44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 17, 2023 11:00AM
- Apr/17/23 12:10:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we spent two weeks in our ridings, and now we are back in the House for a long stretch together. When I met with the people of Laurentides—Labelle, I saw that they are worried about access to affordable housing. I would like to hear my colleague's views on that because, in my riding at least, people have been talking about the housing crisis for years. For more than 10 years, community organizations have been predicting what would happen. The Quebec organization FRAPRU has been saying the same thing. I do not know if the situation is the same in my colleague's riding, but I would like to know what he thinks of what is in the budget for housing.
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- Apr/17/23 12:11:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for raising the issue of the housing crisis. Certainly, the people in Elmwood—Transcona are feeling the squeeze in housing, as are people across the country from coast to coast to coast. The feeling is different depending on where one is. The problems manifest in different ways, but there is no question that people across the country are feeling those pressures. That is why it was a very specific focus for me in the budget speech to talk about the housing crisis.
Recently, I was attacked in the National Post for some of the comments I made in this place. I will wear it as a badge of honour, considering some of the positions that paper wants to take on a number of issues, let alone on housing. What I found curious about the criticism was that it said I was misrepresenting the housing crisis in order to defend the Liberals, which could not be further from the truth.
My point was that the Liberals and the Conservatives have far more in common on housing policy than anybody else does. Why is this the case? It is because they fundamentally accept that housing is a commodity and that profit should be the ultimate focus of housing policy. That has been true in this country for over 30 years now since the Liberals originally cut the national housing strategy in 1993. That was my point.
We are not going to get past the housing crisis or get to a point where we finally feel we are making progress if we do not centre housing as a public good in our housing policy, instead of a commodity. My opinion is that as long as we have Liberals and Conservatives running the country, we are not going to get to that point.
Ultimately, they are very concerned about protecting profit-making in the housing industry and reluctant to accept the idea that housing is a public good or human right. While they may want to do that rhetorically, in their policy, they still do not do it. That is why a lot of housing policy is not working, even though the Liberals have done more in the housing policy space than any government since 1993. There is a reason it is not working.
What is capitalism? It is a small number of people owning the means of production and everyone else being exploited. What is happening in our housing market is that a smaller and smaller group of people own the housing, and everyone else is being exploited. Unless we can be critical of capitalism as a model, we are not actually going to fix housing policy in Canada. That was my point, and they are birds of a feather when it comes to that.
I am sorry the National Post column did not get the point originally. I hope it is much clearer now, and I am thankful for the opportunity to make that clarification.
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- Apr/17/23 12:13:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I always have a bit of a chuckle when I listen to Conservatives talk about removing the gatekeepers. My community of Langford is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in all of Canada. All around Langford, there are construction cranes and new housing projects going up. Despite that, the costs continue to rise for the average family. I will ask the member to cite that as an example, which I am sure is replicated in many cities across Canada.
There is a lot of construction going on, but it is not really the right kind. We need to make sure we are addressing the needs of Canadian families that cannot afford to buy in the market.
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- Apr/17/23 12:14:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the point I take my colleague to be making there is that if we judge the success of housing policy by how much money developers are making, that is not the same as Canadians getting access to housing they can afford to live in. We need to drop this metric as the principal metric and adopt Canadians actually getting into housing they can afford.
One thing I have not had much of a chance to talk about that I want to mention briefly is employment insurance. When interest rates go up and for-profit building stops, people get laid off. Right now, they do not have an employment insurance system that they can count on to support their mortgage payments, rent or groceries for their families. That is why the Liberals had better act with a sense of urgency that we have not seen.
A major disappointment with this budget is that the Liberals continue to promise employment insurance reform, but it is not coming. They warn of a recession. That is coming; it is why we need the EI system to be fully reformed, and we need it now.
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- Apr/17/23 12:43:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have to speak to the missing part of the budget, which is any real investment in housing. In a release today, the National Housing Council is saying that the national housing strategy is not working.
We are seeing very little investment in housing in the budget. Could the member speak to why?
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- Apr/17/23 12:43:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the area I represent is home to the largest number of housing builders in the province of Ontario. I have met with several of them over the last two weeks, whether it was for coffee or lunch, to discuss the state of the housing market, whether it is mid-, low- or high-rises. The two unions representing those that build all this housing in Ontario both have their homes, headquarters and training centres in my riding, so I am very attuned to what is happening to the state of the Ontario housing market.
For that matter, I will say that, within the budget, we did launch the $4-billion accelerator fund. I know municipalities are quite excited and are putting together their applications to ensure we can get housing built faster, so we can ensure Canadians have affordable places to call home. I know full well what the cost of housing is now in the area I represent, and we need to ensure we increase supply. That is critical to solving the affordability crisis in housing.
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- Apr/17/23 12:44:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, respectfully, that answer is insufficient. The housing accelerator fund was announced last year. We are in a housing crisis. We need federal investments every single year.
What is the member going to do to ensure the federal government steps up when it comes to the housing crisis?
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- Apr/17/23 12:45:12 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as I stated earlier, I am very attuned to what is going on in the housing market in Ontario. In the region I represent, there are literally dozens of projects going on. There are nearly 20,000 units currently under construction in the Vaughan metropolitan centre. In the other parts of the City of Vaughan, whether they are for mid-, low- or high-rise, there are applications that have been submitted.
Our target in the city of Vaughan, I believe, is 42,000 units. I think we have over 60,000 or 80,000 units with applications being considered. I take no lessons from any member, including the member over there, on the state of the housing market here in Ontario or the region I represent.
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- Apr/17/23 1:12:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the answer is relatively simple. Canadians are all struggling to find a home to rent or buy. There is absolutely nothing in the budget to ensure a future for Canadians who need housing. It is going to be very expensive. Over the past eight years of Liberal rule, the cost of housing has doubled and almost tripled. The cost of home ownership has truly outstripped the incomes of most Canadians. It is truly shameful that this government is letting Canadians sleep in the streets.
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- Apr/17/23 1:15:54 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Milton.
I am proud to rise in the House of Commons today to speak on budget 2023, our government's plan to build a stronger, more sustainable and more secure Canadian economy for everyone.
Budget 2023 is a made-in-Canada plan that builds a stronger middle class, an affordable economy and a healthy future from coast to coast to coast. Canadians have demonstrated their strength and resilience over the last few years as global economies have moved towards recovering from the COVID recession. In Canada, we have seen 830,000 more Canadians employed than before the pandemic, unemployment near a record low and a record 85.7% labour force participation rate for Canadian women, which has been supported by our Canada-wide system of affordable early learning and child care.
In budget 2023, our government is responding to global economic challenges by delivering new targeted inflation relief to the Canadians who need it most, strengthening our universal public health care system, rolling out a new Canadian dental care plan for millions of Canadians and making transformative investments to build Canada's clean economy and create good middle-class jobs across Canada.
We understand and recognize the importance of investing in affordable housing, which is why our government is committed to ensuring that every Canadian has a safe and affordable place to call home. I have met with my constituents in Surrey Centre, who expressed their concerns with the rising costs of housing and the barriers to being a first-time homeowner. To confront these barriers our government has announced significant investments and support for the reallocation of funding, which will amplify the construction of new affordable homes for the Canadians who need it most. To support our communities' most vulnerable and those experiencing homelessness, budget 2023 will deliver over $500 million to achieve our goal of ending chronic homelessness through Reaching Home, Canada's homelessness strategy.
In budget 2022, our government committed to introducing a tax-free first home savings account; the implementation of this plan would provide prospective first-time home buyers the ability to save $40,000 with the benefit of a tax deductible. Budget 2023 has delivered on this commitment, and we are happy to announce that as of April 1, financial institutions are now able to start offering the tax-free first home savings account to Canadians. In fact, I was in the elevator today, and I saw the first ads going up for this first-time home savings account for Canadians.
In addition to affordable housing, the rising costs at the grocery store have affected many Canadians. The increased prices on essential goods have caused many to go without. Budget 2023 is committed to providing new, targeted inflation relief to the Canadians experiencing food insecurity. Budget 2023 proposes to introduce a one-time grocery rebate, providing $2.5 billion in targeted inflation relief for 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and families. The grocery rebate will provide eligible couples with two children with up to an extra $467, single Canadians without children with up to $234 and seniors with up to $225.
COVID-19 created and exacerbated challenges for Canada's health care system. We recognize that many Canadians do not have a family doctor and that health care workers are still recovering from their tireless efforts during the pandemic. We recognize how crucial our universal health care system is for the well-being of Canadians and the importance of supporting provinces and territories in delivering better health care results, regardless of where people live.
Budget 2023 delivers the government's plan to provide an additional $198.3 billion over 10 years, including $46.2 billion in new funding for provinces and territories. We believe that all Canadians deserve access to health care services. However, we recognize that many rural and remote communities lack access to primary health care because of a shortage of health professionals. Our government addressed this shortage in budget 2022, announcing a 50% increase to the maximum amount of forgivable Canada student loans for doctors and nurses working in underserved rural or remote communities. This year, our government has proposed $45.9 million over four years, with $11.7 million ongoing to expand this program to more rural communities. Our government is committed to retaining doctors from coast to coast to coast so that every Canadian has access to primary health care.
In 2021, it was my personal promise to the people of Surrey Centre that I would advocate and push to have a Simon Fraser University primary care medical school for Surrey, for the purposes of primary care, rural medicine and indigenous care. I am proud to say that it is moving ahead, with the provincial government already committing $6 million. It is expected to open and take in its first students in 2026, and in short order after that, have a full school thereafter.
An important component of our health is access to dental care. However, many children go without these critical services because of the cost. The Canada dental benefit is now providing eligible parents with direct, upfront, tax-free payments to cover the costs of dental care for their children under the age of 12. To date, our government has supported more than 240,000 children across Canada, who are now able to go to the dentist.
In budget 2023, we plan to expand this program to children 18 and under, seniors 65 and older and those suffering with disabilities. We plan to deliver a transformative investment of $13 billion over five years and provide $4.4 billion ongoing to implement the Canadian dental care plan. This plan would provide dental coverage for uninsured Canadians with an annual family income of less than $90,000.
Immigration has historically reunited families and contributed to the Canadian economy, and it continues to do so. The global pandemic changed how we could process immigration requests. Canadians and newcomers were forced to experience unacceptable wait times. To address this, our government has adopted new technologies, streamlined processing and made significant new investments, including $135 million in 2022-23 to address immigration application backlogs.
In doing so, 5.2 million applications for permanent residence, temporary residence and citizenship were processed in 2022. Our government committed to implementing these new technologies to move more key services online, including confirmation of permanent residence status, introducing online citizenship testing and ceremonies.
Our government recognizes that the cost of living has affected all Canadians and that students pursuing an education need support. Budget 2023 proposes to enhance student financial assistance starting August 1, 2023. This proposal includes increasing Canada student grants by 40%, which could provide up to $4,200 for full-time students; raising the interest-free Canada student loan limit; and waiving the requirement for mature students to undergo credit screening in order to qualify for federal student loans.
Budget 2023 would make life more affordable, provide improved health care services for all Canadians from coast to coast to coast, provide targeted funding for students and workers, and encourage investments in the green energy economy.
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- Apr/17/23 1:28:05 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member for Surrey Centre spoke about the first home savings account. It is expected to cost at least $1.4 billion a year, but it is disproportionately going to go to higher-income Canadians, families that, for example, have the means to gift their kids or grandkids a $40,000 tax-deductible, tax-sheltered nest egg.
I wonder if the member could comment on his interest in potentially working to improve what is being proposed right now or to redirect those funds to what we do need: investments to build the non-market affordable housing that would help address the housing crisis we are in.
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- Apr/17/23 1:28:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have a national housing strategy with $86 billion over 10 years committed to it, which is not a small feat. These are additions to the strategy to expand it. We began by helping those who are homeless and those who need an extra hand. The residential construction financing initiative helps exactly those people in non-market housing to get more affordable housing. There has been $26 billion, if not more, injected into that, with $10 billion in the last fall economic statement. We are working in all facets of it.
The first home savings account is one tool, but not an exclusive one, in the tool chest. We will look at other ways to modernize it and perfect it so that it helps all families.
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- Apr/17/23 2:15:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in my riding of North Island—Powell River, every community I serve is in desperate need of housing. The top three reasons for housing insecurity are a lack of affordable rents or mortgages, low wages and housing in major need of repair with no resources to fix it. Indigenous people are four times as likely to be unhoused.
People with core housing needs in my riding are single-income families; those who live on a fixed income, such as seniors and persons living with disabilities; lone-parent households; and indigenous households. This issue requires a real partner in the federal government, and our region is simply not seeing that.
My constituents have ideas, such as redesigning the reaching home program's rural and remote funding stream. My communities have sent meaningful and thoughtful feedback. I urge the government to listen to it; prioritize rural, remote and indigenous communities; define affordability based on local realities, not market values; invest in non-market housing; and make capital investments into the upkeep of aging properties to keep people housed.
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- Apr/17/23 2:46:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I just got back from a two-week cross-country tour, hearing from Canadians who are struggling to find a home that they can afford in the city where they can work and raise a family. From Victoria to Toronto to Hamilton to Halifax, renters and people who want to own their own home are having to compete with corporate landlords, who buy up affordable housing stock and drive up the cost of housing. Successive Liberals and Conservatives have failed to crack down on these corporate landlords, who are fuelling the housing crisis; families are paying the price.
When are the Liberals going to stop the profiteering off housing so that families can find a home they can afford?
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- Apr/17/23 2:47:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not think my time for the answer is actually enough to articulate all of the things we have done. We have done so much to enable families to access homes: introducing the Canada housing benefit; putting together a 1% tax on vacant homes owned by non-Canadian and non-resident owners; putting together a ban on foreign owners of Canadian residential real estate; investing billions of dollars to build more affordable housing, including deeply affordable housing through the rapid housing initiative; and so on and so forth. We will not relent until each and every Canadian has access to a safe and affordable place to call home.
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- Apr/17/23 4:16:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I listened carefully to my colleague's speech, and I commend him.
We have a very serious situation right now, and that is the housing crisis. It is indisputable. The entire country is being impacted. Where I live, in the Lower St. Lawrence, in the riding of Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, the vacancy rate in the city of Rimouski is 0.4%. This is a serious situation. There is not enough housing for people of all ages and all financial levels. In the key sector of health care, we are unable to bring in workers to take care of people, and this government's latest budget completely ignores the housing issue.
There are investments for indigenous housing, but there is nothing, zero dollars, to create new housing for people who really need it.
I would like to hear exactly what my colleague thinks about that.
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- Apr/17/23 4:45:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on her enjoyable speech. We see that she is very passionate about the Canadian Armed Forces and their importance. I share her desire to support our veterans, especially the members of the armed forces who protect and serve us every day.
There were some things missing from the last budget. The omissions were rather striking. We are currently experiencing a housing crisis. There is a crisis going on across Canada and Quebec, affecting a number of regions, including my own, the Lower St. Lawrence. It is undeniable. There is also another crisis, the labour shortage. My colleague briefly touched on it when she was talking about the need for the Canadian Armed Forces to attract and retain service members. There is nothing in the budget, no key measures. The Bloc Québécois has proposed several, including tax incentives to allow experienced workers to work a few hours or days a week. There are other measures that could give some breathing room to people who want to join the workforce to help our business owners.
I would like my colleague to share her point of view on the complete absence of measures to deal with—
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- Apr/17/23 5:30:05 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I wanted to pick up on the issue of housing because back in the nineties, there was a big push from all political parties inside the chamber that the federal government not play a role in national housing. I was an MLA at the time, and I believed that that was wrong. We would have to go back generations to see a federal government like the one we have today, playing such a strong leadership role on housing, including the first-ever national strategy on housing.
The federal government needs to play a strong role, but we also need to see the municipalities in particular, as well as the provinces and other stakeholders, step up and play a very important role so that Canadians can get that affordable housing. Could my colleague provide his thoughts about this?
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- Apr/17/23 5:31:07 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague. All levels of government have a responsibility when it comes to housing. That is true. However, the federal government has fallen behind. It is appalling. Nothing has been done for years, and now we have a lot of catching up to do.
As far as Quebec is concerned, it is a shame that it took three years of negotiations between Ottawa and Quebec to finally get the money out the door and see projects get off the ground. We are very behind.
In Montreal alone, there are 24,000 people on a waiting list for social housing. Social housing is the best way to lift people out of poverty and give them a real hand up. The federal government is still not doing enough.
While it is true that a housing strategy has been put in place, it has not been improved and it is not meeting the real needs of people in the community. We want to see the federal government investing more heavily in social housing.
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- Apr/17/23 6:18:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the point is about investing in health care and not believing that this is going to help seniors. I cannot imagine anyone truly believing that that would be the case when we are investing $198 billion over 10 years in health care.
I used to be the health care critic in the province of Manitoba at the Manitoba legislature. I can assure the member across the way who just stood up on the point of order that a good portion of our health care services are there to support our seniors. Obviously they support everyone, but I can tell members that our seniors truly value and appreciate the health care system we have in Canada and would appreciate and value a federal government that makes, as we have, a 10-year commitment of $198 billion over the next 10 years.
We have a government that has recognized, in many ways, the benefits that can support Canadians in other areas. We hear a lot about housing. Going back to the days when I was an MLA, at one time every political party inside the House, all of them, including the New Democrats, opposed the federal government playing a role in housing. That was in the early nineties.
Mr. Alexandre Boulerice: Not us.
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: Yes, everyone, Madam Speaker.
I can tell members that for the first time, we have a Prime Minister with a government that not only talks about the importance of housing in Canada, but is invested in housing like no government in the history of the country. We have the first-ever housing strategy. We are investing literally hundreds of millions of dollars in housing every year. We are supporting tens of thousands of non-profit housing units throughout the country so that there is housing for seniors, people with disabilities and people of low incomes.
We have supported organizations like Habitat for Humanity to ensure there are opportunities for people who could never own a home to own a home. We are supporting the expansion of housing co-operatives. We are putting limits on foreign investments. We believe that houses are there to be lived in, that they should not be used as an investment tool by foreigners. There is also the rapid housing initiative.
Time and time again, the Minister of Housing is up during question period reminding members the degree to which we are investing in housing. If we take a look at it, not only have we demonstrated that we have a role to play in housing, but we have put the challenge out to other stakeholders and levels of government to jump on board and take the types of actions that ensure housing is more affordable.
Within this budget, we created the first-time homeowner accounts. We want municipalities in particular to be there, because they really do play an important role in this. We want provinces and other stakeholders to come to the table and address the needs of housing.
The federal government is there, but the federal government cannot do it alone, and we have recognized that. We have done more than any other government. We would have to go back generations on the housing file. We will continue to be there.
We talk about the issue of accountability. It is interesting that the Conservatives, as I mentioned at the beginning, like to focus on personal attacks. This budget is a true reflection of what Canadian expectations are of the government.
Just last week, I had the Prime Minister of Canada on McPhillips Street, at the Manitoba Building Trades Institute, where he had a town hall. There were union members and others who showed up, unscripted, to ask questions of the Prime Minister to deal with issues surrounding the budget and other issues, and what the Prime Minister did in Winnipeg, he has done in other jurisdictions.
We have a Minister of Finance who consistently is reaching out and listening to stakeholders. We have members of Parliament in the caucus who are consistently reaching out to their constituents and reflecting what they are hearing, whether it is on this budget or legislative measures we are taking. This is a budget for all Canadians, and it is a reflection, in terms of what we are hearing. I believe it has Canada on the right track, and the stats will clearly demonstrate that, whether it is with jobs, social services or having the backs of Canadians.
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