OPINION: Big government should stop micro-managing the housing sector |
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It’s time Canadians woke up to the costly, complex housing deals being done by different levels of government across the country. Their house — or house value — could depend on it.
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Take my hometown of Saskatoon. In 2024, the federal government committed $41.3 million to the city over three years, as part of the national Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF). The goal? To fast-track affordable housing by “upzoning” — in other words, building row houses, townhouses and multiplexes in established neighbourhoods.
More affordable housing is motherhood and apple pie. And governments at all levels should be reducing taxes and fees to let developers get on with building it. What housing funding shouldn’t attach, however, are ideological strings.
In Saskatoon’s case, in exchange for the federal HAF money, the city had to invest in climate initiatives. And it’s been doing that by spending $250 million more in taxpayer money on a supposedly green “Link” rapid transit system.
Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and........