Roundup: Cherry-picking and one-upping policy

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There was a definite whiff of cynicism with the Liberals’ latest announcement, this time around housing, and it is starting to look like their election platform is to cherry-pick what the other two main parties have done and try to either one-up those policies, or extend the existing Budget 2021 framework with these rival policies in mind. So that’s going well.

On the other side, you have both Erin O’Toole and Jagmeet Singh proclaiming that Trudeau had that six years could fix the housing affordability crisis, because apparently, it’s that easy to solve – and while Justin Trudeau did call them out in saying that anyone who thinks it can be solved in a snap doesn’t understand the depth of the crisis, and he’s right. He’s also right to point out that they had a big hill to climb when it comes to re-engaging the federal government on housing with agreements with the provinces, and they’ve been getting there, and accelerating a lot of that funding through the pandemic, but there has been little acknowledgement that the biggest bottlenecks to building more housing is coming from the municipal governments. It’s one of the reasons why the federal dollars for housing aren’t getting spent – projects can’t get approved at the municipal level. Now, the Liberals do have something to address this in their platform, which is a $4 billion fund that essentially seeks to bribe these councils into approving projects, but it is being argued that this won’t help those municipalities where this is a problem by very much, and it may be easier to go to the provinces to amend their own municipal parent legislation to remove some of these regulatory barriers from their end. Of course, that’s another case of “working with provinces,” though in this case, they may be more motivated than on other files.

This being said, nothing any of the parties are going to do is likely to help affordability anytime soon – especially because the problems for increasing the housing supply are dependent on eliminating those bottlenecks, and ensuring there is sufficient labour to build the houses, and in the major markets where this housing is most needed, that may be a problem in and of itself (especially if you want to attract that labour from other provinces, but they can’t afford a place to live when they arrive). And especially because nobody wants to piss off existing homeowners, who want their current home equity to keep appreciating, never mind that it just continues to make the problem worse. But politics is about tough choices, so we’ll see who can make reasonable ones.

In the meantime, here’s Jennifer Robson in this long thread recounting the last time a federal government tried a home buyers’ savings account, and Mike Moffatt gives his take on these announcements.

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1430253010618355727

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1430254029729378307

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1430254668458991620

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1430255115085156356

https://twitter.com/MikePMoffatt/status/1430256554561974276

On the campaign trail:

  • Justin Trudeau was in Hamilton to make promises around housing, cherry-picking pieces from the other two platforms (including intruding on provincial jurisdiction).
  • Trudeau did invoke Doug Ford’s name, citing that even he is imposing some vaccine mandates – and that O’Toole wouldn’t say not to him at a bargaining table.
  • Erin O’Toole was back in Ottawa to promise reforms to pensions and bash “corporate elites” (but if it was that easy, it would have been done already).
  • The labour movement isn’t buying O’Toole’s assurances that he’s on their side.
  • Jagmeet Singh was in Mississauga to promise to nationalise long-term care homes in the country (and good luck getting the provinces to agree).
  • Annamie Paul says the party’s platform isn’t ready yet, but suggests people google their 2019 platform as it will be largely the same.
  • Here is a deeper dive into the battle over private clinics and the Liberals’ attempt to crack down on them versus O’Toole thinking they’re a great “innovation.”
  • Here’s a look into how the “culture war” against tech giants and Bill C-10 are playing in Quebec, where the Liberals hope the road to their majority runs through.
  • Heather Scoffield walks through some of the different promises around housing.
  • Chantal Hébert notes that Trudeau’s usual sunny disposition on the campaign trail has given way to an air of petulance.
  • Colby Cosh sees O’Toole’s numbers rising among youth and wonders if we are on the verge of “Toolemania.”

https://twitter.com/ChrisGNardi/status/1430163730990608395

 

Good reads:

  • G7 leaders had a call about the situation in Afghanistan, but the US won’t extend their pull-out deadline to help allies get their people out, because of course.
  • BC, Quebec and Manitoba are all re-imposing mask mandates as cases continue to climb. (You think?)
  • Matt Gurney points to the exhaustion setting in around the scientists, doctors, nurses and decision-makers as the fourth wave starts to climb.
  • My column compares the three main parties’ promises around healthcare spending, and finds the question of whether or not strings are attached to be key.

Odds and ends:

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