NDP promises to kick ‘big money’ out of housing

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This article was published 26/08/2021 (1474 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh hopes to appeal to Winnipeggers who can’t find affordable housing.

“We want to get big money out of housing,” Singh said Thursday during his first Manitoba stop of the federal campaign.

Singh spoke at Sinclair Park, which in the Winnipeg North riding that the NDP wants to take from Liberal incumbent Kevin Lamoureux, who has held it since 2010.

The NDP pointed to a report from the parliamentary budget officer that found the Liberal government’s national housing strategy has created only 63,000 new homes since late 2017. In Manitoba, that’s amounted to just 143 new affordable-housing units as of February.

At his Sinclair Park stop, Singh highlighted the case of a Métis couple who has struggled to buy a house for three years. Their landlord has jacked up the rent and they have encountered bidding wars that drive up the cost of homes.

“It’s made looking for a place dreadful,” said Gabriel Pelletier.

“The selling point of affordable housing in Winnipeg isn’t a reality anymore, and honestly, it breaks my heart thinking about having to leave Winnipeg.”

Winnipeg North NDP candidate Melissa Chung-Mowat said the Liberals have done things to fight poverty such as increasing baby-bonus payments, but she argued they could have done more, and that nothing has changed locally.

“Over the last 10 years, we can’t point to a single thing that has improved in Winnipeg North because of having a federal Liberal MP,” Chung-Mowat said.

“We can’t just ride on the coattails of the work that’s done federally. What has specifically happened to improve the living conditions here in Winnipeg North?” she asked.

The Liberals contend their efforts to reduce poverty have had a tangible effect across Canada and particularly in Winnipeg, and that long-term education initiatives will also raise living standards.

Thursday afternoon, Singh was joined at The Forks by two of Manitoba’s three grand chiefs, although they insisted both the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak are non-partisan.

The chiefs were receptive to the NDP’s pledge to guarantee funding to revamp the child-welfare system. The Liberals passed legislation to restore Indigenous authority over foster care, which was praised as historic, but the government was criticized for not having permanent funding.

“It’s one thing to give jurisdiction but systems also need proper funding,” said Winnipeg Centre incumbent NDP MP Leah Gazan. She noted the Liberals still haven’t fulfilled their promise to comply with a federal tribunal order to compensate families who were discriminated against through child-welfare underfunding.

“We will continue to push those issues until we see the justice that all kids deserve.”

Meanwhile, Singh was circumspect when asked whether Ottawa should keep flags at half-mast, a move Trudeau took three months ago after unmarked residential school burial sites were found.

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Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said Thursday that Canada “should be proud to put our flag back up” on federal buildings. Singh refused to weigh in on the issue, instead saying actions are more important than symbolic gestures.

Polls have the NDP riding high, with voters attracted to Singh’s charisma and turned off by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to call an election.

The New Democrats are hoping to take Winnipeg North and hold onto their three seats in the province: Winnipeg Centre, Elmwood-Transcona and the northern Churchill-Keewatinook Aski riding.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca