‘This is not a mini-budget’: Freeland on the economic update | Power Play with Vassy Kapelos

Minister chrisa Freeland is uh here next to me nice to see you Minister thank you for making the time I appreciate it um I wanted to start off and just ask you actually based on the criticism I heard initially From the Block and the NDP there is not much in here beyond what

You telegraphed or what your government had telegraphed earlier particularly where housing is concerned and measures to address affordability the cheap criticism I’ve heard so far is that it won’t help in the immediacy it will help more in the middle midterm to long term and therefore won’t kind of measure up

Against the acute nature of the crisis as it exists right now how would you respond to that well I disagree um this is a narrowly focused update and it’s an update it’s not a mini budget but it is focused on the things that Canadians need most right

Now and what Canadians need most is housing and that’s why there are some really significant measures on housing there is 15 billion for the rental construction financing inititive that will build 30,000 new homes there’s a billion doll for deep affability there is support something close to my heart

Support for co-ops there’s a really important new measure cracking down on airbnbs that’s going to make 30,000 new homes available for people to rent permanently and I think the important thing to emphasize is on housing this is about something that we’ve been working on since we formed government we have been working on

Urgently this fall we lifted the GST on purpose bu rental a huge measure in and of itself we added $20 billion to the Canada mortgage Bond program that provides financing that’s going to lead to 30,000 homes built every year year after year after year so there are a lot

Of measures that are happening today and we’re just going to keep on building I’m going to push back respectfully on the idea that those measures collectively are really significant because I’m even listening to the numbers that you’re that you’re putting out there about what each individual measure will generate 30,000 home tens

Of thousands maybe at the end of the day as the housing Minister said in an interview last week with us hundreds of thousands of homes the cmhc says there needs to be 3.5 million new units constructed above and beyond what’s already planned by 2030 in order to restore affordability what you’re

Proposing doesn’t even come close so again the criticism that you’re hearing from the opposition is this won’t help me with the problem now again I just disagree each one of these measures and I listed four serious measures that are in the fall economic update right now

They come on top of more than that because these are year after year after year and they come on top of significant measures that we announced this fall and we’re just going to keep on going so you know I and I really am seeing these measures in action I was in Toronto on

Tuesday at an announcement where you know right behind me Apartments were being built and that was about uh 2600 rental apartments in the Toronto area that was not with the money I was announcing today that was this program the rental construction financing initiative that was already in the

Fiscal track so there is a lot of building going on in Canada we know that’s necessary and we’re going to keep on investing and I also want to point out it is about building new homes it’s also about things like our measure on Airbnb it is also about things like the

First Home Savings Account 250,000 more than 250,000 Canadians have opened a first home savings account so you know to me what that shows is Canadians many Canadians want to buy a home they believe in it and they’re glad that there is a way for them to save up for

That home sure those 250,000 for sure but there are hundreds of thousands of other can adans who are constantly reaching out to us saying we have a job we have two incomes and we still cannot afford a home and I I’m going to again push back because I know you’re saying

You disagree with the assessment that what you’re doing won’t meet the moment and how acute the crisis is but again 30,000 for A&B 30,000 for the other measure you announced I know you’re doing something I’m not trying to intimate that you aren’t but it does not

Even come close to 3.5 million will it ever just respect again like thank you for your question really important question really important issue and I think the point is we have been investing in housing since we formed government we have been taking urgent action this fall with really meaty

Measures the lifting the GST on purpose built rental alone is a game changer almost seven years ago and now it is in place and it is making a real differ the other meure difference when you first promised it though and did your inability your government’s inability to

See the crisis as it was developing lead to less effective impacts on what you’re doing I I just disagree I think the reality is Canada is a growing country we are so lucky in the G7 that we actually have a growing population that is a huge economic advantage

And what that means is we have to build build build there’s going to be no magic bullet on housing this is going to be something that we have to invest in day after day week after week month after month year after year that’s what we’ve been doing with new measures like the

Airbnb measure and adding more money into measures that are already working like rental construction but I just want to talk about one other thing that I think will be important to your viewers and that is the Canadian mortgage Charter because you’ve said that you’re hearing from people concerned about

Housing I’m sure you are I am too I’m also hearing from people concerned about renewing their mortgages and I think right now with interest rates having gone up uh very swiftly there are a lot of Canadians out there who are legitimately worried about affording their mortgage when they need

To renew and that’s why for the first time we published in this economic statement the Canadian mortgage Charter I hope it will provide some real relief to Canadians and we’ll let people know so I would just like to say to your viewers like please take a look Google

It no myle was highlighting that as one of the big takeway I think it’s and I think it’s going to provide like I talked to my constituents and a lot of people and I was talking to other MPS today and they said what do I say to my

Constituents who are worried and now there’s something you can say which is look at the Canadian mortgage Charter it tells you what you have the right to expect from your bank things like a longer amortization period things like if you have a re if you have an insured

Mortgage you can switch to a different mortgage provider without having to re-qualify so this is real support for Canadians who are feeling stretched right now certainly we will put that information up on the website I know it’s an important takeway and I don’t want to take away from that but the

First part of my question you said you disagree with you didn’t you didn’t really answer it and that is for example when you when you talk about removing the GST that is something that your own party in a couple elections ago recognized as necessary to address the

Issues with housing at the time but you didn’t pursue it why were your why was your government why did it take until this fall to act with the urgency that you now characterize your your actions hous again what I would say on housing and I think Canadians understand this is there

Is no Silver Bullet there is no one measure that is going to respond to the housing needs of Canadians and meeting the housing challenge is going to be something that we’re going to have to do every day every week every month going forward because we’re really

Lucky we’re a growing country so if we keep a couple months ago the Prime Minister was saying it’s not our primary responsibility what we believe and what we have been demonstrating is that housing is something we all have to work on together it’s got to be cities it’s

Got to be provinces it’s got to be the federal government it has to be private Builders and not for profits it has to be about rental and it has to be about helping people buy their own home it has to be doing things like cracking down on

Airbnb so homes that exist people can live in permanently it has to be things like providing a savings vehicle like the first home savings account so people can buy their own home it has to be about supporting co-ops a great affordable way to have a home and build

A community so there’s like tons of things to and I’m not going to take away from the complexity of it but I’m also putting myself in the shoes of Canadians like so many people you and I both know but I’m lucky enough to got to have bought a house before it was really

Expensive and so I can’t afford it now but there are a lot of people who can’t and I’m I’m just thinking of them watching tonight and thinking will my will it will will I have a better ability in the near future to be able to afford a home

And really because of the delay in which with which your government introduced all this stuff which may end up working really well it won’t for a few more years and and there I just disagree because part of what is happening you think tomorrow somebody else somebody or

The next few months will have an easier ability to afford them part of what is happening right now is programs that we announced in earlier years are landing and are making a difference and the best example is the National Housing accelerator program this is a great program we announced it in the 2022

Budget it’s complicated because it’s about working with municipalities collaboratively and finding ways to create an incentive for them to cut the red tape that’s one of our huge problems right is that we have so much red tape standing the way of private Capital being poured into the housing market and

That program we announced in the 22 budget we launched it this spring and it is landing right now in specific and we’re covering it I know your your staff want you to go so permit me just one more question about the debt servicing costs because that’s going to generate a

Lot of headlines it increases in in this document to to $60 billion and I think we were just talking about in the last segment if I had to spend a lot of money of my disposable income just paying off my credit card it’s a lot less for other important programs that that your

Government wants to pursue are you going to do anything to mitigate that number in the interim well I think we are vashy I mean the first question you asked me was and kind of continue to asked me appropriately was are you doing enough are you doing enough are you investing

Enough and then your second question is are you doing too much are you spending too much that’s actually a two separate is I’m asking the issue of affordability versus other things you’re spending like 30% increase in the size of public there but th those issues are connected right um the the our investments

Are what makes you we have a fiscally respons plan and we have a fiscally responsible plan in order to be able to invest in Canadians but we know we need to invest in Canadians and so so you’re comfortable with that level of debt serving cost I’ll tell you what I’m comfortable with

I am comfortable with the fact that Canada has the lowest debt and the lowest debt to GDP ratio in the G7 and we have a AAA credit rating but what I would say is you know your two questions are really connected and that’s the balance we need to find on the one hand

We do need to make necessary investments in Canadians and I do not agree with people who say what you need to do is cut cut cut because I agree with the tenor of your first line of questioning Canadians have urgent needs we need to be there to meet them and we’re doing it

And we have an economic plan that is meeting the needs of Canadians right now and is investing in jobs for today and tomorrow and I really really want to reassure Canadians that that plan is fiscally responsible and they don’t need to trust me they need they can trust the

Ratings agencies and they can trust the fact that we have the lowest debt the lowest deficit in the G7 those are important we’re finding that balance okay Minister I have more questions but I’m going to get in trouble so I’ll leave it there thank you very much christop Freeland is the Minister of

Finance and the Deputy Prime Minister

Finance Minister Freeland responds to criticism about the economic statement and outlines some of the new measures that were introduced.

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