OTTAWA –
Although he condemned government policies to raise house prices, Conservative candidate Pierre Poalievre is defending his and his wife’s investment in rental property of a kind that some economists say is contributing to rising real estate prices.
Poilievre is a co-owner of a real estate investment company that owns a rental property in Calgary, and his wife owns a rental property in Ottawa.
“We are helping to solve the problem by providing affordable accommodation to two deserving families,” Poaliver told a news conference in North York, Ont., On Thursday, where he discussed the housing crisis.
While the Ottawa MP and his family live in a $ 550,000 lakefront home in Greeley, Ontario, south of Ottawa, his wife, Anaida Poiliever, owns a rental property in a two-story house on the Orleans suburb of Ottawa.
She paid $ 238,000 for the property in 2012 before getting married, but last June took out a $ 425,000 mortgage against it from Tangerine Bank.
As interest rates rose, economists warned Canadians not to use their homes as “ATMs” – to borrow against their growing capital. But Poilievre defended his wife’s decision to use the value of the property.
“She follows all the rules and uses the equity she has built through a very responsible and intelligent investment to maximize the best interests of her financial situation,” the MP said on Thursday.
After the press conference, Anaida Poalievr turned to a journalist from CTV News to say that she was proud of her investment and that next time the reporter should ask her in person.
Pierre Poilievre also followed CTV News after the event to say: “My wife started with a modest start and she is investing in a rental property to protect her financial independence.”
He said he was proud of her investment.
Poilievre controls 50 percent of the voting shares in Liberty West Properties Inc., an Alberta corporation that owns a unit in a 90th Ave town complex. SE in Calgary.
The rest of the company is controlled by his friend, former Alberta Justice Minister Jonathan Dennis, and Dennis’ mother, Marguerite, according to corporate documents.
The company bought the home in 2006 for $ 249,000.
It is not uncommon for MPs to own rental property. A review by CTV News of disclosures of conflicts of interest submitted to the Federal Ethics Commissioner shows that at least 59 lawmakers have received rental income or hold a stake in a real estate holding company. Nearly 90 lawmakers did not have publicly available ethics files at this time.
But owning second homes for rent is blamed by some for increasing competition in an already overheated real estate market.
A report from Canadian Statistics last week said that Canadians who buy second homes as an investment are contributing to rising prices.
“Landlords looking for additional real estate are contributing to increased competition in already narrow real estate markets,” the report said, making it “harder for future homeowners to buy a home.”
In his bid to lead the Conservative Party, Polliver has repeatedly attacked the Trudeau government for policies he accuses of pushing housing prices out of reach for most Canadians. This week, he has repeatedly focused on what he calls “gatekeepers” – provincial and municipal officials who impose zoning and development rules that he says are slowing down new housing.
Several federal cabinet members are also involved in rental property, including Housing Minister Ahmed Hussein, who entered the lucrative Ottawa market in July 2021. He paid $ 434,255 for a newly built townhouse near South Ottawa’s Findley Creek neighborhood. . Property lists show that the home is rented for $ 2,300 a month.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Christia Freeland and her husband own a small row house near Waterloo Station in London, UK. They bought the property in 2002 for £ 405,000 (CAD $ 660,090) and lived in the house while working in London. They are now renting out the home, which is valued at more than £ 1 million (CAD $ 1.6 million).
Freeland also owns a home in Toronto’s Summerhill neighborhood.
Also in London, Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne is collecting a half-double rent in the Notting Hill area. He paid £ 820,000 ($ 1.3 million) per unit in 2009 while working in London. His ethical statement also lists the co-ownership of another rental property north of the city’s financial district.
With files from Mackenzie Gray and BNN Bloomberg
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