44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 29, 2023 10:00AM
- Sep/29/23 11:22:28 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister said that it is not his job to control the inflationary spending, the out-of-control cost of living or the sky-high interest rates that he has caused. He said that it is not his job to bring down the price of gas, groceries or home heating. Instead, he is raising the carbon tax. He said it is not his job to take personal responsibility for our diplomatic relations or to vet the people who come in contact with a wartime leader. He said that housing is not his job either, while the housing crisis is getting worse.
If it is not his job to do any of these things, what is his job?
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- Sep/29/23 11:23:08 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I find that rather rich, with all due respect to the member, when it was the Leader of the Opposition's responsibility to put forward constructive policy. When he was in government as the minister responsible for housing, he put forward a plan for $300 million, with fewer than 100 homes built. His plan on housing today is full of holes. If he taxed builders, for example, nothing would get built under his watch.
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- Sep/29/23 11:24:40 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, homebuilding is down. Just because the Liberals have a fancy program or a new acronym every month, it does not mean that any of this is working.
The government had a plan in 2015 to build housing on surplus land. Do members know how many homes it has built since 2015? Thirteen. That is fewer than two a year. Liberal MPs have flipped more houses than that since 2015.
It has been eight years. We need shovels in the ground, not pies in the sky. Will the Liberals finally support a common-sense Conservative plan to actually build homes Canadians can afford?
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- Sep/29/23 11:25:18 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, talking about common sense, it is a shame the member was not at yesterday's finance committee. Witnesses from the Ministry of Finance confirmed that if the Conservatives' idea for housing were to be put in place, fewer homes would be built compared to our particular plan, which is a plan that takes taxes off. The GST comes off, for example, which incents greater building. Combine that with the approach they have taken to municipalities, to provinces. When it comes to ending things like exclusionary zoning, we want to work with those municipalities. We are doing that through the housing accelerator fund, which will continue, and the result will be 200,000 to 300,000 homes built as a result.
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- Sep/29/23 11:32:12 a.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, homes are supposed to be where dreams are cultivated.
For Inuit and indigenous peoples, homes are overcrowded, mouldy spaces where dreams vanish. Children have no space to do homework. Women have no space to flee abusive partners. Inuit and indigenous peoples have little to no space to take care of their mental well-being. This is the result of decades of Liberal and Conservative underfunding.
When will the Liberals finally close this housing funding gap?
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- Sep/29/23 11:36:03 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, yesterday at the finance committee, the government's own department told the committee that in fact, in 2018, it had warned the Liberal government of an impending housing crisis, yet it did nothing. Incredibly, CMHC officials went on to say that the policies currently employed by the federal government are not sufficient to solve the housing problem.
If, in fact, the government's own department does not believe in the Liberal government, why should Canadians?
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- Sep/29/23 11:36:41 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would remind my hon. colleague to look at the actual record and at the actions of the opposition leader, who this summer, while presenting himself as some sort of champion of the working class, stood in front of a Canadian's home, took a video and called that home a shack. If he is serious about dealing with affordability, the housing crisis and the supply crisis that underpins it, I want to hear from him and his party serious plans along the lines of what we have presented on this side. We are going to continue to fight for Canadians.
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- Sep/29/23 11:37:24 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, Canada's problems are real. We have incredible food bank usage. We have housing costs doubling. Millions of Canadians cannot afford their own homes, yet this side decides to play games. When the Leader of the Opposition was the housing minister, housing was affordable in the country.
When will the government finally get serious, remove the gatekeepers and balance the budget so Canadians can keep their homes?
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- Sep/29/23 11:38:32 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, 97% is the percentage of shared income a household would need in order to cover home ownership costs now in Vancouver. This is from a new RBC report, which says that housing affordability in most major Canadian cities is near all-time worst levels.
The Prime Minister also holds the all-time record for incurring more debt during his eight years than all other prime ministers combined. Housing is less affordable than ever. The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.
Will the Prime Minister finally stop his inflationary spending so Canadians can keep a roof over their head?
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- Sep/29/23 11:39:14 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I remind the hon. member that Canada has the lowest deficit and debt in the G7, but times remain hard. We see that and understand that.
On housing affordability, what are we doing? The supply crisis that underpins the housing crisis facing the country is one that requires building. That is why we have lifted GST for the purposes of rental construction on apartments, and that is why we have made changes to the borrowing limit of the Canada mortgage bond. I do not want to get into the technical details, because they are vast, but the result is more homes built for Canadians, and that is what we are going to continue to do.
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- Sep/29/23 11:49:33 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, Hamilton Community Foundation's Vital Signs report says that for every new unit of affordable housing built, Hamilton is losing 23 units. It also confirms what tenants have always known: Corporate landlords are evicting tenants to jack up rents at a record rate while leaving Hamiltonians out in the cold. The Liberal government is leaving people to fend for themselves while big developers are cashing in on what is left of our city's rental apartment buildings.
Will the government adopt our NDP affordable housing plan to create an acquisition fund to save the affordable rentals left in Hamilton?
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- Sep/29/23 11:50:14 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I know the member has a passion for dealing with homelessness and addressing issues of affordability more generally. This government has put substantial investment forward through the national housing strategy to combat homelessness. It is a difficult challenge for sure, but one that we are getting results on.
It is not over. That fight continues and is combined with efforts to build more by lifting GST from rental construction, for example, and to make changes to the Canada mortgage bond borrowing limit. All of these things combine, and the bottom line is that we are going to see more homes built. Affordability is the result from that.
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- Sep/29/23 11:50:54 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, maybe the hon. member heard my question, but clearly he was not listening, because if he was, he would know that the winter months are approaching and it is going to be life or death for the increasing number of people who are being left on the streets to live in tent encampments. Cities like Hamilton are facing double digit property tax increases in order to fill the crucial gaps in funding for social housing. In Hamilton, there is a seven-year wait-list. This is life or death.
Will the government immediately respond to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' demand for direct funding in order to repair existing social housing units in order to address our seven-year wait-list?
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- Sep/29/23 11:51:34 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have been there for cities like Hamilton and other Canadian cities and towns through programs like Reaching Home and the rapid housing initiative, and in other ways, to help not-for-profits that are on the ground doing the very hard work.
I know the member cares very much about this issue. I am happy to have further discussions with him, but I go back to the point that we are going to advance issues around this through collaboration with the private sector, the not-for-profit sector and municipalities as well.
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