Is Ontario giving up on its 1.5 million homes by 2031 promise?

New homes are going up across the province, but not at the pace the Ford government promised. MPP Shamji. During one Queen's Park committee last week, Liberal Adil Shamji questioned the housing minister about it. Do you stand behind the promise of building 1.5 million homes by 2031? I'm not focused on 1.5 million homes. Are you still committed to it, focused or not? I'm not focused on it. I'm going to remain not focused on it until we get the shift turned. Yes or no, are you committed to it? I'm committed to building as many houses as we can humanly possibly build. Building 1.5 million homes in 10 years by 2031 was a signature Doug Ford campaign pledge in the 2022 election. Instead, over the past few years, housing starts have fallen. The government's housing tracker hasn't been updated in years and the province even expanded the definition of a new home to include long-term care beds and dorm rooms. The housing minister was asked if the initial promise was a mistake. I wasn't part of that target, and again, I'm not focused on that target. You do not get to simply walk away from it and say that you're no longer focused on it. The latest Canada Mortgage and Housing numbers show, compared to this time last year, new home starts this year are up 3%. The minister says there are improvements due to HST rebates for new home purchases and lower development charges. It's like new seedlings sprouting. We're not there yet. We still have a lot of work to do. It still takes too long and costs too much to build housing. The changes that the government has... The head of the Association for Builders was part of the housing task force that first came up with that number of 1.5 million homes. The goal was a target. The goal was a recognition that we need to build more housing. He says there have been factors beyond the province's control. We have economic uncertainty. We have geopolitical changes over the last several years. That uncertainty also creates people to take a pause, to understand, do I want to make a big decision like purchasing a house? Here's what the head of the local board of trade thinks about that 1.5 million homes number. Well, you've got to aim high. The board recently presented ideas to speed up building, including streamlining both zoning and the building code. Here's one thing he heard from a developer who also works in the U.S. Simply the zoning and building code mess, if I can put it that way, in Canada, means that you can build a house $120,000 cheaper in the U.S. versus here. The Board of Trade also finds that the province's 1.5 million homes target by 2031 is unachievable, given how far behind Ontario is. Loretta Radicoff, CBC News, Toronto.