Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre asks a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023. Poilievre has introduced a private member's bill that outlines a plan to address the national housing crisis. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has introduced a private member’s bill in the House of Commons that outlines a plan to address the national housing crisis.
The bill, which is unlikely to pass, centres around using federal infrastructure and transit spending to push cities to build more homes.
It proposes requiring cities to increase home building by 15 per cent each year to receive their usual infrastructure spending.
Cities that fail to meet that target will see a decrease in the federal dollars they receive, while those who exceed it will get additional money.
The bill also proposes removing GST charges off rental developments that offer below-market rent prices, which stands in contrast with the Liberals’ plan to remove the tax off all rental developments.
Other tenets of the plan include selling off 15 per cent of federal buildings and land for housing development, and going after the Canada Mortgage Housing Corp. for delayed approvals and missed home-building targets.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 20, 2023.
