Canada’s leader since 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, said he knows that everything is expensive for “young people,” and he balked at a reporter who asked if he bears any responsibility for it.
The Prime Minister made his comments on Wednesday alongside Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, just weeks before they release their 2024-2025 budget.
“With the cost of groceries, monthly bills and all the other realities of life going up, up, up,” Trudeau said, “Well, that can make it hard to save for the future.”
Trudeau further acknowledged that Canada is facing a housing crisis, and announced a slew of plans to try and make things easier for renters. Particularly, he said the Liberals plan to make monthly rent payments go towards credit scores so that securing a mortgage becomes easier.
A reporter later asked Trudeau if he bears any responsibility for the tough economic times Canadians are facing, but he didn’t answer, and instead said that things like climate change and the COVID pandemic bear the responsibility.
The PM made his announcement in front of a mostly younger crowd in Vancouver where the cost of rent is the highest in the country.
Canada’s housing crisis has consistently deteriorated since 2015. As of August 2023, the average home price stood at 8.9 times the median household income, exacerbating the existing housing supply shortage. Rent prices, particularly in big cities, are out of control.
Freeland tells Canadians cost-of-living crisis “isn’t your fault”
Minister Freeland also spoke on Wednesday, telling the audience, “Your concerns are real. You’re not making it up. Your frustration is understandable. This isn’t your fault, and it doesn’t need to be your future.”
“We have a plan to build a Canada that works better for you, where you can get ahead, where your hard work pays off, where you can buy a home, and where you can realize the incredible promise of our great country and get a fair chance at middle class life,” she said.
The Finance Minister also said that her Liberal Party is focusing on increasing the supply of affordable homes and reforming zoning policies, making building easier.
The Trudeau Liberals recently announced that despite the housing affordability crisis, they will continue smashing immigration records.
