This past week I listened to two podcasts in preparation for Canada's upcoming federal election. I listened to Prime Minister Mark Carney with Scott Galloway and I listened to Pierre Poilievre with Brian Lilley of the Toronto Sun. If any of you have any other recommendations for an interview that I should listen to, please share it in the comment section below.

Here's what I would say. Carney came across as more measured and less direct. But naturally very capable when it comes to understanding the economic implications of our shifting global order. He wasn't forceful when talking about oil and gas pipelines, but I understand that he fully supports them. This is critical to diversifying our trade and frankly gaining more market power.

I'm skeptical of government being able to act as any sort of big developer and/or stimulate a thriving prefab construction industry. The latter is being worked on by a lot of the private sector; what is needed are dramatically lower fees and less barriers to development. I was, however, comforted by the fact that Carney did seem to reduce government's role to an enabler for private enterprise.

Both are promising dramatic cuts to development charges, which is essential. Poilievre is promising to eliminate the federal sales tax on all new homes priced under $1.3 million, whereas Carney wants to do it for homes under $1 million and only for first-time buyers. Carney also focused a lot on increasing construction trade capacity as a way to dramatically increase overall supply.

Broadly, Poilievre was more focused on "axing the tax" and removing the barriers to developing new housing. As we have talked about many times before on this blog, upwards of 30% of the price of a new home in Canada can be attributed to government fees and taxes. This is unsustainable, as we have seen, and it needs to change if we are going to improve housing affordability.

That said, Poilievre did make a specific comment that I didn't care for. He was talking about family formation and housing affordability and he said, "how can you start a family without a backyard and driveway?" He went on to say that, "people want detached single-family houses." Now, there's some statistical truth to this claim, but it's not like it's enshrined in our DNA.

It's an anti-urban statement. There are lots of cities around the world where kids are raised, just fine, without a backyard and/or driveway. They walk to school, they play in wonderful city parks, and they generally enjoy a high quality of life in an urban environment. I'm not suggesting that this has to be for everyone, but I do believe in removing our cultural biases and letting the market ultimately decide.

This is a pivotal moment for Canada. Regardless of who is successful on April 28, the status quo cannot continue. We must become a global superpower. And when it comes to housing, I would encourage whoever wins to give me a call after the election. Prime Minister: I'll walk you through a development pro forma and explain what it will take to make housing more affordable, and get lots of it built.

Cover photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash