'Toronto shouldn't only be for the 1%': Singh calls for tax break on development of affordable homes

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is calling on the federal government to make housing in Toronto more affordable by removing the federal portion of GST and HST on the development of new affordable homes and setting aside federal lands to build rental housing or homes for first-time homebuyers.

“Toronto needs a real partner at the federal level, not one who is interested in promising things just for show instead of delivering the results the city and the country needs,” Singh said in a news release. “The federal government has the tools to play a stronger role, but the Liberals have to stop prioritizing the profits of those who use the housing market to get rich instead of doing what’s best for working people.”

Singh did not give an estimate for how much the move might cost the government.

The statement comes just a week after former NDP MP Olivia Chow was elected mayor in a historic race which ended more than a decade of right-leaning rule at Toronto City Hall.

Chow’s housing plan during the campaign rested heavily on financial help from the federal government. Last week she said that housing will be one of her top three priorities in her first year in office.

Her election comes at a time when the NDP has the ear of the ruling Liberals, who only have a minority in parliament at the moment.

Singh welcomed Chow’s election last week, calling her “his first mentors in politics” and saying that he looks forward to working with her to make Toronto “a city where everyone belongs & everyone can afford to live.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also welcomed Chow’s election and praised her as a strong progressive voice for the city. However, he said the federal government is not likely to help Toronto with a $1.5 billion shortfall brought on by COVID-19 related expenses.

Singh took aim at Trudeau Tuesday and said his government has only spent 38 per cent of the housing funding he promised. He said with Chow’s recent election, “it’s time Toronto had a better partner at the federal level” and added that “Toronto shouldn’t only be for the one per cent.”

Trudeau said last week that he looks forward to working with Chow on a number of issues, including building more housing.

The Liberals have introduced a number of measures on housing affordability over the past couple of years, including a tax-free first home savings account which came into effect this year.

The government also said this year it plans to reallocate some funding from the National Housing Co-Investment Fund’s repair stream to its new construction stream “as needed” in order to boost construction of new affordable homes.

Chow is set to meet with non-profit and private sector partners Wednesday morning to discuss “housing and local economic opportunities” in the first engagement meeting of her mayoral transition. She is set to be sworn in on July 12.