QUEEN’S PARK – NDP Housing critic MPP Jessica Bell (University—Rosedale) responded to the government’s latest housing announcement and introduction of yet another omnibus bill that will fail to help everyday Ontarians struggling to find affordable housing:
“The Ford Conservatives’ plan to make housing affordable for Ontarians is not working. It has never been more expensive to rent or buy a home in this province, and that is their record. Housing starts are going down, not up.
Their previous decisions to eliminate rent control, permit sprawl on the Greenbelt, and abuse their Ministerial Zoning Order powers have not solved our housing supply crisis. Today’s announcement is no different. Now, they’re making it easier to expand municipal urban boundaries and pave the way for more sprawl to be built on farmland. Our agricultural sector, which is essential to the province’s livelihood, won’t thrive if the Conservatives keep making it easier for developers to pave over our farmlands.
And worryingly still, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing refused to say again today whether or not Ford’s Conservatives would carve up the Greenbelt even further – it shows just how out of touch this government really is.
They aren’t even listening to their own housing task force to build on land that is already zoned for development to meet the housing targets. We need a sustainable approach to planning for the future.
Ontarians are being priced out of their communities, skyrocketing rent is causing people to lose their homes, buying a home is further out of reach for everyday Ontarians, and more and more people continue to become unhoused.
The Ontario NDP has a plan to build more homes in neighbourhoods that people want to live in, by ending exclusionary zoning, investing in the construction of affordable homes, clamping down on speculation, and making rent affordable. We encourage the Conservatives’ to abandon their failed plan and to work across party lines to help Ontarians who are desperately seeking affordable places to live.”