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Comment by Etheryte | Hacker News Reader

I suspect they'll have to fry the housing crisis fish first, it doesn't matter how favorable your business environment is if nearly no one can afford to move and live there.

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Housing is absolutely insane up here. At least Carney seems to want to tackle the supply side[1] instead of adding more tax breaks and savings schemes for buyers.

[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carney-double-pace-home-bui...

You should read his plan again. It's not for you, it's for business and/or government owning rental property that you will then pay to rent. It's going to enrich large companies like Brookfield, not help the average person own a home. The part about manufactured homes is also dumb. Unless he's invented better manufacturing technology, those are more expensive to build than stick frame.

To paraphrase a quote ;)

This country is the second largest in the world and filled mainly of forests. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of land and construction materials at the same time.

This is not what the crisis is about. The housing crisis is not a lack of space to build nor a lack of materials. It's a lack of housing that's both desirable and affordable. Most people don't want to live in the middle of nowhere with nothing around, even if it costs very little. Look at Italy for example, they're giving houses in rural areas away for free, granted you agree to permanently live there, and they still don't have much in the way of takers.

You are right, of course.

To add more context, the point of the original quote* (and the paraphrase) is to draw attention to an ironic situation and perhaps offer some hope that the situation is fundamentally solvable.

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Wales/Selected_quote/12

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