A Niagara woman was embarrassed after the Conservative Party leader drew attention to her rental housing by calling it a “shanty”.
Pierre Poivre traveled to Niagara Falls this week to hold a press conference and comment on the Canadian housing market. Trying to explain his argument about how much home prices have risen under the Liberal government, he gave the address of a 1.5-story house that has been on the market for some time.
“It costs C$550,000 for a tiny little hut,” Poiriebre said at a press conference.
He even published the address of the house and urged people to look it up.
But the property’s current tenant, Acha LeTourneau, disputed the callous statement by the political leader.
In an interview with CHCH, the restaurant clerk said he did not know why the house had been for sale for so long, but was not happy to hear it was mentioned otherwise.
“He called it a shed. A shed. “I thought it was a little embarrassing, especially when I saw it on social media…”
Mr. Poivre was trying to argue that a large house across the river in Buffalo, New York, was selling for a much lower price.
“On the American side, 15 minutes away, $217,000 will get you a large, beautiful multi-story home with a garage and a large lot,” he told reporters. “Why pay twice as much for a quarter of a house on the Canadian side of the border?”
“The rent has doubled, the mortgage payment has doubled, the down payment required has doubled. The housing issue is a double problem for Prime Minister Trudeau,” he said, adding that he plans to build more affordable housing if he is elected prime minister.
On social media, many people didn’t understand the Conservative leader’s problems with the size of the house, with some calling his comments “missing the point”.
The Conservative Party did not respond to Yahoo News Canada’s request for comment.
