Canada’s housing crisis is deepening. While each party pretends to want to do something about it — and while some, perhaps, earnestly wish to do so — taking sufficient measures to secure affordable homes is another matter. Most recently, Justin Trudeau’s new housing minister, Sean Fraser, has committed to continuing the long and rich Liberal tradition of sucking and blowing at the same time.

Last week, Fraser told Bloomberg News that the government’s goal on housing was not to decrease the value of anyone’s home. This statement was surprising to no one. In a country where housing equity is often seen as a retirement strategy, and where wages haven’t matched productivity or inflation, no politician in their right mind is going to step up to a microphone and say that they’ll reduce home values for the sake of affordable housing.

To be charitable, Fraser’s argument may not be as contradictory as it seems. “Our goal is to build more units that are at a price that other people, who don’t currently have their needs met, can afford,” he told Bloomberg. The premise of this plan is that a government can, through targeted incentives — or, in theory, through directives or state building programs — create certain kinds of stock that will ease price pressure for some types of housing without devaluing other types. After all, what does the value of a $1.6-million-dollar downtown home have to do with a $600,000 suburban bungalow? And what does the price of single-family homes have to do with purpose-built rentals? Well, a few things.