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Dear Friend,

Last month, we asked what “nation-building” means to you. Hundreds of people across Canada took the time to respond. Housing emerged as a clear, urgent priority, especially among younger respondents.

You’ve probably heard it a thousand times: The housing crisis is all about supply and demand. Just build more, and the problem will go away.

While there is some truth to that, the reality is more complicated.

For decades after WWII, Canada’s federal government built tens of thousands of non-market homes every year. Co-ops. Public housing. Truly affordable housing. That consistent federal investment in social housing ended in the early 1990s, with the rise of neoliberalism, a belief that governments should do less, and markets should do more.

So yes, Canada does have a social housing supply problem, but that’s not the #1 reason why home prices and rents have become so unaffordable for so many of us.

What is the #1 reason? The ultra-wealthy have way too much money. That’s why the housing crisis is happening all over the world, not just in Canada. When billionaires accumulate more money than they can spend, they invest it in assets that produce “passive income” — like buying up housing to collect rents, or buying up mortgages to collect interest.

If a young couple in Ontario are trying to buy a house, they’re not just competing against other Canadians who are also trying to buy a house, they’re competing with global capital. Who loses in that scenario?

Worse still, instead of confronting the real reasons housing is unaffordable, too many politicians and pundits choose to blame immigrants. They act as if this crisis has nothing to do with forty years of disinvestment, deregulation, and deepening inequality.

We know better. And so do you.

That’s why the Green Party is calling for:

- A return to federal investment in non-market housing at the scale required
- Strong limits on speculation and financial landlordism
- A progressive wealth tax on the ultra-rich

We’re just getting started. This is part one of a three-part series on housing. In part two, we’ll talk about how Canada could lead the world in modular, climate-smart housing innovation.

If you're ready to help fix what's really broken — and stop the excuses — we need you with us.

[Donate]([link removed])

With hope and determination,
The Green Party of Canada

P.S. Monthly donors fuel the work that most parties won’t touch. If you're ready to fight for a housing system that works for people, not profit, start your monthly gift today!

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