Alberta Minsters are furious about Trudeau’s latest housing scheme, saying he’s once again “bypassing provincial jurisdiction” and didn’t consult or even notify the province.
In a news release, Alberta Minister of Seniors, Community, and Social Services Jason Nixon and Minister of Municipal Affairs Ric McIver said, “[Trudeau’s announcement] is a continuation of the Government of Canada’s punitive green agenda by attempting to ban natural gas by 2030 and nationalize housing.
“Unlike the federal government, we know that at a time in which construction of homes and purpose-built rentals is at an all-time high, imposing roadblocks on building will shut people out of the rental and housing market and discourage new construction, making the problem worse.”
As per Trudeau’s announcement, the federal government would allocate $1 billion to municipalities for various infrastructure needs, while $5 billion would go to provinces, but only if they abide by the fed’s guidelines.
Little remains known about the finer details of Trudeau’s housing scheme
According to Trudeau, this would involve committing to building more duplexes, triplexes, townhouses, and multi-unit buildings and temporarily freezing development charges in larger cities. However, a lot has been left in the air. And again, the provinces were never consulted, despite this being their jurisdiction.
Moreover, no breakdown has been given on how the funds would actually be allocated.
As Ministers Nixon and McIver note, “No information has been provided about whether funding will be provided per capita, to ensure it is not used for political gain. They have also not been clear about whether they are finally willing to meet their obligations when it comes to housing on-reserve, as to date the federal government has not upheld its responsibilities for housing in Indigenous communities.”
This particular Trudeau announcement is part of a stream of big-budget campaign-style promises over the last week set to culminate with the release of the budget on April 16. But whether this will ease tensions over the carbon tax hike and Trudeau’s admission he crippled the economy with mass immigration remains doubtful.
