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But housing? Suppose it were true, as reported, that the federal government was “returning” to the housing file, and not, as with much of the announced spending — er, strategy — merely renewing existing federal programs. Would that necessarily be a good thing? It may be part of the role of government to build social housing. But is it the role of the federal government, specifically? What is it about housing that recommends it as a federal responsibility, as opposed to the provinces or indeed municipalities where the housing will be built?

Do federal politicians know something about the housing needs of Lethbridge or Chicoutimi that the mayors of those cities don’t? If, as the Globe and Mail reports, “the goal is to promote diverse communities with a mix of incomes and uses that are near transit, work, grocery stores and public services,” are these really best assessed from Ottawa?

There’s an exception to this. The best part of the federal plan, from a number of perspectives, is the new Canada Housing Benefit. Rather than being used to build public housing, which may or may not be to its tenants’ liking (the historical experience is distinctly spotty), the money would go to supplementing the rents of its intended beneficiaries, following them around wherever they choose to live. Paying benefits in cash rather than in kind is not only better social policy, on the whole — money, as George Bernard Shaw said, gives us what we want, rather than what other people think we need — but it’s also an appropriately federal intervention, since people may decide to move not just within each province but between them.