Pointe-Claire mayor responds to Pierre Poilievre's housing accusations

Pointe-Claire Mayor Tim Thomas had a scathing response for Conservative Party of Canada Leader Pierre Poilievre after he said he would penalize cities that fail to build enough housing.

This came after Poilievre invited the press to the Fairview Pointe-Claire shopping centre parking lot Thursday morning, where a REM station is set to be built.

"It's a 911 emergency to build more housing right now, and I have a common sense plan to do it," the Conservative leader told reporters gathered in the West Island.

Poilievre reiterated his proposal to offer bonuses to municipalities that build more housing and penalize those that build less.

"Why are we here today? Because here, we should be seeing housing construction right now," said Poilievre, pointing to the parking lot where the press conference was held at the corner of Fairview Avenue and Highway 40.

"But where is the housing?" he asked, adding that "bureaucracy is preventing the construction of apartments for our young people, our seniors and those who don't want to have a car."

The Conservative leader's outburst prompted a reaction from Pointe-Claire mayor Tim Thomas, who, in a lengthy message on his Facebook page, said "there are some facts he may not be aware of."

The mayor wrote that his city "has done more than its fair share of housing construction" and that from 2017 to 2022, Pointe-Claire "built more than the rest of the West Island of Montreal combined (2055 vs. 1635 units) according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation data."

By the end of 2023, according to Thomas, there were more condominiums and apartments under construction in his city than in the 14 other demerged municipalities in Montreal, "which together have six times our population."

Thomas also claims that "Pointe-Claire has seen the highest increase in listed rentals in 2023 of any major city in Canada, at 25.6 per cent according to Rentals.ca data."

The data has led the Pointe-Claire mayor to point out, "given everything we've built and continue to build, I highly doubt we'll be subject to Mr. Poilievre's infrastructure penalty."

Real estate development freeze

However, Thomas isn't taking credit for all the new housing built in Pointe-Claire.

Instead, he was elected in 2021 on a promise to curb certain types of real estate development.

"I was elected in part because the citizens of Pointe-Claire felt that our development was too much, too fast, and did not take sufficient account of traffic, services, infrastructure and the protection of trees and green spaces," the mayor wrote in his Facebook message.

He adds, "a development freeze has been put in place in certain key sectors where I want citizens to have their say."

One of the areas targeted by this development freeze is the Fairview Pointe-Claire parking lot, where Poilievre says he would like to see housing built next to the future REM station.

But "the size and 25-storey height desired by the owner (Cadillac Fairview) are unreasonable and greater than anything we've ever had in Pointe-Claire," said the mayor. "This is not bureaucracy or incompetence. This is sensitive and responsible urban planning in a community where developers have too often been given red carpets, not red tape."

A pro-housing construction clause

At his press conference in Pointe-Claire, Poilievre also reiterated that the cost of housing has soared since Justin Trudeau came to power.

In his view, the solution lies in reducing the "bureaucracy," which, he argues, is holding back housing construction in municipalities.

Poilievre suggests adding a "pro-housing construction" clause to agreements with municipalities stemming from the Community Futures Fund (formerly the Gas Tax Fund).

Cities that allow more housing to be built would receive a bonus, while those that build less would be penalized.

"It's going to work mathematically," he explained.

Smaller municipalities would be exempt from penalties, according to the plan.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 15, 2024.