Social housing emerges as hot election topic

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 16, 2015
By Lisa Queen

As the federal election comes down to the wire Monday, social housing is emerging as a key late election issue.

Last week, mayors and chairs in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area put pressure on Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair and Green Leader Elizabeth May to properly fund municipal infrastructure needs.

But they went beyond roads and bridges to say Ottawa has failed to adequately invest in social housing, which, they said, represents not only a compelling social concern, but an economic one as well.

“Investments in housing are effective at stimulating economic growth and employment. For instance, it is estimated that each $1 increase in residential building construction investment generates an increase in overall GDP (gross domestic product) of $1.52 as the investment continues to cycle through the economy,” the mayors and chairs said in a letter to the federal leaders.

“To put it simply, investing in social housing is a true engine of growth.”

Meanwhile, a new citizens group called Stand Up for Public Housing, led by former Ontario housing ministers Dennis Timbrell and Alvin Curling, has launched a grassroots campaign in the Greater Toronto Area to make social housing a key election issue.

The goal is to change Infrastructure Canada criteria to allow public housing projects to qualify for funding.

“It comes down to this, all the parties say they support infrastructure funding of some form or another and what we’re saying to the leaders of all the parties is OK, great, but we would urge you, if you form the next government, to make sure that the definition of infrastructure is broadened to recognize that whether a job is created repairing a 50-year-old apartment building or repairing a 50-year-old bridge, it’s a job and presumably the objective of all of this is to create jobs, so include the need for public housing in your deliberations.”

The campaign has been endorsed by the Toronto and York Region Labour Council.

The labour council has been an outspoken advocate for public housing, president John Cartwright said in a statement.

“The Stand Up team is out to hold candidates’ feet to the fire on federal funding for public housing and we stand with them.”

Although housing is a provincial responsibility, the Conservatives have increased total transfer payments to the provinces to help with the delivery of social programs, including social housing, Newmarket-Aurora MP Lois Brown said.

“It’s increased by 6 per cent year over year since we took office. And the federal transfers to the province of Ontario have doubled under our government from $10 billion to over $20 billion this year. So, we are doing our part,” she said.

Ottawa has established a homelessness partnering strategy with $600 million available to the provinces for their priority projects, with $35 million of that coming annually to Ontario. And the federal government also has an annual fund of $2.3 billion to help with affordable housing initiatives, which has helped 238,000 households in Ontario alone, Brown said.

But she was unable to say why social housing projects don’t qualify for federal infrastructure funding.

Investing in affordable housing is critical to help low-income families, individuals and seniors find a decent place to live in York Region’s high-priced housing market, Vaughan-King Liberal candidate Deb Schulte said.

Her party is promising a new 10-year investment in social infrastructure, she said.

“The Liberal plan for affordable housing, championed by a fellow former municipal councillor, Adam Vaughan, is particularly strong as it prioritizes investments in affordable housing and seniors’ facilities,” Schulte said.

“Instead of ignoring the needs of Canadians across the country, we will work to ensure safe, adequate and affordable housing, which I believe is essential to building strong families, strong communities and a strong economy.”

The Liberals would build more new housing units and refurbish old ones, give support to municipalities to maintain rent-geared-to-income subsidies in co-ops and give communities the money they need for Housing First initiatives that help homeless Canadians find stable housing, Schulte said.

The party would also remove all GST on new capital investments in affordable rental housing, modernize the existing Home Buyers’ Plan and review escalating home prices in high-priced markets such as Toronto, with an eye to considering all policy tools that could keep home ownership within reach for more Canadians, she said.

Housing affordability is a priority for the Green Party, Markham-Thornhill candidate Joshua Russell said.

The Green Party recognizes that affordable housing provides the basis for employment, schooling and community services, while lack of it puts strain on our health institutions and criminal justice system, he said, adding the Green Party would implement a national affordable housing strategy based off of a housing-first principle to work toward eliminating homelessness.
Research shows York Region ranks as one of the least affordable rental markets in Canada, with 40 per cent of tenants spending more than 30 per cent of their income before taxes on rent, Russell said.

“With our national housing strategy, we would create 20,000 new and 8,000 rehabilitated affordable units per year for the next 10 years to dramatically increase social housing available to Canadians,” he said, adding the party would also establish a housing strategy for seniors.

A York Region NDP candidate could not be reached for comment.

The party is promising to help Toronto and Vancouver residents deal with high housing costs through a tax break aimed at encouraging the construction of 10,000 affordable housing units over the next decade.

The NDP would work with the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation on a tax incentive that would let people building rental housing escape paying capital gains taxes if they reinvest in affordable rental housing.