Auditor general's assessment of public housing 'no surprise' for minister
Social Sharing
Housing Minister David Hickey said his department isn't surprised the auditor general found "significant deficiencies" with public housing.
"This report is no surprise to anyone around my table. It is no surprise to me. We knew the state of public housing and we knew that it was in crisis. We knew it when we came into government," said Hickey.
The auditor general's report, which was released this week, found delays in repairs and incomplete inspections, which left units vacant and more people on the waitlist.
During the review period from April 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2024, there was a list of 13,129 households waiting to get into one of the province's 4,630 public housing units.
"We are in the midst of an infrastructure crisis with the amount of public housing we have," Hickey said, adding that the issue is a "significant priority" for him.
The average wait to turn around vacant units to new occupants was 140 days, and three per cent took more than a year. The target is 30 days, yet only four per cent of units hit that target.
Hickey said maintenance teams are "massively overwhelmed with the amount of units they need to support."
The department plans to hire an additional 15 people, including six new inspectors.
Hickey said the New Brunswick Housing Corporation will get a budget increase of 18.6 per cent.
Adam Bowie, a spokesperson for the New Brunswick Housing Corporation, said the increase is $36.6 million but $21.1 million will be used for the expansion of the province's direct-to-tenant rental benefit, which was announced last month.
Hickey said his department will receive a $7.8-million increase for maintenance and capital improvements.
The auditor general's report said mitigation work for issues like pests, mould and fire safety were completed on time only 36 per cent of the time, and that annual interior inspection requirements were not met in 85 per cent of regions with four not conducting any annual inspections.
Hickey couldn't say whether any units should be closed, but that "it's not much to be proud of."
Housing expert also not surprised
Julia Woodhall-Melnik isn't surprised by the auditor general's report either.
"We're constantly receiving emails and calls from folks who are living in public housing, who are living with things like pests, mould, uninhabitable conditions that can make themselves sick, their children sick," said Woodhall-Melnik, an associate professor in social sciences at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John and the co-director of the Housing, Mobilization, Engagement and Resiliency Lab.
Her social science lab studies housing insecurity and social inclusion to share their findings with the public and all levels of government.
The lab is currently going through their findings of people's well-being while living in public housing.
Woodhall-Melnik said one problem is that those living in public housing are not covered by the Residential Tenancies Act.
"With the province not being held to account by the Residential Tenancies Act. Really, they are invisible, they are forgotten."
She is recommending that Hickey's department creates a "system of accountability" to make sure their goals are met.
Both Hickey and Woodhall-Melnik agree that the breakdown in New Brunswick public housing began in the '90s.
That was when the federal government handed the responsibility over to the province and funding dried up.
"A commitment of around $2 million a year in operational funding to support the maintenance of 4,600 units — it doesn't go very far and it's led us into the situation where we are now," said Hickey.
Solutions from Hickey
The report also found the budget was "not available to spending approvers" and that a financial plan was not established, assessed or monitored.
Hickey said he wants to be "as transparent as possible" going forward and be clear about where money is being spent and what the outcome is.
He said he'd also like to work with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to utilize the equity in public housing — approximately $400 million.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
36 minutes ago
- CTV News
Liberals, Conservatives pass major projects legislation in House of Commons
Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks at a press conference on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, on Thursday, June 19, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Patrick Doyle Conservative members of Parliament voted with the minority Liberal government to pass its marquee major projects legislation Friday evening, setting it up to become law before Canada Day. The legislation, also known as the one Canadian economy act, would allow the government to green-light a list of projects that have been deemed to be in the national interest, fast-tracking their approvals. The Liberals have called it the core of the government's domestic economic response to U.S. tariffs. 'This is what makes us different from the United States, this is what makes us more independent from the United States, this is what's going to move us forward,' Prime Minister Mark Carney said at a press conference after the vote, adding the legislation needed to pass quickly 'because we are in a crisis.' 'And if you don't think we're in a crisis, go to Sault Ste. Marie, go to Hamilton, go to Windsor.' After the second of two votes in the House of Commons on Friday, Carney crossed the floor to shake hands with Opposition House leader Andrew Scheer and Conservative deputy leader Melissa Lantsman. Two votes were held instead of one after the House Speaker ruled that the legislation had two distinct parts without a clear common element. That allowed the Bloc Quebecois and NDP members to vote in favour of the first part of the bill -- which looks to tackle internal trade barriers -- and against the more controversial second part dealing with major projects. The major projects bill grants the government sweeping powers to quickly approve projects that are deemed to be in the national interest. Provincial and territorial premiers have given Carney lists of projects they want to see approved, but no national list of projects has been made public so far. 'We all agree that more fulsome conversations are needed to select the nation-building projects and to determine the conditions that they must fulfil. In other words, the real work begins now,' Carney said. The legislation has drawn criticism from Indigenous leaders and environmental groups who say it gives too much power to the federal cabinet to bypass existing laws. The legislation was introduced on June 6 and was pushed through the House after about eight hours of committee study on Tuesday and Wednesday. The House transport committee did amend the bill to, among other things, remove the Indian Act from a list of laws the government can sidestep when determining whether a project should move forward. First Nations leaders have warned the bill could violate their constitutionally protected rights and may lead to legal challenges. Carney emphasized the need to respect the constitutional rights of Indigenous Peoples in his press conference on Friday. 'The major projects office will have an Indigenous advisory council whose core function will be to honour Section 35 rights in the implementation of this bill,' he said. He promised to hold full-day summits with First Nations, Inuit and Metis rights-holders and leaders in the coming weeks, alongside Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Rebecca Alty and Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty. 'Consultation, co-operation, engagement and participation are at the heart of this bill,' he said. The bill is now headed to the Senate, which is scheduled to sit until June 27. By Sarah Ritchie. With files from Kyle Duggan and Alessia Passafiume.
CTV News
38 minutes ago
- CTV News
Some Maritimers struggling to find rental cars this summer
Finding rental cars in the Maritimes might be difficult this summer. You may see cars on rental lots in Halifax but that doesn't necessarily mean they're all available, at least according to some Maritimers. Tidal Car Rentals has locations in Burnside and Bayers Lake. They have roughly 15 cars and say they have already noticed things are picking up this summer. 'We are around 60 per cent sold out or 65 per cent and we are already seeing a lot of future bookings,' says Karanjeet Singh, Tidal Car Rentals director. The company says last June was comparable, but July looks to be busier, especially with Canada Day weekend expected to be sold out. Singh says it's difficult to have the right number of cars because some companies can exchange the fleets each year while others cannot. 'Every company tries to find the sweet spot with how many vehicles they want to have in their fleet so during the summer months, if you want to book a car, it's better to book in advance,' says Singh. Singh says when demand is high, it's beneficial for this small company because people come to them when the bigger companies lack availability. 'Sometimes they reach out to us after they reach out to all other companies like multinational companies when they cannot find the right vehicles. We have some very unique vehicles,' says Singh. Tidal Car rentals has been around since 2022 and they plan to continue to grow. 'They have more vehicles and a bigger team as well. Having a bigger team, they can do bigger sales. The audience is bigger than us, the market is bigger than us and it's all about having a bigger fleet. They buy more vehicles during the summer months and they get rid of them in the winter and buy them again. We are not there yet, we keep our fleet around a year,' says Singh. To stay competitive the company offers lower prices and they find this helps bring in customers. Many customers find they have to book their vehicles early this summer. For travellers Anne Coogan and Christina Fuller from British Columbia and Alberta, booking early was crucial. The two planned a month-long road trip around the East Coast and wanted to ensure they had everything in order. " We started planning this trip last September,' says Coogan. The two had no problems booking a vehicle. 'I just went on the website, used my little perk and said when I would be picking it up and bringing it back and no problems at all,' says Fuller. Fuller also had a discount from when she worked at Telus. 'It wasn't that expensive because I get a 35 per cent off discount with my perks from being an ex-Telus employee so that made the world a difference,' says Fuller. She admits without the discount, renting a vehicle is expensive. Many others feel the same way and went a different route this summer. Donna Voldock had difficulty finding a rental last summer when travelling to Newfoundland. The rental fell through at the last minute so they tried a carsharing company called Turo. 'I hear that it's very hard to rent cars on the East Coast actually, so that's kind of how we found Turo last time when we went to Newfoundland,' says Voldock, who was visiting from Toronto. Rick Terry from Wasaga Beach, Ontario, tried to book a vehicle for his group of six this week. They started looking a week ago and had no luck. 'Nothing that would hold six people, it was very limited, and the market is very tough down here,' says Terry. They also went the route of carsharing and it saved them a lot of money. 'We are here for five days, and it was $340 for the five days so it worked out good, versus a regular car rental place was $1,200,' Terry says. The later you book, the more expensive the booking. The prices are not fixed so they vary based on the demand for the season. Vehicles are much cheaper in the winter months than the summer. 'Prices do fluctuate with the demand and supply. During months like July and August they are going to be very expensive,' says Singh. Tidal Car Rentals Tidal Car Rentals opened in Halifax in 2022. (Source: Emma Convey/CTV News Atlantic) For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
CTV News
38 minutes ago
- CTV News
B.C. Realtor's licence cancelled over ‘deceptive and underhanded' conduct
Real estate sale signage is shown on a street in Oakville, Ont., west of Toronto, on Thursday, Nov.7, 2024. (Richard Buchan / The Canadian Press) A B.C. Realtor who lost a court case against a former client earlier this year has now had his licence cancelled by the provincial real estate regulator. Alan Hu and his Personal Real Estate Corporation recently entered a consent order agreement with the B.C. Financial Services Authority, in which they agreed to pay a $120,000 fine and have their licences cancelled. The penalties stem from the same incident that led to a court decision against Hu in January, in which B.C. Supreme Court Justice Amy D. Francis found Hu had 'intentionally undermined' his client Pei Hua Zhong by purchasing for himself the Surrey home that Zhong had made an offer to buy. Francis' decision in the case describes Hu's conduct as 'deceptive and underhanded' – a description that is repeated in the consent order document published on the BCFSA website Friday. What happened The court case revolved around Zhong's attempts to purchase a property on 174 Street near 20 Avenue in Surrey. The one-acre parcel had an assessed value of just over $3 million for 2025, according to BC Assessment. 174 Street property in South Surrey The property at the centre of the lawsuit is seen in this 2011 photo from BC Assessment. ( Zhong met Hu in November 2017 and hired the Realtor to facilitate both the sale of his home on Poplar Drive and the purchase of a new home, according to the court decision. Through Hu, Zhong made two offers to purchase the 174 Street property. The first, for $2.1 million, was accepted, but expired when Zhong was unable to sell his home in time to raise the necessary funds for the down payment. While the first offer was expiring in late December 2017, Hu was in Las Vegas with his wife and another couple – Lingxia Tao and her husband Zhi Chen. According to the decision, what exactly was discussed between the parties in Las Vegas was disputed during the court proceedings, but the end result was that Tao made an offer on the 174 Street property for slightly less than $2.1 million, which was accepted, while Zhong made a new offer of $2.05 million, which was rejected. Two weeks later, Tao assigned her contract to purchase the property to Hu, who ultimately completed the transaction. Hu later sold the property in September 2021 for $3.35 million – a profit of more than $1.2 million over what he had paid when he assumed Tao's contract less than four years earlier. Francis ruled in Zhong's favour, ordering Hu to 'disgorge' his portion of the profits, a number that remained unspecified in the court decision because of ongoing litigation between Hu and Tao over their purported agreement to invest in real estate together. Regulator-imposed consequences The BCFSA consent order details these same circumstances, albeit with the names of the other parties and the address of the property redacted. According to the document, Hu's client (Zhong) learned that Hu was the owner of the property when he performed a title search in September 2021. Zhong filed his civil lawsuit in January 2022. In April of that year, he submitted a complaint to the BCFSA, the consent order indicates. The document notes that Hu made false statements to BCFSA investigators about his agreement with Tao and falsely claimed that he had offered Zhong the opportunity to take the assignment of the contract to buy the 174 Street property. He later admitted during the trial that he had never told Zhong about the assignment. Hu also failed to notify the BCFSA when the B.C. Supreme Court judgment against him was issued earlier this year, according to the consent order. In the agreement, Hu admits to a lengthy list of conduct unbecoming of a licensee and professional misconduct, including: Failing to act honestly in providing real estate services Failing to disclose 'all known material information' to a client Failing to maintain the client's confidentiality Failing to act in the best interests of the client Failing to take reasonable steps to avoid a conflict of interest Failing to promptly and fully disclose a conflict of interest to a client Providing trading services outside of the brokerage with which he and his PREC were licensed Collecting funds in relation to the purchase of a property without promptly remitting the money to his brokerage Failing to keep the brokerage's managing broker informed of the assignment contract Failing to promptly notify the BCFSA of the court judgment Failing or refusing to co-operate with an investigation And making false or misleading statements in relation to an investigation Hu and his company admitted this misconduct and agreed to the cancellation of their licences. They are jointly required to pay the $120,000 fine within six months of signing the consent order agreement. 'Real estate licensees have an enshrined duty to act in the best interests of their client, and Hu's actions ran wholly contrary to that duty,' said Jon Vandall, the BCFSA's senior vice-president of compliance and enforcement, in a news release issued Friday. 'Hu undermined his own client for personal gain and demonstrated a clear disregard for the established ethical expectations for licensees. The significant penalty issued to Hu, including the outright cancellation of his real estate licence, reflects the severity of Hu's actions.'
