44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 26, 2022 10:00AM
- Apr/26/22 10:52:38 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am extremely pleased to rise today to take part in this discussion, this very important debate. I applaud the excellent speech given by the previous speaker, my colleague from Vancouver Kingsway. She did a great job presenting the progressive and humanistic vision of concrete gains that the NDP wants to achieve for people, including citizens, tenants, seniors, those who are struggling, and the less fortunate.
While it is not perfect, the budget does have some good points, and I will talk about them. The NDP managed to get some of the things we wanted, but not all of them, and we will continue to work on those.
This also stems from the fact that Quebeckers and Canadians voted in another minority government in Ottawa, with roughly the same proportion of members for each party as before. Voters told us to work together and come up with solutions, much like Jack Layton told us back in the day. In fact, our campaign slogan in Quebec in 2011 was about working together, so we in the NDP have used our strength, the fact that we hold the balance of power, to negotiate with this minority government in order to make gains and progress.
I too will come back to the very real gain of having a dental care program. It is a major breakthrough. At the NDP we have always been very proud of being the force behind our universal and free public health care system. The system still needs to be improved, of course, and we obviously agree that transfers to the provinces need to be enhanced.
The system presents us with an absurd situation where some parts of the body are insured by the public plan but others are not. For example, my heart is insured, my lungs are insured, but my teeth and my eyes are not. It is as though the human body is a puzzle and some pieces are insured but others are not. Dental care, for example, is a major piece.
During the last election campaign, when I was door‑knocking and talking to the people of Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, Montreal and Quebec in general, people were very pleased with and receptive to the NDP's proposal to provide accessible dental care free of charge to people who earn less than $90,000 a year.
I believe that this budget sets out a clear game plan. Beginning this year, children under 12 will be eligible for free dental care. Beginning next year, teens, seniors aged 65 and over and people living with disabilities will be eligible. In the third year of the plan, all households, families and individuals earning less than $90,000 a year will be eligible. Fully one-third of Canadians will have access to dental care, whereas currently they do not.
We know that this has a considerable impact on people's lives, and especially on their wallets, because dental care is very expensive. If people have to pay out of pocket and cannot do so, they will not go to the dentist for cleaning or care, even though they should.
I believe that this has an impact on one's self-esteem, personal life and professional life, when it comes to choosing a career. The quality of dental health care is a question of social class, and I am very proud that the NDP, the opposition party, was able to get dental care into the budget. This will deliver tangible results for people.
This is not about creating a federal program with federal dental clinics and federal dentists. This is about instituting an insurance plan that will cover the bills for people eligible for this program. The bills will be paid by the government so that people do not have to pay out of pocket, which will help families in Quebec and all across Canada save thousands of dollars a year.
I am also very pleased to see a game plan for pharmacare. The first steps of the Hoskins report will be implemented through a bill slated to be introduced next year. This will be an important step forward.
We pay far too much for medications, which hurts workers, businesses and the government. A public, universal pharmacare program that is, of course, negotiated with the provinces, would represent a breakthrough that would help everyone. Quebec civil society, the Union des consommateurs du Québec, the FTQ, the CSN and the CSQ have all called for such a program.
The NDP believes that this can be done while giving Quebec the right to opt out with full compensation. However, we believe that this program would have so many benefits that it would ultimately be worthwhile for everyone, for both workers and employers.
The cost of supplementary health insurance is staggering. It has been skyrocketing for years. There are workers who must sign up for these supplementary insurance plans through their job. For example, I have met people who work part time in grocery stores in Montreal, and 25% of their salary is used to pay for these company insurance plans, the supplemental insurance packages. A universal public pharmacare program could represent a nearly 25% increase in salary for people who work part time, particularly in grocery stores.
Another major gain we won in this budget was redefining the term “affordable housing”. Under the Liberals, affordable housing in Montreal could cost $2,225 a month according to CMHC rules. This is completely absurd and out of touch with reality. We negotiated a review of this definition so that it would not exceed 80% of the average price of housing in a municipality. For Montrealers, that means $730 a month for affordable housing. That is quite a difference. We have just lowered the price of an affordable unit in CMHC projects by about $1,500, but we are also increasing the percentage of mandatory affordable housing units in projects from 20% to 40%. I am particularly proud of that. Home ownership and being able to pay the rent is a big concern for people. Again, in the last election, people often talked to us about health care and housing. For years, there has been a serious housing crisis in Montreal and in Quebec in general. We should be proud of this win.
One area in which the budget does not pass muster is the environment and the climate crisis. We would have liked to see much more ambition and action from the Liberal government. It is cutting one small oil subsidy, but it is creating a sizable new one with the tax credit for carbon capture, which is an inefficient technology. It is a kind of high-tech magic wand that will not appreciably reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. The Liberals' failure to deliver meaningful results in this area is appalling. Their greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan is just not good enough right now. They talked about targeting 40% to 45% reductions, but that does not meet the IPCC target of at least 50%, which is what the NDP campaigned on. Within that 40% to 45% range, they are aiming for the low end, the 40%. For the oil sector, the goal is 31%. Essentially, the government is giving the oil sector a gift when it is one of the industries, together with transportation, that should be working harder.
Recently I was amazed to learn that Canada's greenhouse gas emissions had gone down for the first time since the Liberals have been in power, but that was for 2020. In 2020, the economy was on pause because of the global pandemic. They celebrated that decline even though they had nothing to do with it and the economy was basically a standstill. There were no trucks or cars in the street, no transportation, no manufacturing. That is not how we are going to meet our international obligations and provide a brighter and more reassuring future for our children and grandchildren. We are not going to get there with decisions like the one on the Bay du Nord project, which, fortunately, is not in the budget. It is a ministerial order. A decision like the one on the Bay du Nord development project is not going to take us in the right direction because we are once again going to increase oil production in Canada through a totally irresponsible project. Yes, we are aware that extracting oil in this way is less polluting than the oil sands, but production in the oil sands has not decreased either. That oil produces 85% of its pollution when it is burned, when it is consumed. That means that if it is consumed abroad because we exported it, it is not counted as part of our record, which is completely unrealistic, anti‑scientific and hypocritical. It should be factored into our record because we are the ones who decided to extract it.
We are extremely disappointed in the climate and environmental measures in the Liberal budget. We managed to make some progress for Canadians, but we will continue to work hard on other issues, including the environment.
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- Apr/26/22 11:02:29 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to ask the member if he has had any opportunity or taken advantage of an opportunity to travel to Saskatchewan, to Estevan, and hear directly from those who have done an amazing job of creating carbon capture and storage in our province.
Also, does he see any value in the fact that coal mines are being developed all over the world that need our technology, and that perhaps that would be an amazing way for us to make a difference to the global climate?
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- Apr/26/22 11:03:04 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.
I did indeed have the opportunity to go to Saskatchewan. I did not meet with the workers she talked about, but I met many workers who were concerned about their future and who wanted to continue to have a good job to pay for their home and their children's education.
That is why a just transition is so important for the NDP. I think that technologies like carbon capture put the problem off until later and are not very effective. We need an energy transition that gives these families and workers a chance to retrain so that they can continue to work with dignity using clean, renewable energy. I think Saskatchewan has incredible potential that is just waiting to be developed.
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- Apr/26/22 11:03:58 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Canada Infrastructure Bank provides opportunities for capital investments, and one of the significant aspects of capital investments is to have a green transition. A good example of that is in Brampton, where zero-emission buses will be put in place as a direct result of agreements between the City of Brampton and the Canada Infrastructure Bank. I am wondering if my colleague could provide his thoughts on the potential positive role the Canada Infrastructure Bank could have in investing in green transition.
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- Apr/26/22 11:04:41 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
The NDP calls the Canada Infrastructure Bank the privatization bank, because it is governed by a market-based logic in which investors get guaranteed profits and returns. As a result, projects are selected mainly based on returns, not public usefulness.
That is what the NDP has a problem with. We would like to see the Canada Infrastructure Bank become a real public bank that serves the public interest, not a bank that gives guaranteed returns to private investors. If the bank is operating from a perspective of guaranteed returns, then the choices that are made will not necessarily be good for the energy transition or the well-being of the population in general. They will only be good for shareholders.
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- Apr/26/22 11:05:38 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, there are two things in life: pretty words and concrete action. In his speech, the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie denounced the government's climate inaction. Yesterday, however, we voted on a subamendment that called for concrete action.
In his speech, my colleague said that the NDP had achieved significant results for seniors, yet old age pensions are still not being increased at age 65.
We proposed this in the subamendment we voted on yesterday. We also proposed increasing health transfers to Quebec, which the member claims to agree with most of the time, but of course we wanted concrete action.
Now we get a speech from the NDP suggesting that they are the good guys, that they have an alliance, and that they are happy to be achieving results. The fact is, however, that his party voted against Quebeckers and against seniors yesterday.
I wonder if he could explain why the NDP voted as it did. Indeed, if we are talking about the balance of power, a tremendous opportunity was missed yesterday.
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- Apr/26/22 11:06:33 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to answer my colleague's question. I am very proud to have achieved real results for Quebeckers.
We won on dental care for the poorest people and for the middle class. We have achieved results for tenants who are struggling and for Quebeckers having a hard time paying their rent. We have achieved results for workers who pay too much for their prescription drugs. We have achieved results for much fairer taxation. Dental care is important for seniors.
I can list everything the NDP has achieved. What has the Bloc Québécois ever achieved?
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- Apr/26/22 11:07:10 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I was originally planning to speak for 20 minutes, but I then heard that the member for Richmond Hill had some very important stuff to contribute to the debate, so I will be sharing my time with the member for Richmond Hill today. I look forward to his speech.
I will start by saying that I am very happy that the government was able to come to a supply and confidence agreement with the NDP for the next few budgets that will be introduced in the House. I think that it is good to have the ability to to work together with other political parties on the important issues of Canadians.
I say that because quite often what we hear, and the engagement in the House that comes from across the way, is just opportunity after opportunity to be overly critical and hyperpartisan, and to point fingers at individual personalities and people, rather than try to advance the objectives of Canadians. We have seen the supply and confidence agreement come to fruition.
Members from across the way in the Conservative Party are already heckling me over this, and I cannot help but remember earlier in the debate when the member for Miramichi—Grand Lake was so critical of this supply and confidence agreement. He said, and I will paraphrase because I do not have the direct quote, that Canadians did not vote for this, that they did not vote for an NDP and Liberal agreement like this and that they did not want any part of that. He was extremely critical of it.
However, do members want to hear something? In probably the most ironic twist of fate, with hypocrisy spewing out of this place with that comment, that very member, the member for Miramichi—Grand Lake, was a member of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.
When they did not form a government in 2018, that member and his colleagues chose to enter into a supply and confidence agreement with, get this, the right-wing populist People's Alliance party. For 18 months, that member was in a supply and confidence agreement, provincially, in New Brunswick, yet he had the gall and the audacity to stand up in the House and insist that Canadians did not vote for the agreement the NDP and the Liberals have come together on.
I think the hypocrisy that comes from across the way is just absolutely remarkable, and we see it time after time, yet they continue to heckle me now.
I do not want to get caught up and hung up on just talking about the member for Miramichi—Grand Lake, but the good news is that I will also be talking about New Brunswick in my speech, because he referenced the fact that New Brunswick does not have a lot of charging stations.
Well, I have good news for him on environmental vehicles. The good news is that the government is investing $1.7 billion over 5 years to extend the incentivizing of zero-emission vehicles until March of 2025—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Apr/26/22 11:10:41 a.m.
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Order.
There is a lot of heckling going on from the opposition. I would just ask them to hold onto their thoughts, or write them down if they are afraid they are going to forget them, because there will be an opportunity for questions and comments, and that is the time to voice their concerns or their opinions.
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- Apr/26/22 11:11:07 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I see I have got the member for Miramichi—Grand Lake all worked up. There is no doubt, given the hypocrisy I revealed only moments ago.
Nonetheless, we are investing in those charging stations right across the country. As a matter of fact, the federal government has already contributed to over 1,500 charging stations throughout this country. Later this year, we, the Liberal Party, are having our national caucus meeting in St. Andrews by-the-Sea in New Brunswick. My wife and I will be attending the conference, and we will be driving our electric car from Kingston, Ontario, to St. Andrews by-the-Sea, New Brunswick.
I look forward to giving the member a full update on the various charging stations we stopped at along the way, including those in New Brunswick, so he can see the value in having an electric vehicle and the ability to move across the country quite freely with an electric vehicle. Later on, perhaps in the fall, I will have the opportunity to update the member on the success of our trip and whether or not my wife and I made it back in one piece.
I do want to also touch on another part, a very important part, of this budget.
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- Apr/26/22 11:12:38 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am flattered that the member's entire budget speech is about me. I love that kind of promotion, but the budget speech is supposed to be about the budget. As proud as I am to get his endorsement over and over again, which I appreciate, I really do—
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- Apr/26/22 11:12:58 a.m.
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That is a matter of debate. The hon. member knows full well that there is a lot of latitude in debate, and the hon. parliamentary secretary is speaking about what is in the budget.
There has also been some heckling and some people talking while the hon. member is delivering his speech. If members are afraid they will forget what they want to ask and are not able to write it down because they do not have paper, I am sure the pages would be happy to bring them a pad of paper and a pen to them.
The hon. parliamentary secretary.
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- Apr/26/22 11:13:30 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am wholeheartedly endorsing the province of New Brunswick. I cannot wait until over 150 Liberal MPs descend upon the member's province in less than six months from now. It will certainly be a great opportunity to visit and see the incredible things that his province has to offer, and I look forward to that. It is a bit of a stretch to suggest that I was endorsing him or his politics, as he suggested. That is certainly not the case.
I want to go back to what I was talking about with electric vehicles. It is not the first time I have spoken about them in this House, and I am very encouraged to see not only this budget contributing to electric vehicles driven for individual uses, but also the specific changes and additions to the budget that will go to medium and heavy-duty, zero-emission vehicles. This is where we have a lot of work to do.
In my opinion, in the electric vehicle market, as it relates to the smaller vehicles that individuals and families use, we have passed the tipping point. Those vehicles will be in abundance within a few short years. People will be using them throughout this country, there is no doubt about that. What we really have to focus on are the medium and heavy-duty vehicles. That is why I am very pleased to see that this budget has a specific allocation of funds toward launching new purchase initiative programs for those vehicles. In particular, there is just over half a billion dollars and $33.8 million over five years to Transport Canada specifically to work with provinces, such as New Brunswick, and territories to develop and harmonize regulations and conduct safety testing for long-haul, zero-emission vehicles.
In our economy, there are so many large vehicles that continuously move along all the major highways to move goods and services, not just within Canada, but, indeed, also with our major trading partner to the south, the United States. Putting the proper incentives in place to make sure that these vehicles can be net zero as an ultimate goal, and even achieving improved efficiency in emissions between now and then, is truly what we need to be focusing on, in my opinion.
As it relates to electric vehicles, I am very pleased to see the increases we have seen over the last number of years from this government and the investments from the federal government, despite the fact that provincial governments throughout the country are turning their backs on them. Doug Ford, three and a half years ago, was removing charging stations from GO stations, if I remember correctly. Now, as he gets ready for an election in just over a month from now, he is talking about how he is going to put new charging stations throughout the province of Ontario, as if this is not completely driven by a political agenda. Even Doug Ford, apparently, has started to understand that the future is in electricity and in making sure we electrify our grid.
We can either be on the forefront of this, as this government is attempting to do, or we can be chasing it from behind later on because we were dead set in assuming that the only form of energy comes from fossil fuels, as the Conservatives would like us to do.
I am very pleased to see the approach that this government is taking when it comes to electric vehicles, in particular. I look forward to proving to my colleague from Miramichi—Grand Lake in New Brunswick that I can drive from my city to his province and back again on electricity, and I plan to provide him with a full report on that in September of this year.
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Madam Speaker, the member talks about a political agenda. It is interesting because I have a private member's bill, Bill C-250; its second reading is tomorrow. Lo and behold, during the budget, the Liberals take my private member's bill for the second time. That has to be a political agenda. It does not even have any money involved. It should never have come into the budget bill, but there it is.
Why is my private member's bill, Bill C-250, in the budget bill? Is it because it is a political agenda by the Liberal government?
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Madam Speaker, this sounds like an argument between my three-year-old and my five-year-old. Is the member upset that the government said this is a good idea, whether it already had it on the back burner or genuinely got it from the member, as he is suggesting? Either way, why is he so upset that the government is moving forward with something he is passionate about? Is that not what this place is all about?
He talks about it being part of a political agenda. How is it an agenda to actually agree with people? If anything, it is a political agenda to stand up and say, “How dare someone take my idea. That was my idea.” What is going on here? The member is genuinely upset right now because we are moving forward with something that he cares about. That is not how this place is supposed to work.
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- Apr/26/22 11:19:44 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is amusing to hear the member for Kingston and the Islands trying to say that everyone is partisan except for himself, and that he is the only person in the House who is not partisan.
I would simply like to point out to him that all provincial premiers and all stakeholders in Quebec's health sector, including major unions and physicians' associations, and not just a specific political party, asked for an increase in the health transfer. I do not know if the member feels these stakeholders are being partisan.
The member for Kingston and the Islands is this close to following the Minister of Canadian Heritage's example and saying that we are trying to pick a fight whenever we contradict the government. I would like my colleague to explain that to me.
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- Apr/26/22 11:20:33 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I never said everybody was partisan in here. As a matter of fact, I never even brought up the Bloc in my speech. I talked about the NDP and I talked about the Conservatives. I am sorry if the Bloc is feeling a little left out right now. I will remind the member that health care transfers have been increasing over the past number of years. As a matter of fact, there was a $2-billion top-up this year in order to help with backlogged surgeries.
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- Apr/26/22 11:21:03 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, as I said in my speech, and I think my hon. colleague touched on it a bit, one of the signature pieces of this budget is the creation of a dental care program that will help six-and-a-half million Canadians get access to primary health care for their mouths. I know the Conservatives are opposing the budget and, in fact, they oppose dental care. I have not heard any positive comments from the Bloc Québécois on this.
Can my hon. colleague share with the House what he thinks of dental care and whether his constituents would benefit from having a program that would help people who make under $90,000 a year get access to dental care?
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- Apr/26/22 11:21:48 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think that dental care was the natural transition from health care. I believe we are long overdue in terms of bringing forward dental care.
I recognize this member, in particular, is very passionate about dental care. He has brought it up before. What I would say to the House is that I believe this place is about coming together and putting forward ideas on behalf of Canadians, not on behalf of who gets to take the credit for those ideas.
Certainly, as members heard in my speech, I am very passionate about electric vehicles, electrifying our fleet and anything that can relate to getting us to net zero. This member is very passionate about dental care in particular. The member from the Conservatives who asked me a question is very passionate about his private member's bill that is now apparently in this budget.
I think we should all take great satisfaction in knowing that ideas can come forward from all different parties and that we can work together on behalf of Canadians, as opposed to on behalf of trying to get political wins.
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- Apr/26/22 11:22:55 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today to speak in support of budget 2022: a plan to grow our economy and make life more affordable.
Let us talk about the budget, finally. What is this budget all about? It has become apparent that fiscal prudence and economic growth serve as two major themes throughout this plan, and there is a clear reason for that. With a prudent and responsible approach, this is a budget that acknowledges and addresses the biggest concerns for Canadians based on four pillars: housing, climate protection, affordability, and jobs and growth.
Before I get into my budget speech, I want to emphasize that the budget’s comprehensive approach to these concerns is not by accident. It is a result of numerous consultations, community feedback sessions, town halls, emails, phone calls and more. For that, I want to thank everyone who has participated in the process of developing this budget. I want to specifically extend my gratitude to my constituents in Richmond Hill, because they took the time to engage with this process by attending my five community councils or contacting my office with their concerns.
I would like to start by giving some context for the fiscal prudence of this budget.
Throughout the COVID‑19 pandemic and during the lockdowns, the economic downturns and more, our federal government quickly and effectively rolled out our major financial support programs that helped keep businesses, workers and families afloat. We have been at a 115% recovery in jobs since April 2020, over three million jobs have been created since the depths of COVID‑19, and our unemployment rate has declined to 5.3%. It is lower than it was prior to the pandemic, and lower than it has been since 1976. Our focus has been on keeping Canadians safe and financially stable, and that continues to be the case today, but we know that we need a different approach from the one that was necessary during the pandemic. In essence, budget 2022 outlines a fiscally prudent plan to reduce deficits, lower the debt-to-GDP ratio and drive toward a near-balanced budget within five years.
Now, we need to turn our attention to growing an economy that is still in recovery, but we know that we cannot strengthen our economy without first thinking about affordability. That is why this budget continues to highlight our investment in affordable child care while touching on new commitments for affordable housing and dental care.
The overarching pillars of this budget can be further broken down.
The housing measures focus on building and supply, saving, and the banning of foreign investments.
The climate pillar invests in zero-emission vehicles, clean electricity, oceans and fresh water, and clean technology.
Under the jobs and growth pillar, we are helping small businesses benefit from tax cuts, establishing the Canada growth fund, and focusing on supporting tradespeople across the country.
Lastly, affordability plays a role in all of these pillars, but its own particular investments are most explicitly seen in child care and dental care.
I am really going to hone in on housing, which is a topic I am passionate about, because I know that it will likely have the greatest direct impact on Canadians and the constituents in my riding.
Budget 2022 targets affordable housing through increasing supply and making it more obtainable for buyers, especially young and first-time homebuyers whose dream of home ownership is in jeopardy due to the continuing rise in costs.
On the supply front, we have made a commitment to doubling the number of housing units built over a 10-year period. This commitment is going to come to fruition in several ways, including with the launch of a new housing accelerator fund. The $4 billion investment for this fund will be put toward creating 100,000 new housing units over the next five years.
In order to further speed up the construction of housing, we are also investing $200 million in the affordable housing innovation fund, which will encourage new innovative building techniques in the affordable housing sector. In fact, this fund will dedicate $100 million to support not-for-profits, co-ops, developers and rent-to-own companies in building new rent-to-own units, and will turn the discussion of affordable housing into a reality for our communities.
We also recognize that increasing supply does not always work effectively unless it is accompanied by quick and timely execution. For vulnerable populations that are in urgent need of affordable housing, waiting years for the supply to increase is simply not an option. Thanks to the tireless efforts of housing support providers in my riding, such as Blue Door, Home on the Hill, Yellow Brick House, Sandgate Women’s Shelter and more, there are services in place to help address the housing needs of vulnerable groups, but we need to do more to reduce the burden on their shoulders.
That is why our government launched the rapid housing initiative with the goal of delivering affordable housing units for vulnerable people in an expedited manner. Budget 2022 highlights our $1.5-billion investment in this initiative, which will create at least 6,000 additional affordable housing units across Canada. This budget also proposes to advance $2.9 billion in funding on a cash basis under the national housing co-investment fund, which will speed up the creation of up to 4,300 new units and the repair of up to 17,800 units for the Canadians who need them most.
All of this is going to mean more generous contributions, faster approvals, and an overall quicker and more efficient process that will make affordable housing more accessible, sooner.
Now let us talk about our future homebuyers: first-time homebuyers and youth who are going to be saving up for places they call home. In my riding of Richmond Hill, the cost of owning a home is at an all-time high. First-time homebuyers in Richmond Hill are now faced with the difficult decision between staying at home in a community that they know and love and having to move further away to be able to afford a place that fits their needs.
Our federal government is aware of these issues, which is why we are proposing a series of new measures, starting with the tax-free first home savings account. Through this, we are giving prospective homebuyers under the age of 40 the ability to save up to $40,000. This could mean around $725 million in support over five years for Canadians who are trying to save their money by having it go in tax-free and come out tax-free. We are also going to be doubling the first-time homebuyers’ tax credit to $10,000, which means up to $1,500 in direct support to home buyers. This amount is not insignificant for young people: every penny towards their home matters.
Providing financial support is not the only way to address the rising costs. We need to implement preventative measures that will protect buyers and renters. Through Budget 2022’s commitment to prohibiting foreign investment in housing and the development of a homebuyers' bill of rights, we will tackle the issue of foreign commercial enterprises using homes in Canada for non-residential purposes such as parking their money, and we will also put forth a national plan to end blind bidding.
There is one more component to housing, and it is something that we see quite often in Richmond Hill. The concept of multi-generational homes is very important to my community, as families prefer to stay together and feel connected to their homes and to their relatives. This budget’s introduction of the multi-generational home renovation tax credit helps provide up to $7,500 for families hoping to construct a secondary suite in their homes for seniors or adults with disabilities. This means more money for more space, without separating families from one another.
In closing, all of these are targeted and responsible investments that align with the themes of fiscal prudence as well as economic growth, while giving more Canadians safe and affordable places to call home. This really is a responsible and responsive plan, and I hope that every member of the house joins me in supporting it, because its supports are necessary to build a more affordable and resilient Canada.
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- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
