N.B. premier wrong to blame immigrants for housing crisis, advocates say | CBC News

Housing and immigration advocates are angry New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs is blaming the housing crisis on immigrants and say his comments are dangerous.

"OK, what is the root cause of our housing crisis? You know, record — record immigration," Higgs said to reporters Tuesday evening while commenting on the federal budget.

"So what is this sustainable immigration level? How do we get to the point where we say, OK, this is what we can manage in our province, because everyone is feeling it," he went on to say.

Aditya Rao is a board member of the Madhu Verma Migrant Justice Centre, which provides services to migrant workers in New Brunswick facing poor working and housing conditions.

"This is a really dangerous road to go down," Rao said of HIggs's analysis. Racists and xenophobes would be waiting for words like this, he said.

CBC News requested an interview with Higgs to better understand his comments but was instead sent an email statement attributed to the premier.

The statement suggested Higgs has his own definition of the word "immigrants."

He was referring to "the dramatic increase in New Brunswick's population," the statement said, and by immigrants, he meant all people coming to the province, including those from elsewhere in Canada.

"And to be clear: we are glad to see so many new people choosing to make New Brunswick their home," Higgs wrote, adding that the province has grown by 50,000 people in the last year.

There was no elaboration in the statement about what the premier meant when he suggested examining immigration levels.

Even with the effort to clarify, Higgs's comments appear to be in contrast with previous statements made by him and others in government.

In March, when the province's population hit 850,000, Higgs shared an image bearing his signature celebrating this milestone on a social media account.

"Our province is experiencing growth like never before. This is a key to our prosperity — more New Brunswickers contributing to our innovation, art, culture, and economy," Higgs wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"Let's give our new neighbours, families, and friends the warm New Brunswick welcome we are known for."

In a state of the province address in 2020, Higgs called for bringing 10,000 new immigrants to New Brunswick by 2027.

The Higgs government has touted recruiting international nurses and has spoken against a federal cap on international students.

Rao blames weak rental protections, profiteering 

Rao said the housing crisis is caused by weak provincial regulations on the rental market, "where landlords can increase rents as much as they want, profit as much as they want."

In addition, he said, for-profit corporations have too much ability to buy and resell homes and rental units for profit, while families are left unable to compete for a place to live.

Rao said immigrants are also victims of the housing crisis.

His organization hears of landlords refusing to rent to immigrants because of a lack of credit history in Canada and of migrant workers packed together in housing units while paying extremely high prices, he said.

"We're hearing stories that as soon as the landlord hears an accent on the phone, they're not interested in renting," Rao said.

"Landlords are profiting off the most vulnerable folks in our communities, and here we have a government that is turning around and blaming the folks that are victims of the housing crisis."

The New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants' Rights also spoke out about the premier's comments.

Spokesperson Nomaan X said he see this as "a very far-right talking point." 

"Anything that happens is always just put on the immigrants."

He said past discussions of bringing more immigrants to New Brunswick has always taken place with labour and financial benefits in mind. More foreign workers would help the economy, and more international students would bring more tuition to New Brunswick schools, he said.

"But when it comes to issues like housing, it's very easy to just throw the buck onto immigrants."

X said this can lead to "fear-mongering and spreading this bias against immigrants, and I think this a big problem."

He wants to see rent control brought to New Brunswick, adding that it is a change that could be made tomorrow if the government wanted to.

On that call with reporters, Higgs also mentioned that the province has a rent bank and a rental tribunal as examples of the help his government has given to renters.

The rent bank, launched in December, makes grants available to people facing eviction or financial crisis.

But New Brunswick is one of only four provinces without a cap limiting how much landlords can raise rents each year.

The rental tribunal touted as an alternative has been plagued by delays.

Additionally, Higgs's comments about immigrants come as the New Brunswick Apartment Owners Association is predicting massive rent increases next year.

Appalling, opposition leaders say 

Liberal Leader Susan Holt said the premier's comments are dangerous. She said that immigrants have benefited the province. 

"I think that part of the housing crisis has come from the Higgs government's inability to get housing built," Holt said.

"So it doesn't show any leadership to demonize immigrants and blame the housing crisis on them."

Green Party Leader David Coon said that it seemed like rhetoric from the federal Conservative Party.

"It's extraordinary, because he's been slapping himself on the back every chance he gets to publicly congratulate himself for growing the New Brunswick population," Coon said.

"And now he turns around and blows a dog whistle in the direction of immigrants causing our problems. It's really appalling."

While Coon did acknowledge that population growth has come with challenges for the province, he said that is the fault of poor government planning, not newcomers themselves.