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House Hansard - 230

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 5, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 230 - Oct/5/23
Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)
  • Oct/5/23 10:52:12 a.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-56 
Madam Speaker, we passed a bill in the House that allocates $4 billion to a housing accelerator fund for municipalities. The federal government cannot talk to Quebec municipalities; it has to come to an agreement with the Quebec government. Negotiations are under way, and the share due to Quebec comes to $900 million. I would like to remind everyone that housing is a provincial jurisdiction. According to what we learned this morning, the federal government is nitpicking and dawdling. It is having a hard time choosing a colour for the tiles and the carpet. Then it questions whether a given apartment should have 8 or 14 lights. What a waste of time. Again, this is a provincial jurisdiction. There are currently 10,000 people in Quebec who do not have a roof over their heads. What will it take to get Ottawa to send that $900-million cheque? We need it now.
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Context: House Hansard - 230 - Oct/5/23
Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)
  • Oct/5/23 2:47:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are not the only ones whining. There are 10,000 homeless people in Quebec who are whining to the federal government right now. The Quebec finance minister met with the Deputy Prime Minister on Monday. Here is what he said this morning: “I reiterated how urgent it is that an agreement be reached...Ottawa is imposing conditions, and that is unacceptable to us”. The announcement that Quebec will match the funding is supposed to be good news. As long as Ottawa continues to quibble, it means that we are no longer talking about $900 million, but $1.8 billion that is just sitting around waiting for Ottawa to get moving. Will the government announce that it is letting the money flow to Quebec so that we can finally get to work?
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Context: House Hansard - 230 - Oct/5/23
Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)
  • Oct/5/23 2:49:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, can anyone guess why Quebec is the only province that is matching the $900 million from Ottawa for housing? It is because Quebec is the only province in Canada that invests in housing. Quebeckers made the progressive choice to take care of housing themselves. Instead of holding Quebec up as an example, the federal government is withholding the $900 million Quebec is entitled to, in a classic dispute in which the federal government holds all the cards. Enough is enough. The Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain, or FRAPRU, is in Ottawa today. The government has an opportunity to announce that the housing dispute is over. When will the government stop messing around and send us our $900 million?
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