Aditya Rao criticized New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs for attributing the housing crisis to immigrants, calling it a dangerous analysis that could fuel racism.

Higgs's comments have been clarified by his office, suggesting that he was referring to the dramatic increase in New Brunswick's population, including people from other parts of Canada. However, Rao insists that the crisis is caused by weak rental protections and profiteering, which allow landlords to increase rents without limits and enable corporations to buy and resell homes for profit, leaving families unable to compete for housing.

Rao also highlighted the plight of immigrants who face discrimination from landlords due to a lack of credit history in Canada and are often forced to live in overcrowded housing units at high prices. The New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants' Rights has also criticized Higgs's comments, calling them a far-right talking point and arguing that immigrants are being unfairly blamed for the housing crisis. They emphasize that past discussions about bringing more immigrants to New Brunswick have always focused on the economic benefits they bring.

They believe that the blame for the housing crisis lies with the government's failure to implement rent control and other regulatory measures. In response to Higgs's comments, Liberal Leader Susan Holt and Green Party Leader David Coon have condemned his analysis, with Holt attributing the housing crisis to the government's failure to build housing and Coon likening Higgs's rhetoric to that of the federal Conservative Party.

Both opposition leaders argue that the blame for the housing crisis should not be placed on immigrants, but rather on poor government planning. They acknowledge that population growth has presented challenges for the province, but they believe that these challenges are the result of government failures, not the fault of newcomers themselves.

Source: N.B. premier wrong to blame immigrants for housing crisis, advocates say (ampproject.org)