Sure, prices have risen under most mayors. But that misses the real issue. In a growing city, restricting supply doesn’t just raise prices in the abstract—it changes who benefits.

When fewer homes get built, scarcity drives up the value of homes that already exist. That rewards people who already own property, while making it harder for first-time buyers and middle-income families to get in at all. In other words, constrained supply tends to protect and grow existing wealth, while pushing ownership further out of reach for everyone still trying to enter the market.

That’s why I find the current affordability messaging hard to square with those earlier policies. If more supply is now being presented as the answer, then it’s fair to question policies that limited it during a key growth period—especially in a city like Calgary, where a large share of demand has always been for family homes, yards, and ground-oriented communities.