The letters reviewed by The Canadian Press were sent between September 2023 and February 2024 by Dan Albas, Michael Cooper, Adam Chambers, Lianne Rood and Rob Moore. MPs represent ridings in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and New Brunswick.

Conservative MPs asked Fraser to approve their communities’ applications to access the Housing Acceleration Fund, a program that invited municipalities to compete for a pool of money based on the ambition of their housing projects. building more housing.

Poilievre announced Monday that he would abolish the program and instead use the money to fund his plan to eliminate the federal sales tax on new homes sold for less than $1 million.

He attacked the Housing Acceleration Fund at a news conference, calling it “a disastrous program that has led to less housing construction and more local bureaucracy.”

However, Conservative MPs who sent letters to Fraser suggested the program would help their communities build more housing.

Cooper asked the minister to approve a request from St. Albert, Alta. to build an affordable mixed housing project.

“The requested federal funding is essential to making this necessary development a reality – one that will help address the significant shortage of affordable housing options in the community,” Cooper wrote in his letter sent in February.

In a letter sent in January, Moore vouched for the application of Butternut Valley, New Brunswick, which he said “will provide much-needed housing in this area.”

Chambers wrote in November 2023 in support of an application from Midland, Ontario, which “proposed a plan to increase the number of housing units within the municipality.”

He said the city was “ready to consider any recommendations or conditions that the government might encourage to improve its chances of a successful bid”.

Poilievre has criticized the Housing Acceleration Fund since the federal government began signing deals with municipalities, saying it adds more bureaucracy without building housing.

In a statement to The Canadian Press, Poilievre spokesperson Sebastian Skamski said the Conservative plan to eliminate the GST on new homes under $1 million would “generate 30,000 additional homes per year.” , would reduce purchase prices by up to $50,000 and reduce mortgage payments by almost $3,000. one year.

“Unlike their multi-billion dollar photo op fund, called the “housing accelerator,” this common-sense policy benefits all Canadians, without bureaucratic procedures or expensive photo ops designed for Liberal political gain,” can we read in the press release.

Skamski did not respond to letters sent by Conservative MPs.

The Liberal government first announced the $4 billion housing accelerator in the spring 2022 federal budget and complemented it with an additional $400 million in the most recent budget.

Poilievre has relentlessly attacked the Liberal government over the state of housing affordability, blaming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the rapid rise in housing prices and rents since 2015.

This message appears to have resonated with Canadians, as the Conservatives enjoy a substantial lead over the Liberals in public opinion polls.

Palpable anger over housing affordability in the country prompted the Liberals to promise during their 2023 caucus retreat to do more to solve the problem.

In the spring, the government presented a 28-page plan to build more housing. Trudeau said he would build nearly 3.9 million homes by 2031. The housing acceleration fund is one of the tenets of that plan.

The Liberal government claims to have concluded 177 agreements with municipalities through the Housing Acceleration Fund, as well as a separate agreement with the Quebec government.

Fraser’s office says the municipal applications supported by the five Conservative MPs have not yet received funding, but the program still has $400 million available.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published October 30, 2024.

Nojoud Al Mallees, The Canadian Press