44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 2, 2023 10:00AM
- May/2/23 11:17:02 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would ask my colleague to tell Canadians and particularly our friends on the other side about the important projects that this government has achieved for Canadians, particularly with day care, helping the middle class, fighting climate change, infrastructure projects and helping refugees. Those are things that Canadians must know this government has done for Canadians in general.
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- May/2/23 12:53:59 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I would like to ask about affordability, which the member started talking about but did not really discuss in the rest of her intervention.
The NDP feels that there needs to be assurances that projects are meeting the core housing needs of Canadians. Does the member agree that infrastructure funding should be tied to specific affordability criteria?
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- May/2/23 1:20:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her very important question.
We need to build houses and get them completed.
What I will say to the hon. member's question is that the $4-billion accelerator fund will help municipalities. Municipalities can submit their applications now. One can go to the CMHC website, I believe. It is from coast to coast to coast, to help them put in place the infrastructure so that we can build housing faster here in Canada and meet the needs that Canadians have for housing, whether it is a condo, townhouse or detached house, here in this beautiful country.
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- May/2/23 2:19:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, well, I have fantastic news for Durham Region to share today: 104 new electric buses and charging infrastructure, 8,000 tonnes of carbon emissions reduced per year and $74 million in federal support. That is $12 million in funding through the Canada community building fund and $62 million in financing through the Canada Infrastructure Bank.
This large investment in zero-emission buses will dramatically improve the public transit system that connects our region, making it easier to get around while improving air quality and helping fight climate change.
It is innovative federal financing like this that helps regional governments like Durham Region afford the needed updates to our public transit infrastructure. Unlike the Conservatives, our government invests in communities and infrastructure, demonstrating concrete action for a greener and more sustainable future.
It is a great day for Durham Region.
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- May/2/23 4:53:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Conservatives keep going back to punishing municipalities that do not build affordable housing and taking away their infrastructure. How can they build more housing if they do not have money for the infrastructure from the federal government, as a partner in it? They are defeating the very purpose of what they are trying to do.
I came from the municipal level before I got here, and the municipality has to be involved in any home-building projects in a community, whether it is issuing permits or making sure they are inspected properly for the Canadian building code. We cannot eliminate the so-called gatekeepers that they keep referring to as municipalities. They have to be a part of it. They have to be a part of this equation.
Again, punishing them and taking away infrastructure defeats the purpose of trying to get more housing built in any community.
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- May/2/23 4:56:15 p.m.
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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—
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- May/2/23 5:09:17 p.m.
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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.
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