NDP: Liberals housing plan comes too little, too late for renters trying to cover the bills

NDP Housing critic Jenny Kwan made the following statement in reaction to Liberals half measures to protect tenants:

“Rent across Canada is the highest it’s ever been, and it’s still rising. People are struggling homes they can afford in the communities they love and where they work. For decades, both the Liberals and Conservatives have let profiteering investors and financial landlords off the hook.

The Liberals are so out-of-touch with what Canadian renters are experiencing that they keep offering half-measures instead of a real action.

Canadians want to see solutions, but while Justin Trudeau has been in power, rent has doubled across the country and a staggering eleven affordable homes are lost for everyone affordable home that gets built.

And make no mistake—Pierre Poilievre and his corporate controlled Conservatives are not the answer. They want to leave housing up to rich condo developers and corporations who care about increasing profits, not affordable rent. That’s no surprise when the Conservatives’ biggest donors are rich developers.

The Federal Government must increase Canada’s affordable housing stock. That means taking real action to get more affordable homes built and keep the ones we already have instead of leaving it up to corporate landlords who renovict renters to jack up rent.

New Democrats are calling for a Protecting Renters Fund to be implemented in the upcoming federal budget that would help not-for-profit organizations buy affordable housing when it’s up for sale, allowing them to keep it affordable for renters. In addition, the Liberals must place a moratorium on the purchase of affordable homes by financialized landlords including real estate investment trusts (REITs) and corporate firms who are making massive profits while driving up costs. It is time that the Liberals end the preferential tax treatment of REITs in Canada and invest that money into affordable housing.

No one should be left scrambling to find a place to call home because the Liberals don't seem to think there's a problem, and the Conservatives focus on corporate profits.”