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Tara Houle's avatar

Why the heck would we ever demand that the government fix housing when they can’t even figure out their own payroll system? Who got us into this mess in the first place, and why the hell would we ever ask the same people to fix it? We need to get LESS government in our lives. Not more. Fix the roads, keep the lights on, and pay the bills. I’m so sick of all this moaning about how government needs to do more. They need to do less, but get better at it fixing the problems they created first, before taking more on.

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Jeff Donaldson's avatar

I would disagree, the national government is not well positioned to understand the local nuances of housing requirements, shifting demographics and a myriad of other variables that contribute to the appropriate allocation of housing density permits within a municipality. What the federal system provides, due to the significant imbalance in taxation revenue, is funding. Allocating funding to the provinces on a per-capita basis (population or immigration stats) and then allow the provinces through their relationship with municipalities, to address local needs.

Creating additional bureaucracy in Ottawa has never successfully address a public issue. To add federal funding with caveats (targets, requirements, etc) will place housing squarely in the same arena as healthcare - too many peas in the pot and no one to blame, a finger pointing extravaganza when it all goes sideways.

This is one file where the Feds need to support through funding and get out of the provinces way, then us citizens will have a singular government to hold to account for housing. Asking the feds to jump in with two feet will lead to nothing but chaos and mayhem, clearly indicated through a litany of policy failures over the past two administrations. Pay up and step aside is the best advice possible.

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