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submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca to c/canada@lemmy.ca

I feel like I haven't seen anyone talking about this press release here and I'm curious about what people think.

  • "$15 billion top-up to the Apartment Construction Loan Program to build a minimum of 30,000 new apartments." Edit to add: "With this top-up, the program’s financing is on track to build over 131,000 new apartments within the next decade."
  • "new reforms to the Apartment Construction Loan Program to increase access to the program and make it easier for builders to build"
  • "Launching Canada Builds – partnering with provinces and territories to build more rental housing across the country"
  • "Yesterday, we announced a new $6 billion Canada Housing Infrastructure Fund and a $400 million top-up to the Housing Accelerator Fund to ensure communities have the infrastructure they need to grow and build more homes"

Is this more lip service or are these genuinely working in the right direction to increase housing?

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[-] Sprawlie@lemmy.world 17 points 7 months ago

Because it counters most peoples hate boner

The thread immediately above this with posts newer than yours ranting that “nobody in the government is doing anything”

But present them with the facts that the federal government is doing something, that is within their jurisdiction on, they go silent

A massive amount of the rage is intentionally being stoked and laid at the federal government for politics when it’s the Conservative premiers who actually have the most authority to do something about housing

Zoning and developer control is a provincial jurisdiction. The Feds cannot do anything other than provide financial incentives and tax changes

[-] sbv@sh.itjust.works 7 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I think you're underestimating the amount of organic free-range rage that has built up over the past decade. We've watched as housing has almost doubled in price.

It's been a shitty ride.

ranting that “nobody in the government is doing anything”

At this point, I don't think conversation is "nobody in government is doing anything", it's more "is it going to make a difference?" And "are they doing the right thing?"

The Feds cannot do anything other than provide financial incentives and tax changes

Don't undersell this. Financial advice paints homes as great investments, because of the tax benefits on ~~mortgage payments and~~ sale profit. That is part of the reason Canadians are willing to spend so much on homes - because they expect to cash out with hefty profits. Limiting or removing those benefits would make a huge difference.

Edit: crossed off stuff about mortgage benefits.

[-] Sprawlie@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I think you’re underestimating the amount of organic free-range rage that has built up over the past decade. We’ve watched as housing has almost doubled in price.

I do not. this housing problem started long before the current federal government. I was in the same place 20 years ago when we had a different administration.

the dollar amounts were different, but housing was still generally outside our reach as single people. this is a result of neoliberalism capitalism, and not any specific actions taken by Trudeau, or even Harper before him (who also massively ramped up immigration despite his own rhetoric). It's almost like the problem is our desire to stick to neoliberalism for things like housing. But that's popular because the majority of Canadians agree with it. And in that sense, the government is doing what is best for it's majority (or perceived)

At this point, I don’t think conversation is “nobody in government is doing anything”, it’s more “is it going to make a difference?” And “are they doing the right thing?”

Your arguments are that. which is legit. But no, go read the room a little better and there's a good chunk of "Liberals are doing nothing"... while they repeat tikto and twitter rants based on misinformation.

As I claimed originally, there's a LOT of ignorance being pushed intentionally on the housing crisis in order to put the blame 100% on Trudeau, despite the actual powers and responsibilities falling on what is Currently provinces led by Conservatives. So the argument that it's somehoow a "LPC" symptom, is misinformation. LPC is doing what they've always done, slow or nothing until shit hits the fan. This is the LPC for the last 50 years. and Canadian's on general like "status Quo" governments who aren't going to massively shake things up just for 20% of the population. (This isn't to ignore that we have to fix the 20%)

iN fact: A Lot of this is NOT organic. Our media in particular is nearly entirely owned by both Conservative party doners, or in the case of Post Media, is 100% owned by Chatham asset management. An American media conglomerate who was found guilty in illegal campaign funding fro Trump, and has outright stated that their goals are to get rid fo the liberal party and ensure conservative messaging. They have outright lied as part of this campaign.,

Don’t undersell this. Financial advice paints homes as great investments, because of the tax benefits on mortgage payments and sale profit. That is part of the reason Canadians are willing to spend so much on homes - because they expect to cash out with hefty profits. Limiting or removing those benefits would make a huge difference.

This is not untrue, but it's a bit simplified.

Financial advice paints homes as great investments

Yes it does. The banks and media have pushed this for decades. You cannot sit and read a paper, or listen to news without advertising for home buying as an investment vehicle. But if you dig into why? It's because the owners of these banks and papers are invested in real estate. And have the money and power to lobby the government for deregulation and access where the rest of us don't.

MEANWHILE, it's those same very rich billionaire paper owners taking that money and investments, publishing about the housing crisis and how you, without a house, should hate Trudeau.

and yes, I THINK that should all be curtailed and regulated.IMHO, Newspapers and media ownership should be disconnected from the editorial boards of papers, and a "bill of rights" so to speak made which ensures Journalistic integrity, and fact based reporting is mandatory. And in addition, The Budget from these papers should directly count against the campaign funding for the parties they push for. Why is it ok for a newspaper for example to fully endorse a political party and candidate, push only their messaging and narrative, and NOT count towards to the campaing funding for that party?

https://www.readthemaple.com/election-endorsements/

Any media conglomerate who endorses a political party should be forced to open their books and have those applied to the political parties campaign rules.

Does that sound "organic"?

Especially since the majority of the cause of housing development crunch is the Province. The Province has the authority over developers, how many houses are built, zoning regulations, and laws over building types. Which is the number one reason why housing is a mess. The developers will only build mcmansions or shoebox condos due to profit motive.

These same developers who in Ontario, ran "Ontario Proud" and were given preferential treatment by Doug Ford for greenbelt land. (which is currently being investigated by the RCMP, and has already cost an MP, and staffer their job in what looks like some handy's for land acces in vegas, and $1000 per plate wedding invites to Ford's daughter's wedding)

So yes, some of it is organic, but a lot of the rampant hate being directed exclusively in one direction is not. It is being pushed by agendas and individuals who will directly benefit from a Conservative leadership. And I do not believe they care about putting roofs over peoples heads, since you know, pretty much all of them are house investors too (So is dear old Skippy)

“is it going to make a difference?” And “are they doing the right thing?”

complete valid discussion to have. One I know you in particular do have. But you can see enough people repeating incorrect misinformation and rhetoric online, that these actual good conversations inevitably get enshitified by people repeating falsehoods.

because they expect to cash out with hefty profits.

yes and no. people just want the knowledge that they, when they have to retire, are going to be able to do so with some money in hand. With the constant attack on our social services, especially those by the Harper government, people pivoted to put money into what was already a growing investment market of real estate.

people living in their homes generally do not give a flying fuck what the current value is since they are actively living there. I can tell you as a home owner, my house value could be 10 million today and I Don't give a flying fuck. This is my home. my roof over my head. It's the investor class that cares. And they should not have access to homes while people struggle to find a place to live.

Sorry for the long post. I don't believe you're one of those people I was refering to since you generally are posting with thought in your posts. But there are too many people on social media who read a twitter post by PP or Ford and have immediately gone to spread those false messages and push hateful and divisive speech.

However, I don't know if something is wrong with your account as I only saw this in my inbox. Not a single other one of your posts appear anywhere when I browse Lemmy, and I don't have you blocked so I don't know what's going on.

[-] sbv@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 months ago

Hey, I appreciate your response. It looks like we agree on a lot of points about the causes of the housing crisis (neoliberalism, Canadian oligarchies, neoliberalism, and also neoliberalism), and the implications for people looking to get into the market, pay their rent/mortgage, and eventually retire.

some of it is organic, but a lot of the rampant hate being directed exclusively in one direction is not. It is being pushed by agendas and individuals who will directly benefit from a Conservative leadership

I'm conflicted. I hear a lot of media chatter about foreign bots and I see reposts of memes from Canada Proud and co. But I don't think that's where the anger comes from. I live in a small town, and the number of people who mention housing costs in casual conversation is surprising. They're talking about how they can't afford to move, or how much their rent is increasing this year, or how they're not taking a big trip this year. They aren't talking about politicians. They don't mention Trudeau (even though this is safe Conservative riding) or the talking points I see online.

The right-wing influence peddlers undoubtedly have an effect online. They're able to tap into existing anger and some users to post memes and repeat talking points, which shifts conversation to some degree. But they aren't creating the anger. Most people reading Lemmy have probably seen the 1.3 million house number from the PBO or the 3.5 million number from CMHC, so when they see announcements that promise tens of thousands of homes over five or ten years, it seems insufficient. Posting a meme, or repeating a talking point when they see that seems is not inappropriate.

I don’t believe you’re one of those people I was refering to since you generally are posting with thought in your posts.

Thanks. And thanks for the thoughtful response.

I don’t know if something is wrong with your account as I only saw this in my inbox. Not a single other one of your posts appear anywhere when I browse Lemmy, and I don’t have you blocked so I don’t know what’s going on.

Yeah. Sometimes I don't know why I bother with the Fediverse. Like, I like the idea, but there's a fair amount of jank. I think lemmy.world and sh.itjust.works are still federated or whatever. Maybe I've gotten myself banned from some communities? I dunno. And I have no idea how/where to check.

[-] GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca 3 points 7 months ago

It's hardly surprising that a problem that was 40 years in the making can't be fixed in one election cycle.

[-] Sprawlie@lemmy.world 0 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Yeah. Sometimes I don’t know why I bother with the Fediverse. Like, I like the idea, but there’s a fair amount of jank. I think lemmy.world and sh.itjust.works are still federated or whatever. Maybe I’ve gotten myself banned from some communities? I dunno. And I have no idea how/where to check.

Over the last few days the more glaring issues with the federation way are emerging. I sadly don't think Lemmy is going to survive once some of the federated servers either get big enough and they have to start dealing truly with the same bullshit posters /bots that reddit does.

Look at the .ML instance as an example. It is growing to be one of the largest ones, yet The typical post on that is borderline violent. I have read numerous death threats. Rampant Racism and anti-semitism. and the owner/admin of it seemingly agrees with that. I got a temp ban for "reporting too much" for directly reporting around 6 anti semetic and anti - islamic posts. And rading his post history, he's a staunch Commie who thinks we should kill all capitalists.

How lemmy.ml continues to be allowed to be federated despite this direction will be the evidenec that federation won't work if the overall Lemmy experience does not adhere to at least the same standards. Having standards differ wildly like that will just alienate poeple. I Know I don't know if I'm going to stay long here because of the sheer hate I see supported on Lemmy because certain federated server admins decided that sort of hate is ok on their server

[-] sbv@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 months ago

I have read numerous death threats. Rampant Racism and anti-semitism. and the owner/admin of it seemingly agrees with that.

I'm lucky, I've missed that somehow. Maybe my instance is defederated from lemmy.ml. Or maybe I blocked the instance in my client.

Maybe try a different instance? sh.itjust.works has been pretty good for me: decent uptime, mods seem fine, nothing gross/distasteful makes it onto my screen.

[-] GreyEyedGhost@lemmy.ca 3 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

The federal housing building program ended in the late 80s. Since then, we have had a trend which has culminated where it is today. Here's just one link that discusses it.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 1 points 7 months ago

What mortgage tax benefits?

[-] sbv@sh.itjust.works 0 points 7 months ago

Canadians can deduct interest on debt that is used to improve a property.

I haven't had the pleasure of using this, but AFAIU it means a home owner gets the same capital gains benefits on borrowing to renovate their basement as making a good investment in the stock market.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 2 points 7 months ago

That sounds like something that might be applicable to an investment property. Have you heard that it applies to the primary residence?

[-] sbv@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 months ago

I think you're right. My source for that was this site, but I don't see anything on canada.ca.

[-] dubyakay@lemmy.ca 6 points 7 months ago

Just reading the headlines and summaries of this and a concurrent "nobody in the government is doing anything" thread, the other one states that at least 1.3M dwellings need to be built by 2030 to try to keep up with demand, while this one talks about 30k dwellings.

This just moves it to "barely does anything".

[-] sbv@sh.itjust.works 4 points 7 months ago

the other one states that at least 1.3M dwellings need to be built by 2030 to try to keep up with demand

And 3.5M to lower prices back to reasonable levels.

[-] Sprawlie@lemmy.world 0 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

while this one talks about 30k dwellings.

No it doesn't. The OP of the post edited out the actual words in the article to make it seem like that was what was said. That is not what was published on the Parl government site. The exact wording of the 30k number:

Delivering a $15 billion top-up to the Apartment Construction Loan Program to build a minimum of 30,000 new apartments. With this top-up, the program’s financing is on track to build over 131,000 new apartments within the next decade.

Is this enough? I can't answer that. But the policy isn't just 30k new dwellings. It was specific to a MINIMUM of 30k new APARTMENTS. nothign to do with houses, condominiums, or overall housing numbers.

~~Now ask yourself. Why did the OP omit the full wording of the statement? Sounds like they're just trying to push and feed that ongoing hate boner.~~

in addition that is a TOP UP to an existing program and not a new single investment: https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/professionals/project-funding-and-mortgage-financing/funding-programs/all-funding-programs/apartment-construction-loan-program

[-] JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca 1 points 7 months ago

But also...

Why did the OP omit the full wording of the statement? Sounds like they're just trying to push and feed that ongoing hate boner.

Go fuck yourself asshole. There's no need for your vitriol in a post to prompt discussion. You don't need to attack me or my intentions with basically nothing to go on.

[-] JohnnyCanuck@lemmy.ca 1 points 7 months ago

The OP of the post edited out the actual words in the article to make it seem like that was what was said.

Oops, not intentionally, I was grabbing some highlights but wasn't trying to make it say anything in particular... I'll update, even though it's a bit late. I've been traveling!

this post was submitted on 12 Apr 2024
29 points (96.8% liked)

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