In the middle of a housing crisis, no one worries about constitutional niceties

Last summer — around the same time public support for the governing Liberals began seriously to erode — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the mistake of publicly acknowledging Canada's constitutional division of powers.

«Housing isn't a primary federal responsibility,» he said. «It's not something that we have direct carriage of.»

He wasn't wrong. He also said his government was willing to do its part. But he was quickly mocked and chided for appearing to dodge responsibility for a serious and widespread problem.

Trudeau seems to have learned the obvious lesson from that episode: in the current climate, there's nothing to be gained from deferring to other levels of government. Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are apparently no constitutionalists in a housing crisis.

Six weeks after his comments about responsibility, Trudeau was in London, Ont. to announce the first agreement under the Housing Accelerator Fund — an idea first sketched out in the government's 2022 budget. In exchange for the city's promise to enact zoning and permitting reforms, the federal government would provide $74 million in housing funding.

One hundred and seventy eight municipalities and the province of Quebec have since made similar deals, totalling $4.4 billion in federal funds.

Last week, anticipating this year's federal budget, Trudeau announced the federal government would work with the provinces to create a «bill of rights» for renters and fund provincial legal aid programs for tenants. This week, he announced a new round of infrastructure funding for provinces and municipalities with significant housing-related conditions attached and a loan program that will provide support for rental housing if provinces agree to meet a series of