DESPERATE MOVE…

DESPERATE MOVE... By Joe Ingino BA. Psychology Editor/Publisher Central Newspapers ACCOMPLISHED WRITER/AUTHOR OF OVER 800 ,000 Published Columns in Canada and The United States Whitby Council has called on the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario to remove the GST/HST from all newly-built or substantially renovated homes purchased from the builder as primary residences in Ontario. This in my opinion is a sign of desperation by Whitby. 1st. Who ever came up with this does not understand the bigger picture. The problem with affordability is not the HST. The problem is the prices in comparison to incomes. This move by Whitby shows the lack of desperation and leadership. 2nd, If Whitby is so concerned over affordability. They should have pressured the builders to drop prices... After all. I am sure you can run a type of auction mentality when it comes to who can build where. NO instead the municipality attempts to make the problem political instead of economic and beneficiary to those suffering at the hands of over priced developers and mortgage companies. Staff was directed to send the resolution to the Prime Minister of Canada, Federal Ministers of Finance, Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, and to the Premier of Ontario and Ontario Ministers of Finance, Municipal Affairs and Housing, Whitby MP and MPP, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and to all municipalities in Ontario. In Whitby’s desperation... they forgot to cc. To God himself. These type of move by municipalities showcase the lack of Leadership. Roy in my opinion has to go. The current GST/HST rate on new homes in Ontario is 13 per cent, which adds tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a typical home. The existing federal and provincial HST rebates on new homes purchased from the builder are limited by purchase-price thresholds, with most new homes in Ontario priced above the level required to qualify for meaningful relief, thereby limiting their effectiveness in improving overall housing affordability, a town statement pointed out. With this said. You can write all the letter you want to the Feds and they will surely use it for toilet paper as the builders are within the rules of the game set out by the Feds. Then the real beef should be with the builders that inflate prices in order to stay above the threshold. The federal and provincial governments have proposed new GST/HST rebates only for first-time homebuyers purchasing from the builder a newly built or substantially renovated home. In other words. It favor no one. Specially new home buyers. According to research conducted by the Ontario Homebuilders’ Association, first-time home buyers currently represent approximately 5 per cent of the new home market. Once again. Whitby’s attempt are nothing but an attempt to politically grandstand during an election year. Here is my suggestion if I had the priviledge of being elected. 1st. Cap home values in the municipality. You don’t like it go build some other place. 2nd. All builders would have to pay a community surcharge for future affects of their developments. Make them pay for destroying our municipalities. They want to make money. So should we. 3rd. The government is forcing municipalities to build, build, build. They put all kinds of pressure and up to incentives. This is wrong. In order to lead we must play within the rules... We can’t win as a single municipality. We must learn to work with the rules stipulated. In this case. The problem with housing is not so much availability as it is affordability. Who can affor a million dollar income on one salary? Who can afford the down payment? Who can afford the taxes and all the other things that go along with a mortgage and home ownership? Then if this stand true. What is the real reason of sending a meaningless letter to the Feds to get rid of the HST. It has no purpose other than a political move during an election year. This bringing me to my point. We must get rid of all incumbents and start fresh. Most on most councils are either careered politicians, pension fluffers and or sitting on the top of their personal achievement mountain. Look where most of them end up working after politics. We need to elect people from the business community. Front line soldiers that know the value of a dollar. Someone that can be atoned to the harsh economy. I know that if I had won in 2022. I would have kept taxes at zero increase during my administration. I would have cut waste all around. If you can run a business you can run the corporation of any municipality. Let’s stop electing those that have no real life business savvy.