44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 5, 2023 10:00AM
Madam Speaker, when it comes to local distribution and slaughtering capacity, we know the situation could substantially improve. There are only a few abattoirs throughout the regions, in Quebec and across Canada. There is an over-concentration.
Does the federal government have a role to play here?
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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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Madam Speaker, I totally understand how important this $4-billion accelerator fund is to the municipalities, particularly in Surrey—Newton. As I said earlier, the wait-list for the plans and projects is too long. We have to bring it down. We need to have those efforts with Quebec. Similarly, all those efforts are not only needed in Surrey, but they are needed across the country, including in Quebec.
The housing minister recently met with Minister Duranceau to pursue the work the hon. member is talking about. We hope that, in the coming months, municipalities, Quebec and the Canadian government will work together, hand in hand, to help municipalities have more housing supply for Quebeckers.
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his election and his first speech in the House. I think that he spoke with remarkable aplomb. I congratulate him.
He talked about Conservative solutions to the housing crisis. The Conservatives want to talk to cities. That does not work. That entire strategy does not work at all. In Quebec, the federal government cannot talk directly to cities. That is done through Quebec. Housing is a provincial jurisdiction. Moreover, the crisis is not quite as serious in Quebec as it is in the rest of Canada—for example, in Toronto and Vancouver—because Quebec stepped in when the federal government withdrew from housing for 30 years. For 30 years, Quebec created programs that actually provided for social housing while nothing was happening in Ottawa.
Does my colleague not agree that, if the federal government wants to develop strategies, it must talk directly to the Government of Quebec and send in the money?
The federal government has fiscal capacities that Quebec and the municipalities do not have. It must reach an agreement with Quebec to ensure that the money to build housing will be released as soon as possible.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's speech and his plea for off-market housing. I think that is the direction we need to take.
I would like to ask him a question that is a bit more specific. We have a structural problem. Quebec alone needs 1.1 million housing units by 2030. If we mobilized all of the resources in Quebec, the maximum number of units that construction workers could build per year is 80,000, and that is if all home builders participate. We would need to build 200,000 units in Quebec alone. I do not have the numbers for Canada, but I am sure they must be similar.
I agree with my NDP friends that we need an acquisition fund so that we can acquire existing housing, but we also need to find other solutions.
Does my colleague have any other solutions to suggest?
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Madam Speaker, I commend my colleague on his speech.
It is always a bit disconcerting to hear the Conservatives talking about the cost of living. I would like to remind the House that, a few weeks ago, in September, the Conservatives held a convention in Quebec, and it cost $1,700 to attend.
Let me take out my common sense calculator. If we exclude taxes—because if anyone is familiar with taxes it is the Conservatives—it would take a person who earns $15.25 an hour, which is the minimum wage in Quebec, five weeks of work to be able to participate in a three-day convention. That is their common sense. That is the Conservative Party.
In 1986, there were 13 grocery chains. Now there are only three. The Conservative Party was in power for 17 years, often with a majority government.
I want my colleague to name one thing that his party did to amend the Competition Act since 1986.
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Madam Speaker, in Quebec, voting Bloc means voting to raise taxes. The Bloc Québécois is costing Quebeckers more. Quebeckers will consider voting Conservative because we will lower taxes. We will support families and lower the cost of living.
The Bloc Québécois wants to raise the cost of living for Quebeckers. We will put a stop to that. It is just common sense.
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Madam Speaker, I very much enjoyed the speech from the member opposite. I have worked long and hard with her at the HUMA committee on many housing studies, as she just referenced.
I always put the province of Quebec on a pedestal when it comes to supporting non-market housing for residents who are in need of affordable housing. I am in the unenviable position of being in the province of Ontario, which has a Conservative government whose approach to affordable housing is to make people rich in the private sector.
My question, and the member emphasized this in her speech, is this: Why is it important that all three levels of government address the national housing crisis we have? In certain provinces it is happening, and they are making inroads. The province of Quebec is a great example, and I would put the province of British Columbia in that category as well. However, here in Ontario it is not working, because we have a provincial government that has no affordable housing programs to match municipal contributions as well as federal. Again, my question to the member is this: Why is it important that all three levels of government work together?
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Madam Speaker, I want to commend my colleague. It is a pleasure to work with him on such important issues. I thank him for drawing attention to Quebec's initiatives.
There are many people in Quebec who also want to do more, but I think there are important programs in place. Why? It is a matter of political will. Long ago now, Quebec made a social choice to address the issue of housing. Of the three levels of government, Quebec and the municipalities are the ones that have the expertise in this area.
When the federal government decides to use its spending power and do its part to support what is being done, it must do so in only one way. We do not expect the federal government to give a slap on the wrist to the municipalities and governments that are not doing their job. We expect the federal government to support them by giving them—
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Madam Speaker, I have a question and I am going to look to my colleague because I know she has a lot of experience in the labour movement.
If Quebec's major labour unions could step up and give people in the building trades a little more flexibility, would that help increase the number of affordable and social housing units? Costs are the problem. Builders in Quebec no longer want to build social housing because it costs too much. Could we tackle the issue that way?
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Madam Speaker, I always find it interesting to listen to my Conservative colleagues bash the Liberal government—rightly so most of the time, and I am not suggesting that they are not good at it. However, rarely do we hear anything in the Conservatives' speeches other than criticism of the government's inaction or misdeeds. Rarely do we hear them come up with concrete solutions. There is $900 million of housing money sitting in Ottawa's coffers. It is earmarked for Quebec City to address the housing shortage.
Does my Conservative colleague agree that the federal government should hurry up and release this money unconditionally so that we can find housing for people who do not have a roof over their head and build housing to alleviate the crisis that is currently raging in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada?
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- Oct/5/23 2:14:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while the leader of the Bloc Québécois is off gallivanting abroad, there is work to do here in Canada.
After eight years under this Liberal government, Canadians, including Quebeckers, are suffering. Since I am from Quebec, I try to defend the interests of Quebeckers every day. I find it alarming that the number of people going to food banks is rising and that people in Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier cannot afford to buy as many groceries. When Quebeckers are getting poorer, it is important to intervene. When Ottawa is taking more money out of Quebeckers' pockets, I call that a tax. The second carbon tax applies in Quebec.
Who voted in favour of that legislation on June 5? The Bloc Québécois. What is worse, yesterday, members of the Bloc had the opportunity to fix their mistake, but they did not. It is costly to vote for the Bloc Québécois. It will be drastically more expensive to vote for this separatist party.
The only party that is here to defend Quebec's interests is the Conservative Party of Canada.
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- Oct/5/23 2:17:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during the last election campaign, the Liberals promised to establish a national school nutritious meal program. They promised $1 billion in funding over five years for a school food program throughout Canada, which is the only G7 country that does not already have one. Since then, we have heard nothing.
Meanwhile, the cost of living continues to rise, making this measure even more urgent. I have personally written to the Minister of Finance to remind her of this promise on behalf of all the organizations that are now compelled to demand it. Organizations such as the Breakfast Club are no longer able to manage the task of ensuring food security for our children in schools.
We know that direct services to citizens are one of the federal government's weaknesses, but this money was promised. It is time to transfer that money to Quebec and the provinces so that programs can get under way. Our children have been waiting more than two years for their lunch.
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Mr. Speaker, it is strange how defending the French language in Quebec is always difficult for the Liberals.
Let us take, for example, the Minister of Immigration. Yesterday in committee, he was once again unable to acknowledge a simple fact proven by all indicators: French is declining in Quebec. He was like James Bond under torture, but refusing to cough up the goods.
Oddly enough, it reminded us of the debates on Bill C-13 regarding the official languages reform. The minister was one of the West Island Liberals who fought tooth and nail against stronger protection for the French language.
Is it a coincidence?
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- Oct/5/23 2:32:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we must be cautious about the figures the member is referring to. If we consider the number of people who speak French, there are more of us than ever: 94% of the people in Quebec can speak French.
If we consider the language spoken at home, when I was young, I spoke only Spanish. That does not mean that I am not a francophone. I am also a francophone. I spoke Spanish at home, but at school, at work, when playing hockey and everywhere on the street, I spoke French. This proves that Bill 101 is working. The Bloc Québécois can shout and get angry all it wants, but the fact is that more people are speaking French.
The government will always ensure that their number keeps growing day by day.
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- Oct/5/23 2:33:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, even so, we are talking about the immigration minister.
This year, the federal government increased the number of temporary immigrants to Quebec by 150,000. Quebec is concerned about its reception capacity. The Quebec immigration minister said that she discussed this with the federal minister and that he had not even considered the notion of reception capacity. That is very worrisome. The minister, who is having a terrible time admitting that French is threatened, does not realize that reception capacity must be part of his immigration reform.
Do we really need to explain that to him?
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- Oct/5/23 2:34:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the statistic that the member keeps repeating has to do with one's mother tongue. That excludes me and my family, the Minister of Transport and the Minister of Tourism. What does it take to be a Quebecker in Quebec?
I am a proud Quebecker. I am proud to be a Quebecker and to say that I am a Quebecker, but the statistic that the member keeps quoting refers to one's mother tongue. The fact remains that 94% of people in Quebec can speak French, and we should be proud of that. The member is shaming the people who drafted the Charter of the French Language with the statistic he is quoting. He should be ashamed of himself. I am proud.
With regard to immigration in Canada, we will ensure that French speakers come to Quebec.
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- Oct/5/23 2:46:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have good news: Quebec will match the federal government's $900‑million investment in housing. Woo-hoo! There is just one small problem: The money cannot flow because the federal government is still trying to impose conditions on Quebec instead of reaching an agreement.
This morning, the Premier of Quebec reiterated that this is urgent. He needs an agreement by next Friday so he can include the $900 million in his November 7 economic update. Will the government stop quibbling and immediately announce that it is giving Quebec its $900‑million share? This is urgent.
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- Oct/5/23 2:46:51 p.m.
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Yikes, Mr. Speaker.
We do not actually need the Bloc Québécois's threats and theatrics. I am going to use a word he does not like very much: whining. Bloc members are here to whine and pick fights. Here are the facts. Negotiations are progressing. Quebec will get $900 million. Quebec will match that figure. Negotiations are going well. Why? Because people on this side are standing up for Quebec.
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- 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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