Housing Minister Sean Fraser has urged critics to "not interfere" with his ambitious plan to build 3.9 million homes by 2031. Blacklock's Reporter said his remarks came in response to skepticism about the feasibility of the construction target, which equates to building a new home every 60 seconds.“My view is people who would suggest a problem is impossible to solve shouldn’t try to interfere with the person who is trying to actually solve it,” Fraser told the Commons transport committee. “If your goal is to throw up obstacles every way, feel free. Have a field day. I want to solve the housing crisis. My goal is actually based on what I think it would take to solve it.”Fraser's comments followed questioning by Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis (Haldimand-Norfolk, Ont.), who highlighted the challenges of meeting the construction target. "Your government has set some pretty ambitious targets to build homes for Canadians," said Lewis. “Your government’s goal is 3.9 million homes by 2031. That is 1.09 homes that must be built every minute. That’s 65 homes per hour.”Lewis pointed out that housing starts fell nationwide last year and historically average 244,000 annually. "There is nothing impolite about holding a government to account," she said. "That is my job."Fraser countered by emphasizing his commitment to addressing the housing crisis, criticizing previous administrations for insufficient efforts. “I am not going to look anyone in the eye and tell them things are perfect when it comes to housing,” he said. “I am going to be the first to say I know we need to do more, but then I am going to be the person who actually goes and does it.”The construction of 3.9 million new homes, in addition to current rates, would require 731,500 starts annually, a figure far exceeding the highest recorded annual starts of 273,200 in 1976.“It’s important to recognize the government isn’t the entity that is constructing the homes,” Fraser noted. “We have put incentives on the table.”Cabinet has yet to provide a detailed plan on how it will achieve the 3.9 million target. "There’s a lot of details that we need to work out because some of these will involve collaboration with other levels of government," Fraser told reporters on April 17.
