Dear Editor:
Recently, the 色控传媒County Museum and Archives hosted an excellent and informative exhibition: Not Just Dirt: Digging into the Science of Soil.听
In contrast, Pierre Poilievre鈥檚 recent assertion in an interview with Jordan Peterson that housing should be affordable because 鈥渄irt is cheap鈥� and 鈥淐anada has lots of dirt鈥� trivializes the complexities of housing costs and land use. While catchy, his claim either betrays a fundamental lack of understanding or is a deliberate attempt to mislead 鈥� an unfortunate approach to a pressing issue in this riding and many others.
Canada鈥檚 vast land mass does not equate to affordable housing. As Canadians are well aware, much of this country is uninhabitable or remote, far from infrastructure, services and employment opportunities. Most Canadians live near the southern border because that鈥檚 where suitable land, tied to urban amenities, trade and jobs, is concentrated.听
This land area is small, in demand and therefore expensive. The population density of the Golden Horseshoe, including 色控传媒County, exceeds that of the Netherlands. Greater Vancouver鈥檚 is even higher. Desirability and access, not merely the abundance of 鈥渄irt,鈥� drive land prices.
Moreover, 鈥渄irt鈥� is a relatively small component of housing costs. Building homes and communities requires significant investments in labour, materials, roads, water systems, schools and health care. Oversight is essential to ensure safe, sustainable communities.听
Governments cannot simply 鈥済et out of the way鈥� to make housing cheap. This is just an empty slogan, not policy. Furthermore, the restrictive municipal zoning regulations which Poilievere bemoans are often the products of property owner and developer demands to build and preserve low-density neighborhoods with single-family, detached homes to boost property values. They are not all sinister bureaucratic plots. This is an obvious conundrum for a populist.听
In the face of this, Mr. Poilievere鈥檚 鈥減roposals鈥� are largely impractical and impotent threats and hand-waving, especially given the reality that the federal government has limited jurisdiction in zoning or municipal planning.听
Finally, arable 鈥渄irt鈥� is a finite, valuable, living resource, a fact wonderfully illustrated by