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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 57

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 25, 2022 11:00AM
  • Apr/25/22 2:53:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the reason they cannot handle my answer is that we called them out on their plan— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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  • Apr/25/22 2:53:31 p.m.
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The hon. Minister of Housing.
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  • Apr/25/22 2:53:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our budget contains a lot of measures to build more housing supply: 100,000 new homes through the housing accelerator fund, 6,000 more homes through new co-op buildings, 6,000 more homes through the rapid housing initiative and 20,000 more homes through the national housing co-investment fund. That is the supply we are taking about.
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  • Apr/25/22 2:54:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the housing minister is failing. The Conservatives warned that the Liberals' strategy for housing would do nothing to help housing prices, and prices doubled. We warned 30-year high inflation would trigger interest rate hikes, and we see the biggest rate increase in 20 years. We are now warning him that families are struggling to keep their homes. Will the minister admit his failure and tell us how many Canadians will lose their homes?
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  • Apr/25/22 2:54:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in budget 2022, housing measures and investments deal with precisely what the hon. member is talking about: making sure that we double the housing supply in this country. Canada has the fastest-growing population in the G7, but our housing supply has not kept up with that. We are implementing the housing accelerator fund to build 100,000 new homes. We are helping first-time homebuyers by establishing programs like the tax-free savings account so they can put $40,000 in a tax-free savings account. We are building more affordable housing and we are tackling speculation. The party opposite failed Canadians in government and it is failing them on housing now.
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  • Apr/25/22 2:55:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has tried to deny that it is planning to impose a tax on home equity, but the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has obtained documents proving that the government recently provided an additional $200,000 in research funding to Generation Squeeze, the aptly named group trying to squeeze Canadians out of their hard-earned home equity. Will the minister stop hiding, come clean and admit that they are trying to make a tax grab out of Canadians' hard-earned home equity?
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  • Apr/25/22 2:56:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again I will take this opportunity to unequivocally state that our government is not considering charging capital gains tax on primary residences. Any suggestion otherwise is false. The party opposite has repeated this misinformation and disinformation in the House and in the media. Instead of engaging in disinformation, we engaged in building more affordable homes and making more first-time homebuyers achieve their dream of home ownership.
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  • Apr/25/22 2:56:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, over the past six weeks, we have learned that the Canadian Transportation Agency determined that Flair Airlines does not meet Canadian ownership requirements. Despite that, the government has doled out not one but two grants to Flair, totalling $11.3 million. If Flair is not Canadian, the airline’s operating licence would be suspended and consumers would be left with the tab. Does the government usually provide grants to airlines that do not meet operating requirements, or will we see the minister get those tax dollars back?
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  • Apr/25/22 2:57:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the situation that my hon. colleague is talking about. I know Flair has made an application to Transport Canada and that application is being reviewed. However, I have a question for my colleague. Why is she against providing support to Canadian workers? Why is she against providing support to Canadian passengers— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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  • Apr/25/22 2:57:38 p.m.
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Order. The hon. Minister of Transport.
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  • Apr/25/22 2:57:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague needs to be honest with Canadians. Is she against subsidies for Canadian workers? Was she against providing support during the height of COVID to Canadian workers? She needs to tell Canadians where she stands on this issue.
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  • Apr/25/22 2:58:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after two months, the government has a fantastic solution to help Ukrainian refugees: Aeroplan points. The government is not talking about an airlift or about about chartering flights to go and get people. No, instead, we can donate our Aeroplan points. This means that a mother with three kids will pay $3,700 instead of $4,000 for flights, because some guy named Dave from Regina decided to donate his points. Make no mistake though; it only works with Aeroplan points, not Air Miles. Will the minister also take Canadian Tire money? Seriously now, when is he going to charter flights to go and get these families?
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  • Apr/25/22 2:58:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the sense of humour my colleague always brings to the floor of the House of Commons, and I thank him for his advocacy for chartered flights, which we have announced, by the way. It is no laughing matter that we were able to reach a partnership with Air Canada, The Shapiro Foundation and Canadians who would like to donate not just Aeroplan points, but other different kinds of loyalty points or cash. The measures we are putting in place are going to make sure that at least 10,000 Ukrainians make it safely to Canada. That is something we can be proud of. It is something that I hope the Bloc would support.
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  • Apr/25/22 2:59:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I also have some coupons for two-for-one subway sandwiches, if that helps. Seriously, the minister is taking us for fools. As of two weeks ago, we had already received 140,000 applications from Ukrainian refugees. It is going to take more than Aeroplan points to get them out of there. It is going to take chartered flights in an operation befitting a G7 country that is home to the second largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world. Enough is enough. How many more weeks will the refugees have to wait before the minister arranges an actual airlift?
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  • Apr/25/22 3:00:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while the hon. member is busy collecting Subway coupons and writing jokes at the table, we are busy bringing Ukrainians to Canada. There are 16,000 Ukrainians who made it to Canada already this year. In the first few weeks, since we introduced a new program, almost 60,000 more have been approved. We are starting to see flights come. We have set up reception at the airports in Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Quebec and Montreal. We are working with settlement agencies, more than 550 organizations right across Canada. Every step of the way, we advance new measures to get people here. This latest measure, which the member is poking fun at, will see at least 10,000 people get here cost-free. That is the right thing to do and he should be proud of it.
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  • Apr/25/22 3:00:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadian farmers are drowning as costs on feed, fuel and fertilizer skyrocket, but instead of resolving the problems that its own bad policies actually caused, the Liberal government is doubling down. It has increased the carbon tax, it is telling farmers that it will not process their income tax returns and it has hiked fertilizer prices. For weeks we have been asking the Liberals if they will exempt the 35% tariff on fertilizer purchased from Russia before March 2. There is no answer. In a time of a global food crisis, helping Canadian farmers seems like the right decision. Why will the Liberals not make it?
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  • Apr/25/22 3:01:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can assure my colleague that we are working closely with the industry. We want to make sure that farmers can access all the inputs they need to have a good season because we know we have a responsibility to contribute to food security not only in Canada, but around the world, and we will do so. We are here to support our farmers and we have improved the advance payment program to do so.
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  • Apr/25/22 3:01:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, farmers need the certainty of knowing what the government is doing, especially since they have started their spring seeding. First, the Liberals hinted at restricting fertilizer use. Now they are implementing a 35% retroactive tariff on fertilizer imports from Russia. We are living in a disrupted world for food supply and trade, and there is no plan offering Canadian farmers stability. We are close to a global food crisis and the minister is forcing farmers to grow less and taxing them out of existence. Will the minister remove the tariff on fertilizer purchased before March 2?
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  • Apr/25/22 3:02:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, I would like to assure my colleague that we are working very closely with all sectors of the agriculture industry and that we are here to support them. We just enhanced the advance payment program to ensure that farmers have the cash they need to have a good season. If my colleague wants to help us ensure that our farmers get their pollution credits, he should vote in favour of Bill C-8 as soon as possible.
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  • Apr/25/22 3:02:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, in response to my question about the 35% tariffs on fertilizer from Russia, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food assured me that she and her government would continue to allow foreign ships to arrive in Canada. She also noted that she had made changes to the advance payments program, which only adds to farmers' debt levels because of these tariffs. My real question remains: Will the minister suspend the 35% tariffs on orders placed before March 2?
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