to have a national housing strategy and that’s big news for the housing sector,” he said in a phone interview. Vaughan is the parliamentary secretary to the minister of families, children and social development.

The Liberals introduce rules for their 10-year national housing strategy in the sprawling budget bill, explicitly stating that housing is a human right, heeding a long-running request from advocates. It also established the national housing advocate to report on systemic issues affecting Canadians looking for housing and a national advocacy housing panel to advise the government on the effects of the national strategy.

Legislating the right to housing would require the federal government to develop a “systemic approach to meet the housing needs of Canadians,” according to Vaughan.

The amendment moved at report stage gives the advocate the power to initiate and receive investigations, studies and reports on the broader housing system and the national strategy. It also permits the advocate to present recommendations to the minister responsible for housing on matters that fall within federal jurisdiction, with the minister then mandated to provide a response to Parliament.

In addition, the amendment would require the housing council to establish a review panel if requested by the housing advocate. That review panel would be required to submit a report on the issue it was asked to assess to the minister.

It was passed with the support of MPs from the Liberal Party, NDP and the Greens, while the Tories and Bloc voted in opposition.

In a statement to iPolitics, Conservative housing critic Karen Vecchio called for original reports produced from the housing advocate, housing council and any review panels to be “tabled before Parliament.”

“Conservatives recognize the need to eliminate barriers that stop Canadians from accessing adequate housing. In the process of flagging these barriers, transparency must be highly prioritized,” she said.

The legislative changes came after housing advocates raised concerns about the lack of enforcement mechanisms in the bill. They worried that under the original iteration the housing advocate could only hold the government to account through the filing of an annual report.

NDP housing critic Sheri Benson said she was glad the Liberals listened to stakeholders and proceeded with the changes, but now they needed to ensure the money is there to realize the promised improvements and increase the supply of affordable housing in Canada.

“At the end of the day, the reason we have a housing crisis is because the federal government (pulled out) of housing in the 1990s,” she told iPolitics.

Vaughan said changes to the language around the right to housing in the bill bring it in line with international treaties, specifically the United Nations’ sustainable development goals and declaration on social development. It was “drafted and redrafted” in consultation with housing advocates, he said, including the UN rapporteur for housing.