Canada's Population Growth Exceeds Housing Supply

Plus, NDP-Liberals propose radical anti-Alberta emissions cap, the Conservative plan to Stop the Crime, federal govt responds to your petitions, and the info on Remembrance Day ceremonies in Calgary

If one is faced with an impending crisis, the common sense next step is to assess the situation and take prudent action to fix whatever are the root causes of the problem. The NDP-Liberal government admitted last week to destroying the immigration system after announcing plans to reverse course and reduce immigration levels by 21%. This notable flip flop and policy reversal follows years of exponential growth in the number of temporary residents coming in as workers and students. I noted in a recent edition of Resuming Debate, their reversal was an admission that their immigration policy overall was a failure. Even the Liberal minister of immigration admitted the government allowed the system to “run out of control.” The prime minister had made disparaging remarks how his own government didn’t get the balance right. An understatement if ever there was one. Having had more time to review their immigration levels plan document, the NDP-Liberals appear to have made another admission that they threw gasoline on the fire in regard to Canada’s housing crisis. The document reads, “Any population growth, which generally necessitates a corresponding increase in housing supply, puts additional strain on the overall supply and affordability of housing.”

That statement unfortunately became reality.

According to the Canada’s federal housing agency, housing starts are declining and the six-month trend reveals a 1.9% decrease from 246,972 units in August to 243,759 units in September. Moreover, housing starts are down 15% year to year. The low housing supply across Canada is having a devastating impact on new Canadians too.

CMHC: Housing starts for September 2024

The Institute for Canadian Citizenship, which just completed a survey of 20,000 newcomers and immigrants, found that one in four newcomers are planning to leave Canada — with economic class immigrants being most likely to leave. The top reason they cite for emigrating is lack of housing options. In fact, the top three urban centers where immigrants said they are leaving are Toronto, Brampton and Vancouver — which have seen a high influx of newcomers. Economic class immigrants are the one’s we work hard to attract like internationally trained doctors, nurses, skilled tradesmen, and other highly sought after professionals and tradesmen.

This reality about these facts is the government was warned two years ago their immigration policies would worsen the country’s housing crisis. In 2022, the government’s own immigration officials briefed the minister of immigration, warning him that that the record-high immigration levels in their previous target plans would lead to a housing shortage. The common sense next step would have been to reverse course then, but this NDP-Liberal government ignored the data and continued with the exponential growth. The predictable result of their imprudence was population growth that far exceeded the country’s dwindling housing supply, thus greatly raising housing and rent prices. They even watched as international students and refugees lived in tent cities and homeless shelters.

Considering the NDP-Liberals knew their immigration policies would lead to a depleted housing supply, but took two years before acting, I sought answers after all of this new information was revealed in the immigration levels plan was made public in Parliament.

The Liberal government broke Canada’s immigration system and destroyed the immigration consensus in Canada with the help of the NDP who voted for each and every step along the way to make it happen. Conservative will cap population growth below the growth in the availability of homes, health care and jobs. We will also end the fraud and excess in the refugee system, temporary foreign worker program and international student stream, and screen out terrorists and criminals from coming in.

Watch as I challenge the NDP-Liberals in Parliament over their immigration policy:

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Violent crime committed with a firearm is up 116% and only Conservatives have shown the public a plan to stop it. The NDP-Liberal government’s catch and release laws and failed gun bans have created a nightmare for law enforcement as well as for Canadians who just want to feel safe in their neighborhoods. According to Statistics Canada, total crime is up 50%, homicides are up 28%, total sexual assaults are up 75%, auto theft is up 46%, and extortion is up a whopping 357%! What is also concerning is gang violence is running rampant in our communities, as gang-related homicides are up 78%.

Conservatives are the only party to propose a series of serious legislative changes to stop the crime in Canada that will toughen penalties for repeat car thieves, protect Canadians from extortion, keep serial killers in maximum security prisons, prohibit violent criminals from owing weapons, and enact harsher penalties for perpetrators of rural crime.

If Conservatives earn the right to form a federal government at the next federal election, we will end NDP-Liberal catch-and-release laws, and will make jail mandatory for repeat criminals. We will also secure our borders, protect rural communities, and ensure justice for victims.

Watch the highlights of the common sense Conservative plan to stop the crime:

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The NDP-Liberal government war on energy workers continues with an anti-Alberta emissions cap imposed by Ottawa. Similar to how the NDP-Liberal government had documents showing that rapid population growth would lead to a housing crisis, they also have documents that this latest radical emission cap plan will lead to thousands more jobs losses – and they are going ahead with it anyway. This is not a cap on emissions, it is a cap on responsible Canadian oil production, jobs, and paycheques. The effects of this radical plan will be hardest felt here in Alberta. According to the Conference Board of Canada, government revenues, particularly in Alberta, would be much smaller as a result of them. It also projected that employment growth would be slower, with the biggest impact being felt in Alberta. The Conference Board projects that an emissions cap will shrink the province’s real GDP by 3.8%. That’s means real job losses, lost livelihoods, and more unemployment for Alberta energy workers.

Canada has the cleanest oil and gas industry in the world, providing good paycheques and opportunities to millions of workers. In 2022, the oil and gas industry provided $45 billion in revenue to Canadian governments, funding schools, hospitals, roads and other crucial public services. This economic vandalism and continues nine years of this type of policy making that is anti-common sense. The only outcome of lowering Canada’s production of energy will be forcing our allies and clients overseas to buy from dictatorships. This will further reduce opportunities for energy workers and the next generation to earn a dignified living working in a sector that has contributed much to our shared prosperity in Alberta.

Only Common Sense Conservatives will scrap the NDP-Liberal cap on Canadian oil, jobs, and paycheques.

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One of the oldest traditions in Canada’s Parliament is the presentation of petitions and then the government responses answering Canadians directly through their parliamentarians. The federal government is required to respond within 45 calendar days to every petition presented by an MP. Presenting a petition, also called tabling, is one of the most effective ways to force your government to respond to a particular concern. This week, the government responded to one of those petitions on the assisted suicide regime also known as medical assistance in dying (MAID).

The NDP-Liberal government was about to expand the MAID to people with mental health illnesses this past spring, but temporarily delayed that extension until 2027. The decision to expand MAID to those with only an underlying mental health illness was made by the undemocratic Senators in the so-called independent senate group despite expert testimony from experts, disability groups and psychiatrists to not expand. Canada’s supreme court ruled in 2015 that a right to assist a suicide was allowable and the judges in the majority then dismissed concerns of a slippery slope. Their reasoning was that vulnerable persons could be protected through what they defined as “stringent and well-enforced safeguards”. These no longer exist. According to Health Canada data, our country will soon have the highest per capita MAID death rate in the world. Year-over-year MAID deaths have increased about 30%. The government response to the petition is disappointing with these numbers being on the public record.

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There will be many places in Calgary to mark Remembrance Day and I encourage you to join this solemn act of memory with our fellow citizens.

As I have done in prior years, I will be participating in the Remembrance Day ceremony at the CPKC Memorial Square in Ogden.

Please consider attending any of the many memorial gatherings across Calgary. The Calgary Herald has information on other Remembrance Day Ceremonies happening across Calgary.

I hope we all pause for a moment to thank those who fought for the freedom we now enjoy. Lest we forget.