Stratford Times November 29, 2024 Nater refutes claims of hypocrisy as Poilievre vows to scrap Housing Accelerator Fund homes will stimulate 30,000 new homes GALEN SIMMONS Regional Editor As federal Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre continues to speak out against the Liberal government’s Hous- ing Accerlator Fund — a program he has vowed to scrap if elected Prime Minis- ter — Perth-Wellington MP John Nater is clapping back against claims of hypocrisy related to his supposed support of the pro- ram. In late October, Poilievre announced plans to scrap the $4.4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund, a program that gives money to towns and cities that commit to reducing red tape to build more homes. At the time, the Conservative leader called the program overly bureaucratic and said he intends to use part of the funding from the Housing Accelerator Fund to support his plan to eliminate GST on the sales of newly built homes with a price tag of less than $1 million. “In Ontario today, one-third of the cost of every new home is direct taxes;” Poil- ievre said during the Oct: 28 press con- ference;in Ottawa. “ ... When you buy a new home today, more of the money you spend goes to bureaucrats than goes to the carpenters, clecticiaas and plumbers who actually build.the . The GST was sty meant to apply to the basic necessities of food and pousing: that’s why. the exemption existed in first place. It is also why today Iam an- nouncing that a Pierre Poilievre led com- mon sense Conservative government will axe the sales tax on new homes under $1 Getting rid of the GST on new million. ... built every single year. ... We're going to cut two programs for sure and then more beyond that. One, the accelerator fund, has $3 billion left in it. It has been a disastrous program that has led to less homebuilding and more local bureaucracies.” In response to Poilievre’s announce- ment, federal Housing Minister Sean Fra- ser said about a dozen Conservative MPs had written to him in recent months advo- cating on behalf of communities in their ridings for housing support through the program. Poilievre’s office then released a list of 17 Conservative MPs who hai indeed written to the federal government asking for support for housing projects in their ridings. One of the names on that list was Na- ter’s, who says he wrote letters in support of local municipalities who applied to the program in the summer of 2023. Following a recent party directive pre- venting Conservative MPs like Nater from advocating further for funding through the Housing Accelerator Fund, Nater says his correspondence with the government on behalf of those local communities proves the program did not deliver what it prom- ised for residents of Perth-Wellingtony “Unfortunately, a lot of the public com- mentary on this Liberal program,is noth- ing more than Liberal political spin and nonsense,” Nater said in an email. “The letters referented are not aboutycurrent applications. In my case, they were-about applications that were submitted over a year ago. “ ... 1 do this frequently in eo of local organizations and municipalities. a CHRISTMAS MARKET Below: Christmas shoppers browsed a variety of ven- dors, including cs reek Flower Farm. Left: TI Grinch was seen cron the Stratford Rotary Com- plex, posing with children and adults alike! However, each and every application from Perth- -Wellington was denied. Not a single community in Perth-Wellington benefited from this program. All municipalities in Perth-Wellington that applied for funding were rejected in March of 2024. Therefore, it is false to claim that I am withdrawing support.” At the time he wrote his letters, Nater said he shared concerns with the govern- ment about the funding-stream criteria. Nater says the fact many communities in Perth-Wellington were classified as large and urban according to the program cri- teria put them in direct competition for funding with cities like Toronto, Missis- sauga and Hamilton. North Perth Mayor Todd Kasenberg echoed Nater’s concerns in a letter sent to Fraser on behalf of North Perth council in August 2023. “With a population of just over 15,000, the Municipality of North Perth was re- quired to apply to the Housing Acceler- ator Fund (HAF) under the Large/Urban. stream,” Kasenberg wrote. “ ... Although North Perth has experienced strong growth over recent years, the municipality and our communities are still very much characterized as small and rural. North Perth does: not — the resources or: amenities of o arge, urban sae parts, eiudings rapid- nen systems, nancial tools, or municipal staff ro solely on grant writin; According to Kasenberg’: 's letter, under Action Plan with at least seven initiatives compared to the five initiatives under the small/rural/Indigenous stream. That meant numerous municipal staff had to reprioritize their regular duties and oth- er projects to prepare a plan that could compete with Housing Action Plans from much-! eri: cities. “Tf it wasn't so serious, it would be laughable to compare communities like Milverton, Listowel and Drayton with those of Toronto, Mississauga and Ham- ilton; but that's what this Liberal program did,” Nater wrote in his em: “Now that we have seen the clear failure of this Liberal program, I completely sup- port scrapping this program. Quite frank- ly, it has failed to build houses. There is no hope for improving the housing crisis under the current Liberal government. Instead, our common-sense Conservative team will remove the GST from the con- struction of new homes under $1 million; a tax cut which will result in the building of as many as 30,000 new homes each year and save Canadians up to $50,000 on anew home.” According to media reports, since Poil- has promised to cut the Housing Accelerator Fund, the federal govérnment has written to warn more than 100 munic- ipalities that eee have mady, deals to secure funding Some Liberal MPs. have’ claimed the that if Poilievre cuts the program, munici- palities with ongoing financial agreements could be left in the lurch. Head Office: 150 Queen Street East. St. Marys, ON N4X 184 1 519-284-2332 ‘agent@stonetowntravel.com TICO #50010159 Branch Office: 210 Mill Street, New Hamburg, ON N3A 1P9| 226-229-9999 newhamburg@ stonetowntravel TICO #50025796 Let us take the hassle out of your holidays. 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