While so much of the focus in Ontario over the past few days has (deservedly) been about Doug Ford’s plan to send $200 cheques to everyone ahead of an early election call in order to buy votes (rather than doing anything about healthcare, education, universities, crumbling infrastructure, you name it), it has obscured from the reports that Ontario is not only badly missing its housing targets—it’s getting worse.
Today's Fall Economic Statement shows that Ontario is falling further behind on its housing targets. We need a war-time-like effort to fix the housing crisis, but the Ford government is sitting on the sidelines.
We need action, and we need it yesterday. pic.twitter.com/YobpjozYrz
— Dr. Mike P. Moffatt 🇨🇦🏅🏅 (@MikePMoffatt) October 30, 2024
Housing is very much a provincial responsibility. That is the level of government that has the tools and the levers to affect housing, whether it’s legislating the zoning changes that cities are reluctant to engage in, or using their spending powers to build or repair social housing (like they’ve been promising to since the late eighties), or any number of things. Is Ford doing any of it? Nope. Are they banning municipalities from forcing excessive development charges that are raising the cost of housing? Nope. Are they doing absolutely anything other than trying to pad their housing numbers with long-term care beds? Nope. But instead, all of the blame continues to be put on Justin Trudeau for the housing situation, never mind that he has vanishingly few levers at his disposal (and when he points that out, every media outlet in the country freaks out and insists that he must somehow create some, because reasons).
Meanwhile, as Pierre Poilievre promises to cut two of the existing federal housing programmes to fund his GST cut on new houses under $1 million, here’s Mike Moffatt explaining why those programmes are necessary and why they should be adjusted and not cut, not that Poilievre is going to listen.
Thread time. The Housing Accelerator Fund and Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund are in the news, as the Conservatives are promising to abolish them.
That would be a mistake.
But we should also recognize that the programs have some big problems and need to be overhauled.
— Dr. Mike P. Moffatt 🇨🇦🏅🏅 (@MikePMoffatt) October 31, 2024
Ukraine Dispatch
The death toll from the Russian strike on a high-rise in Kharkiv have risen, and children are among the dead. Russians also attacked a strategic bridge in the Odesa region overnight. American intelligence indicates that there are now 8,000 North Korean troops in Russia’s Kursk region, and that they are expected to enter the fight against Ukraine in the coming days. President Zelenskyy has blasted allies’ “zero” response to the arrival of these North Korean troops.
russia continues its brutal terrorist attacks against Ukrainian civilians.
A child was killed, and at least 35 people were injured in Kharkiv. A nighttime enemy strike destroyed the entrance of a residential high-rise building.
The debris is still being cleared, and there may… pic.twitter.com/doB8IAUCNl
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 31, 2024
⚡️Ukrainian drone strikes Russian oil refinery 1,500 km from border, Russian official claims.
A Ukrainian drone struck an oil refinery in the city of Ufa in Russia's Bashkortostan Republic, the head of the republic, Radiy Khabirov, said on Oct. 31. https://t.co/LzO28yuVXb
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) October 31, 2024