‘NIMBY’-ism a topic of discussion at housing and transit conference in wake of Poilievre’s new housing plan

As Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's new housing plan takes aim at municipalities and a "not in my backyard" mentality from individuals, housing experts met with transit agency representatives in Ottawa to discuss ways to address local opposition to change. The political wrangling over housing and affordability on Parliament Hill—and Poilievre’s (Carleton, Ont.) description of municipal officials as obstructionist gatekeepers—was not lost on the municipal leaders, housing experts, and transit agency representatives who met at Ottawa’s Château Laurier on Sept. 19 for a conference. Julie Charchun, who spent eight years as chief of staff to former Edmonton mayor Don Iveson, told the crowd at the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) policy forum that housing and transportation are “the two largest cost drivers for Canadians,” and that the narrative that cities are the problem when it comes to housing has only strengthened in the last year. Poilievre’s plan would require big cities to increase home building by 15 per cent each year, with a “building bonus” for cities that meet their targets and significant financial penalties for those that don't. The Conservatives would also withhold transit and infrastructure funding from cities until after they finish building "sufficient high-density housing around transit stations," and "empower Canadians to file complaints about NIMBYism with the federal infrastructure department." The party announced the plan on Sept. 14 and Poilievre introduced it in the House of Commons on Sept. 20 in the form of a private member's bill titled the Building Homes Not Bureaucracy Act. Transit agency representatives, housing experts, municipal officials discuss NIMBYism The conference was an opportunity for transit agency representatives and housing experts to discuss efforts to create high-density, mixed-income housing along public transit routes. CUTA officials also gave the crowd a preview of a report on the intersection between transit and housing that will be released in the coming weeks. Participants compared notes on how to deal with local opposition to such change. Charcun said public hearings around "upzoning" established neighbourhoods—changing local rules to allow for taller, multi-unit residential buildings in areas that are currently dominated by single-family homes—are "a really sticky problem" because a vocal minority shows up in large numbers to oppose the changes. "You tend to hear from folks that have the means, that have the wherewithal, that have the confidence to come to speak to council," said Charcun. "We’re really just hearing from existing homeowners,” she said, and not from the people who would be able to move into the neighbourhood if more homes are built. Andrew Knack, an Edmonton city councillor who has supported efforts to diversify his city’s housing landscape, said elected representatives have to take so-called NIMBYs seriously, and not just because they are generally more likely to be active politically. "It’s easy to throw around that term, 'NIMBY,'” he told the audience. "But it is still somebody's neighbourhood. It is still somebody who’s existed in a space for a very long time, and that change is scary for them. That fear isn’t invalid." "That is the political reality we have to face when we're having these conversations," he said. "It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do anything because there’s fear, but it’s how we navigate that process." Ray Sullivan, executive director of the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association, told the CUTA audience that there is a growing "yes in my backyard cohort," mostly made up of people who have been excluded from the housing market and from homes in the neighbourhoods they want to live in. He called on the gathered municipal officials to embrace and amplify these voices, to counteract "what has always been a minority." Knack agreed, saying he has noticed a shift at public meetings in the past year. He said a recent set of discussions on housing in Calgary was the first time in his 10 years as an Edmonton city councillor that he had seen a large majority of participants speaking in favour of housing reforms. "Where in the past it was just those who had owned a home for 20 or 30 years coming up to speak, now it’s people who are saying 'I’m never going to be able to afford a home unless you do something differently,'" said Knack. "The more we start to hear from those voices," he said, "that’ll help with those larger scale developments around transit.” Housing minister says Conservative plan includes some good ideas and some ‘bizarre’ ideas Housing Minister Sean Fraser, seen here on Sept. 18, criticized the Conservatives' call to withhold transit and infrastructure funding from municipalities that don't meet housing targets. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade The Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA), led by former provincial Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak, said in a Sept. 14 statement that the Conservative housing plan is “exactly what we need if we want to solve the housing affordability crisis.” The OREA statement also praised the plan’s emphasis on linking transit and infrastructure to housing completions and the “push back against local NIMBYism.” Housing Minister Sean Fraser (Central Nova, N.S.) told reporters on Sept 18.—the day the House of Commons returned from its summer break—that he had reviewed the Conservative housing plan "in good faith" and that there are "some good ideas in there," such as a 60-day timeline for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to approve applications for housing programs. But Fraser criticized the Conservatives' call to punish municipalities that don't meet their housing targets by denying them transit and infrastructure funding, saying the lack of infrastructure is one of the bottlenecks that slows down the building of new homes in the first place. He also said the proposal to create "a snitch line for NIMBYism" was "bizarre" and was not going to get more homes built. Fraser told reporters the federal government is moving ahead with legislation to remove the GST on the construction of new purpose-built rental apartment buildings, and encouraged the provinces to match that. Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland (University—Rosedale, Ont.) introduced Bill C-56, the Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, in the House on Sept. 21. NDP finance critic Daniel Blaikie, left, and housing critic Jenny Kwan hold a press conference on Sept. 21 to respond to the Liberal and Conservative plans for dealing with the housing crisis. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade NDP housing critic Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, B.C.) and finance critic Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, Man.) criticized both the Liberal and Conservative housing plans in a Sept. 21 statement, saying the two other parties are overly focused on private sector measures that will primarily benefit developers. “Both Trudeau and Poilievre are more interested in pleasing rich developers than helping everyday Canadians,” said Kwan, calling instead for more support for non-profit housing. Several speakers at the CUTA conference emphasized the importance of limiting speculation over land that municipalities might earmark for high-density housing and transit. Land speculation of this kind, where investors look to buy and flip key parcels of land, could end up driving up the cost of the housing that is eventually built. Sullivan pointed out that public policy decisions around transit infrastructure can create money “out of thin air," since the value of land is determined “by what you can build in the air above it.” "If you own a piece of land that is a farm," he explained, "maybe it’s zoned for a farm, maybe it's protected by Greenbelt legislation. The value of that land is kind of low. But then there's a public policy decision that changes what you can do with that land, and suddenly it becomes the site for a transit node. And suddenly there's transit-oriented development going on. You can build 45 stories on that land. Suddenly that piece of land is worth billions and billions of dollars." Knack said Edmonton's city council is exploring a city-wide approach to upzoning, especially along corridors where transit investments are already being made, which could make it more difficult for speculators to pinpoint specific parcels of land. kphilipupillai@hilltimes.com The Hill Times

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‘NIMBY’-ism a topic of discussion at housing and transit conference in wake of Poilievre’s new housing plan

Pierre Poilievre’s hard-nosed approach to cities was not lost on city councillors, housing experts, and transit agency representatives who met in Ottawa this week.

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