Speaking in Edmonton, NDP head underlines skyrocketing housing and rental costs in the city
New Democratic Party (NDP) leader Jagmeet Singh has hit out at the federal government’s handling of the national housing crisis, describing the “real struggle” faced by Canadians on housing affordability throughout the country.
Speaking in Edmonton, Singh noted that 3,000 of the city’s residents do not have a house to live in while 49,000 are in inadequate accommodation. He highlighted the 12.8% increase in the price of one-bedroom apartments in the city over the past year.
"Young people, people with jobs, people that have lower incomes — everyone is faced with a real struggle when it comes to housing." said Singh.
“[There are] really heartbreaking stories talking about how difficult it is to have housing, to find housing, to maintain housing and what that means for communities, what that means for families around this province,” said the NDP’s MP for Edmonton Strathcona, Heather McPherson, who accompanied Singh alongside fellow MP Blake Desjarlais.
“We heard stories from people today that spent so much money on their rent, that, if you factor in rent and bills, they have so little money left over that they're skipping meals,” Singh added.
Merely increasing the supply of housing will not get more people into homes as the root cause of the housing problem lies in the market structure, according to the NDP leader.
"If we have more supply but there continues to be a market that favours investors snapping up all that supply and monopolizing that supply, then it's not going to solve the problem.” he said.
On of the solutions that the NDP proposed in order to solve the housing affordability crisis involved an acquisition fund. This would aid community groups, not-for-profits, and municipalities in buying affordable housing and maintaining its affordability.
A spokesperson for the federal ministry of housing, infrastructure, and communities said that there is a need for all levels of the government to work with one another in order to respond to the housing crisis of the country urgently and thoughtfully.
The current federal measures that address the housing affordability crisis included a housing accelerator fund worth $4 billion, a housing initiative for the construction of more than 15,000 homes worth $4 billion, and a $40,000 tax-free first home savings account program.
