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Affordability Action Council

@affordabilityac.bsky.social
111 followers 84 following 113 posts

Championing innovative solutions for an affordable, sustainable Canada. Join our campaign for integrated policies that put people first.

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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Read more here: www.affordability-action.ca/bringing-aff...
affordability-action.ca
Bringing Affordable, Energy-Efficient And Climate-Resilient Homes to Canadians - Affordability Action Council
Our recommendations centre on two aspects of housing: 1. Ensuring that the Build Canada Homes project provides truly affordable housing and delivers tangible benefits to communities as it ramps up. 2....
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
The best climate policy might be affordability policy. Canada's new retrofit program gives low-income families FREE energy upgrades. Lower bills + warmer homes + cleaner air + reduced emissions. No choosing between heating and eating. This is how you build lasting support for climate action.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 09/07/2025
Affordable clean electricity is the key to affordable housing and clean transportation. An east-west grid means: 🏠 Cheaper heat pumps for home retrofits 🚗 More affordable EVs for working families 💡 Lower bills = more money for groceries 100+ groups are calling for this affordability infrastructure.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Are massive new transmission lines really the answer to Canada's energy future? Affordability Action Council member @brhaley.bsky.social (Policy Director at Efficiency Canada) raises valid concerns in a recent piece for @policyoptions.irpp.org. policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/ma...
policyoptions.irpp.org
A national grid should accelerate – not stifle – the energy transition
Plugging into local, energy-efficient “microgrids” is a national project that can start right now, helping to develop and diversify innovations.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Want better affordability and climate policies for all Canadians? First, we need to know how effective messaging works. Join comms directors from ALL major parties at @irpp.org's free webinar on political campaign messaging. Don't miss these insider strategies!
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Our integrated solutions for housing, food & transport affordability also address climate risks - helping low-income households reduce dependence on fossil fuels will provide lasting savings and resilience to future oil price shocks. Learn more here: www.affordability-action.ca/category/pol...
affordability-action.ca
Policy Briefs - Affordability Action Council
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
A new report by @jimbostanford.bsky.social for Centre for Future Work confirms what we have been saying: volatile oil prices, not carbon pricing, drove inflation. In fact, their research shows households lost $12K over 3 years to oil price spikes. centreforfuturework.ca/2025/03/19/n...
centreforfuturework.ca
New Report Shows Speculative Oil Markets Drove Inflation Crisis — And It’s Poised to Happen Again - Centre for Future Work
A new report from the Centre for Future Work reveals that financial speculation in global oil markets — not supply shortages or carbon pricing — was the primary driver of Canada’s inflation surge in 2...
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Reposted by Affordability Action Council
IRPP @irpp.org · 11/03/2025
We hosted a panel on the affordability & climate crises w/ the @affordabilityac.bsky.social. @tylermeredith.bsky.social, @kathleenmonk.bsky.social, & Karen Restoule discussed protecting households from rising costs, minimizing weather impacts & keeping food affordable. Watch here: shorturl.at/bBp6v
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Read the full report here: abacusdata.ca/from-scarcit...
abacusdata.ca
From Scarcity to Uncertainty: The Changing Mindset of Canadians - Abacus Data
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
The data is clear: Canadians want solutions that address both affordability and climate challenges. Smart political candidates will recognize that this integrated approach offers the stability voters are seeking in uncertain times. The old "either-or" approach no longer works.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
🚌 Better transportation options for rural and remote communities
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
🚏 Transportation policies making transit more accessible and electric vehicles more affordable for lower-income Canadians
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
🛒 A monthly Groceries and Essentials Benefit helping vulnerable households afford necessities
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
🌆 One million community housing units near transit that meet net-zero standards
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
🏡 A free housing retrofit program for low-income households that reduces energy costs while improving climate resilience
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
The Affordability Action Council has developed practical recommendations that bridge these challenges:
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
These dual concerns create urgent demand for policies that address both immediate cost pressures and longer-term resilience. In an uncertain election where every vote counts, candidates would be wise to ensure their campaigns address both climate and affordability.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
The polling shows: 68% of Canadians worry about affording basic needs in the next six months 70% are delaying major life decisions due to financial uncertainty 69% remain concerned about climate change impacts over the next five years
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
📊 Recent @abacusdataca research reveals a profound shift in Canadian mindsets—from concerns about resource scarcity to deeper uncertainty about our collective future. 🧵
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 06/03/2025
"The challenges we face—from housing affordability to climate resilience—are permanent. Our solutions must be too." AAC members @brhaley.bsky.social and Evan Fraser on Canada's need to address immediate pressures and build long-term resilience to US tariffs. www.hilltimes.com/story/2025/0...
hilltimes.com
Economic resilience starts now: solutions for a stronger future
We cannot repeat the pattern of offering short-term Band-Aids while expecting our most vulnerable neighbours to absorb the long-term costs of economic and climate instability.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Last word to close out the event! @jenditchburn.bsky.social - We've heard interesting ideas and surprising areas of consensus. Thanks to the panelists and audience, the AAC members—and the Trottier Foundation and McConnell Foundation for supporting this work. Let's continue these conversations.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Kathleen Monk - Houses should never be our retirement plan—they should be shelter, safety, and community. But Canadians lack strong alternative retirement vehicles. We should allow Canadians to make personal investments into the CPP—an amazing communal vehicle we can't currently access individually.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
@tylermeredith.bsky.social - A tax on homes will never happen. There's a cross-party consensus to protect house prices. If you want people to invest, they need confidence their assets will be protected and appreciate. The perverse reality? Real estate is the only thing Canadians truly invest in.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Karen Restoule - It's the whole scarcity breeds value and profit, right? Limited housing supply breeds higher values and profits for owners. As @tylermeredith.bsky.social noted about economic challenges—you either cut back or make more. With housing, there's only one solution: we must make more.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Last question from the room: How would the panelists define affordability? Should the goal be increasing people's ability to pay, or decreasing the cost of things, particularly in the context of housing?
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Karen Restoule - I'm often asked why First Nations struggle economically. Well, we're trying to use resources in our own backyard but the Indian Act prevents us. This mirrors Canada's situation: we are either blind to our resources or strangled by regulations preventing timely development.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
@tylermeredith.bsky.social - We need to address this as a supply-side shock by rebuilding domestic capacity in key sectors: food, housing, critical minerals. Government has a crucial role in securing our supply chains and developing public infrastructure to ensure economic resilience.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Kathleen Monk - The NDP has put forward an idea of doing some price controls on things like food, like a basket of goods. We could also go back to wartime housing programs, like where I grew up in Ajax, to keep people working—and build the infrastructure we need in response to this tariff crisis
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Question from the room - If tariffs trigger a recession and put pressure on the government's fiscal framework, will the government have to resort to tools like price controls or bonds, not used since WWII?
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Kathleen Monk - As the Opposition Leader and Liberal leadership candidates call for public service cuts, I have to ask: if the next government rolls out programs to help workers stay employed or access EI during this tariff crisis—who will implement them? Those public servants won't be there.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
@tylermeredith.bsky.social - Only 40% of eligible Canadians actually access EI, receiving paltry monthly amounts on an outdated system that needs modernization. Keeping people employed is more effective than unemployment, retraining, and uncertainty.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
@tylermeredith.bsky.social - Employment Insurance is the wrong tool to address tariffs. It's ineffective because tariff impacts will be broad-based, affecting many people without traditional insured earnings or who need more support than EI typically provides.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Question from online audience: What changes or increases would be helpful to Employment Insurance and the Canada child benefit once the impact of tariffs hit our economy and worsen the affordability crisis?
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Kathleen Monk - We could create a 'Climate Corps' combining economic and environmental solutions. As we face potential layoffs from this tariff-induced downturn, we could employ and upskill workers through mass retrofit programs—creating jobs while simultaneously greening our economy.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Another question in the room - How does climate action help with affordability?
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
@tylermeredith.bsky.social - Canada's housing shortage stems from restrictive zoning making construction difficult. Let's focus on simply building more homes. If that means greater density through transit-oriented development great—but the first priority for affordability must be increasing supply.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Karen Restoule - One of Poilievre's earlier announcements was to build housing close to current and functioning transportation infrastructure. So he should get credit for knowing a thing know a thing or two. Kathleen Monk - Or @davidebybc.bsky.social, who's already doing it in the province of BC.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Question from online audience - How crucial is urban planning to our climate solution? Canadian homes are larger than European ones, with lawns standard. Can building smaller, walkable communities with more 'third places' help address affordability and environmental challenges?
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Kathleen Monk - Energy poverty is a real challenge—people struggle to pay not just rent but utilities too. Looking ahead with hope, I believe we can find consensus among parties on at least maintaining the industrial carbon price, despite our differences on other climate policies.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Karen Restoule - I come from a place where people can't afford to pay extra upfront in carbon pricing. In Ottawa, the attitude is 'it's just $17 extra', because households earning $200K - $300K don't feel it. This reality isn't discussed, especially by parties claiming to represent working people.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
@tylermeredith.bsky.social - What's fascinating: the Prime Minister's inflation measure was rushed through Parliament by Poilievre despite being government spending. This shows that beneath partisan rhetoric, both parties can agree on tax cuts and fiscal spending—it's all in how you frame it.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Kathleen Monk - @jagmeetsingh.ca is pushing practical solutions—like capping prices on essential goods (as economist Isabella Weber suggests) and permanently removing taxes on necessities like diapers and car seats.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Kathleen Monk - We must not 'Trumpify' our policies during this unstable period. The rushed calls for deregulation and tax code changes should be carefully examined—conservative and corporate interests are exploiting current fears to push through changes that may not be in our best interest.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
@tylermeredith.bsky.social - Public spending caused only 20-30% of inflation. The drivers have been supply-side challenges during economic reopening and factors like the Ukraine war. Inflation might be lower with less spending, but that doesn't explain the price increases Canadians have experienced.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
@jenditchburn.bsky.social to question: What is the Conservative approach to affordability? Karen Restoule - Public spending has driven up inflation. We need macro-level solutions to steer the economy back in the right direction and salvage what remains of a reasonable cost of living for Canadians.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Karen Restoule - March 2024 saw over 2 million food bank visits nationwide—up 6% from last year and 90% since 2019. In Ontario alone, 1+ million people accessed food banks in 2023-2024, a 25% annual increase. Toronto's food banks had 3.49 million visits, nearly 1 million more than the previous year.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
@tylermeredith.bsky.social - What's maddening is we were glimpsing a soft landing from inflation last summer. Things were stabilizing. Now we're potentially plunging into a trade war with our largest partner that would create a completely self-induced affordability crisis for Canadian households.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Kathleen Monk - Canadian unions are fighting a two-front battle: immediate concerns about Trump's tariff threats jeopardizing jobs, while simultaneously advocating for critical social programs like PharmaCare and dental care to address broader affordability challenges for all Canadians.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Moderator @jenditchburn.bsky.social asks all the panelists what they are seeing right now in their communities regarding the current affordability crisis across the country.
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Affordability Action Council @affordabilityac.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
It's not too late to join online, by the way! Here is the link! us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
us06web.zoom.us
Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Affordability and Climate: Addressing Intertwined Challenges in Politics Today. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the w...
As a new U.S. administration issues repeated threats to impose punishing tariffs on Canadian exports, join us for a timely panel discussion on how to address the intersecting affordability and climate...
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