A Windsor councillor is open to revisiting the Housing Accelerator Funding (HAF) program with the new federal housing minister.
At the beginning of the year, Windsor's HAF application was rejected by then housing minister Sean Fraser.
Council had the chance to re-apply for the program in July to access the potential $40 million in base funding, however the city was told it must allow four units on any residential lot as-of-right. Council decided to not apply again.
Tecumseh council was presented with three options through their HAF application two weeks ago.
Option one would permit up to four units per lot on greenfield sites and to allow three units in existing neighbourhoods. Option two would be to permit three additional residential units (ARU) per lot town-wide but only permit a fourth unit to a single-detached house. And option three would permit up to four units per lot town-wide.
Ward 3 councillor Renaldo Agostino accused the federal government of playing politics while speaking on AM800's Live and Local.
"We went back with options. I was heard, I was asked if I would be supportive of more density in the downtown core, more density around our transit units, and I supported it one thousand per cent to go in that direction, to say, listen, let's try and find a way to make a deal. But it was a stern, hard no, it was four by right, zero negotiation on this, take it or leave it."
He says the housing issue cannot continue to be politicized.
"Housing needs to be something that we all work together with a team Canada approach, and nobody gets to spike the football on this one, because this is the one creating so many issues in our community and communities across the country."
Agostino invited new federal housing minister Nate Erskine-Smith to reopen HAF talks with the city.
"Work with us, create another round, find a solution rather than having this steadfast no, and if it's no, it's got to be no for everybody, because when it's not, now you're messing with my money, you're playing with taxpayer money, right? And picking favourites with taxpayer money is not what this job is about."
Last week, Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre retweeted a post made by Windsor mayor Drew Dilkens on X regarding the HAF.
Dilkens predicted that the HAF program would be gone within a year, and called upon Poilievre to "save us from this ongoing Liberal incompetence".
Poilievre told AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides that he wanted to work with Dilkens and other mayors to speed up permits, free up land, and cut development taxes to build 15 per cent more homes per year.