November 21st, 2022

Conservatives kill NDP motion calling for housing plan for Ontarians

New Democrats propose solutions to replace Ford’s gift to developers

QUEEN’s PARK – The Ford government quashed an NDP Opposition Day motion Monday that would have urged the government to implement a housing plan premised on the right of every Ontarian to access a decent, affordable place to live – without bulldozing Ontario’s cherished Greenbelt.

The NDP’s motion put forward positive solutions to address the housing crisis, since the Ford government’s Bill 23 will fail to build housing people can actually afford.

“Ontario is living through a housing crisis; renters are living in fear of being evicted because their landlord is upping the rent, and families making decent salaries are forced to move far from their communities because finding an affordable home just isn’t possible,” Official Opposition Interim NDP Leader Peter Tabuns said.

“Doug Ford’s scheme fails to crack down on speculation, protect tenants, or build inclusive neighbourhoods with affordable and missing middle housing options.”

The Ford government is already failing to meet its own target to achieve the 1.5 million new houses the province will need over the next decade, with housing starts down since Ford introduced his so-called plan.

“Ford’s Bill 23 is effectively a gift to developers,” said NDP Housing critic Jessica Bell. “And Doug Ford has again reneged on his promise to leave the Greenbelt alone, allowing parcels of it to be bulldozed and served up to the Conservative donors who will get richer as a result.”

The NDP will continue pressing the government to implement the housing solutions it has been fighting for, premised on the fundamental principle that housing is a human right. These solutions include:

  • Establishing a strong public role in the funding, delivery, acquisition and protection of an adequate supply of affordable and non-market homes
  • Ending exclusionary zoning and enabling access to affordable and adequate housing options in all neighbourhoods
  • Stabilizing housing markets and cracking down on harmful speculation
  • Protecting tenants from rent gouging and displacement, and ensuring the inclusivity of growing neighbourhoods
  • Focusing growth efficiently and sustainably within existing urban boundaries, while protecting irreplaceable farmland, wetlands, the Greenbelt and other natural heritage from costly and unsustainable urban sprawl.

“We could have passed this motion today, and actually helped people find decent, affordable places to live,” Tabuns said. “Instead, the Conservatives shamefully chose to continue making the housing crisis worse while lining the pockets of Ford’s wealthy developer buddies.”

HOUSING FOR ALL PLAN

Whereas all Ontarians have the right to adequate housing; and

Whereas to ensure an adequate supply of housing, Ontario must build 1.5 million new market and non-market homes over the next decade; and

Whereas the for-profit private market by itself will not, and cannot, deliver enough homes that are affordable and meet the needs of Ontarians of all incomes, ages, family sizes, abilities and cultures; and

Whereas the housing policies of successive PC and Liberal provincial governments have relied almost entirely on the for-profit private market to deliver new housing; and

Whereas these housing policies have focused on delivering profits for investors, rather than homes for people, and thus have failed to ensure that newly-built homes are actually affordable and meet the needs of all Ontarians; and

Whereas these housing policies have failed to end exclusionary zoning, and have blocked access to affordable and adequate housing options in the neighbourhoods where people want to live; and

Whereas these polices have encouraged more speculative investment and market bubbles, and have driven up the costs of housing beyond the reach of ordinary Ontarians; and

Whereas these failed housing policies have put tenants at increased risk of rent gouging, eviction and displacement, and have threatened the inclusivity and vibrancy of growing neighbourhoods; and

Whereas these failed housing policies will sacrifice more irreplaceable farmland, natural heritage and Greenbelt lands to costly and unsustainable urban sprawl, putting Ontario’s food security at risk;

Therefore, the Legislative Assembly calls on the Ontario government to implement a comprehensive housing plan that ensures the right of all Ontarians to adequate housing, including ending exclusionary zoning and enabling access to affordable and adequate housing options in all neighbourhoods; stabilizing housing markets and stopping harmful speculation; establishing a strong public role in the funding, delivery, acquisition and protection of an adequate supply of affordable and non-market homes; protecting tenants from rent gouging and displacement, and ensuring the inclusivity of growing neighbourhoods; and focusing growth efficiently and sustainably within existing urban boundaries, while protecting irreplaceable farmland, wetlands, the Greenbelt and other natural heritage from costly and unsustainable urban sprawl.