[timun]

Originally Posted by KootenayFlamesFan

I fully claim right off the bat that I am not educated enough to solve any housing issues in this country. I don't care if it's the Liberals or Cons, what exactly are the steps that should be taken to help solve it? I really don't know. Is there something easy or obvious that I am missing?

Originally Posted by MarchHare

Whether you like him or not, Trudeau is being honest when he says that housing costs are largely outside the jurisdiction of the federal government. No government, Liberal, Conservative, or NDP can solve this issue at the federal level.

I don't disagree in principle with these comments; in fact, I think I'd go as far as to say it's not the feds' "fault", and I'm not entirely sure there's a politically palatable solution anymore. Which is why nothing has been done.

That said, whether it's federal jurisdiction or not, the perceived inaction in the face of this crisis is going to cost them dearly.

I think this is generally the best start to tackling the problem:

Originally Posted by wireframe

... the fix is to make investment in housing less attractive, which the federal government has the power to do. Not the will but definitely the power.

Real estate has always been full of speculators and investors, but government policy makes it much easier to own investment property than owning a primary residence.

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I’m not sure our political and business leaders and institutions like the BoC and government regulators really understand how badly the housing crisis is undermining their legitimacy. A lot of Canadians are not very politically engaged. But everyone notices when the cost of putting a roof over their heads climbs relentlessly past the point of affordability. Canada’s institutional complacency and inability to address the crisis is a gift to populist of various stripes.

I agree, and it's really just a Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs thing: if you #### around, or are perceived by inaction to have ####ed around, with the very bottom of that pyramid—air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing, sex—people get very angry very quick. There's a simmering frustration among everyone who isn't in the "investor class" that is going to boil over.