Southwest N.B. mayors want answers after second straight rejection by federal housing fund
'It does open the door for speculation on what the reasoning is," says mayor of Saint Andrews
The mayors of Saint Andrews, St. Stephen and the Village of McAdam are writing to the federal government hoping to learn why they were denied by Canada's Housing Accelerator Fund — again.
Many municipalities from southwest New Brunswick tried tapping into the federal pot for housing. They weren't successful and haven't been told why.
The applications were submitted in two rounds. The last rejection was received a few weeks ago, leaving municipal leaders disappointed.
"It's really frustrating to not have any answers to why once again southwest New Brunswick did not get the attention from the federal government," said Saint Andrews Mayor Brad Henderson.
Henderson said his town reduced the amount it asked for in Round 2, but was still rejected.
After the first rejection, Henderson contacted the housing minister at the time to reach out to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for some feedback and assistance, he said.
"We were met with no assistance whatsoever," he said.
He said nobody in his region has any explanation about the second rejection either.
"When you have a program that ... isn't very transparent, it does open the door for speculation on what the reasoning is, whether it be political, whether it be the fact that we're urban or I mean, rural versus urban," he said.
He said there was no opportunity to talk to somebody about improving their application or discuss the region's challenges.
"It really feels like when it comes to housing we have been on our own working with private developers," he said. "We need all three levels of government working together."
No support from federal Conservatives
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has promised to cut the fund. In November, he instructed Conservative MPs to stop advocating on behalf of municipalities in their ridings who want to obtain funds through the $4-billion Housing Accelerator Fund.
CBC reached out to Williamson's office, but he declined to comment.
'Don't humour us again'
Mayor Allan MacEachern of St. Stephen said his town is at a "critical stage" with insufficient housing. He said the lack of housing is also holding back the town's development.
MacEachern said his staff worked closely with the funding partners to make sure the application had no errors, yet it was rejected.
"If we are not going to get it, don't humour us again on doing it all over again because it took a lot of time on a lot of people's work."
He said his community was counting on the fund for future developments and now they need to adjust their plans.
MacEachern said no federal money from the program could make people avoid taking a job in rural towns like St. Stephen just because they can't find a place to live.
'Highly competitive' evaluation process
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation confirmed in an email that St. Stephen did not receive funding in 2023 or 2024.
It said that Saint Andrews, Eastern Charlotte, Grand Manan and Campobello Island were also deemed unsuccessful in the second round.
The organization called the evaluation process "highly competitive."
"As with the first round of HAF, demand for the second round of HAF significantly exceeded the available budget and only the most ambitious applications were selected," said spokesperson David Harris.
Both Henderson and MacEachern said their communities will keep applying to the fund. Their joint letter also included McAdam Mayor Ken Stannix.
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