44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 2, 2021 10:00AM
- Dec/2/21 1:12:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague's question is a good one, and indeed we are here talking about innovative solutions for fighting climate change.
I am very heartened that in the past week in particular, in the face of the horrible disasters that have occurred in British Columbia, I have heard more about climate change from the Conservatives than I think any of us ever have. I applaud the member for standing up for the energy industry in his riding and across Western Canada, because it is important. A just transition is very important too.
I heat my home with natural gas. I drive a vehicle, albeit a hybrid. I recognize the importance and value of the energy sector in Canada. I also recognize that as we move forward we should and will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
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- Dec/2/21 1:12:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are currently seeing several crises in Canada. Not only is there the health crisis, the climate crisis, and, in Quebec, the language crisis, but there is also the housing crisis. My colleague spoke about that earlier.
In Montreal, for example, taking into account all of the federal programs to house the most vulnerable people in Canada, this creates housing that costs $2,200. I have no idea who can afford to spend $2,200 on housing.
That said, the government did one good thing in the last few years. It launched the rapid housing initiative, or RHI, a program to build social housing for the most vulnerable members of society.
It is a very good program, but the problem is that it is grossly underfunded. It was allocated $1 billion, but it received $4 billion worth of project applications. I know that Mr. Hussen, the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, wanted to put money back into the program.
If my colleague is interested in housing, will he commit to lobbying the Liberal caucus to ensure that the RHI is better funded in the future?
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- Dec/2/21 1:13:50 p.m.
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I want to remind the member not to refer to ministers by name.
The hon. member for Milton.
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- Dec/2/21 1:14:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I want him to know that I share his concerns about affordable housing in Canada.
I can assure the member that I have been pressuring our government to ensure we have co-op housing, non-profit housing and logement social, as another colleague from the Bloc corrected me earlier to inform me of the correct terminology used in Quebec. This is one of the reasons I got involved in politics.
As I said, I am a proud co-op kid, and I know that building endless single-family homes does not provide affordable housing for families. Co-op housing, non-profit housing, rent-to-own solutions and programs with rent geared to income will make sure that every Canadian can afford a safe and secure place to live.
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- Dec/2/21 1:15:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member on his maiden speech. He talked a lot about co-op housing and calls himself a co-op housing kid. I am delighted to hear that.
The situation with housing is this. The CMHC used to deliver co-op and social housing and was really good at it, but this was gutted because in 1993 the federal Liberal government cancelled the national affordable housing program. As a result, we have not built housing the way we used to. In fact, Canada lost more than half a million units of affordable housing that otherwise might have been built had the program not been cancelled.
Will the member advocate for the Liberal government to restore in the budget the necessary money and capacity for the CMHC to build the housing it used to, both in the co-op sector and in the affordable housing sector, with subsidies and supportive services?
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- Dec/2/21 1:16:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I wish I had the time to get into this for even longer, because it is a passion of mine. I followed very closely the Vote Housing campaign during the election, and I will do my best to fulfill its six campaign requests.
I will tell members a quick story, as the member's statement today focused on the federal government. In 1993, when I was 11 years old and living in co-op housing, my mom came home from work and had lost her job. That was because the Mike Harris government of the day cancelled all provincial programs. It meant she was no longer a co-op builder and had to find a new job. Since then, she has been working as a community coordinator in the non-profit housing industry and is still the biggest expert, so I would welcome another—
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- Dec/2/21 1:16:42 p.m.
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Resuming debate, the hon. member for Lethbridge.
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- Dec/2/21 1:16:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, congratulations on your new role in the House. I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for South Shore—St. Margarets.
As this is the very first opportunity I have had to rise in the House, I would like to start off with some quick words of thanks. It is an incredibly humbling and exciting honour to stand here, to sit here and to be a representative for my constituents here. From the bottom of my heart, I wish to express just how grateful I am that my constituents have renewed their support in me.
My favourite thing about running a campaign is the amazing volunteers who come alongside to support me. I am talking about those who give their time, talent and money to invest in my success. To them I also wish to extend a very sincere thanks.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Those are the words permanently etched into the stone over the west window of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. The words are strong and they are true. Humans have this incredible ability to dream, cast vision and inspire. They should have the ability to pursue those things. The throne speech is usually the vehicle used by the prime minister to communicate and provide hope and optimism for the Canadian people. Sadly, this was not the case this time.
I was anticipating a detailed plan in four specific key areas that I believe every single federal prime minister, regardless of political stripe, should be prioritizing if they wish to lead well. Here they are: one, keep the country united; two, ensure Canadians are kept safe and secure; three, facilitate an environment of economic prosperity; and four, advance Canada's place on the world stage. To the detriment of Canadians, however, all four of these points were largely ignored in the document that was read in what I would call a monotone manner by the Governor General. Perhaps she simply read it in that tone in order to match the lackluster content that was within.
Before the budget was tabled, my constituents shared with me that they were hoping to see a real plan to reopen the economy and restore hope and confidence in our future as a great country. Those who are unemployed were hoping to see a plan that created new jobs and opportunities for wealth creation. Those in the oil and gas sector were hoping to see support for this world-class industry. Those in the agriculture sector were hoping to see a little something for them. A nod of appreciation would have gone a long way, but there was nothing. Local businesses that are on the verge of permanently closing their doors were hoping for a carefully thought-out plan, not for more handouts, to get back to normal. Sadly, they had no luck.
The government cannot replace a healthy economy. No matter how hard it tries, government spending will never outperform or do greater good—
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- Dec/2/21 1:20:02 p.m.
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We have a point or order from the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands.
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- Dec/2/21 1:20:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I apologize to my hon. friend from Lethbridge, but I think she may be—
An hon. member: Oh, oh!
Ms. Elizabeth May: Excuse me. I am being heckled while I try to read a standing order that she is violating.
Standing Order 18 says, “No member shall speak disrespectfully of the Sovereign, nor of any of the royal family, nor of the Governor General”. I think that is particularly the case when we have our first indigenous Governor General. I found the words offensive, but that does not really matter. It is a violation of Standing Order 18.
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- Dec/2/21 1:20:40 p.m.
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I will ask the member for Lethbridge to retract the comment and find a different line on it.
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- Dec/2/21 1:20:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I apologize that the Prime Minister provided her with such a horrendous speech to read.
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- Dec/2/21 1:21:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, you have ruled that the comment the member made was out of order. The member should unreservedly apologize without trying to provide some kind of caveat. Her remarks were offensive to the Crown and the Crown's representative in this place. She needs to apologize for that.
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- Dec/2/21 1:21:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the point of order that was brought up by the member from the Green Party indicated there was an attack on the sovereign. There was no apology requested and she did not have to make an apology. She changed her statement, indicating that it had no reflection on the person making the speech. It was a reflection on the speech that was provided. The words the member said were about the speech, not the person who presented it.
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- Dec/2/21 1:22:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on the same point of order. It is important that we recognize that you made a ruling. Your interpretation, after consulting with the Clerk, was that the member did in fact violate one of our Standing Orders, and it is fairly clear that what the member was reflecting on was the manner in which the Governor General delivered her speech.
Thousands of Canadians would disagree with, and be offended by, the member's remarks. We ask her to withdraw those remarks without any qualifications whatsoever, to apologize and then continue on. That would be my recommendation: that she listen to what the Speaker ruled. She was out of order.
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- Dec/2/21 1:22:54 p.m.
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I know we were going to make another attempt here to maybe retract those words and find a more appropriate version that was not taking an attack on, of course, our Sovereign's representative here in Canada, and to try to get on with the speech.
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- Dec/2/21 1:23:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my words were not an attack on the Sovereign. They were an attack on the tone that the speech was delivered in and its content, which was lacklustre in nature.
However, for the sake of the House and those across the floor who wish to control and manipulate in this place, I retract my words.
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- Dec/2/21 1:23:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, you have ruled on this as the Chair who is presiding over this chamber right now. If the member is not going to accept your ruling, it is your duty to remove her from the chamber.
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- Dec/2/21 1:23:55 p.m.
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Order. I accept that the member has retracted it. Let us just continue on so we can get to question period.
The hon. member for Lethbridge.
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- Dec/2/21 1:24:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, sadly the throne speech was about further bloating the size of government, which means Canadians would now be required to spend more of their hard-earned money on tax hikes and inflation. Let us just explore that for one moment.
In the speech, it was said the Prime Minister wants to make life more affordable for all Canadians. In fact, he is doing the exact opposite, but members do not actually need me to tell them that. No one does, because if they have shopped at a local grocery store, eaten at a restaurant, paid a home heating bill or filled their gas tank with fuel, they already know that life is getting more expensive. Why is that? The name of the bad news is inflation, and it is driven by terrible government policy.
Those who are hurt the most by the government's decision to spend money that it does not have are seniors on a fixed income, those who live with a disability and are on a small stipend, and those who live paycheque to paycheque and struggle to make ends meet.
Mr. Speaker, I am very distracted by the conversation that is taking place across the way. Perhaps that could be taken care of.
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