PACP Committee Report

The Conservative Party of Canada’s Dissenting Report: Chronic Homelessness

Conservative members of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (PACP) demand action be taken by the Government of Canada to stop the housing crisis, including the immediate implementation of the Legislation called for in C-356 An Act respecting payments by Canada and requirements in respect of housing and to amend certain other Acts, the Building Homes Not Bureaucracy Act, introduced by the Member from Carleton.

Conservative members of the Committee recommend:

Recommendations

Recommendation #1: Establish a target for the completion of new homes in high-cost cities that increases 15% every year and ties federal infrastructure funding allocated to high-cost cities to that target.

Recommendation #2: Provide for the reallocation of $100 million from the Housing Accelerator Fund to municipalities that greatly exceed housing targets.

Recommendation #3: Require that federal transit funding provided to certain cities be held in trust until high-density residential housing is substantially occupied on available land around federally funded transit projects’ stations.

Recommendation #4: Make it a condition for certain cities to receive federal infrastructure and transit funding that they not unduly restrict or delay the approval of building permits for housing.

Recommendation #5: Amend the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Act, the National Housing Act and the Excise Tax Act in order to eliminate executive bonuses unless housing targets are met and to reduce executive compensation if applications for funding for new housing construction are not treated within an average of 60 days.

Recommendation #6: Provide a 100% GST rebate on new residential rental property for which the average rent payable is below market rate.

Recommendation #7: Require the Minister of Public Works to table a report on the inventory of federal buildings and land, to identify land suitable for housing construction and to propose a plan to sell at least 15% of any federal buildings and all land that would be appropriate for housing construction, subject to certain exceptions. In addition, require the Minister of Public Works to place these properties on the market within 12 months of tabling the report.

Background

On 15 November 2022, the reports of the Auditor General of Canada were tabled in the House of Commons and referred to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts (the Committee) for study, one of which was entitled “Chronic Homelessness.”[1]

The Auditor General’s report “Chronic Homelessness” displays an utter lack of accountability and record keeping within departments, the Government’s failures to meet their own goals, and that the Government’s own programs and initiatives have failed to address the evolving housing crisis.

After 8 years of the Trudeau Liberal Government the number of tent cities have become larger with worsening conditions. “The homeless count in the Lower Mainland revealed a 32-per-cent increase since 2020 to almost 5,000 people living on the streets, in shelters, in vehicles or in other precarious spots. And the problem has spread dramatically into Vancouver’s suburbs, where some communities are seeing a near doubling of their numbers."[2]  

The Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities’ own riding has experienced immense issues with housing with “Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia’s By Name List showing that there are 1,012 people experiencing homelessness in HRM[3], an almost 60 per cent increase since August of last year and approximately 500 per cent increase since 2018. These numbers don’t include people who may be sheltering in rural HRM, sleeping in their car or staying at a friend or family member’s house.”

Halifax resident, Wade Tanner, who has taken shelter within one of the tent cities provided the following descriptions of the chaotic state of tent city: “water shortage for one, the rats, the drugs, that’s about it around here.”[4] Mr. Tanner also described an average night in the tent city; “it’s drug haven at night, you get all the druggies from all over the city here in the tent city. Running up and down here all night long, you can hardly get any sleep here.”[5]

The housing situation in Canada has become dire and if the recommendations above are not adopted, homes ownership will continue to be out of reach of Canadians and more dangerous and hazardous tent cities will appear throughout Canada.