UCP pushes back against federal housing agreements after Ottawa pulls plug on funding for Red Deer

The federal government cancelled a housing grant after Red Deer residents pushed back against zoning changes in the central Alberta city.

The UCP government says it will reject all future housing agreements with the federal government after it pulled funding for Red Deer.

The federal government has cut $12 million for Red Deer from the Housing Accelerator Fund because it found the city wasn’t compliant with requirements for the money.

Like Calgary, Red Deer would have to have approved blanket zoning, allowing as many as four units on a residential unit.

Red Deer city council voted against that rezoning last summer.

Alberta’s housing minister says the province is leading the way on home construction.

“We don’t need the federal government to come tell communities that have the best housing building on how to do their bylaws,“ said housing minister Jason Nixon. ”What we need to do is continue to do what the provincial government has done.

“We have requirements,” he added, “we expect houses to be built. We expect approvals to take place. Red Deer is doing it just as fast as anybody else (across the country).”

Earlier this year, the federal government reduced its funding for Toronto and Vaughan, Ont., for not reaching their housing commitments.