Doug Ford

The headline on the news release from Premier Doug Ford's government about its new housing plan declares that Ontario is "making it easier to buy a home."

The province established a housing supply "working group" with the municipalities on all this stuff, and that work won't begin until this summer — after the June 2 election. "Previous governments didn't get the housing starts that we needed," he added. It's made up of people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, who are pushing for more housing as a means of making home ownership more affordable. The province is giving city halls across the province deadlines for deciding on planning applications and rezoning requests. Just ask Toronto city council, or at least the half of it that's left. Costs are now so high that it threatens to freeze the bulk of an entire generation out of home ownership. The Ford government's hand-picked advisors recently drew up a blueprint on how to do just that. As for "fortitude" and "backbone," some are wondering whether Ford has lost his when it comes to the housing crisis. "They didn't have the fortitude, they didn't have the backbone to go out there and get it done." The plan focuses on speeding up municipal approvals of housing projects. None of that is in the "More Homes For Everyone" plan the Ford government released Wednesday. The average home price has skyrocketed 44 per cent in two years.