A new 15-minute video produced by Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is the latest salvo in the political fight over housing policy, which has dominated the second half of this year in politics.
Poilievre made housing costs and affordability a key part of his message early in his leadership run, and housing has now become an issue that parties across the political spectrum agree is a crisis facing Canadians.
The Conservative leader’s video features statistics, charts and news articles that frame the housing issue as one of the Trudeau government’s own making.
“Like all countries, we’ve always had problems throughout Canada’s past, though almost anyone who got a job could save up and buy a home in their mid 20s. When did that all change? About eight years ago,” Poilievre says in the video.
Housing costs have been on the rise for years in Canada, with the national average home price sitting at roughly $650,000 in October 2023. Canadians are also facing increased pressure from rental costs, as well as mortgage costs as interests rate climb.
The government, for its part, agrees that the situation is dire.
“One of the things that I think it’s important to address off the top is that we are in a housing crisis and we need to build homes and we need to build them by the millions,” Housing Minister Sean Fraser said during an announcement in Richmond Hill, Ont., earlier this week.
Featured VideoConservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has released a 15-minute video blaming the prime minister and his policies for Canada’s housing crisis. The video has garnered more than a million views since its weekend release, as a new poll suggests the Conservatives are now leading the Liberals by almost 20 points.
Eddie Sheppard, a vice-president at Abacus Data, says a recent poll conducted by his firm suggests housing is now the second-ranked priority for Canadians, behind the economy and the cost of living but just ahead of health care. And Conservatives hold an advantage on the issue, Sheppard said.
“Right now about one-third of Canadians think [the Conservatives] would be best able to handle the housing crisis, followed by the NDP and then the Liberal party,” he said.
“We’re really seeing the Conservatives take the lead here in the minds of Canadians in terms of who can best deal with the housing crisis.”
The Conservatives also hold a huge…
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