 Here’s what you need to know to get the day started: | | | The dirty secret of the housing crisis? Homeowners like high prices | | |  | A for sale sign is seen outside a home in Toronto’s east end on Oct. 11, 2023. Paul Kershaw, a B.C.-based affordability advocate, says high house prices are partly due to the assumption that homes are our greatest financial asset. (Evan Mitsui/CBC) | | | If you listen to Canadian politicians, the solution to our housing crisis seems to be some combination of immigration reform and a herculean countrywide building effort.
But Paul Kershaw, a public policy professor at the University of British Columbia and founder of the affordability advocacy group Generation Squeeze, says the emphasis on increasing housing supply obscures an issue politicians are less likely to address.
Namely, that we, as a country, have become addicted to ever-rising home prices, largely because we've been conditioned to see our homes as financial assets.
"There are multiple things we need to do [to reduce prices], and more supply is one of them," said Kershaw. But funding announcements for building projects are a "way to organize our concern about the housing system so that we don't have to … look in the mirror — particularly homeowners who have been homeowners for a long time — and say: 'How are we entangled?'"
He said the current system incentivizes extracting profit from real estate, rather than prioritizing that everyone has access to affordable shelter.
"We need clarity about what we want from housing," said Kershaw. "And it has to start with: 'We don't want these prices to rise any more.'"
Part of the problem is the source of housing demand: it's increasingly investors.
The Bank of Canada found that investors were responsible for 30 per cent of home purchases in the first three months of 2023. That's up from 28 per cent in the same period in 2022 and 22 per cent in the same period in 2020.
That report also found the percentage of first-time homebuyers dropped to 43 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 from 48 per cent in the same three months in 2020.
"What's been happening over the last 10 years is that the share of homes bought by first-time buyers has been declining, and their market share has largely been taken over by investors," said John Pasalis, president of Toronto-based Realosophy Realty. | | | | | Canada beats U.S. to win women's world hockey championship | | |  | (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press) | | | | Canadian players pose with their medals following their gold medal 6-5 overtime win over the United States at the women's hockey worlds in Utica, N.Y., on Sunday. Read the story here. | | | | | | | | | In brief | | | Last November, as Catharine Murphy reviewed her CIBC Visa credit card statement, she noticed an additional $5 charge below a $10 Tim Hortons gift card she'd purchased for a son who is away at school. She also saw another $5 charge for a second Tim Hortons gift card Murphy had purchased for her daughter. Curious, she discovered the bank had also dinged her $5 when she bought a $25 Starbucks e-gift card for a friend that month. Murphy called CIBC to inquire about the extra charges and after a lengthy conversation with a customer service rep learned they were "cash advance" fees, charged every time anyone purchased a gift card that is sold by a company called CashStar. That third party company sells gift cards online or via an app for more than 300 companies — including popular brands such as Tim Hortons, Starbucks, Best Buy and Sephora. Murphy said it was "infuriating" to see a $5 cash advance fee on the purchase of a gift card — a fee that was accruing interest from the day of purchase at a rate of 22.99 per cent — not the usual 19.99 per cent. She said the CIBC rep couldn't explain who was responsible for the charge — the bank itself, or CashStar. Read the full story from Go Public here.
For the first time ever, a former U.S. president is facing a criminal trial, with jury selection set to begin Monday in The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump. The long and winding road to trial is an outgrowth of revelations first made public in January 2018 by the Wall Street Journal — namely, that Trump's lawyer at the time, Michael Cohen, arranged a $130,000 US payment to buy the silence of a porn star. Since the criminal indictment was filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg just over a year ago, there has been a vigorous debate among legal experts about the merits of the case, and whether it should be considered a hush money trial, an election interference trial or a fraud trial. Regardless, it will be history-making. Officially, Trump faces 34 counts related to falsifying business records to hide hush money payments. He has characterized the prosecution as politically motivated, although Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards once faced a similar prosecution. Read the full story here.
More than 450 officer suspensions across 44 police departments in Ontario over the past decade have cost taxpayers more than $134 million. The full scope of paid suspensions and their costs were revealed for the first time in an exclusive CBC investigation, which prompted public debate over police budgets and outrage online. Several previously suspended officers tell CBC News they agree the process is flawed, but point to systemic issues that led to their suspensions and kept them on paid leave for months or even years. They say police chiefs are too quick to suspend officers, and the investigations into alleged wrongdoing are too often conducted by their own colleagues. Those in charge don't see it that way, however. Officers who've experienced the disciplinary process say there needs to be change, including a more innovative and constructive way to resolve conflicts and seek accountability from officers that doesn't send them on a prolonged bureaucratic journey. Read the full story here.
All eyes will be on Ottawa tomorrow as the federal government is set to deliver its annual budget. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his ministers have been on a countrywide tour in recent weeks to make a series of pre-budget announcements. Many of those announcements have focused on housing, but Trudeau has also signalled the government's intent to launch a national school food program and invest in the artificial intelligence sector. CBC News spoke with Canadians from across the country about what further budget items they hope to see on Tuesday. Despite the federal government's pre-budget tour largely focusing on housing, a number of Canadians still listed it as their No. 1 priority. "I want to see the housing — I mean a lot more commitment to housing — to provide affordable housing to Canadians," said Wisdom Wissi. Mike Haddad from Toronto agreed, saying he's concerned about future generations' ability to afford a home. "I think housing is a big issue. Affordability of housing. Being able to own anything. You can't own anything anymore," Haddad said. Others said they'd like the government to do more to address the price of groceries. That includes Dolly Hurtado from Winnipeg. "Food is the priority, the pressing challenge," she said. "The [cost of] food has to go down." Read the full story here.
Now here's some good news to start your Monday: After undergoing treatment at the Toronto Wildlife Centre, a male swan named Mango is released and reunited with his partner Charlotte. Watch the video here. | | | FIRST PERSON | As I approach 40, I wish I'd known the reality of egg freezing | Bárbara d'Oro thought freezing her eggs would be a simple solution to make sure she could one day become a mother. But the reality is more challenging and complicated than she thought. Read her column here. | | | | | | |  | Israeli-Iranian shadow war breaks into the open | For the first time, Iran has launched a barrage of missiles into Israel. Could what happens next trigger a regional war?
Listen to today's episode | | | Today in history: April 15 | | | 1452: Leonardo da Vinci is born near Florence, Italy. He would go on to paint some historic religious scenes, most specifically The Last Supper, as well as the iconic Mona Lisa. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest artists in history, but was also a scientist, mathematician, engineer, botanist, musician and writer.
1912: The British luxury liner RMS Titanic sinks in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland at 2:20 a.m. ship's time, more than 2½ hours after striking an iceberg. More than 1,500 people died, while about 700 survived.
1947: Jackie Robinson, baseball's first Black major league player, makes his official debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on opening day.
2010: An enormous ash cloud from a volcano beneath Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull glacier causes air travel chaos. The cloud drifted over northern Europe, leading to the cancellation of about 100,000 flights over the span of a week. The cancellations left travellers stranded around the world. | | | (With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters) | | | | |  | CBC NEWS APP | The most convenient way to get your news
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