A housing researcher hopes that his new documentary will help people recognize that solutions to the housing crisis are within reach.
"I think my goal is to leave people with the idea that maybe the solutions to the housing crisis are already happening," says Brian Doucet, a filmmaker and associate professor at the University of Waterloo's School of Planning. "Maybe they're hidden in plain sight."
Doucet recently launched his feature-length documentary, titled "Thinking Beyond the Market: A Film About Genuinely Affordable Housing."
Screenings of the documentary are taking place across the country, and the New Brunswick premiere is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday at the Moncton Public Library.
The event will also feature a panel with New Brunswick-based housing researchers including Matthew Hayes of St. Thomas University and Julia Woodhall-Melnik and Tobin LeBlanc Haley of the University of New Brunswick (LeBlanc Haley is a member of the NB Media Co-op board of directors).
The film is billed as a journey that takes viewers across the country "to learn about policies, programs and projects that are already happening and already having a positive impact on addressing the housing crisis."
It features interviews with more than 30 people involved in housing, ranging from policymakers and politicians to residents and housing advocates.
Doucet argues that housing in Canada is treated as a human right but also a speculative commodity that investors use to extract wealth, resulting in a perpetual state of crisis.
"It can't succeed at both," he said in an interview. "We cannot have a lucrative source of wealth for some and shelter for all."
In making the film, he looked for initiatives "that actively try to shift that pendulum... away from speculation towards housing as a human right."
Examples include more robust forms of rent control and projects that increase the non-market housing stock. Social housing accounts for less than five per cent of the total housing stock in Canada, a relatively low proportion compared to other industrialized counties.
The film examines policies in places like Prince Edward Island, where a two per cent annual rent cap is tied to the unit, not the renter.
"In other words, if you're renting an apartment for $1,000 a month, when if you leave... that's still gonna be $1,000 or maybe $1,050 a month," Doucet explained.
In New Brunswick, a three per cent rent cap is in place. However, there is no legal limit on how much the landlord can raise the rent for a new tenant. Tenants' rights campaigners say that loophole gives landlords an incentive to evict tenants.
Moncton rent up 70 per cent since 2019
The cost of housing remains a major issue in Moncton, although recent data shows that it's among 24 census metropolitan areas across the country where rent has declined over the past year.
Asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the Moncton Metropolitan area went down by 1.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2025, compared to the same period the previous year, according to Statistics Canada.
Meanwhile, asking rent went up by 0.6 per cent in Saint John and by 5.7 per cent in Fredericton during the same period.
More generally, prices have massively spiked since the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the average asking rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Metro Moncton was $900 in Q3 2019, compared to $1,530 by Q3 2025, an increase of 70 per cent.
Click here to register for the Moncton premiere of "Thinking Beyond the Market: A Film About Genuinely Affordable Housing." The screening, followed by a panel discussion, will take place at the Moncton Public Library on Sunday, January 11 at 1 p.m.
David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, via the Local Journalism Initiative.
The City of Moncton has revoked the permit for a scheduled performance in a local park by an American musician and far-right political agitator.
Sean Feucht, who is known for spreading hateful rhetoric against the pro-choice movement and 2SLGBTQ+ community, was scheduled to perform in Moncton’s Riverfront Park on Thursday at 6 p.m.
But on Wednesday afternoon, the city issued a statement saying that the “private event booking” was cancelled.
“Following a thorough review, the event was found to be non-compliant with the City’s Code of Conduct in City Facilities,” it said.
“In addition, due to evolving safety and security considerations, including confirmation of planned protests, the City has determined that the event poses potential risks to the safety and security of community members, event attendees, and organizers.”
The statement added that organizers had been informed about the cancellation.
“The City of Moncton remains committed to creating a respectful, positive, and safe environment for users of municipal facilities,” the statement continued. “This decision reflects the City’s responsibility to ensure that its public spaces are used in a manner consistent with community standards.”
The decision follows the publication of an open letter demanding the cancellation.
On Tuesday, the Regroupement féministe du Nouveau-Brunswick issued the open letter, which was endorsed by groups including River of Pride, Alter Acadie, GRIS-Acadie, QT Fatties in NB, and the Demand the Stars Collective, along with more than 100 individuals.
“Sean Feucht is a self-professed Christian Nationalist, and it’s appalling that his group made it
through the City of Moncton’s events vetting process,” said the letter, which was addressed to the City of Moncton, city councillors, local MP Ginette Petitpas-Taylor, and the provincial Minister responsible for Women’s Equality.
“In the context of rising hate against 2SLGBTQQIA+ people on a global and Canadian scale, and as reproductive rights are under attack in the United States as well as in Canada, it is very concerning to us that the City of Moncton is allowing a public performance by a person who displays such blatant bigotry as this,” it continued, pointing to anti-trans content on his social media.
Representatives of Feucht didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The self-described “missionary, musician, activist, author, and speaker” seems to be using the controversy to rile up his supporters, saying in one YouTube video that his previous cancellation in Halifax this week was the work of the media and “anti-Christian bigots.”
Kim Dubé, a criminology professor at l’Université de Moncton, said the City of Moncton made the right call by cancelling the performance, noting that hate crimes have risen over the past five years.
“I was surprised that this event was going to happen in a public place, especially since this person perpetuates a lot of hatred,” said Dubé, who is part of the Regroupement féministe du N.-B. and GRIS-Acadie. She suggested that the singer might operate by booking venues without using his name.
As for the inevitable outcry from people accusing the city of censorship, Dubé cited the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which protects freedom of expression, including religious beliefs, but not hate speech.
“We have to, I think, specify that nobody is against religious freedom,” Dubé said. “People are against hatred.”
Feucht, who has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, has gained notoriety for promoting the idea of a Christian theocracy. He has denied on his blog that he wants “to see America turn into a Theocracy, even a Christian one,” but his public comments suggest otherwise.
“We want God to be in control of everything,” he told an audience in one video clip archived by Right Wing Watch. “We want believers to be the ones writing the laws, yes, guilty as charged!”
He is also closely aligned with the so-called MAGA movement of U.S. President Donald Trump, who once sent a personal video greeting to the far-right provocateur and his fans. Feucht is also known for his failed run for U.S. Congress with the Republicans in 2020 and his opposition to public health measures at the height of the COVID-19 crisis.
Earlier this week, Parks Canada revoked the permit for a performance by Feucht that was scheduled for a national historic site near Halifax due to “heightened public safety concerns,” as reported by the CBC. The event was reportedly moved to a rural location north of Halifax, at an address associated with a religious group called Lighthouse Ministries.
David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS).
On this edition of the NB Update, we look at some of the challenges facing local journalism.
That was the focus of the Local News Matters symposium, a one-day event that took place recently at Mount Allison University in Sackville.
Data from the past 15 years shows that communities across Canada are losing their local journalism outlets faster than new ones are starting up, especially in poorer and smaller communities.
"At least 239 communities have experienced net losses, so more have closed than opened, and only 76 places across the country have experienced a net gain," said April Lindgren, a professor in the school of journalism at Toronto Metropolitan University, during her keynote address.
She added that in places where local outlets continue to operate, cutbacks are causing newsrooms to shrink. "The blight is spreading."
Massive changes that have accompanied the rise of the internet have made it harder for news outlets to stay in business while social media leaves people exposed to rumours, misinformation, and propaganda.
That's a problem, especially now that Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — has blocked people from sharing links to news websites on those platforms in Canada.
Against this grim backdrop, people at the event shared ideas about how to keep local journalism alive. The NB Media Co-op livestreamed the keynote speech and panels from the event.
This extended edition of the NB Update features highlights from the event, including perspectives from co-organizer Erica Butler, news director at CHMA; journalist Bruce Wark of the Wark Times; Ariana Hislop and Jaya Condran, editors from Mount Allison's student newspaper, The Argosy; and student journalist Aiden Rayner of the Saint Croix Courier.
The NB Update is a collaboration between the NB Media Co-op and CHCO TV.
This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS).
wtf New Brunswick?? Tracy Glynn - No One Is Illegal needs to be 're-educated' on why her work is destructive and why ultimately she is a globalist useful idiot in the trafficking of humans into Canada.. article from the NB Media Co-Op minions.. and David Coon, Green Party leader must be voted out for his part in this 'movement' as well.. and any other politicians promoting such work.
Climate Change Mafia "Green" leader in NB provincial politics David Coon was seen in Sackville NB with Megan Mitton MLA this past year celebrating himself and the party - reported by Bruce Wark, Warktimes.com of course... at this link:
