Housing crisis to take centre stage at Liberal cabinet retreat in Charlottetown
CTV
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to deliver a new mission for his cabinet at a three-day retreat in Charlottetown this week, in a bid to restore Canadians' sense of economic security and their confidence in his government.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is set to deliver a new mission for his cabinet at a three-day retreat in Charlottetown this week, in a bid to restore Canadians' sense of economic security and their confidence in his government.
It is a very different cabinet from the one that last sat in the House of Commons, following a major shuffle in July. Seven of the 38 ministers were replaced entirely and 19 were given new files.
The housing affordability crisis will take on new levels of importance for the government, with a specific focus on younger Canadians whose early adult years have been dominated by the disruptions of COVID-19 and whose dream of even being able to afford to rent their own home is marred by rising costs.
No big policy announcements are expected following the retreat, but ministers will be briefed by national experts on housing and youth with a view to guiding federal decision-making this fall.
Those decisions could include negotiating a national housing accord. Such a pact would bring all levels of government to the table, along with both not-for-profit and for-profit housing agencies, to build the estimated 5.8 million new homes Canada needs to restore affordability to the housing market by 2030.
The retreat comes as the Liberals' poll numbers continue to sink.
A cranky electorate left exhausted by the COVID-19 pandemic and its high-inflation aftermath is finding more appeal in the message from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre that under the Liberals, everything in Canada has been broken.
