Housing advocate Rohana Rezel says a 'nice loophole' exists in federal conflict of interest laws to allow members of Parliament to own rental properties while still setting housing policies.
On April 12, Canada’s Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen updated his disclosure of assets and income with the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, to add a second rental property to his portfolio.
Rezel charged that Hussen oversees policies that directly impact his own interests. First, he said, as immigration minister: he dramatically increased immigration targets. The act is in place to prevent a minister from advancing policies that further their private interests, which are largely financial but may also be social and political.
The commissioner’s website does not reference rental properties, but Rezel suggests they would normally fall under the definition of a commodity. However, in response to Rezel’s complaint, the office told him: “A public office holder’s private interest does not include an interest in a matter that affects the public holder as one of a broad class of persons.”
“We’re all allowed to make financial decisions based on our circumstances,” he recently told TVO, when asked if he felt conflicted. In April 2022, Global News reported that at least 20 per cent of Canadian MPs hold rental properties, based on incomplete disclosures following the fall 2021 election. In September 2022, The Maple podcast reported 38 per cent of MPs are invested in real estate in some form.
“It becomes so much more pointed when... we're hearing calls for action to make housing more affordable, when that does cut against the financial interests not only of the housing minister, but the vast majority of elected officials in Canada,” said Prest.
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