SoVote

May/2/23 4:54:03 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, as I mentioned in my remarks, I had the opportunity to join the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association last week and was able to connect with all nine mayors from my riding. I can say that they were incredibly enthusiastic about the approach that we are bringing forward because they know we need to get more development moving forward. What I see here is an opportunity to work with the municipalities and the provincial government to ensure that we can get housing permits sped up and free up more land for development. I certainly disagree with the framing of the question by the member opposite.

106 words

Mr. Jean-Denis Garon (Mirabel, BQ)

May/2/23 4:54:47 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, my esteemed colleague from Kenora must know that on April 24, 2023, his colleague from Beauce said in this House, “It has been clear from the start that this government does not trust the provincial and territorial governments to implement the programs themselves and that the ‘Ottawa knows best’ approach is the only way to manage these projects. If only the government had more faith in the provinces and, especially, more respect for their jurisdictions, it might be surprised to see what can be done without Ottawa getting involved.” Given that my colleague has just supported a motion that dictates conditions to municipalities and provinces and proposes to interfere directly in provincial jurisdictions, does he think that his colleague from Beauce might also be uncomfortable voting for the Conservative motion?

137 words

Ottawa

Mr. Eric Melillo

May/2/23 4:55:31 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, we need an all-hands-on-deck approach in addressing the housing crisis. I certainly see a federal role to play in terms of what I laid out, which is in our motion today, but we also have to work with the municipalities and the provinces as well. We probably could have had a 50- or 60-page opposition motion, given the extent of the housing crisis. There is a lot of work that we can do, and I would like to work with my colleague and with the provinces moving forward.

94 words

Mr. Taylor Bachrach (Skeena—Bulkley Valley, NDP)

May/2/23 4:56:15 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, as someone who also comes from the municipal sector, like my friend across the way, one clause stood out to me, around clawing back infrastructure dollars from municipalities that delay housing construction. It feels like something that perhaps makes for good politics, but poor policy. Of course, not every housing development is created equal and municipal governments are tasked with deliberating on very complex issues, whether they are environmental, infrastructure or social issues. When it comes to implementing this statement around clawing back money from municipalities that impose delays, how does he foresee the federal government defining delays in a way that is fair to municipalities of different sizes and that accounts for the fact that many housing developments are quite complex? We could create, in this case, a bit of the opposite effect to what we are trying to do. If we are clawing back the infrastructure dollars that are needed to fund the infrastructure that then empowers and creates the housing developments that are so needed, how do we avoid those unintended consequences of—

179 words

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/2/23 4:57:32 p.m.
Watch

The hon. member for Kenora.

5 words

Kenora

Mr. Eric Melillo

May/2/23 4:57:36 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, as I said to my Liberal colleague when he asked his question, I do think this is an opportunity to work with our municipalities. Members of parties opposite like to flash their municipal credentials. Of course, the member for Parry Sound—Muskoka, who brought forward the motion today, is a former mayor himself and understands these issues quite well, as do the nine mayors in my riding with whom I had a chance to connect last week. None of the mayors I have been talking to in my riding are concerned about our policy moving forward because they know we need to get things built. They want to move forward and are looking for the federal government to get out of the way and let that happen.

130 words

Mr. Vance Badawey (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services, Lib.)

May/2/23 4:58:23 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-47 Bill C-46

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Châteauguay—Lacolle. I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to today's debate. I will preface my comments by saying that, based on a former intervention, I will be concentrating on what was mentioned earlier by the member opposite: equity and the opportunities to provide for affordability through the investments that the government is currently making. At the end of March, our government released budget 2023. Our made-in-Canada plan for a strong middle class, an affordable economy and a healthy future was paramount to the remarks made by the Minister of Finance. It comes at an important moment for our country, concentrating on the business of government versus the business of politics. I am proud to say that it makes investments, for example in public health care, and provides new measures to make life more affordable for Canadians. It makes investments to offset the cost of living and in many other areas, making life more affordable. In Canada, inflation is coming down, having declined for nine months in a row, and the Bank of Canada predicts that it will drop to just 2.5% by the end of this year. However, we all know that it is still too high, and it is still making it difficult for many Canadians to make ends meet, put food on the table, put gas in the tank and ensure that their little ones have the luxuries that we had when we were growing up. Groceries are more expensive today and, for many people, higher prices on other essential goods are causing undue stress. Therefore, it is relevant that this government is making investments to offset that affordability crisis. That is why, once again, in budget 2023, we announced new, targeted inflation relief for the most vulnerable Canadians to help support them with the cost of living. This includes the introduction of a one-time grocery rebate, providing $2.5 billion to target inflation. This is relief for 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and their families. The grocery rebate will provide eligible couples with two children with up to an extra $467, single Canadians without children with up to an extra $234, and seniors with an extra $225 on average. The grocery rebate is making great legislative progress as we speak. I am glad to report that Bill C-46 passed the House at all stages on April 19 and is now being considered by the Senate. This means we are closer to being able to deliver this much-needed support and affordability for Canadians. A couple of weeks ago, our government introduced Bill C-47, the budget implementation act. This essential piece of legislation proposes to implement many of the government's key commitments in the budget, including those that will continue to make life more affordable for Canadians. For example, we are cracking down on predatory lending. Predatory lenders can take advantage of some of the most vulnerable people throughout our communities, including low-income Canadians, newcomers and seniors, often by offering very high-interest-rate loans. With budget 2023 and Bill C-47, our government is taking this challenge very seriously. Another step our government is taking to support low-income Canadians is through automatic tax filing to ensure that—

558 words

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/2/23 5:03:07 p.m.
Watch

I have to interrupt the hon. member. We have a point of order from the hon. member for Cariboo—Prince George.

22 words

Mr. Todd Doherty

May/2/23 5:03:11 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I respect my hon. colleague greatly, as he knows, but I have to challenge the relevance. He has gone on now for almost five minutes and has not mentioned housing once.

33 words

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

May/2/23 5:03:22 p.m.
Watch

The hon. member does know that we have quite a leeway, so I would invite the parliamentary secretary to eventually get us to the motion under discussion. The parliamentary secretary.

30 words

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

May/2/23 5:03:33 p.m.
Watch

Never assume.

2 words

Assume
Never

Mr. Vance Badawey

May/2/23 5:03:33 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, as I said in my preface remarks, once again, I am concentrating on the business of government. We are talking, this evening, about home ownership and renting affordability. What I am speaking about is affordability, whereby we are making it more affordable for Canadians to deal with the market conditions that are before them when it comes to housing by investing in other areas that, in fact, will make it more affordable for them to enter into the housing and renting market. My colleague across the floor should recognize that, as I am sure he does have some business astuteness in terms of offsetting the cost of living with respect to some of the investments that the government is making.

122 words

Mr. Vance Badawey

May/2/23 5:08:18 p.m.
Watch

I know that I should never assume. I will move on. Budget 2023 also announced that the federal government will increase the number of Canadians eligible for “auto-fill my return” to two million people by 2025, almost triple the current number. We are also addressing affordability with our students, our younger generation, preparing them for the next stage in their lives and the adventures they are going to embark on, whether it be through co-ops and apprenticeships or student loans, and ensuring that they have the ability to enter the markets once they are finished with the hard work they are doing at either college or university. The Canada workers benefit, which we committed to both in the 2022 fall statement and in the 2023 budget, provides up to $714 for single workers and $1,231 for a family, split between three payments, again, allowing for the affordability in some of the challenges that people are actually recognizing with homes, with groceries, with gas, etc., once again concentrating on the business of good government versus the business of good politics. That is our priority. Regarding health care, I want to be very clear that in exchange for the new funding that we are providing the provinces, in the amount of $198.3 billion over 10 years and $46.2 billion to the provinces and territories, what this is going to do is create more affordability for Canadians when it comes to housing and home rentals, not to mention what it is going to do to provide equitable health care and ensure that the provision is given to all Canadians. I will give an example. In Niagara, this will ensure that urgent care centres in the town of Fort Erie and the city of Port Colborne stay open to provide equitable services for their residents. This will ensure, once again, keeping, maintaining and enhancing all the services that are currently provided by the urgent care centres in Port Colborne or Fort Erie, as well as the hospital in the city of Welland. This is extremely important for those communities, not only adding equitable access to health care services but also, with the investments being made by the federal government in partnership with the provincial governments, ensuring affordability so that people are receiving these services while at the same time creating equity with respect to offsetting the higher cost of living. This government is investing in Canadians, and by doing that, with the myriad of different services that we are embarking on today and well into the future, we will, in fact, offset the financial challenges that many of our neighbours and our families have to endure in the market conditions that are before us today.

458 words

Mr. Tony Baldinelli (Niagara Falls, CPC)

May/2/23 5:08:26 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his comments regarding budget 2023 and the budget implementation act. He has spoken to a lot of the issues, but has not really spoken to the issue we are dealing with today, which is housing. Perhaps he can respond to some of the issues we are bringing forward. The government's approach with its national housing strategy, this “everybody gets a pony” approach, has failed to deliver the results Canadians need, which is to get housing built. Housing prices have doubled. Monthly mortgage costs have doubled. The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Canada has more than doubled. How would the member ask his government to respond to those issues?

125 words

Mr. Vance Badawey

May/2/23 5:09:17 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I think that is a great question from my neighbour in Niagara, specifically because of some of the challenges we are enduring in the Ontario. I will give an example. At the current time, the Conservative Government of Ontario has now taken away the ability for municipalities to charge full development charges to builders to offset growth-related costs such as fire, police, community services, public health, infrastructure, roads, gutters, sidewalks and the list goes on. They are now defaulting on the property taxpayer or the water bills. To answer my colleague's question, it is incumbent upon the federal government to not only encourage, but demand that the Conservative Government of Ontario ensure those development-charged dollars go where they belong: to the property taxpayers and water/waste water ratepayers.

133 words

Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)

May/2/23 5:10:27 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, let us put aside today's Conservative motion and talk seriously about housing. One week after the budget, the National Housing Council stated that the national housing strategy is a failure, that it is not working and that in 10 years in Canada, between 2011 and 2021, a total of 550,000 affordable housing units were lost, while the strategy only produced 115,000 units. Since the Liberals have been in power and the strategy was launched, we have moved backwards. I would like to remind members that the National Housing Council was created by the federal government to provide advice on the national housing strategy. It has reported that the strategy is not working and it is a failure. One of the Bloc Québécois's recommendations, and one that has also been made by the council, is to establish an acquisition fund. As it is difficult to build quickly at this time, the government should follow the lead of British Columbia, which has created a $550-million fund to help organizations or cities to purchase private housing stock, remove it from the market and ensure that it remains affordable. That is what the National Housing Council is proposing and what we are proposing as well. Does my colleague agree that we should move quickly to do that?

224 words

Mr. Vance Badawey

May/2/23 5:11:34 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I think that is a great point and it is part of the discussion that we are having with those very partners. An example of that is the billions of dollars that we have provided in the budgets, not just budget, in the past two years. We are also working with the indigenous communities to ensure they get equitable access to that funding as well, with respect to the housing needs they have. My point is the balance that we, as a country, have to have in ensuring that we address this challenge. I think the member is correct. Moving forward, we do have to work with our partners to find different creative ways to meet this challenge because it is bigger than the country. I think we have to come to that realization and we have to find those ways to meet that challenge by working together with our partners.

153 words

Ms. Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, NDP)

May/2/23 5:12:30 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I have to say what we need is for the federal government to show the kind of leadership that is necessary. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has been calling for a national acquisition fund for a couple of years. The government has been talking about this and consulting about this. NGOs in the community have been calling for this. The NDP has been calling for this. However, it was not in budget 2023. Will he support the NDP's call for the government to charge landlords for the financialization of homes, such as real estate investment trusts, for them to pay their fair share of corporate taxes, and take those resources and invest them in an acquisition fund for non-profits?

123 words

Mr. Vance Badawey

May/2/23 5:13:28 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, once again, it is the same answer as for the question prior. This is the dialogue we are having. It is a great question. Of course, I have to confess it was a tough budget this year. The government really tried to strike that balance between fiscal responsibility, especially after what we went through the last three years with the pandemic and of course getting a handle on that, while at the same time hearing what our partners are telling us and really being a part of that dialogue. To the member, those are some of the options this government will consider moving forward.

106 words

Mrs. Brenda Shanahan (Châteauguay—Lacolle, Lib.)

May/2/23 5:14:07 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I am glad to see that, like us, our colleagues across the floor are concerned about housing affordability, but concern is not enough. Since 2015, our government has been turning our concerns into actions, producing real results for real people in this country. When we entered office, our government saw the crisis in housing affordability looming and we knew that bold action was needed. We made history in 2017 when we launched the national housing strategy, the first of its kind in this country. The strategy is a 10-year, $82-billion plan that offers grants, loans, innovation support, research funding and more. The strategy addresses the needs of people across the housing spectrum, from homelessness, to rental housing, to home ownership. It takes a human rights-based approach to housing, focusing particularly on the people who are most vulnerable to housing needs. We are halfway through the national housing strategy timeline, and we are on track. Better yet, in delivering on most of the measures, we have disbursed more than one-third of the strategy's funding. With this funding, we have achieved at least 50% of most of our targets. These results include supporting the repair of more than 298,00 units, just short of the 300,000-unit target; maintaining the affordability of 234,000 community housing units, which is 60% of the target to date; and supporting the creation of nearly 120,000 units out of a target of 160,000 units. It can be hard to comprehend such large, abstract numbers, so I am going to talk about one of those 120,000 units that were built. That unit is occupied by Bill Beaton. Bill is a Canadian Armed Forces veteran who was living on the street before being welcomed into Veterans' House, a supportive housing facility for homeless veterans in Ottawa. The 40-unit project was created through the national housing co-investment fund, one of the strategy's flagship affordable housing programs. For Bill, Veterans' House is not just a statistic. It is much more. It is a safe place to live. It is stability. It is a home that he would not be able to afford otherwise. His story is similar to those of many thousands of people across Canada who have a place to live thanks to the national housing strategy. It is the story of people who were given a helping hand to access housing that they can afford and that meets their needs. The situation has changed drastically since the Government of Canada launched the national housing strategy in 2017. Since then, we have been dealing with the pandemic, global inflation, supply chain disruptions and a war in Europe, among other things. During that time, our government, through the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, updated, improved and expanded the strategy's programs. We did so in response to the changing situation and the input of our partners. We recognize that housing is a shared responsibility and that the federal government will not meet its ambitious housing objectives alone. For example, we have simplified processes that were found to be too cumbersome and bureaucratic, cutting processing times in half. We have made changes to better meet the needs of the not-for-profit housing sector. This includes a special stream of the national housing co-investment fund that turns approvals and agreements around in as little as four weeks. That feedback on turnaround times led to a new program, the rapid housing initiative, a program that is very important to the riding of Châteauguay—Lacolle. It was designed to build homes more quickly for people who need them most and has consistently exceeded its targets. We have since extended it twice, helping even more people. One of the things we have heard from our partners is that the cost and availability of land is a persistent barrier to building new homes, and so in 2019, we launched a direct solution: the federal lands initiative, a streamlined process to make surplus federal property available for use in building affordable housing. This 10-year, $200-million program is supporting the transfer of federal property to eligible proponents at discounted rates or no cost. So far, we have committed $118 million of that budget and nearly reached the target of 4,000 new affordable housing units. Still, we must do more. The magnitude of Canada's housing challenges is bigger than any one program can address. The national housing strategy and its programs are supporting action, inspiring innovation and providing a platform for the public, private and non-profit sectors to come together. It is through collaboration that we would build a better and fairer housing system. I am not standing here today just to talk about these programs and their success; I am here to make a request. I ask each and every member in this House to work with their constituents to help connect them to the programs and funding available. The national housing strategy approaches housing affordability from every angle that would have an impact. We believe there is something in there to meet every type of housing need. Every community can benefit from the provisions of the strategy, and together we can ensure that everyone in Canada has a place to call home.

889 words

SoVote

House Hansard - 189