HOUSING CRISIS RUBIK’S CUBE — JAGMEET SINGH’s income as a fresh law school graduate offered a C$70,000 salary and the freedom to buy a C$350,000 house in Mississauga, Ont. That was 2006. It was his first house and he tells Playbook he was “pretty stressed” at the time: “It was five times my income.” Years later, he said, the same house in the neighborhood — along with the average price of others similar to it — was “well over a million.” “Maybe the income for a first-year lawyer went up a bit, from C$70,000 to maybe C$80,000 or C$90,000,” he said — out of pace with the spike in housing prices in the Greater Toronto Area. It’s a “completely untenable situation,” he said. “A young lawyer like me, I was able to get a home. But a young lawyer now, there's no way for them to buy a home,” he said in an interview from his backyard. “It's clearly a structural problem as well.” To address those structural problems, the Liberal government, Conservatives and NDP have all been making noise about increasing housing stock to get more homes built — quickly. — Beyond supply: The financialization of housing has become a runaway problem that doesn’t get equal billing, Singh said, despite the tendencies of politicians to focus on stock. “I've actually had conversations with economists [who] admitted the problem is so severe that it is not a problem that can just be solved by supply.” What makes the tenor of the NDP’s pitch different is its emphasis on increasing rental housing stock. Singh said his team looked at eight European countries with affordable housing and found a general trend of 20 percent of markets dedicated to rental. “Compare that to Canada, only 4 percent of our market is dedicated rental,” he said. “So that's a big gap.” — A mortgage subsidy is another new-ish idea the NDP leader floated this week — and it has done quick work of ruffling the feathers of political commentators including MICHAEL TAUBE and EVAN SCRIMSHAW. — Imitation games: New-ish because the NDP’s idea is pinched from Spain — and Singh is unapologetic about it. The Spanish government made headlines last year after negotiating with banks and approving temporary support for low-income families with rising variable mortgage rates. “Other countries are taking more bold action. And we need to see if those examples from around the world, if any of them would make sense here in Canada,” Singh said. — Another trial balloon: In a new fundraising pitch, the NDP floated the idea of an “affordable homes acquisition fund.” The fund, Singh said, isn’t about mortgage relief. And the inspiration, he said, comes from a similar program in British Columbia intended to prevent developers from snatching properties and “renovicting” tenants. — About those provincial and municipal policy jurisdictions: “The national housing strategy released funding that's available for groups to apply for to build homes. Similarly, this is a fund that would be dedicated to that specific scenario where a building goes up for sale that's affordable, and a community/not-for-profit organization — or the residents themselves — want to do a cooperative, they can apply for funding to be able to buy the building.” — Summer plans: Singh, like other federal leaders, will be making laps around the country before the House returns in September. He’s heading to the Atlantic provinces, “some of the territories,” the Prairies, British Columbia and his Burnaby South riding. — Spoiler alert: He's going to be talking about the housing crisis. — Another spoiler alert: Singh, who is cruising into his sixth year as federal NDP leader this fall, said he’s in for another election. “I've got lots of energy,” he said. “And I'm just getting better with time.” Did someone forward Ottawa Playbook your way? Click here to sign up for your own edition. It’s free! | 
