Liberals must stop failing Canadians in need of Housing: NDP

VANCOUVER— While Canadians have been struggling to pay their rent and put food on their table during the pandemic, the Liberal government has been failing to deliver for those in most need and have fallen short of what they promised in their own National Housing Strategy. As a substantial part of this strategy, the National Housing Co-investment Fund was to invest in the construction of 6,500 new housing units by the end of March 2020, but the NDP has learned that only 736 units have had finalized agreements as of February.

“With such a dismal record, the Liberal government has resorted to cooking the books by counting partially processed applications to look like they’re meeting their targets. Inflating the numbers for political gain doesn’t get a single roof over a single person’s head. The Liberal government needs to stop playing games and take real action,” said NDP Housing Critic, Jenny Kwan. “In 2018, the federal government declared that housing is a basic human right, yet in Vancouver East alone, more than 2,000 people are homeless. Homeless campers in my riding are desperate to access safe, secure, and affordable housing and the government is not doing their part to help them. This crisis cannot be addressed without urgent intervention and support from all levels of government and the federal government is the only partner currently missing at the table.”

Kwan and campaigns like Recovery for All are calling on the federal government for a meaningful implementation of the right to housing by expanding investment in the community-based homelessness response and building 300,000 new social housing units with rental support for low-income Canadians. She also asks that the Liberals restrict the ability of large capital funds to purchase distressed housing, put in place a national guaranteed minimum income, and implement an urban, rural and Northern Indigenous housing strategy.

" The Liberal's business as usual approach is not good enough. What is needed is a real and permanent solution to the homeless crisis. ​The right to housing should not just be pretty words. Canadians need bold action and emergency funding now,” said Kwan.