44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 18, 2023 11:00AM
- Sep/18/23 2:18:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this summer, all members of the House have been inundated by messages from Canadians: Atlantic Canadians, Nova Scotians and, to me, most particularly, residents of the counties of Cumberland—Colchester in Nova Scotia who are in dire straits because of the punishing carbon tax. After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, it is clear that Canadians can no longer afford to feed themselves, house themselves and, if they are lucky enough to have a dwelling, to heat it.
The number of calls, emails and letters with respect to the inability to afford to live is staggering. As a family physician for 26 years, I have never seen or heard of this amount of desperation in the lives of Canadians. The Liberal Prime Minister is asking more from Canadians than they can afford to pay. The Liberal Prime minister is not worth the cost. It is time to axe the carbon tax.
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- Sep/18/23 2:19:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this summer was an incredibly challenging time for the Northwest Territories. Across our region, wildfires threatened the safety of our communities, with about 70% of NWTers being evacuated, including in the city of Yellowknife. The people of Hay River and Kʼatlodeeche First Nation, who were hit by a flood last year, had to leave their homes twice this summer. The hamlet of Enterprise was 90% destroyed.
Words cannot express how grateful northerners are to the communities that opened their doors to the evacuees, and to the firefighters and emergency workers who put their lives on the line to keep us safe.
As we move forward, it is critical that all levels of government continue to work together to ensure that residents and small businesses will recover and that we can rebuild a healthier and safer future for NWTers.
The climate crisis is here, and the time to act is now.
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- Sep/18/23 2:21:48 p.m.
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I have the honour to inform the House that the Clerk of the House has received from the Chief Electoral Officer a certificate of the election and return of Mr. Ben Carr, member for the electoral district of Winnipeg South Centre.
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- Sep/18/23 2:22:22 p.m.
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I have the honour to inform the House that the Clerk of the House has received from the Chief Electoral Officer a certificate of the election and return of Ms. Gainey, member for the electoral district of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount.
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- Sep/18/23 2:23:16 p.m.
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I have the honour to inform the House that the Clerk of the House has received from the Chief Electoral Officer a certificate of the election and return of Mr. Khanna, member for the electoral district of Oxford.
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- Sep/18/23 2:25:06 p.m.
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I have the honour to inform the House that the Clerk of the House has received from the Chief Electoral Officer a certificate of the election and return of Mr. Leslie, member for the electoral district of Portage—Lisgar.
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- Sep/18/23 2:26:24 p.m.
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I have the honour to inform the House that the Clerk of the House has received from the Chief Electoral Officer a certificate of the election and return of Mr. Majumdar, member for the electoral district of Calgary Heritage.
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- Sep/18/23 2:28:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after the summer the Liberals have had, even the Prime Minister must admit that he is not worth the cost.
Eight years after he promised to make housing more affordable, he doubled the cost. Then he said that housing was not his job, panicked when he plummeted in the polls, and recycled promises that he had broken more than six years earlier.
It took the Prime Minister eight years to cause this housing hell. How long will it take him to fix it?
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- Sep/18/23 2:29:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know that Canadians across the country are feeling the effects of increased prices, particularly for groceries and housing.
That is why we are taking immediate action to build more apartment buildings by removing the GST on construction work, to support small businesses by extending their loan repayment deadlines and to invite the sector CEOs to a meeting today to make sure that they lower grocery prices.
Our priority is to build an economy that is focused on the well-being of all Canadians. That is what we are going to do every day in the House and in the government.
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- Sep/18/23 2:29:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is no well-being for people living in tents.
After eight years under this Prime Minister, the cost of housing has doubled. Interest rates are rising faster than at any other time in our country's economic history. Even former Liberal finance minister John Manley said that the Prime Minister's inflationary deficits are behind the rising interest rates, which are preventing people from building and buying homes.
Will the Prime Minister finally get rid of the inflationary deficits that are causing interest rates to go up and keep his promise to balance the budget?
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- Sep/18/23 2:30:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, actions speak louder than words and we are taking action. We are building thousands of housing units in London and cutting red tape. We are encouraging cities like Calgary to present even more ambitious proposals and we are making sure that affordable apartments are built across the country by cutting the GST on construction.
If the CEOs of the big grocery chains do not make groceries more affordable then we will.
Those are the measures Canadians are looking for and that is what we are doing to build an economy that works for everyone.
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- Sep/18/23 2:31:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after the summer the Liberals have had, even the Prime Minister must admit that he is not worth the cost. Eight years after he promised to make housing more affordable, he doubled the cost: doubled the rent, doubled mortgage payments and doubled the needed down payment. Then he said that housing is not his job. Then he panicked when he plummeted in the polls, and he recycled promises he had broken six years earlier.
It took him eight years to cause this housing hell. How long will it take to fix it?
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- Sep/18/23 2:31:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we said we would work with municipalities to get housing built faster. That is exactly what we are doing right across the country, including, for example, with the city of London, where we have gotten a deal done that fast-tracks the creation of over 2,000 additional housing units over the next three years and builds thousands more in the years to come. We are doing this by cutting red tape, fixing outdated zoning policies and building more homes faster. This is our first deal but, I promise, not the last.
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- Sep/18/23 2:32:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, he is building bureaucracy, not building homes. In fact, his inflationary deficits drive up interest rates, according to former Liberal finance minister John Manley. That ensures that it is harder not only to buy homes but also to build them.
Today we got the devastating news that not only are we not increasing home building, but also home building was down in August, 18 months after the Prime Minister's accelerator was brought into place.
When will he realize that he is not worth the cost, get out of the way and build homes, not bureaucracy?
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- Sep/18/23 2:32:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the opposition leader's bickering will not help get houses built. Our plan does. The Minister of Housing wrote to the mayor of Calgary, offering to partner with the city if it made necessary changes for more affordable housing. Just this Saturday, the City of Calgary approved a plan for reducing zoning red tape and building housing by public transit. This is a step in the right direction. We know that together we can build more apartments for students to rent and more homes for families to grow in.
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- Sep/18/23 2:33:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all he has delivered is an economy that built fewer homes last year than were built in 1972. This year, housing construction is expected to drop further, by 32%. Data from August showed that home building was down again. His inflationary deficits drive up interest rates, which makes it harder for builders to finance their construction and harder for Canadians to afford a mortgage.
Will he finally do what he promised to do eight years ago, and that is to balance the budget to bring down interest rates and inflation?
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- Sep/18/23 2:34:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will focus on delivering real results while the leader opposite is focused on empty slogans and picking fights. In fact, when he was in charge of housing, he bungled projects like the Toronto Line 1 extension, which to this day has no housing near a number of its stations. In contrast, we are actually linking public transit dollars to apartments and housing density, and we are doing so without the Conservative plan to restrict access to abortion, to deny the impact of climate change and to put more assault weapons on our streets.
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- Sep/18/23 2:35:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the midst of a housing crisis, Quebeckers want elected officials to find solutions. So far, elected officials in Ottawa have not found solutions; they have found scapegoats. They blame Quebec's cities for Ottawa's failures.
In a surprise move, the municipalities pointed out that the federal government is withholding $900 million earmarked for housing in the midst of a housing crisis. Ottawa has been depriving Quebec of $900 million in housing for the past six months.
Now is not the time for squabbling; now is the time for construction projects. It is time to be responsible. Will the government release our $900 million immediately?
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- Sep/18/23 2:36:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are here to build more housing, in partnership with the provinces and municipalities.
That is why we implemented a $4‑billion plan to speed up densification, improve zoning and help municipalities build more housing more quickly. We also eliminated the GST on the construction of new housing buildings because we know that we need to increase supply.
We will continue to be there to work hand in hand with the provinces and municipalities. We will fight this housing crisis by working together.
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- Sep/18/23 2:36:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if housing is a priority for the Liberals, they should free up the $900 million that is rightfully ours to build housing. It cannot get much simpler than that.
However, the Liberals are doing the opposite. They are withholding the $900 million for housing. What message does that send to Quebeckers who are struggling to find decent housing? It says that they not the government's priority. They come second to jurisdictional squabbles. It is irresponsible. It is not what Quebeckers expect from the federal government.
When is the government going to pay out the $900 million for housing?
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