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Published date May 18, 2024 • Last updated 8 minutes ago • Reading time 3 minutes
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Rents are spiraling out of control as Alberta continues its campaign to attract more people to the province.Photo by Jim Wells/Postmedia Network
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There is a lot of information out there about the price crisis that is affecting Canadians in every province, but our politicians seem either uninterested or completely powerless to confront this crisis.
Rent prices are spiraling out of control in Canada's largest cities. In Alberta, as the government continues its “Alberta is Call” campaign that includes a conditional $5,000 tax credit for those who respond to the call, bedroom communities in Calgary, Edmonton and the surrounding areas are Faced with significant rent increases, more Albertans are running out of options. Conspicuously absent from the government's news releases and statements, or the Prime Minister's weekly radio show, are any attempts to support renters currently facing the loss of their homes.
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Of course, this pattern continues in provinces where governments have implemented some form of rent control, with single-bedroom rents soaring above $3,000 per month in both metropolitan Toronto and Vancouver. But it's clear that there are no easy answers to government intervention.
But at the same time, there doesn't seem to be anyone in Canada looking for it.
During their daily Q&A, Conservatives are quick to point out that housing costs have nearly doubled since the Trudeau government was elected. But what they don't offer are clear solutions to help Canadians currently facing rising costs.
Local governments are rushing through density approvals by changing zoning to expedited approvals, believing that “densification” is the answer, seeking more high-rise apartments, complexes, and townhomes. can be seen. But if past trends are to be believed, the prices of these new units, touted as relief for renters in crisis, will likely be priced at current rates, offering little relief to those already struggling. It won't give you hope.
For this reason, the idea of owning a home completely disappeared for the expensive middle class.
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Housing isn't the only area where middle-class affordability is shrugged off en masse by policymakers. Canadians face some of the highest phone bills in the world, comfortably insulated and protected by laws that restrict foreign competition and smother new entrants at home with shockingly anti-competitive price barriers. This is brought about by telecommunications oligopolies. (The Trudeau government claims phone bills are down 50 per cent, but anyone who pays a monthly bill knows this is terrible.)
And despite any hints of political virtue or faux outrage from the political establishment, there is not a single meaningful conversation in Canada about changing the freewheeling exploitation of the Canadian market by Rogers, Tellus, and Bell. . Good luck with your next service outage.
The same goes for airlines, with flights to Las Vegas, Puerto Vallarta, Miami, and other international destinations often cheaper than flights to all of Canada. (Sorry to my Toronto family, but for $700 I'd choose a sunny beach in the murky depths of Lake Ontario.)
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And then there is the sacred subject of supply management, a subject forbidden in the halls of power. The Canadian market is forced to supply depressing cheese and dairy products due to exorbitant tariff barriers against international competitors, while producers are forced to dump millions of milk down the drain to keep prices artificially high. I'm being forced to. Eggs and poultry are subject to the same protections, and prices for both have more than doubled in my lifetime.
This is not an extensive list of problems facing the middle class, but it does illustrate the national response of politicians to this crisis. Absolutely nothing, nothing, nothing is being done.
Why is there so much disagreement among the political class? Why can't our leaders, across party lines, listen to the cries of Canada's stifling middle class? Who is going to do anything about a broken market that is crushing Canadians while protecting the very institutions they are responsible for?
I don't recommend holding your breath and waiting for an answer.
Harrison Fleming was previously the Deputy Director of Communications for the Government of Alberta and a speechwriter for former Prime Minister Jason Kenney.
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