WATERLO REGION – Not every morning the Prime Minister is in your kitchen talking to you about government policy. But so was Wednesday for Carolyn and Sean MacDonald and their children.
“We’re still thinking about it,” Caroline said. “Surrealist doesn’t even describe it,” Sean said.
The MacDonald family hosted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at their house on Highview Place when he came to Kitchener to advertise how his liberal government plans to make homes more accessible.
Trudeau had no new policy to announce. He came to promote the government’s plans from the last federal budget, which are aimed at cooling the overheated housing market.
Later Wednesday, the prime minister spoke to hundreds of Muslims at an Islamic school in Cambridge, where he spoke about diversity.
McDonald’s is a Liberal supporter. They hosted the Prime Minister to help neighbor Tim Lewis, a Liberal MP from Kitchener-Conestoga. When they learned that the prime minister was coming, they quickly moved to shape their yard, where Trudeau was answering questions from the media.
Meeting in private with the prime minister, the couple expressed concerns about escalating house prices. They wonder if their three children, aged three to eight, will be able to afford a home like the one they grow up in.
MacDonald knows they are lucky. They bought their detached house, Kitchener, in 2016, before house prices soared. But it still worries them to see how much housing costs today.
“We don’t necessarily want all three children to live with us for the rest of our lives. So, you know, we’d like to see a path where they can enter affordable housing, “said Carolyn.
Speaking publicly, Trudeau said the government is pushing for high housing prices in three ways. It aims to increase the supply of housing with various incentives. This will allow people to save up to $ 40,000 in a tax-free account to help buy a first home. And it aims to reduce speculation by fighting unfair real estate practices and banning foreign home buyers for two years.
“Even when families save and work hard, every year seems to be getting farther away from them,” Trudeau said. “We know that housing is a real challenge.”
After answering questions from the media, the prime minister shook hands with the neighbors from Highway Place, who went out to look at the sidewalks. He poses for a selfie.
Hundreds of Muslims later applauded Trudeau at a new high school built for the Cambridge International School. The private Islamic primary school is linked to the Dunbar Road Mosque, which has received federal funding to improve its security.
Trudeau praised the students for supporting their families in the COVID-19 pandemic and told them how he had once been a teacher.
“Instead of being able to go out and play with friends the way you want, instead of going to birthdays and nights, you had to do your homework at the kitchen table,” he said.
“You had to do extra work to help mom and dad when they work from home. It has been a difficult year and all of you as children have made real sacrifices and you are part of the reason we went through this.
Trudeau told the audience that Canada is experiencing more anger and intolerance than he wants.
“Everyone needs to get together and stand together and stand by each other, listen and learn from each other,” he said. He later mingled with students and locals, posing for more selfies.
Trudeau’s message echoed among parents Ali Naim and Biinish Mahmoud, whose three children attend school.
“He is very inclusive, very compassionate, empathetic,” Mahmoud said. “We respect him a lot. With the Prime Minister and this party, we feel more secure. ”
Jeff Autite is a Waterloo-based general reporter for general assignments for The Record. Contact him by email: jouthit@therecord.com SHARE:
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