{"id":206853,"date":"2019-03-26T02:23:39","date_gmt":"2019-03-26T06:23:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=206853"},"modified":"2019-03-26T02:27:43","modified_gmt":"2019-03-26T06:27:43","slug":"trudeau-sells-housing-plan-in-visit-to-hot-real-estate-market-in-b-c","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/03\/26\/trudeau-sells-housing-plan-in-visit-to-hot-real-estate-market-in-b-c\/","title":{"rendered":"Trudeau sells housing plan in visit to hot real estate market in B.C."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MAPLE RIDGE, B.C. \u2014 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau touted\nefforts by the Liberal government to help first-time homebuyers put more down\non their mortgages during a visit to a region of the country Monday that is\nfacing a housing squeeze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its budget last week, the government introduced measures\nthat would allow Ottawa to pick up a portion of new homebuyers’ mortgage costs\nand it increased the amount they can borrow from their retirement savings for a\ndown payment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Housing has emerged as a major issue for many Canadians,\nespecially young people who are trying to get into the real-estate market at a\ntime when prices are soaring in some major cities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a visit to Maple Ridge, B.C., Trudeau said the budget\ncontains measures to help first-time buyers by allowing them to withdraw\n$35,000 from their RRSPs, up from $25,000, to help lower their borrowing costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
FILE: Owning a home is a big step \u2013 it\u2019s where you raise a family and set down roots. And #YourBudget2019 will help make it more affordable for Canadians across the country, like Bree and Marcus from Maple Ridge, BC. (Photo<\/a>: Justin Trudeau\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It also brings in a means-tested incentive that would see\nthe government pick up part of the costs of the mortgages of those eligible for\nthe program to lower their monthly payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trudeau said housing is also a concern for parents who are\nworried their adult children won’t be able to live in the neighbourhoods where\nthey grew up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOwning a house is a big achievement. It’s where you raise a\nfamily and set down roots. But far too many young people are worried that they\nwon’t be able to reach that dream. Housing prices in the Lower Mainland are\nsome of the highest in the country and rising.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trudeau said the government has also tried to spur new\nbuilding and keep prices from rising through its national housing strategy to\nhelp increase supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe just can’t treat the symptoms of sky-high housing\nprices,\u201d he added. \u201cWe have to deal with the causes as well. When there aren’t\nenough properties on the market, more people are competing for the same places,\nwhich forces the costs up for buyers and renters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last Tuesday’s budget also included $10 billion more for a\nprogram to fund the construction of new rental units \u2014 the third time the Liberals\nhave expanded the program, which aims to create 42,500 units over 10 years and\nnow carries a $50-billion price tag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As well, Trudeau said Ottawa is helping the Canada Revenue Agency go after tax fraud and money\nlaundering, which have also been blamed for driving up housing prices in\nBritish Columbia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trudeau later visited Vancouver Island where a byelection\nhas been set for May 6 in the riding of Nanaimo-Ladysmith. The prime minister\nstrolled Nanaimo’s harbourfront with Liberal candidate Michelle Corfield,\nstopping to shake hands and speak with people as they went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The byelection was called after New Democrat Sheila\nMalcolmson stepped down from her seat in the House of Commons to successfully\nrun for a seat in the provincial legislature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob Chamberlin, a long-serving chief councillor of a First\nNation based on Gilford Island in the Broughton Archipelago off northeastern\nVancouver Island, has said he intends to seek the NDP candidacy in\nNanaimo-Ladysmith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul Manly, a researcher, filmmaker and communications\nspecialist, is running for the Green party. He finished fourth in the riding in\nthe 2015 general election, earning almost 20 per cent of the vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Conservatives have selected financial manager John Hirst\nto run in the riding while Jennifer Clarke, who lost the nomination to Hirst,\nwill represent the new People’s Party of Canada, led by Quebec MP Maxime\nBernier.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MAPLE RIDGE, B.C. \u2014 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau touted efforts by the Liberal government to help first-time homebuyers put more …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":206855,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","category-news","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206853"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206857,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206853\/revisions\/206857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}