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October 2nd, 2018

Liberals Vote Against Immediate Action on Housing Crisis

OTTAWA – As Canada faces an unprecedented housing crisis throughout the country, the Liberal government voted against a motion that would bring immediate action to address it. Canadians throughout the country are faced with exploding house prices, rising rents, rental housing shortages, long waitlists for non-market housing and increasing homelessness. They cannot afford to wait until after the next election for this crisis to be solved.

“The housing crisis in Canada requires urgent action now. The lack of adequate and affordable housing is a national disgrace and it’s unacceptable that the Liberals refuse to act before the next election,” said Sheri Benson, the NDP’s Housing Critic. “It’s unacceptable, in a country as wealthy as ours, that so many people are desperate for affordable housing. The Liberals’ cynical ploy of waiting until after the next election to roll out funding does nothing for Canadians facing evictions, homelessness and ballooning housing costs today.”

The NDP used their first opposition day of the fall sitting to highlight the fact that measures announced by the Liberal government don’t address the urgency of the situation. The motion, voted down by the Liberal government, called on them to immediately bring forward 50% of the funding attached to their housing strategy.

“Waiting until after the next election will be too late for many people who have no other options. The lack of affordable housing is directly tied to decades of successive funding cuts by Liberal and Conservative governments. Today’s vote by the Liberals is extremely disappointing to all those who need access to affordable housing now,” added Benson. “The NDP knows Canadians can’t afford to wait, and that’s why we will continue to push the Liberals to roll out funding now and to develop a National Indigenous Housing Strategy.”