"We're the only country in the western world that does not have a national housing policy," she said, accusing the Liberals of ignoring social issues during the deficit-cutting days of the 1990s and the Conservatives of being equally disinterested. "We have to get the federal government back into housing."

[Marcelle Marion] said the Liberals of the 1990s had no choice but to focus on deficit-reduction and heaped the blame on the Mulroney Conservatives. But Marion and [Judy Wasylycia-Leis] actually agree on what's important to residents of Winnipeg North. After housing, federal immigration policy is a top concern, as more than a quarter of the riding's residents were born outside of Canada, according to Statistics Canada.

"The writing on the wall is pretty clear," said housing expert Jino Distasio, director of the University of Winnipeg's Institute of Urban Studies. "What federal minister has promoted the need for social housing in this country? It hasn't happened."