Key officials have already made ‘risky remarks’ that seemingly point the finger at newcomers, says columnist
While Canada’s political parties have yet to outright blame immigrants for the ongoing housing crisis, some leaders have already made several “risky remarks” on the topic, according to columnist Susan Delacourt of the Toronto Star.
“New housing minister Sean Fraser embarked into that perilous territory a few weeks ago when he said Canada might need to crack down on universities attracting foreign students without the means to house them properly,” she said.
Despite Fraser stressing that the students are not to blame, Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre pounced on these remarks and characterized them as emblematic of the Liberal government’s approach to “whip up” resentment against immigrants, Delacourt noted.
“Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford continues to pin the housing crisis in his province – not to mention his Greenbelt scandal – on the desperate need to accommodate Ottawa’s abrupt increase to the number of newcomers to Canada,” Delacourt said.
This was especially apparent in a recent Ford press conference, she said.
“I didn’t get a phone call from the prime minister saying, ‘Surprise, surprise. We’re dropping these many people in your province and by the way, good luck, you deal with them,’” Ford was reported to have said last week.
While the government's target of welcoming 500,000 newcomers remains unchanged, #Immigration Minister Marc Miller acknowledges the importance of understanding the impact of population growth on the #housingsupply. https://t.co/oAX4Yi63Na#mortgageindustry #housingmarket
— Canadian Mortgage Professional Magazine (@CMPmagazine) August 24, 2023
Immigrant-focused discourse does not solve the housing crisis
Delacourt warned that this fixation on foreigners could herald a dark turn in the discourse surrounding housing affordability.
“When political debates get intense, as the housing one is shaping up to be, it can create collateral cultural damage,” she said. “Right now, all the politicians are saying they can keep anti-immigration talk out of the housing crisis. We’ll see whether they’re up to that this fall.”
At the same time, “much has been made over recent years about how Canada has avoided the anti-immigration backlash that has arisen during the Brexit debate, not to mention Donald Trump’s rise to power in 2016 in the US,” Delacourt said.
“It is a testament to tolerance in this country, most certainly, as well as to the fact that political success has often hinged on who best can attract the cultural communities in Canada.”
