Harper tweaks platform into HOUSING PLAY
EQUATES BUYING A HOME WITH FAITH IN CANADA, HOPE FOR THE FUTURE
VAUGHAN, ONT. • Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper continued his bid for the middleclass electorate on Tuesday, declaring home ownership “one of the most unmistakable marks of economic success” and vowing to increase the number of Canadian homeowners by 700,000 by 2020.
The end goal, according to the Conservative Party, is to push Canada’s home ownership rate to 72.5 per cent, up from 66 per cent in 2001, and 69.0 per cent in 2011.
Appearing at a half-built housing development in this Toronto suburb, Harper re-announced a set of tax incentives and other measures aimed at helping first-time buyers into the market, and named the new target of 700,000.
With construction workers in hard hats and safety vests behind him, Harper said buying a home is “more than anything, a statement of optimism, a sign of commitment to your community, of faith in your country, of hope for our future.”
Some economists say the Conservative housing platform — which includes a permanent home renovation tax credit, among other measures — has the potential to inflame already overheated housing markets in Vancouver and the Greater Toronto Area.
Harper, however, said his party is “not promoting home ownership at any cost.”
“We are not lowering the threshold for achieving home ownership,” he said. “We are raising Canadians ability to achieve it through lower taxes, economic growth and new, well-paying jobs.”
He also accused the platforms of the Liberals and New Democrats of ignoring home ownership.
“They never get beyond social housing,” he said. “And social housing is important, too. But frankly their high tax, high deficit, low growth policies would create a need for a lot more of that.”
The Conservatives’ home ownership fixation makes for good politics, according to Darrell Bricker, the CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs. “The reason that we are, if we are (in a bubble), is because (home ownership) remains a really, really popular aspiration for middle-class Canadians.”
Adam Vaughan, a Toronto Liberal MP and the party’s critic for housing, ridiculed Harper’s housing vow in an interview Tuesday.
“I would argue that the only party that is talking about the full spectrum of housing needs is the Liberal Party,” he said, “and that’s because our policy is comprehensive and fully funded.
The New Democrats have promised to provide $500 million for the construction of new, affordable and market housing and to introduce an affordable housing act that would recognize housing as a fundamental right.