Carney’s $100-billion submarine math leaves Sarnia’s wait list untouched

In his latest column, Nathan lays bare the grotesque priorities of the federal government. He proves Carney willingly reserved a generation of public money for twelve war boats when that exact same capital could have resolved the housing crisis in over a hundred municipalities.

Did you hear that Prime Minister Mark Carney has already put up to 12 submarines in the fiscal framework for future generations? He will not name a contract price. He will only say tens of billions. The file around that buy, once you add 30 to 50 years of crews, refits and yards, is already being costed at about $100 billion. All for a dozen boats. The first four hulls are not due until 2034. The money is reserved anyway.

I cannot imagine a more out-of-touch prime minister. He can plan to 2060 for submarines and has no plan like that for homes for Canadians.

It is even more mind-blowing that our MP crossed the floor to join him. Marilyn Gladu knows and talks about our need for affordable housing. Why is she not challenging spending this grotesque? Where is she in actually standing up for what Sarnia needs? We have a national housing crisis that Gladu sees firsthand, and she chooses silence when it is being ignored and billions of dollars are getting locked in for a handful of boats.

For the same $100 billion the federal government could put 3,000 off-market homes in every Canadian city over 50,000. That is about 110 cities. Title stays public or co-op. The door does not become a listing. Carney could have housed the people already waiting in this country. He announced a weapons manufacturer as preferred supplier instead. TKMS builds attack submarines. One of its other customers is the Israeli navy.

In Sarnia about 1,000 households are on the public-housing list. The county’s own plan says we need about 1,100 affordable and supportive units this decade. That is the crisis. Homes people can actually live in.

We live in one of the richest countries on the planet. In Vienna a huge share of the city lives in social or limited-profit housing, often cited around half the stock. A home is not a lottery ticket there. The city and limited-profit builders keep the title off the open market and treat rent as the cost of running a building. Singapore built public flats as the basic system most households actually live in. Different politics. Same move. They planned homes the way Carney plans for submarines, on a timetable, with money that does not vanish after the press conference.

Canada treats weapons as the thing worth a 40-year cashflow and housing as something you mention just to get elected.

Carney’s priority is clear. That leaves us to solve our housing problem ourselves.

What a shame.