When Ottawa earmarked $680M for new home development and
requested each province to match the funds, every province but Ontario agreed.
The Harris government felt that the money would be better
spent on existing expenditures such as rent supplements, housing for the
mentally ill and new long-term care beds.
It also felt that money would be more effective as tax
breaks to the private sector to build affordable housing.
Since the move to “voluntarily vacate” rent controls
in Ontario, they have seen millions of dollars spent on the refurbishment of
existing rental housing.
A bold move with dramatically positive results that the
PPMA would like mirrored here in Manitoba.