Singh wants feds to build more homes for people, faster in Yellowknife

YELLOWKNIFE— On Wednesday, Canada’s NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called for significant investments to build homes that fit people’s budget in Yellowknife, faster. Singh says there is no good reason for Yellowknife, and many other cities, not to have enough affordable and suitable homes since the federal government has the tools to fix the lack of housing supply driving up costs for Canadians.

Just last year, CMHC reported that 35 per cent of seniors were not being able to afford to rent their homes and 26.6 per cent of Indigenous renters were unable to afford housing in the territory.

“Here in Yellowknife, rents have been moving up, while vacancy rates have fallen, and a significant portion of people are unable to afford their homes. We’ve heard stories about people who were forced to live in a hotel because they couldn’t find anywhere suitable to rent,” said Singh. “For eight years, Justin Trudeau has promised to tackle the housing crisis, but things just keep getting worse. The Liberals are out of touch with the reality that people are living, especially in communities like Yellowknife. And Pierre Poilievre has shown us exactly who he is. Over nine years in power, his government kept cuts to affordable housing, and he’ll be stacking the deck even higher for rich corporate landlords instead of looking out for everyday people. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

The NDP wants to build more homes for people, faster by removing the federal portion of GST and HST on the development of new affordable homes, providing more funding for community housing providers like co-operative and non-profit organizations and creating a ‘for and by Indigenous Housing Strategy’ to build more housing for Indigenous people living in Urban, Rural and Northern communities.

“Everyone should be able to find a place they can afford that’s safe and fits their family’s needs. If we want to make it happen, Trudeau and the Liberal government need to take this crisis seriously and they have to stop prioritizing the profits of those who use the housing market to get rich instead of doing what’s best for working people,” said Singh. “Unlike the other two parties, New Democrats are fighting for immediate actions to tackle the housing crisis and changes that serve working people in the north.”