Trudeau’s New ‘Housing’ Plan

By
Catholic Insight
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G.K. Chesterton quipped once, if memory serves, that each man, with some diligent and faithful hard work, should be able to afford ‘three acres and a cow’, to provide for his family in a fitting manner. Enough room to grow a large garden, the cow for milk (and perhaps, eventually, meat), space for the children to frolic, and the family to walk and wander. Such is also the teaching of the Church, from Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (1891) all the way to John Paul II’s Centesimus Annus (1991) – we have a right to private property,, and there’s enough room in the world for every family to have such a little kingdom to call their own.

As for Chesterton’s ideal of three acres, well, dream on, Macduff. Even a quarter or eighth of an acre anywhere near – that is, within two or three hours’ drive – of any sort of urban centre or civilization would cost far more than the average worker will ever be able to afford, at least anywhere near civilization. A simple semi-detached hastily-constructed townhouse in a dismal still-under-construction-zone with no grass or nature nearby is beyond the reach of most Canadians.

Hence, Trudeau and Freeland’s plan to build more ‘affordable housing’ – four million new dwellings, apparently. But a glimpse into said plan reveals that number to be plucked out of thin air, and, what is more to the point, they don’t intend ‘houses’, far less homes. Rather, think more small Soviet-esque pods, wherein people of all sorts are crammed together, privacy is nil, incessant noise and the sweet smell of marijuana wafting through the paper-thin walls, and raising anything resembling a traditional family – husband, wife and more than 1.5 children – nearly impossible.

This is hardly a recipe for societal cohesion and flourishing. As the family goes, said Pope John Paul, so goes society.

You say you want a revolution?