44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 18, 2023 11:00AM
- Sep/18/23 2:54:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure that Canadians watching at home are feeling insulted by what they are hearing from that side. At a time when Canadians are hurting, at a time when this nation needs to come together to fight food price inflation and at a time when we have called CEOs to come to Ottawa with concrete solutions to stabilize prices, the Conservatives are choosing to be on the sidelines. We are acting on behalf of Canadians.
I invite every member of this House to work with us, stabilize prices and help Canadians at this time of need.
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- Sep/18/23 2:55:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all summer long we heard about how people cannot afford groceries. Prices are skyrocketing. Grocery chains are making record profits, and CEOs are cashing in big time. What did the Liberals do about it? They held a meeting. They told those CEOs to be nice or else. Or else what? What a joke.
The NDP leader is going to introduce a bill to give the Competition Bureau real teeth. It is a real, practical solution.
When will the Liberals take action to help people put food on the table?
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- Sep/18/23 2:55:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague, but maybe he missed part of the morning. That is exactly what we are doing.
Last week, we announced that we are carrying out the country's most comprehensive competition law reform to give the head of the Competition Bureau the power to compel the production of information and file court applications. Second, we want to remove the notorious efficiencies defence for mergers that are not in the interest of Canadians. Lastly, we want to tackle collaborations that stifle competition.
What we are offering Canadians is a plan for more competition, less consolidation and lower prices.
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- Sep/18/23 2:56:36 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, too many northern communities saw little to no housing projects or repairs this summer. Too many Nunavummiut are being denied their right to a home. When I visited Baker Lake this summer, I saw housing conditions well below acceptable standards. Last year, the Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated submitted a joint budget request to build more homes. They are still waiting.
When will the government invest properly in housing that will make a difference in people's lives?
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- Sep/18/23 2:57:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, housing is the number one priority in the north and in the Arctic.
In budget 2022, we moved $4 billion for distinctions-based housing, including $800 million for Inuit Nunangat. In budget 2023, we have $4 billion for northern, rural and urban housing.
We know that we are making progress, but there is a lot of work to do. We will get it done.
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- Sep/18/23 2:57:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I spoke with many residents in Brampton this summer, and I heard a lot about the need to build more homes faster in Canada. We know that increasing supply is just one of the major solutions to the housing crisis.
Can the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities tell us how removing the GST on rental construction can help drive down the cost of housing?
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- Sep/18/23 2:58:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague, the member of Parliament for Brampton South, for her advocacy for her community. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the city of Brampton, where we worked directly with the mayor and members of council in the city to uncover some of the plans that they might advance to help grow the supply of housing in their community.
One of the things we have been hearing about over the course of this summer is that we need to change the financial equation for builders to build. They are dealing with higher costs as a result of increased costs of supplies and materials, and they are operating in a higher interest rate environment. That is why I was thrilled when we were able to advance last week that we will be getting rid of the GST on apartment construction in Canada to build more homes for Canadians.
What is more, we have seen provincial governments follow suit and—
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- Sep/18/23 2:58:56 p.m.
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I am sorry, but the time is up.
The hon. member for Thornhill.
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- Sep/18/23 2:59:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister and his coalition with the NDP are not worth the cost.
Housing is worse than ever and worse than anywhere; after years of inflationary deficit, Canadians are getting crushed with housing costs. Mortgage payments are up 151%. That is more than 3,500 bucks a month. In Toronto, it used to take 25 years to pay off a mortgage; now it takes 25 years to save for a down payment.
Will the Prime Minister end the wasteful spending and eliminate the inflationary deficit so that Canadians can keep a roof over their heads?
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- Sep/18/23 2:59:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Mike Moffatt said that the housing plan announced by the Prime Minister last week is “hugely important.... This will make the numbers work.”
The governments of Ontario, B.C. and Newfoundland have already followed suit, but what do the Conservatives say about this practical plan to get more homes built? They say that we do not need more spending. How do they think we are going to get homes built in Canada? Is it by magic?
We need home builders to invest more and build faster. That is what our government is making possible. That is what is going to fix the housing challenge.
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- Sep/18/23 3:00:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us play back the tape. In 2015, the Liberal Prime Minister said that Canada needs “real change” and “affordable housing.” Eight years after he created this housing hell, he says that he is not responsible for housing.
Housing prices have doubled. Rents have doubled. Higher taxes and more government spending equals higher inflation and higher interest rates.
Canadians can see it. Why is it that the NDP-Liberal government is the only one that cannot?
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- Sep/18/23 3:01:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I find it fascinating to watch the Conservatives' line of questioning. They certainly seem to think they have the solutions to Canada's housing crisis, but when we actually look at what they are proposing, they are just tinkering around the edges with half measures that would not make a meaningful difference.
We are getting rid of the GST on apartment construction in this country, and provincial governments are following suit. We are advancing measures to change the way that cities build houses, so they build them next to transit stations, colleges and universities. We are going to require that they build them more densely.
We have much more to come over the course of the fall, but if we put our plan against theirs, it will win seven days a week.
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- Sep/18/23 3:01:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years with this Prime Minister, Canadians are in double jeopardy. The price of housing has doubled, and the Bank of Canada is warning that mortgage payments could increase by more than 40%.
Let us remember that, before the tabling of budget 2023, the Minister of Finance said, “that is one of our primary goals in this year's budget: not to pour fuel on the fire of inflation.”
When will the Prime Minister put an end to his inflationary policies so that Canadians can keep a roof over their heads?
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- Sep/18/23 3:02:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada has the lowest deficit in the G7. Last week, DBRS Morningstar reaffirmed our AAA credit rating.
At the same time, we know that we need to work for Canadians. That is why the Prime Minister announced last week that the GST on new rental construction will be eliminated.
That is why this morning, with my colleague, the Minister of Industry, we held a meeting with the CEOs of all grocery stores.
We are here, we are working for Canadians, and we will continue to do so.
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- Sep/18/23 3:02:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of Finance know that mortgage payments for an average home are now $3,560 a month? That represents a 151% increase since the Prime Minister took office.
In the Liberal ridings of Montreal, people need to earn at least $113,500 a year to even hope to buy a home. These increases are the direct result of this Liberal government's inflationary policies.
Will the government commit to stop running inflationary deficits so that home ownership is not just a dream?
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- Sep/18/23 3:03:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if we want to add housing units in Canada, then we have to invest in building homes.
The reality is that the Conservative Party likes to point out the problem. It likes to assign blame, but when it comes time to advance solutions, it is nowhere to be seen. The Conservatives are advancing half measures that would not make a meaningful lick of difference on the need to build housing at a rate that we have never built at before. We have removed taxes on home construction. We are changing the way cities build homes, and we have made years' worth of investments in affordable housing.
We are going to continue to advance policies that make a difference. It is what Canadians deserve.
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- Sep/18/23 3:04:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, here is another example of how far Ottawa can go to push Quebec aside. The federal government held a competition to design a monument to commemorate the role of our soldiers in Afghanistan. A jury of experts decided that the Daoust team in Quebec won.
However, the Liberals rejected the advice of experts. They are publicly admitting that Quebec won, but that they are giving the contract to Ontarians anyway.
Who in this government ordered that the Quebec team be pushed aside at any cost, even if it meant breaking its own rules?
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- Sep/18/23 3:04:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the memorial to Canada's mission in Afghanistan recognizes the commitment and sacrifice of our soldiers. More than 40,000 people participated in this mission.
The Department of Veterans Affairs received input from more than 10,000 Canadians, particularly veterans, people who participated in the mission. The majority wanted to ensure that the concept would truly meet their needs.
In the end, the concept of the Stimson group more accurately reflected what veterans want. We will always be there to listen to our veterans.
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- Sep/18/23 3:05:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is hard to believe. The worst part is that they admit it. This is what they wrote to the Daoust team: “Despite the fact that the jury designated your concept as the winning concept of the competition...the Government of Canada has decided to select the concept developed by [another team] and, consequently, to award the contract to that team.”
Too bad for the jury, too bad for the architects, too bad for the artists who worked for months on end. Even worse, too bad for our own rules.
Will the government rectify this injustice and give the contract back to the firm that earned it and won this competition?
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- Sep/18/23 3:06:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as Minister of Veterans Affairs, I think it is very important to make sure that we listen to veterans, veterans who served in the Afghanistan mission.
During this process, we heard from 10,000 Canadians. Most of them are people who served during the Afghanistan mission. They told us clearly that the Team Stimson design really represented what they wanted the monument to look like.
We thank the committee for doing an amazing job, but we want to make sure we respect the veterans' wishes.
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