Federal parties spar over which of them can bring house prices down

OTTAWA - Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh visited potential swing ridings in Hamilton on Tuesday as Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole made a pitch to voters in the same area from Ottawa.

Hamilton is dangling some tantalizing seats for the Liberals and NDP this election in particular as a number of factors make it possible they could change hands.

One of them is demographic change: people fleeing the Greater Toronto Area in search of more affordable homes.

But housing prices in Hamilton are rising - up 27 per cent in June 2021 compared to a year earlier, the Realtors Association of Hamilton and Burlington says.

The Liberals promised Tuesday to address affordability in Hamilton and across the country via a new housing strategy.

Among other things, they say they would build, preserve or fix 1.4-million homes in four years, and double an existing tax credit for first-time buyers.

The plan builds upon the National Housing Strategy, a 10-year plan launched in 2017 with $70 billion earmarked over 10 years.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer, who reviews whether government spending hits its targets, has said the impact of the plan has been limited so far, prompting a reporter to ask Trudeau on Tuesday whether his new plan was an acknowledgment that his old one just isn't working

On the contrary, Trudeau said, pointing to a reduction in chronic homelessness as one success.

He also slammed the previous Conservative government's inaction on the file, and suggested a plan the Conservatives are now putting forward isn't any better.

We've put a heavily ambitious plan out that is going to support millions of Canadians get into new and refurbished and renovated homes over the coming years, versus a plan by the Conservatives that focuses on giving tax breaks to people who are already wealthy. That's their housing plan," he said during an event in Hamilton where he was both cheered and heckled.

The Conservative plan includes a promise that people selling a rental property could defer capital gains tax if they reinvest in rental housing. It also promises to build one million homes in three years, among other things.

The Liberal leader also slammed the New Democrats, who, he said, always talk a good game but never actually have the concrete plan to deliver the housing that Canadians need."

The New Democrats, for their part, said Trudeau makes sweeping promises that never pan out.

He had six years to deal with this," Singh said during an event in Mississauga. If he cared about it, wouldn't the housing crisis not be here?

He had six years."

The NDP's housing pledge includes 500,000 new units in the next 10 years and an expansion of tax credits for home buyers.

In making his housing announcement, Trudeau pointed to a young family who'd just bought their first home in Hamilton as part of the demographic group his policy wants to reach.

They are also the types of voters he's hoping to lure.

The Hamilton seat of Flamborough-Glanbrook has seen new housing developments filled with former GTA residents change a rural riding that regularly supported Conservatives into a potential pickup for the Liberals.

But the other factor changing the landscape, both there and in two other Hamilton ridings, is that the incumbent isn't running again.

That could see the well-known Liberal candidate in the riding, former mayoral candidate Vito Sgro, benefit from name recognition. Sgro is facing off against Dan Muys, a Conservative organizer and public relations professional, who is well-known among the grassroots but perhaps not as familiar in the broader community as the riding's outgoing Conservative MP, David Sweet.

Housing pressures in Hamilton are coming from other places, too.

The city's population of seniors is larger than almost any other in the province, and is expected to double over the next 20 years.

Some analysis has suggested that has contributed to the housing crunch, as older people choose to age at home rather than move into long-term care.

Hamilton's retirement and long-term-care homes, like many across Canada, were the scene of tremendous heartbreak during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Singh pledged Tuesday to spend as much as $10 billion over four years on national standards for long-term care, and to end the practice of running long-term-care facilities for profit.

If we don't do anything, we're going to see hundreds of seniors die," he said, standing outside the headquarters of a private long-term-care operator in Mississauga.

That's not a price I'm willing to pay."

Singh also campaigned alongside Ontario NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who said, Jagmeet and I share the same vision of a Canada where everybody can live their best life, where nobody is left behind.

It is a vision we can make a reality."

Horwath's provincial riding is represented federally by the NDP's Matthew Green, who campaigned with Singh on Tuesday along with NDP candidates from two other key local ridings: Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, where Liberal incumbent Bob Bratina is not running again, and Hamilton Mountain, where NDP MP Scott Duvall is not seeking re-election.

But where some Hamilton races have previously been more of a battle between the NDP and Liberals, this time the Conservatives are also openly gunning for the union vote.

It's a pivot away from the days when a Conservative government passed laws many saw as an affront to organized labour, including one that many said made it harder to unionize in federally regulated industries. This week, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole promised workers a seat on the boards of directors at some of those very workplaces.

And on Tuesday, O'Toole promised to change laws so that companies that declare bankruptcy must ensure workers' pension plans are fully funded before a corporate executive gets a dime in bonuses.

O'Toole said his experience in corporate law and the fact his father worked for General Motors taught him that the needs and rights of workers must be prioritized.

I want working families to know I've been in your corner before," he said during an event from Ottawa.

And as prime minister I will be in your corner to make sure your family does well following COVID."

Stephanie Levitz is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @StephanieLevitz