Airdrie-Banff MP Blake Richards held two roundtable discussions in Canmore and Airdrie with constituents, community groups, and municipal officials in the riding who are concerned with the ongoing housing crisis. 

Richards says he’s happy with the number of people who came to participate. 

“I'd say we probably had about 15 people at each, 30 people total, which is about the right kind of number you're shooting for with a roundtable. We were pretty happy to have a real discussion about things, rather than just a one-way conversation.” 

Richards mentioned they had multiple people from the private and public sectors like realtors and mortgage brokers. 

The roundtables provided feedback and discussed solutions that MP Richards will take with him to Ottawa to fight for Canadians who are struggling to pay rent or cannot afford a home. 

“Housing supply is a huge issue. There are a lot of issues that go into that. Some of the more recent ones are supply chain issues and labour shortages. There were lots of talks about red tape and regulation and bureaucracy that gets in the way.” 

When it came to the question period, Richards said most of the questions were directed toward current federal government policies. 

“I think a lot of people feel like there are policies that exist now that aren't doing the job.” 

The Housing Roundtables were organized in collaboration with the Conservative Housing Task Force, which is holding roundtables across the country to hear from Canadians affected by the housing crisis. The Task Force will compile the concerns of Canadians on this issue and plans on releasing a report sometime in the summer of 2022. 

“The Liberals continue to create redundant homebuyer programs that do nothing to fix the housing crisis. Canada needs a new approach that puts more emphasis on addressing housing supply and red-tape reduction.” says Richards. 

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