44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 21, 2023 02:00PM
- Jun/21/23 2:44:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, here is a real plan to make housing affordable: Balance the budget to bring down inflation and interest rates on Canadians' mortgages; require that cities increase the number of permitted homes by 15% in order to get more infrastructure money and pay the money out once the houses are completed and the keys are in doors; require every federally funded transit station to have high-density housing all around it; and sell off 6,000 underutilized federal buildings to convert them into affordable housing and use the proceeds to reduce the deficit.
How is that for a plan?
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- Jun/21/23 2:45:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many of the elements in his supposed plan are things that we are already very much working on. The one place we disagree is his proposal to cut programs, to cut supports to low-income Canadians and to cut supports like the housing benefit that he not only voted against but delayed passage of in the House, when we were offering a $500 top-up to low-income Canadians. He has consistently stood against those kinds of supports and investments in Canadians, offering instead cuts and austerity at a time when Canadians need continued support.
On fiscal responsibility, we are still at the top of the class in the G7.
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- Jun/21/23 2:54:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our hearts are with survivors and families of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people. Addressing this ongoing violence requires living up to our goals as a country and all the calls for justice. We are taking a whole-of-government approach, including $125 million to implement the national action plan for MMIWG, the appointment of a special rep to consult on the creation of an indigenous and human rights ombudsperson, and $4 billion to support indigenous housing needs. We are also working to implement a red dress alert.
We agree that there is always more to do, but we are taking this seriously and working in partnership with indigenous peoples right across the country.
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- Jun/21/23 3:38:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think I have intercepted what looks like the Liberals' plan to balance the budget, and I would like to table this document with the House today.
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- Jun/21/23 5:35:40 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the Conservative leader for his speech and for introducing this motion. The Bloc Québécois is in favour of tabling a plan to return to a balanced budget. I think that the least a government can do is to state its intentions.
I agree that the government or the Liberal Party may be spending too much money, but above all, I think that the money is being spent unwisely. It cannot expect to magically balance the books. To do that, it will need a better way to spend and invest, and the Bloc Québécois has some suggestions to make.
For example, we want to support seniors to stop their purchasing power from eroding. We want to ensure that health transfers are in line with what the provinces are asking for. We want a real plan for social and affordable housing and an EI system that works. Does the Leader of the Opposition support these measures?
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- Jun/21/23 7:54:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as the official opposition, we have been very clear about what Conservatives would do. The priorities of the Conservative plan are to make Canada work for the people who work. We want to see powerful paycheques with lower taxes so that hard work pays off again. We want to bring home lower prices by ending inflationary carbon tax 1, carbon tax 2 and deficit spending that drives up inflation and interest rates.
We want to bring in homes people can afford by removing government gatekeepers to free up land and speed up building permits. I know that only Conservatives can bring home a country that works for people who work and is a place for people to invest in.
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- Jun/21/23 8:39:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am going to make a few suggestions to my colleague.
When he was finishing his speech, he said that he only had one minute left and that he wanted to speak about revenues. The Conservatives talk about returning to balanced budgets, which is the right thing to do, but I would like to know how they will do that. Their speeches indicate that they want to embrace austerity. I have a few suggestions for my colleague that will not require austerity and will generate a lot of revenue. For example, funding and the extension of Trans Mountain could stop immediately. More than $30 billion has been spent on that project. We could also fight tax havens. To govern is to plan and anticipate.
It is right and conscientious to have a plan to return to balanced budgets. However, will that happen? How will we achieve balanced budgets?
What does my colleague think of my two suggestions?
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- Jun/21/23 9:24:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that seemed like a very well-reasoned, well thought-out speech. However, the motion that we are debating right now has a question, and the question is whether or not the government should be called upon to table a plan to return to balanced budgets.
I wonder if the member would agree that governments, no matter what their political stripe, should strive to at least create a plan to have balanced budgets?
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