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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 230

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 5, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 230 - Oct/5/23
Mr. Eric Melillo (Kenora, CPC)
  • Oct/5/23 1:56:40 p.m.
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  • Re: Bill C-56 
Madam Speaker, it is great to rise today and join the debate on this very important topic. I just want to start by saying that, in Bill C-56, I am pleased to see that the Liberals finally seem to be admitting that Canadians are struggling. Over the last number of years, they have been telling us everything is fine and that the government has a great credit rating with all the agencies. However, we have been raising concerns about the housing costs, the cost of groceries and the cost of living for quite some time now, and I think that the bill being brought forward shows that the government is finally admitting that there is a housing crisis and that its inflationary policies are driving up the cost of groceries for Canadians. It is also clear to me that it is a tired government that is out of ideas. Within the bill, of course, it is looking to remove the GST from purpose-built rentals, but that is something that has been brought forward by our current common-sense Conservative leader, the leader of the official opposition. As well, the bill aims to help address grocery costs by removing the efficiencies defence, which currently allows anti-competitive mergers to survive challenges if corporate efficiencies offset the harm to competition, even when Canadian consumers would pay higher prices and have fewer choices. This is another Conservative idea. It was brought forward by my friend, colleague and seatmate, the member for Bay of Quinte. I want to thank him for bringing that forward. He is a very smart guy and a decent hockey player, but he brought forward this idea, and it is another one that the Liberals have now adopted. I want to be clear that I am happy that the government is trying to take some of our Conservative ideas. I will highlight a few other ideas that I would like to offer the government to bring forward, if it is serious about addressing the housing crisis and the cost of groceries. As we know, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, housing prices have doubled. Nine in 10 youth say they will never afford a home, and many families cannot even pay the interest on their mortgages. Now the government's solution is to bring forward more photo ops and, as I mentioned, plagiarize Conservative messaging. The bill takes the Leader of the Opposition's idea from his building homes not bureaucracy act: to remove the GST on purpose-built rentals. It is a good idea, of course, but it is missing a key piece. Our leader's bill would incentivize more affordable homes, because in order to qualify for the removal of GST, the rental price must be below market value, meaning that more homes would get built and prices would come down. As new homes were built, they would continually bring those prices down in order to qualify. The Liberals' version would not do that. It would allow prices to continue to skyrocket. I look forward to sharing some more ideas on this after question period.
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Context: House Hansard - 230 - Oct/5/23
Ms. Leslyn Lewis (Haldimand—Norfolk, CPC)
  • Oct/5/23 2:38:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are counting on immediate relief before Thanksgiving. People are rationing food across the country. According to Food Banks Canada, people are making impossible choices between paying their rent or putting food on the table for their families. The Liberal-NDP government continues its inflationary spending, which has caused grocery prices to increase by 94%, as is the case with lettuce. Canadians are realizing that the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost. Will the Prime Minister keep his promise and reverse his punishing food price hikes by Thanksgiving?
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