Create Affordable Housing - QP

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Speaker, we are in a housing crisis here in HRM and across the province. While the Premier has been focusing on picking fights with other orders of government and freezing development fees, he has done precious little to address the shortage of affordable housing across this province. In fact, we've heard from experts that this government's actions are likely to make it harder to build affordable housing in HRM. My question is for the Premier. We are going to need over 30,000 affordable units in the next six years. How are we going to get there?

HON. ALLAN MACMASTER « » : We took action as soon as we were elected. In fact, I remember three weeks after being sworn in, meeting and doing what the Opposition has criticized us for doing - that being approving additional appropriations to the budget. What was one of the more significant ones that we approved? It was for housing - millions of dollars for housing. We cannot, unfortunately, build this housing overnight, but we did not wait. We took action. We approved millions of dollars three weeks after being sworn in as the new government. A lot of those investments, we hope, are starting to prove fruitful for people who need them. I can provide all kinds of other examples. This is something that we've taken very seriously, and we responded as soon as we took government.

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : The Premier says that the solution to the housing crisis is to build more housing. But instead of making it easier to build affordable housing, he is making it harder. Instead of working with partners, he is steamrolling them, and instead of what non-profit housing providers have asked for - fast access to capital and financing to build truly affordable housing - he is spending millions of appropriated dollars. He's funnelling it to private developers with unclear results. My question is: Why is the Premier making it harder to build desperately needed affordable housing in Halifax?

ALLAN MACMASTER « » : I reject the premise of the question. I will say that there are all kinds of factors at play here. The government - I believe we've done our part in putting money out there for private developers, but not just for private developers. We've also been open to co-op housing and non-profits. Even more recently, the government has announced - for the first time since, as I understand, about 1995 - an investment in government-owned new housing. That's in addition to, as I recall, $15 million in the last budget for fixing up existing government-owned affordable housing. I reject the premise of the question, and I will say that we have been focused on this from as soon as we were elected

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : The government loves to talk about the 200 units that will eventually get built in the face of the need for 30,000. The experts have been clear. Labour shortages, supply chain issues, high interest rates are the stumbling blocks to faster development in HRM. They've also been clear that the government's approach to expediting high-end development will shift the financial burden from the private sector directly onto the backs of Nova Scotians. Our taxes will go up, housing prices will continue to climb, and affordable housing will continue to be out of reach.

We have seen no proof from the Premier that anything he's doing for private developers is going to make an impact for real people who need housing. There's no plan, no timeline, no deliverables for affordable housing for tens of thousands of Nova Scotians who need it. Who is the Premier trying to help?

ALLAN MACMASTER « » : We can agree that - and the member just mentioned - the three most significant issues to increasing the supply of housing in the province are labour shortages, high interest rates, and supply chain issues. I can tell you, on a positive note, that we've seen at the Department of Finance and Treasury Board that many of the supply chain issues are starting to resolve themselves. That will be helpful.

In terms of labour shortages, no question, but a lot of those issues are outside of the control of the government. We are trying to bring people to the province. We have the More Opportunities for Skilled Trades program. Despite questions last week, we believe that program is certainly working for those who are taking advantage of it. I will also say, in terms of responding to the cost of higher interest rates, we've partnered with the federal government to remove the HST off rental housing.