44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 17, 2023 10:00AM
- Oct/17/23 1:20:25 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I agree that because of the Liberal-NDP government's mismanagement, we have seen a crisis in housing. New Canadians, who come to this country with a dream of home ownership, are seeing their dreams fade away. We are seeing record numbers at food banks. We had 1.5 million Canadians going to a food bank in one single month. When I talk to local food banks, they tell me the same thing: When they saw interest rates go up, they saw an increase in local food bank use as well.
It is our job to keep fighting for the most vulnerable. We have to get our fiscal house in order. We cannot spend something we do not have. We do not run our households on our credit cards, and we should not run the government that way either.
141 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/17/23 2:22:27 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the austerity being preached by the Leader of the Opposition will not help anyone access housing. That is why we are taking bold steps to get more affordable housing built faster.
The Minister of Housing is working directly with municipalities across the country to find ambitious, community-specific solutions to the housing challenges they face. We have signed housing accelerator fund agreements with London, Vaughan, Halifax and Hamilton, and we have just signed an agreement with Quebec. We will continue to be there to help people.
88 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/17/23 2:25:30 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, one thing is clear. The cuts, the austerity, that are proposed by the leader of the official opposition would not help that family, would not help Canadians from coast to coast to be able to afford a new home or the homes they are living in even. That is why we are continuing to work right across the country to bring forward ambitious and community-specific solutions to the housing problems they are facing. We have signed housing accelerator fund agreements with London, with Vaughan, with Halifax, with Hamilton, with the Province of Quebec and have more to come.
The cuts he is proposing will not help Canadians. Our investments, done responsibly, will continue to help Canadians.
119 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/17/23 2:39:34 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, after eight years of the government, it is too little, too late for many struggling people. We know the government's housing crisis brings with it a generational divide. According to a survey reported on by BNN Bloomberg, nearly 70% of young people have chosen to delay their home purchase. Why is that? They cite rising interest rates and rising home prices. That is why people are overpaying for an individual room or are simply trapped in their parents' basement.
I ask this again: Why does the government not stop its inflationary spending so that Canadians can afford a home?
103 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/17/23 2:49:50 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the housing crisis, as we know, is underpinned ultimately by a crisis in supply or the lack thereof. What the government is doing is partnering with municipalities across the country. For federal dollars, municipalities have the chance to build more. In London, for example, 2,000 more units of housing will be built in exchange for a $74-million investment.
What we have also done is to put forward Bill C-56, which, if members look at it, is a serious bill that would remove the cost of taxes, of GST specifically, for rental construction. The Conservatives have nothing to say on that.
105 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/17/23 2:50:33 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the housing crisis is directly related to inflationary spending. This inflationary crisis is also impacting communities all across this country that are losing volunteers. Specifically, some volunteer firefighters have told me that they are unable to afford their mortgages, so they have stopped volunteering and have taken on second and third jobs just to make ends meet.
When will the Prime Minister admit that after eight years of the current government, they have failed Canadians and they are just not worth the cost?
85 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/17/23 2:54:56 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, my region has seen the largest increase of unhoused people on record, with a 106% jump in the Comox Valley and almost 70% in Campbell River. This is a catastrophe. The Prime Minister says housing is not a federal responsibility, while people and communities move beyond a crisis point. This is while Conservative council members at Campbell River have begun targeting non-profits that provide essential services to the unhoused.
When are the Liberals going to be an actual federal partner and build people homes?
87 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/17/23 2:55:36 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, in fact, if we look at the record not just in British Columbia but also across the country, we see that the federal government has been a partner. To not-for-profit organizations that are doing the outstanding work on the ground, the result is obvious. Sixty-nine thousand people who were on the street are no longer on the street. They are housed now, quite often with the wraparound supports that they need in order to transition to something better. Add to that 122,000 people who were very close to homeless who are no longer in that position. They are housed as well through the national housing strategy.
112 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/17/23 4:17:43 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I often enjoy my debates with the hon. member for Northumberland—Peterborough South. He likes to reference his economic theory. He did some of that today in talking about the out-of-control housing crisis we have, what I affectionately call the crisis of capitalism.
I would like the hon. member to reflect on this. In 2013, in Hamilton, the average house cost was $350,000. The high end of a unionized carpenter's salary was $42 an hour. Fast-forward 10 years and the high end for a unionized carpenter's salary is $48 an hour, but the same home the carpenter builds has now doubled in price, to over $700,000. That is what we are looking at now. The reality is that the surplus value of the labourer's work, the money he or she is building and wealth he or she is creating in this country, is going somewhere, but who is not going to? It is not going to the worker.
My question for the hon. member is on his economic theory. When he looks at the crisis of capitalism and the housing crisis, would he at least have the courage today to stand up and talk about where the surplus value of labour is going? It is not going to the working class but to Bay Street, the banks and big developers.
231 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/17/23 4:44:02 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, another initiative that we are bringing forward, as we speak, is the investment in housing and removing the GST on new rental construction. That is essential. We already have five provinces, including Nova Scotia, that have joined this initiative.
It will drop the cost of a building for affordable housing, for example, from $10 million down to $8.5 million. That is $1.5 million in savings. That is why these contractors and developers are jumping to get these projects going so they can benefit from those investments. I want to share some quotes.
Tim Richter, CEO of the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness, said that the federal government is being very serious about taking measures to ensure it is answering the housing crisis.
Carole Saab from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities said, “This is an important and very welcome decision that will have an immediate impact.”
The executive director of The Federation of Community Social Services of BC said, “Big kudos to the federal government. Removing the GST on new rental construction is probably the biggest thing it could do to stimulate construction.”
As I indicated, those are very important for developers and for Canadians. It is also very important to talk about how we can help Canadians. We brought forward the new tax-free first home savings account to save up to $40,000. People saving for their first home can put away $8,000 a year for five years for a total of $40,000, or over 15 years.
This is like an RRSP. People do not pay taxes going in or on the way out. This is a win-win-win for Canadians. We already have 150,000 young people who have taken advantage of this program within the first six months. I say félicitations. It is excellent.
Since 2015, we have found housing for nearly two million people. We have invested $4 billion in the housing accelerator fund. We have already seen houses being built, and up to 100,000 more units will be built soon.
We just signed an agreement with the City of London, Ontario, where 2,000 housing units will be built in the next three years. There will also be 1,700 units built in Vaughan, Ontario, and 2,600 units built in Halifax in the next three years.
Those are big, successful numbers for the quick construction of housing.
I want to finish with something very important. Today, I witnessed, sadly, the Conservative Party members voting against tweaking the Atlantic accord that would allow Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador, with the fastest winds in the world, to invest not only on land wind farms, but in offshore wind farms. We have none in Canada right now.
The sad thing about it is I saw a tweet from my colleague, the Premier of Nova Scotia, this afternoon and he is a Conservative. Let me read what he said. He said, “Bill C-49 is a necessary first step in unlocking our energy potential. There will be many steps along the road but we are hopeful that Bill C-49 passes so we can get started.” It did pass, but without the support of the Conservatives, which is sad.
A quick example of offshore wind is next to Sable Island. We can construct, based on the information, 1,000 turbines that would supply 6.5 million Canadians with energy. That is almost twice as much as what all of Atlantic Canada is using today. This is potential. This is growth. This is revenue.
The Conservatives often ask how we are going to pay for it. We are going to bring in more revenue so we can continue to support Canadians. We will not be making the cuts to our veterans, by closing nine offices and firing 1,000 employees.
651 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, I wonder whether the member could provide some clarity to Canadians. When the Conservatives talk about austerity and cutbacks, one of the issues they like to bring up in the House is that of housing. As a government, we are investing literally hundreds of millions of dollars in housing. In fact, we have Bill C-56 before the House now, which would allow for literally hundreds of thousands of new purpose-built rentals to enter Canadian markets over the coming years. On the one hand they say that we should not spend money, and on the other hand they say that we need to do something about the housing crisis.
Not only are we spending money, but we are also working with other levels of government. Does the member believe that the federal government should be spending money to ensure there is housing for Canadians into the future, or does she oppose that expenditure too?
157 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
