Jagmeet Singh continued his push to win progressive votes on Tuesday by promising an NDP government would invest billions of dollars in affordable housing to help Canadians struggling to make ends meet.
The commitment was the NDP香蕉视频直播檚 latest pledge to expand social programs. The party香蕉视频直播檚 promises have included universal pharmacare and free tuition for post-secondary education while promising higher taxes on large corporations and the wealthy.
Yet Singh also deflected questions about how and when an NDP government would tackle the federal deficit, saying only that he would make different choices from Justin Trudeau香蕉视频直播檚 Liberals and that his priority is helping Canadians now.
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香蕉视频直播淲e want to take the budget very seriously, and we香蕉视频直播檒l look at what that means in the future,香蕉视频直播� Singh said during a campaign event at a non-profit housing complex in downtown Ottawa, a few kilometres from Parliament Hill.
香蕉视频直播淏ut right now our priority香蕉视频直播檚 investing in some of the crises that people are going through.香蕉视频直播�
Singh香蕉视频直播檚 stop in the capital on Tuesday meant a return to Ontario, where he spent the first few days of the campaign before a tour of western Quebec over the weekend. He was in Ottawa Centre, where Liberal Catherine McKenna defeated New Democrat Paul Dewar in 2015. The seat has historically flipped back and forth between the Liberals and the NDP.
After kicking a soccer ball with some children, Singh announced that an NDP government would build 500,000 new affordable homes over 10 years, starting with an immediate investment of $5 billion.
香蕉视频直播淥ur priorities are the people behind me, the families who need affordable housing, the people who tell me that they cannot find a place to live,香蕉视频直播� Singh said during the low-key campaign event before attacking the Liberals香蕉视频直播� record.
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The NDP leader cited a report by parliamentary budget officer Yves Giroux in June that found under the Liberals香蕉视频直播� plan, spending on affordable housing is slated to fall as a percentage of the economy over the next decade.
While the raw dollar figure is set to increase, Giroux found federal spending on housing is slated to decline from 0.13 per cent of Canada香蕉视频直播檚 gross domestic product in 2017-18 to 0.11 per cent in 2027-28.
Meanwhile, census data released Tuesday shows roughly one-third of Canadian households, 4.7 million, live in rental housing and they are often low-income earners, young adults, or newcomers to Canada.
In addition, 44 per cent of renters under age 30 spend 30 per cent or more of their incomes on housing. More than half of young renters in Toronto, Metro Vancouver and Ottawa do.
Similar affordability issues are found among seniors (including for 64 per cent of those renting in Regina), recent immigrants to Canada, and single mothers.
香蕉视频直播淲e hear Mr. Trudeau talk about there is a housing crisis with more of those pretty words,香蕉视频直播� Singh said during the campaign event. 香蕉视频直播淵ou know, acknowledging the problem, but then when it comes to the actual solving of the problem, empty promises.香蕉视频直播�
Yet Singh was hard-pressed to say where he would find $5 billion for affordable housing in the first year of his mandate, and instead pointed to the Liberal government having found billions to pay for corporate tax cuts and the Trans Mountain pipeline.
Singh painted the $4.5 billion for the pipeline and $14 billion in corporate tax cuts, which the government has said were needed to help Canadian companies compete with U.S. competitors following similar cuts down south, as a handout to the wealthy.
Some experts have said such a characterization is misleading as it does not acknowledge how ordinary Canadians might benefit, too, by driving investment in the country and getting Canadian oil to more lucrative markets.
香蕉视频直播淲hen something is a priority, Mr. Trudeau seems to go out and do it,香蕉视频直播� said Singh. 香蕉视频直播淏ut it hasn香蕉视频直播檛 been a priority to make people香蕉视频直播檚 lives better. We believe our priority should be investing in people, investing in housing, and that香蕉视频直播檚 what we香蕉视频直播檙e going to do.香蕉视频直播�
While Singh noted his previous promises to hike taxes on corporations and the wealthy, close various tax loopholes and crack down on tax evasion, he indicated all revenues from those measures will be put into social programs.
香蕉视频直播淲ith these measures we香蕉视频直播檙e going to increase revenue and we香蕉视频直播檙e going to use the revenue towards programs that actually invest in our country,香蕉视频直播� he said of the tax hikes and other initiatives. 香蕉视频直播淲e know that if we invest in people, we build a better future.香蕉视频直播�
Both the New Democrats and Conservatives promised in the last federal election to run balanced budgets if elected, while the Liberals were elected on a promise to run modest deficits during the first few years of their mandate before returning to balance.
In the three full fiscal years since the Liberals came to power, however, the federal government has posted $52 billion worth of shortfalls even though the economy has had a solid run of growth.
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Ahead of next month香蕉视频直播檚 election, the Liberals have laid out projections calling for five more years of deficits of at least $10 billion. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is promising to pull Canada out of the red in about five years.
Green Leader Elizabeth May has also committed to returning Canada to budgetary balance in five years. Maxime Bernier香蕉视频直播檚 new People香蕉视频直播檚 Party of Canada is the only political party that香蕉视频直播檚 promised a quick path to balanced books 香蕉视频直播� within two years.
香蕉视频直播擶ith files from Jordan Press
Lee Berthiaume, The Canadian Press
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version misnamed the pipeline project the federal government bought.
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