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“High home prices, record levels of household debt, stagnant investment in rental housing, low vacancy rates and the pending loss of $500 million annually in federal housing dollars are leaving fewer and fewer housing options for Canadians,” according to Brock Carlton, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Municipalities.

Carlton joined Jennifer Keesmat, Chief Planning Officer for the City of Toronto, and Benjamin Gianni, Professor and Former Director of Carleton’s Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism in calling for a new collaboration and leadership from the federal government to secure the future of housing in Canada.

Nearly twenty Members of Parliament joined housing industry stakeholders listening to the debate between the three panelists and Professor Ian Lee from the Sprott School of Business who argued that affordable housing is a problem in a handful of large urban cities and needs a targeted policy approach.  Tom Clark, chief political correspondent for Global News, moderated the debate and Carleton President Dr. Roseann O’Reilly Runte delivered closing remarks.

The panel was cohosted by James Rajotte, M.P., chair of the Standing Committee on Finance; Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, M.P., Official Opposition critic for Housing and for Infrastructure; and Rodger Cuzner, M.P., Liberal critic for Housing.

Presentation notes can be found here (English Only)

The panel was taped by CPAC and is available for viewing through this link on the CPAC website:
http://www.cpac.ca/en/programs/public-record/episodes/30647997/

Other materials referred to during the panel include:

1) Jennifer Keesmaat, Chief Planner, City of Toronto:
Putting People First: Transforming Community Housing
An Affordable Housing Action Plan 2010-2020

2) Federation of Canadian Municipalities http://www.fcm.ca
About the Housing Crunch

3) Professor Ian Lee, Sprott School of Business, Carleton University

4) Professor Benjamin Gianni, Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism, Carleton University