NDP will tackle Canada’s housing crunch: Mulcair
Tax breaks to encourage construction of rental units will ease ‘crisis,’ mayors told
EDMONTON— NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair says if elected he would help residents of Toronto and Vancouver cope with the crisis in skyrocketing housing costs by bringing in a tax break to encourage construction of 10,000 affordable rental units over the next 10 years.
“Right across the country, Canada’s housing crunch is reaching crisis proportions,” Mulcair told the conference of Canada’s mayors. “In big cities like Vancouver and Toronto, middle-class families are being priced right out of their own housing market.” He said an NDP government would work with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. on an income tax incentive that would allow people investing in rental housing units to avoid capital gains taxes if they plow money back into more “affordable” rental housing investments. An aide to Mulcair said the program would cost Ottawa $500 million annually.
Outlining some of the NDP’s platform for the upcoming election, Mulcair also said if elected, the NDP would, by 2019, commit a total of $5 billion a year to municipalities’ “core infrastructure” needs and funding for public transit.
“Despite their empty promises, successive Liberal and Conservative governments have failed to make a dent in Canada’s infrastructure deficit,” Mulcair told the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) meeting. “When they do finally invest, it’s often inadequate with too many strings attached.” He said an NDP government would co-operate with municipalities to increase investments in key infrastructure projects, creating tens of thousands of construction and manufacturing jobs.
“And we’ll remove funding barriers so that you can focus on building stronger hometowns instead of fill- ing out forms,” he told FCM members, who responded with a round of applause. There have been complaints about the complex approval rules to obtain funding under some recent federal government infrastructure programs.
Mulcair also received hearty applause from several hundred convention goers when he said an NDP government would restore door-todoor mail service for all those who have lost it under Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government.
The NDP will be outlining its election pledges shortly to “ensure that cities and communities have the tools they need” to confront climate change and work toward more environmentally sustainable economies, Mulcair added. An NDP government would also continue Ottawa’s investment in federal social housing projects, committing $440 million next year, the party said.
Finance Minister Joe Oliver, who spoke at the FCM conference earlier, is earmarking about $5 billion a year for municipal support, including a new public transit fund that will, by 2019, ramp up to $1 billion annually. Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who also addressed the conference, is promising a new national housing strategy and more infrastructure funding for cities, including encouraging large pension funds to invest in domestic infrastructure projects.