Life seems so simple when you listen to conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
• Also read: Despite the outcry, Poilievre shoots new arrows against Valérie Plante
Replace Justin Trudeau, Valérie Plante and Bruno Marchand and everything will be better.
Inflation will also disappear.
Housing construction will grow like a weed!
Life is beautiful without incompetents!
On the other hand, life, real life, is a bit more complex.
Let's take housing construction. Mr. Poilievre calls the mayors of Montreal and Quebec incompetent because of the decline in the number of new single-family home construction in 2023!
However, if we look at the numbers from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the last few years have not been as disastrous as we would be led to believe… on the contrary!
Little quiz!
Do you know which Canadian prime minister has had the most housing starts in Canada since 1990?
Justin Trudeau. In 2021 there were 271,198.
And in Montreal? Also in 2021. With 13,204 under Valérie Plante!
In 2023 we recorded a decline in the country with only 240,267 housing starts, which is 11.4% less than in 2021.
Nevertheless, 2023 was one of the best years in terms of housing starts…
The conservative summit? In 2007, 228,343…
Mr. Harper's trough? In 2009, the number of housing starts in the country fell by 34% compared to 2007!!!
Incompetence? Well no…
In 2009 we experienced a severe economic crisis!
To attribute the downfall to Mr. Harper would be very dishonest. Just as the fall of 2023 is attributed solely to mayors Marchand and Plante.
Explanation
Very high interest rates (and not only in Canada), the meteoric rise in construction costs during the pandemic, the labor shortage…
Yes, bureaucracy increases complexity. Yes, building in Montreal is far too complicated. Yes, Mayor Plante failed to get things going…
And yes, there are fewer single-family homes… we want to increase density and there are fewer and fewer properties available!
But even with a housing leader as mayor, building in Montreal would be complicated.
Since there are many levels of government and funding, we want to build both social housing and affordable housing, as Ottawa has completely abandoned this sector for 30 years and the financing is too expensive for the rental price…
Legally incompetent?
Furthermore, if Valérie Plante and Bruno Marchand are incompetent, Prime Minister François Legault is certainly incompetent too!
Because in Quebec the financing of housing construction goes through the government, which refused to acknowledge that there was a crisis.
Still no word from Pierre Poilievre. He knows that some of the voters he is courting in Quebec are like Mr. Legault.
solutions
The housing crisis can only be solved if everyone involved works together…
Let's hope Mr. Poilievre is just as good at repairing the pots he breaks so well.