The federal NDP has promised Canadians a 20 per cent federal tax on foreign investors who compete to buy homes, a curb on house-flipping, and 500,000 new homes built across the country.

Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh kicked off a cross-country tour on Thursday, July 8 with a stop in Duncan on Vancouver Island where he spoke about his party鈥檚 commitment to affordable housing.

Among developed nations, Singh said, housing prices have increased more in Canada than anywhere else during Trudeau鈥檚 time as prime minister.

鈥淲e鈥檝e got to stop those pressures that are driving up the cost of housing,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut we also have to build more houses that people can afford; homes that are in people鈥檚 budgets. Whether it鈥檚 to rent or to own, we need more homes. And that鈥檚 why we are committed to building 500,000 new homes that people can afford. This will make a difference here in the Cowichan Valley, on the Island, and across Canada.鈥�

鈥淭he housing crisis across Canada is hurting people and their ability to find a good home,鈥� Singh said. 鈥淔rom evictions to the lack of affordable homes, people are having to leave the communities they live and work in to find a place to live. And the pandemic has made things worse. Justin Trudeau has been in power for six years and since then, housing prices have only gone up. He鈥檚 focused on protecting the profits of the ultra-rich, while Canadian families are struggling to find homes they can afford.鈥�

Canada invested heavily in building new homes after the Second World War, Singh noted, but there hasn鈥檛 been significant federal involvement in housing since the 1990s.

鈥淚鈥檝e spoken with so many people, and they tell me heartbreaking stories about how they want to stay in their community, they want to stay in the communities where they have friends and families and connections and their work, but they simply can鈥檛 afford it,鈥� Singh commented.

Singh spoke alongside Cowichan-Langford-Malahat MP Alistair MacGregor, who talked about housing issues in the Cowichan Valley, where nearly 5,000 affordable housing units will be required by 2025, while the federal Liberals have announced funding for 4,500 across the country.

鈥淏efore I became an elected official, I worked as a case worker, and many of the issues I was dealing with with families across the table really did centre on housing,鈥� the MP said. 鈥淚鈥檝e had too many conversations with people who had to make those difficult choices each and every month between finding the money for rent, utilities, and putting good quality food on the table. And sadly that situation has persisted even during the last six years that I鈥檝e been fortunate enough to be the Member of Parliament for this area.

鈥淗ousing is really one of those key issues that really is a nucleus around which everything depends. If you don鈥檛 have access to safe, secure and affordable housing, really if affects everything else.鈥�

Businesses in the Cowichan Valley are struggling to keep workers, MacGregor noted, because workers can鈥檛 afford to live in the area. And skyrocketing housing prices affect not only the housing-insecure but also people trying to get into the market for the first time

鈥淒espite some of the efforts that we鈥檝e seen at increasing the supply, the affordability is such a huge factor because people have not seen their wages rise commensurate with the housing crisis.鈥�

In addition to the other commitments the NDP has announced, the party is also urging the federal government to put measures into place to tackle money laundering that increases real estate speculation, stimulate construction of co-op and non-profit social housing, waive the federal portion of the GST/HST on construction of new affordable rental housing, reintroduce 30-year CMHC-insured mortgages for first-time homebuyers, and double the homebuyer鈥檚 tax credit to $1,500.

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