NightOwl

On May 29, the National Housing Council’s review panel on the financialization of purpose-built rental presented a report that highlights the urgent need not only to build more non-market housing specifically, but also to protect Canada’s existing affordable rental housing from financialized landlords through an acquisition program.

Yet, while the federal government has made available $15 billion in loans for private developers, only $1.5 billion has been allocated to Canada’s Rental Protection Fund, a program expected to enable community housing providers to acquire the kind of properties investment trusts target.

“The contrast is how much funding goes to open-ended programs that support landlords like Avenue Living, versus how much money is targeted to non-profit housing, which has a track record of delivering cheaper rents,” Tranjan says. “It’s a contradiction to have all this government funding that is going to landlords that engage in predatory practices.”

For traffic planners, roundabouts have been huge game changers. Decades of studies show that the introduction of traffic circles greatly improves flow and reduces collisions overall by slowing vehicles down. Another plus is the reduction in greenhouse gases, from fewer idling cars, and increased safety for pedestrians, who have shorter distances to travel. They’re cheaper to maintain than traffic lights and work even during prolonged power outages, such as the kind we experienced recently during Post-Tropical Storm Fiona.