People ‘Living in Their Parents’ Basements’ About to Be Evicted, Poilievre Quips on Housing Woes

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre speaks at a news conference outside West Block on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Aug. 1, 2023. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)

Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre has repeatedly given the example of someone living in their parents’ basement to illustrate how unaffordable housing has become in Canada. He now says things are so dire, the whole family could get evicted.

“I used to say there were 35-year-olds living in their parents’ basements and people were shocked to hear that. Now, it’s much worse,” Mr. Poilievre told reporters in Ottawa on Aug. 1.

“The 35-year-old worries that him and his mother might be on the street living in their cars.”

The Tory leader was back in the national capital after a summer tour during which he says he met or heard about people living out of their cars or in parking lots.

During his leadership campaign last year for the top post in his party, Mr. Poilievre often spoke about the skyrocketing price of real estate.

A year later, inflation-fighting by the Bank of Canada has significantly increased mortgage rates, and rents have followed.

Statistics Canada said mortgage interest costs rose 30 percent year-over-year in June. Rent was also up 5.8 percent. Housing and food are the main upward contributors to inflation, the agency said.

Mr. Poilievre blamed Ottawa for the housing crisis, pointing to a monetary policy that injected hundreds of billions of fresh money into the economy during COVID-19 and boosted demand, government deficit spending, and red tape slowing down new developments.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a housing announcement in Hamilton on July 31 and pushed back on Mr. Poilievre’s claims.

He said the government’s Housing Accelerator Fund is speeding up construction and that the Rapid Housing Initiative (RHI) has made a “huge difference” across the country.

The RHI is a program managed by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) to invest capital in the development of affordable housing. The CMHC says over 10,000 units are expected to be built and new projects are under review.

“Now the Conservative leader wants to pick fights to bully communities into doing what he thinks is best, at the same time as he cuts investments in housing and in supports for families,” said Mr. Trudeau.

The prime minister added that his rival is using issues like the affordability crisis to stoke Canadians’ anger. “I won’t be stirring up anger,” he said.

Mr. Trudeau admitted there’s a lot of work to do to fix the housing situation, but he said the matter is not primarily a federal responsibility. “It’s not something that we have direct carriage of but it is something that we can and must help with.”

On the issue of settling asylum seekers, he said provinces and municipalities have a large part to play, amid reports of refugees being stranded on the streets.

Mr. Poilievre responded on Aug. 1 by saying that Ottawa does hold the responsibility for a number of aspects relating to housing.

“Eight years ago, [Mr. Trudeau] promised he was going to lower housing costs,” Mr. Poilievre said. “The biggest housing agency in Canada, CMHC, is federal. Mortgage insurance: federal. Taxes, fiscal, and monetary policy: federal, federal, federal. Immigration: federal. Infrastructure money: federal.”

“All these things are federal and yet the federal prime minister claims he has nothing to do with it.”

Regarding immigration, Mr. Poilievre was asked whether he would review the current targets set by the government, which aim to welcome 500,000 immigrants by 2025. This influx increases demand on a market already short on supply.

He did not answer directly, but said his policy would be based on “common sense” and not “ideology.” Mr. Poilievre said the immigration levels should be dictated by the number of vacancies in the private sector, the number of refugees charities can sponsor, and the reunification of families.