Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
For the fourth day in a row, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took a cabinet contingent of potted palms in tow to backdrop another housing announcement, this time delivered Friday in that bastion of Liberal loathing called Calgary.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau centre tours modular home construction facility before making a housing announcement in Calgary, Alta., Friday, April 5, 2024 (Jeff McIntosh / THE CANADIAN PRESS)
This was a relatively cheap unveiling in the Trudeau multi-billion-dollar scheme of things. A $600-million push for innovation and factory-built housing was added to the $25-billion pre-budget lineup of housing inducements -- with another 10 days of heavy spending to go before the actual budget.
Okay, let’s give Trudeau the benefit of the doubt and say that the prime minister has suddenly experienced a come-to-Jesus moment and divined the right set of ideas to deliver relief to the overpriced, undersupplied Canadian housing sector.
Housing experts are generally supportive of most initiatives announced this week.
Still, the timing is beyond suspect and it deserves a blatantly cynical reception.
He announced these budget measures just as another carbon tax increase was biting at the pumps. And it’s aimed at a housing shortage crisis even Trudeau admits was exacerbated by the excessive influx of asylum seekers, temporary workers and foreign students he authorized.
There shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who caused a problem, delayed action until raw politics demanded a diversion and introduced long-overdue programs on a timeline which won’t deliver results until long after he becomes electoral road kill.
And all this housing action comes in the aftermath of Trudeau’s correct observation that housing was mostly a provincial matter.
Couple his housing plans with intrusions into provincial areas like health care, natural resources and education and one wonders if Trudeau is auditioning for the job of premier after he leaves federal office.
I digress. Nobody with a real life cares very much about constitutional boundaries and, given that housing is a national crisis spilling from one province into another, nor should they on this issue.
Besides, some of his better-late-than-never ideas deserve to outlive his death row government.
Boosting densities around transit lines is solid common-sense policy first advocated by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.
The federal inducement to quadruple housing per residential lot maximizes land use more efficiently, if only it can overcome city councils unnerved by the NIMBY syndrome which dominates single-family subdivision thinking.
Trudeau's damage control
The topped-up housing accelerator is having some impact but, as the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) reported this week, construction is actually de-accelerating and will dip below the 2021 new housing count for the next two years.
Federal help to expand sewers, watermains and bridges is a welcome initiative because politicians don’t consider it a sexy funding priority, even though it’s vital to have that infrastructure in place before the first subdivision foundation is poured.
And what about those new apartment units Trudeau aims to build? Well, given the original loan program failed to produce pedal-to-metal construction, only delivering a fifth of the target, another $15-billion to the cause seems doomed to deliver only disappointment.
Keeping in mind this push to detonate an explosion in housing construction plays out in a fully-employed building sector. It’s tricky to sprawl out hundreds of thousands of new dwellings when there’s a shortage of skilled trades to build them.
This week was a textbook example of creative damage control by Trudeau, a rush of budget leaks from a politician more concerned about saving his own skin over giving Canadians access to an affordable roof.
But if the polls hold in their current trajectory, Justin Trudeau will be in the rear-view mirror of Canadian political history long before any of these policies deliver tangible relief.
So if they actually work to ease the housing crisis, the next prime minister will get the credit.
That’s the bottom line.
IN DEPTH
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Celine Dion delivers stirring comeback performance at Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Against the rainy Paris night sky, Celine Dion staged the comeback of her career with a powerful performance from the Eiffel Tower to open the Olympic Games.
Jasper wildfire: 'Several weeks' before residents can return, premier says
Premier Danielle Smith said Friday afternoon in Hinton while weather conditions are cooler, the Jasper fire is still considered out of control and that Jasper residents can expect to be away from their homes 'for several weeks.'
Missing 3-year-old boy found dead in creek in Mississauga: police
A three-year-old boy has been found dead a day after he went missing in a park in Mississauga, Peel police say.
Irish museum pulls Sinead O'Connor waxwork after just one day due to backlash
An Irish museum will withdraw a waxwork of singer-songwriter Sinéad O'Connor just one day after installing it, following a backlash from her family and the public, it told CNN in a statement on Friday.
Winnipeg senior's account overdrawn for $146,000 water bill
A Winnipeg senior is getting soaked with a six-figure water bill.
Turpel-Lafond won't sue CBC over Cree heritage report that took 'heavy toll': lawyer
The lawyer for a former judge whose claims to be Cree were questioned in a CBC investigation says his client is not considering legal action against the broadcaster after the Law Society of British Columbia this week backed her claims of Indigenous heritage.
Driver charged after flashing high beams at approaching police
Orillia OPP arrested and charged a driver with impaired driving after flashing their high beams.
Major Canadian bank experiences direct deposit outage on payday
Scotiabank says it has fixed a technical issue that impacted direct deposits on Friday morning.
Health Canada warns some naloxone kits contain false instructions
Health Canada is warning some take-home naloxone kits come with bad instructions that should be ignored in favour of the correct guidance.
Local Spotlight
'She led it the whole way': 18-year-old B.C. woman leads hikers to safety in Jasper National Park
As fire threatened people in Jasper National Park, Colleen Knull sprung into action.
'There's mom and dad's house': New video appears to show destruction of Jasper neighbourhood
Video posted to social media on Thursday morning appears to show the charred remains of a Jasper, Alta., neighbourhood.
Sask. Second World War veteran, 103, receives France's highest national order
A Saskatchewan-born veteran of the Second World War was recently presented with France's highest national order.
Former First Nations chief voices Disney's first Ojibwe language Star Wars movie
A local First Nations elder and veteran is helping to bring the Ojibwe language to a well-known film for the first time.
Ottawa Humane Society reunites Montreal family with cat missing for 8 years
A cat who fled her Montreal home nearly a decade ago has been reunited with her family after being found in Ottawa.
Waterloo, Ont. woman out thousands after car totalled in hit-and-run
A woman in Waterloo, Ont. is out thousands of dollars for a car crash she wasn’t involved in.
'It looks scary, but they're harmless': Bees removed from Winnipeg street light
A swarm of bees living in a lamppost in Winnipeg’s Sage Creek neighbourhood has found a new home for its hive.
'Powerful symbol of the progress we have made': Land being returned to Manitoba Métis Federation
Around 100 acres of Manitoba Crown Land near the Saskatchewan border is being returned to the Métis community.
Cape Breton moose hunting suspended for 3 years due to 'significant' drop in population
Nova Scotia is suspending the licensed Cape Breton moose hunt for three years due to what the province is calling a “significant drop” in the population.