44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 13, 2022 10:00AM
- May/13/22 11:24:51 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I first want to correct my colleague's comment that I am responsible for the first nations. I serve the first nations.
In reply to the question, the member opposite is quite right. It is unfair that communities that were previously in rural areas but now are not because of urban sprawl are penalized because of prices linked to postal codes.
Let us hope that Canada Post, which is an independent agency, will rectify the situation. I have been speaking to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement about this and will continue to do so.
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- May/13/22 11:25:22 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister refuses to close Roxham Road on the pretext that that is not the solution because irregular migrants “will cross elsewhere”.
Yes, they will cross elsewhere. They will cross at the border crossings. That is what they did before the safe third country agreement. If the Prime Minister suspends the agreement, something he can do unilaterally, migrants can cross at any border crossing in Canada rather than coming in through the woods. It is simple, safe and humane.
When will the federal government suspend the agreement and close Roxham Road?
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- May/13/22 11:26:04 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our system for refugees must be robust and humane.
There is no magic solution. Asking to close Roxham Road is not a realistic solution. It will only shift the problem to another location. Suspending the agreement will have the completely opposite effect.
What we need to do is modernize the safe third country agreement, and that is what we are doing by working with the United States on a sustainable solution.
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- May/13/22 11:26:27 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is exactly the problem.
The border is long and people can cross wherever they want to, even though they should be going through official border crossings. If we suspended the safe third country agreement, migrants would be redirected to the 117 border crossings across Canada, instead of converging to cross at Roxham Road, as 92% of them are doing.
The number of irregular crossings is expected to rise significantly on the weekend, so the minister cannot stand by. He can immediately suspend the agreement and shut down Roxham Road.
Will he finally do something?
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- May/13/22 11:27:06 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government has been consistent in its commitment to the most vulnerable people in the world.
We continue to work closely with Quebec to comply with our national and international refugee obligations, while still protecting the health and safety of Canadians.
We are aware that the number of crossings has increased since COVID‑19 restrictions have been relaxed, and we are working closely with the Canada Border Services Agency to keep our borders safe and secure.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, after five years of my community demanding that the federal government transfer Ojibway Shores from the Windsor Port Authority to Parks Canada, it finally acknowledged that it could do this the right way. We all know this was in anticipation of the vote on my private member's bill to establish Ojibway National Urban Park, which the City of Windsor and Caldwell First Nation support and want to take place.
Will the government finally do what the residents of Windsor, the environmental community and the indigenous community have asked, and protect endangered species and this rare ecosystem by voting for my bill? This is one thing the government can do immediately that would make a difference for climate change and for Canada.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member for posing that question, which is extremely important. Obviously, everything we can do to take action on climate change and to work with the member on this important issue, we will. Absolutely, we will move forward with looking at this national park.
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- May/13/22 11:28:57 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, every day, 20 Canadians die from toxic drug poisoning. Every day, 20 families get this devastating news. Last May, Health Canada's Expert Task Force on Substance Use published its report, which clearly stated that criminalizing people who use drugs is causing harm and needs to end. The government has ignored its own experts now for over a year, while thousands of Canadians have died.
My question is simple. How many Canadians need to die before the government will listen to its own experts and support a health-based approach to substance use?
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- May/13/22 11:29:36 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his ongoing advocacy on this and for the conversation that has been raised with his private member's bill. This is all very important conversation in this country. We recognize that problematic substance use is a health issue, and we too want to move it from the criminal justice system to the health system. We are doing everything we can to invest in safe consumption sites, safer supply and all of the alternatives that will eventually stop this terrible tragedy in Canada.
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- May/13/22 11:30:15 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals make big promises on housing affordability, but the changes in their budget law on GST for assignment of sale make a terrible situation even worse. The GST is already charged by the builder of a duplex or fourplex, but under these changes, if the purchaser of the units then sells one to a family, that family must pay the GST to the government again.
Can the tax-and-spend Prime Minister please explain to the House how taxing families more and raising the cost of housing help anyone but him?
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- May/13/22 11:30:53 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member's question gives me an opportunity to again talk about our housing measures, which his party has voted against several times.
In budget 2022, we have a lot of measures to help access a new house and build more affordable housing. I hope this time around members will support the measures this government is presenting.
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- May/13/22 11:31:21 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, they are raising the cost of housing and the member has nothing to say about that. I guess the truth hurts.
Let me say that what is truly cruel, though, is when the Liberals propose a shiny, new first-time homebuyer savings account and young families with dreams of home ownership actually believe them. What they do not say is that it will take five years to max it out at $40,000, if they have the money to save. Even then, they must qualify under the Liberal stress test.
What will the Minister of Housing do when those few but earnest millennials open up the account, save $40,000 and then are bounced by the stress test? Will he at least send them a “we are sorry” card?
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- May/13/22 11:32:04 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
I myself have children who are millennials. I myself am having these discussions with my children about buying their first home.
The Conservatives only ever talk about buying a first property. Yes, that is important. However, they never talk about social housing. They never talk about affordability.
Ensuring that people can buy a house must not be our only focus. We also need to respect renters' rights to have a decent place to live. We need housing, not just home ownership.
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- May/13/22 11:32:38 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we absolutely are talking about affordability, and I will tell the member that the average home price in the GTA reached $1.25 million last month. That means an average homebuyer needs to have an income of $223,000 just to afford one of those houses. Families do not make that kind of money.
Is the minister proud of creating a class of permanent renters because of the government’s lack of action on the housing affordability that the member is talking about?
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- May/13/22 11:33:12 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.
That is precisely why we need to work not only on home ownership, but also on buyers' rights. Considering the issue of renovictions and units that are unaffordable, we need to ensure not only that people can buy a home, but also that people can rent affordably across the country.
That is exactly what we put in our budget: concrete measures to help every Canadian have a roof over their head.
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- May/13/22 11:33:42 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister is living in fantasyland. I will repeat this. An average house in the GTA is $1.25 million. The minimum required down payment for that house is $250,000. What is the average income for an average family in the GTA? It was almost $94,000 the last time we checked.
When will the minister join us in the real world instead of fantasyland and admit that under the government's leadership, we are in a housing crisis?
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- May/13/22 11:34:16 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my colleague for her question.
I live in Canada, not in fantasyland. What I can tell her is that we need to work not only on access to home ownership and increasing the number of housing units, but also on buyers' rights and unfair practices in the real estate market.
The national housing strategies operate on several levels. I hope the Conservative Party will vote with us for once.
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- May/13/22 11:34:48 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Housing continues to insist that his programs are keeping up with rising home prices, but in Kelowna—Lake Country, in just the first two months of this year, the average price of a single-family home increased by $92,500. That is more than $10,000 a week. I was speaking to a 15-year-old from my riding who said the dream of home ownership is only a dream.
Will the minister finally admit that his failing housing policies are absolutely not working?
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- May/13/22 11:35:28 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Again, it gives me the opportunity to name a few of the measures in budget 2022, namely, the bill to implement an annual tax on the value of non-resident, non-Canadian-owned residential real estate. We also announced a two-year ban on on foreign investment in real estate.
We need to do something about access to home ownership. We need to make sure that every Canadian is able to buy a home, if they so desire, and more importantly, that every Canadian has a roof over their head.
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- May/13/22 11:36:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the cities in metro Vancouver need 25,000 new houses every year just to keep up with population growth projections, but we are building only 20,000 new homes. This supply and demand imbalance is hurting a lot of Canadian families that just want a safe home and financial security.
Clearly, the government's housing policies over the last six years have not been working. Why should Canadians have any confidence in its newest set of promises?
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