RAHB @ CREA PAC Days

From September 30 to October 2, RAHB was in Ottawa for CREA’s Political Action Committee (PAC) Days. RAHB President Jack Loft, RAHB CEO George O’Neill, Government Relations Chair Nicolas von Bredow, Government Relations Vice-Chair Margaret Reid, and RAHB Manager of Communications & External Relations Wendy Stewart heard several informative speakers discuss housing and the issues affecting affordability. These speakers included:

• The Honorable Joe Jordan, former Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister and Senior Associate at Bluesky Strategy Group
• Perrin Beatty, President & CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce who spoke on USMCA
• David Colletto, founder partner of Abacus Data who presented data from a millennial survey. (More information about this survey can be found at http://abacusdata.ca/housing-affordability-is-the-top-issue-for-millennials-who-are-looking-to-achieve-the-dream-of-homeownership/)
• PAC Days Media Panel, consisting of Chantal Hebert, Don Martin and Rob Russo
• MPs Karen Vecchio and Roger Cuzner
• The Hon. Andrew Scheer, Leader of the Official Opposition
• The Hon. Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
• Political Pundit Panel, consisting of Kathleen Monk, Tim Power and Lisa Kinsella

CREA also presented two major recommendations/asks that PAC reps were to address with their MPs during meetings scheduled in Ottawa:

1. Increasing the First Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit from $750 to $2,500
2. Evaluating policies that affect home ownership, i.e. consider the stress test in a regional perspective

For more information on these recommendations/asks, as well as resources for if you speak with your MP, please click on the buttons below:

The meetings with three of RAHB’s MPs (Bob Bratina, Scott Duvall and David Sweet) went very well, with each MP being supportive of the recommendations and asks. Mr. Sweet went so far as to recommend that the First Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit be increased to $5,000.

Unfortunately, RAHB reps were unable to meet with the other MPs who represent RAHB’s market area due to scheduling conflicts:

• The Hon. Karina Gould (Burlington)
• David Christopherson (Hamilton Centre)
• The Hon. Filomena Tassi (Hamilton-West – Ancaster – Dundas)
• The Hon. Lisa Raitt (Milton)
• Diane Finley (Haldimand-Norfolk)
• Dean Allison (Niagara-West)

RAHB will continue to reach out to our MPs over the next year as we lead into the next federal election, and we encourage RAHB members to do the same. If you have any questions about CREA’s PAC Days or the resources above, please do not hesitate to contact Wendy Stewart at wendys@rahb.ca.