There is no ‘housing crisis’…

There is no ‘housing crisis’; this is an emotional and panic-inspiring phrase repeated by the current Ontario government. But there IS a housing affordability crisis. The knee-jerk proposal to unprotect the Greenbelt and Oak Ridges Moraine lands for housing is not a convincing solution. Is it just a coincidence that unlocking this land for development is worth billions?
I paraphrase an article about housing supply and demand in a Jan. 3, 2017 Globe and Mail article (running headline: ‘Stop blaming the Greenbelt for Toronto's housing prices. (Link provided).

I also cite StatsCan data about multiple property ownership in Ontario (link provided)

1. Recent analysis by RBC reports four factors accounting for almost 90 per cent of price increases in Toronto since 1999: low borrowing rates; higher incomes; higher percentage of incomes used to pay mortgages; and parent loans all contributing to strong buying power.
2. Globe article: “Canadians buying properties that are not their primary homes now represent a quarter of demand in Toronto real estate”. StatsCan data; “ Multiple-property owners own 31% of residential properties in Ontario… Owners seeking additional properties contribute to increased competition in already tight real estate markets, making it more difficult for prospective homeowners to purchase a home.” These market factors have driven average home prices up 180% in the last decade when wages increased only 38%. Point: it is not just low supply that is increasing the demand for (affordable) housing.
The proposed ‘solution’ is to build tens of thousands of houses (on the Oak Ridges Moraine and Greenbelt) to create supply. Contrary to this belief, what will happen is our ‘non-real estate assets’ of headwaters, groundwaters, food-growing land, and flood-plains will be irreparably lost. Heat-generating hard-top area will expand. Congestion in the GTA will increase. And who will control whether these new homes are bought as investments by multi-property owners? The proposal to open 7400 acres of Greenbelt land is based on a false choice between housing and the environment.
Solutions? Some are currently underway:
1. Metrolinx is improving rail connectivity between larger South Ontario cities. This will reduce strain on the overburdened GTA highways as these cities become viable commuter cities (to and from). Facilitate this rail work.
2. Prioritize and assist municipalities in the building of affordable low-to mid-rise family rental units, and townhouses to modestly increase density and create viable neighbourhoods with affordable housing.
3. Ontario is not ‘short of land’, an argument posed to justify removing protections from wetlands, headwaters and forested areas in the Greenbelt. There is land in vast excess of 7400 acres available for building within existing municipalities. Zoning issues (eg single family home zoning) and other delays here make the Greenbelt and Oakridges Moraine seem very attractive to for-profit developers: empty land with no strings attached.
I ask that the proposal to change the Ontario Heritage Act as proposed by Bill 23 be denied. An alternative and better plan to achieve sufficient affordable housing is possible.

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