SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 233 - Oct/17/23

Ms. Julie Dzerowicz (Davenport, Lib.)

Oct/17/23 12:57:12 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is wonderful for me to have the opportunity to participate in today's opposition day debate on behalf of the residents of my riding of Davenport. The topic touches on Canadian debt levels, inflation and mortgages. It is not a surprise, as I am sure it is the case right across the country, that inflation is top of mind for Davenport residents. Affordability is a huge issue, so it is an important topic for us to be discussing today. I always like to start with context. It is always good to remind ourselves of a few things. In early 2020, we had the start of a global pandemic. During the first half of 2020, 95% of the world's economy suffered a simultaneous contraction. This has never happened before. Three billion adults were laid off from their jobs or tried to work from home. The sum of lost earnings just in the first months of the pandemic was $10 trillion U.S. That is more than one-tenth of the global GDP. It was a massive shock to the global economy, the Canadian economy and all economies around the world, and our economies have been recovering ever since. Never mind that since then we have also had the unprovoked and brutal attack on Ukraine by Russia and the recent violent and shocking attack by Hamas on Israel and Gaza, among other events in the world. All of these events are putting a further strain on our global economy and its ability to fully recover. In addition, during the pandemic the Canadian government spent a lot of money to support individuals, small, medium and large businesses and non-profits. We did everything we could to support Canadians and the economy, and to provide an economic foundation from which to pivot, as we knew we would inevitably start coming out of the pandemic at some point. We spent a lot of money and accumulated debt. We had to do that because we needed to save lives, businesses, non-profits and protect our jobs. We provided a strong financial foundation from which the economy could pivot. Canadian economists have lauded our actions and have verified that federal government actions have provided that strong economic foundation we need in order to pivot away from a massive recession or depression. We have succeeded. We have also recovered all the jobs that were lost. I think we have recovered more than 129% of the jobs lost from the initial days of the pandemic. Given that the opposition day motion speaks to mortgages and the risk of higher interest rates on mortgage defaults, I would like to speak for a few minutes on the work we are doing to help Canadians have a safe and affordable place to live. Let me begin by reminding everyone in the House that our federal government is focused on building an economy that works for everyone, with a strong social safety net, and where everyone plays by the same set of rules. An important component of that is ensuring that every Canadian has a safe and affordable place to call home. We know that for too many Canadians, including young people and new Canadians, the dream of owning a home is increasingly out of reach and paying rent has become more expensive across the country. This lack of affordable housing has an impact on our economy. That is why our government has launched the most ambitious plan that Canada has ever had to ensure they are able to afford a home sometime in the future. We introduced a national housing strategy in 2017. We have committed over $82 billion to that strategy and to other housing initiatives. We are investing in building more homes and bringing down the barriers that keep them from being built, with the goal of doubling the number of new builds over the next decade. We are ensuring that houses are being used as homes for Canadian families rather than a speculative financial asset class. We are investing in the rental housing that so many count on right now. I go to the doors quite a lot in my riding of Davenport and housing is a big topic. In response to when people ask me if I think they will ever be able to afford a home in their lifetime, I tell them that I have full confidence they will. Right now, if all levels of government are working, if we continue to invest the dollars that we have allocated, if we continue to get the red tape and road blocks out of the way, I have full confidence that we will have excellent rental supply, new affordable housing and housing for our most vulnerable come on stream, and the ability for people to live affordably in our cities and towns right across our country. Let us get into some of the programs we have introduced. Our federal government is making the down payment on a first home more attainable with the first home savings account, also known as an FHSA. The new tax-free first home savings account is a registered plan to give first-time homebuyers the ability to save up to $40,000 on a tax-free basis. Like a registered retirement savings plan, contributions are tax deductible and withdrawals to purchase a first home, including from investment income, are non-taxable, like a tax-free savings account. This means that savings for a down payment are tax free in and tax free out. The first home savings account can be combined with the homebuyers plan, which allows Canadians to withdraw from an RRSP to buy or build a qualifying home. This means that individuals who can take full advantage of both the FHSA and the homebuyers plan can accumulate up to $75,000 or up to $150,000 per couple, plus the interest they have earned tax free within their FHSA, toward a down payment on a first home. They can also benefit from the first-time home buyers' tax credit, which our government has doubled to provide up to $1,500 to eligible homebuyers to offset closing costs involved in buying a first home. The FHSA has been available from financial service providers since April of this year, and as of the beginning of October, over 150,000 Canadians have already opened an account. This is an amazing uptake and proves how effective the program is in supporting a first home purchase. I also want to talk about the housing accelerator fund. We are requesting that local governments put an end to exclusionary zoning and encourage building apartments and rental housing near public transit in order to have their housing accelerator fund applications approved. This was launched in March 2023. The housing accelerator fund is a $4-billion initiative designed to help cities, towns and indigenous governments unlock new housing supply, about 100,000 units in total, by speeding up development and approvals, like fixing out-of-date permitting systems, introducing zoning reforms to build more density and incentivizing development close to public transit. Every community across Canada needs to build more homes faster so we can reduce the cost of housing for everyone. I believe the City of Toronto has also applied for the housing accelerator fund, and I really look forward to that getting approved, because we need far more homes in the city of Toronto. I could talk about a lot of other initiatives, but I know that I am running out of time. However, there is the rapid housing initiative, which has created a lot of homes in less than a year for our most vulnerable. It has been a game changer in my riding of Davenport, and in the city of Toronto, in providing spaces for those who are homeless or near homeless. There are two spots in my riding of Davenport, and I know hundreds of thousands are being built across the country. Our global economy has had a huge shock with advent of the pandemic. Recovery from this, the global wars under way and other global events are impacting the global economy in its recovery. This is also having a huge impact on inflation and the cost of living. Our federal government is taking action. We are doing all we can to support Canadians, while striking the right balance to ensure that our efforts do not amplify inflation. We know this will make it harder for Canadians to keep up with the cost of living, and this extends to making Canada's housing market—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Oct/17/23 1:06:39 p.m.
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Order, please. There is only a couple of seconds left, but there is a lot of noise. The Sergeant-at-Arms is looking into that right now. The hon. member has 14 seconds left.

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Ms. Julie Dzerowicz

Oct/17/23 1:07:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am thankful for this opportunity to speak to the opposition day motion, and I very much look forward to the questions by members in the House.

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Ms. Louise Chabot (Thérèse-De Blainville, BQ)

Oct/17/23 1:07:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, in today's debate on a plan to balance the budget, I keep hearing the government, its representatives and its members say that they are investing in Canadians, that they will always be there for Canadians and that they are here for them. Under the current circumstances, I wonder if someone can explain to me why the government is not investing in a robust EI program when there are workers who are struggling. That is a federal program. It is a federal jurisdiction. It could take action. I also do not understand why the government is so reluctant to significantly increase old age security for seniors starting at age 65. That is also a federal program. Are you willing to invest in this area and make a significant contribution, Madam Speaker—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Oct/17/23 1:08:36 p.m.
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I think the member meant to ask her question through the Chair, and not directly to her colleague. The hon. member for Davenport.

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Davenport

Ms. Julie Dzerowicz

Oct/17/23 1:08:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there were many questions in there and I could spend a lot of time responding to them. She first mentioned our deficit. I do want to mention that our deficit is down from a projected 1.5% of GDP last year to 1.4% this year. I know that the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance is going to give a fall economic statement, so we will get the latest numbers some time very shortly. The hon. member ended off with a question on old age security. When we were first elected, we ensured that we reduced the retirement age to 65, so Canadians could have access to the old age security and GIS at that age. That was a huge benefit for our seniors. We have also increased GIS. We have also increased, by 10%, the OAS for those 75 and older.

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Mrs. Karen Vecchio (Elgin—Middlesex—London, CPC)

Oct/17/23 1:09:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I know that we live in very different parts of the country. I am about two hours west of the Davenport area. Our area is a rural part of Canada, where the carbon tax has absolutely had a huge cost on the heating, food, food production and everything else. Being in different areas, it is difficult to understand what the rural parts of Canada are going through. Has the member spoken to a farmer about the carbon tax, about the cost of food production and how it impacts Canadians?

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Ms. Julie Dzerowicz

Oct/17/23 1:10:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have not spoken to a farmer, but I will when I get the opportunity. Climate change is real. It is happening and the changes of climate are impacting our country and our society even more quickly than scientists had ever thought before. We have put a price on pollution, which is what the hon. member calls the carbon tax. We are returning all of the dollars that we collect from the price on pollution back to Canadians, back to farmers, to ensure they are covering their costs. If we do nothing, the cost will be even higher.

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Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)

Oct/17/23 1:11:10 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, the Conservatives say that this motion is to help address housing so Canadians do not lose their homes. I do not think it is a great solution, but the Liberals have not done so well either. I am glad she did not include URN on her list of investments that government has done, because URN does not do enough. There are still gaps in investments that need to happen. One of those gaps is to ensure that there is housing funding for the territorial governments. Territorial governments are not indigenous governments, so they would not be eligible to receive housing through URN. I wonder if the member agrees that we need to ensure that territorial governments get a carve-out for housing.

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Ms. Julie Dzerowicz

Oct/17/23 1:11:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I mentioned $82 billion, which is a significant amount of money. I am very proud of that amount of investment in housing. We need to do more at all levels, including to help support more of the indigenous needs in our country. Last week, the Prime Minister was in the Northwest Territories. He did announce the construction of 50 new affordable homes in an apartment building in downtown Yellowknife. This project will support people who need it the most, including indigenous people, seniors, women, children and those living with disabilities. We have to do more and we know we need to do more.

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Mr. Arpan Khanna (Oxford, CPC)

Oct/17/23 1:12:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent. It is a pleasure to rise in the House today to speak to today's opposition day motion, because after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government and the Prime Minister, Canadians are hurting. The Canadian dream that my parents came to this country for is starting to slip away. Life is unaffordable. Rent has doubled. Housing costs have doubled. The amount needed for a down payment has doubled. Mortgage payments have doubled. They have risen over 150%. Why? It is all because of the Liberal-NDP government's inflationary spending and fiscal mismanagement, which have been continuously fuelling the inflationary fire. Inflation is nearly double where it should be, and Canadians are now paying more for heating, eating and housing. Canada's federal debt for this fiscal year is projected to reach $1.22 trillion. If we do the math, we are looking at nearly $81,000 per household in Canada. The Prime Minister is simply not worth the cost. The Prime Minister said, as I am sure many members remember, that deficits were supposed to be temporary, tiny deficits of not more than $10 billion. He said he would only run modest deficits, but he broke that promise. He then promised to return to a balanced budget in 2019, but he broke that promise as well. Now the Prime Minister has broken the banks of Canadians. To be perfectly clear, the Prime Minister and his Liberal-NDP government have added more national debt than all previous prime ministers combined. The current finance minister acknowledged that one of her goals was not to pour fuel on this inflationary fire, but she continues to spend, spend and spend. All this inflationary spending is causing a domino effect. Mismanaged federal budgets, like budget 2023, which is adding an additional $60 billion in new spending, are driving up our deficit. Deficits are fuelling inflation, and inflation is causing interest rates to rise. This cannot be argued because we have seen the Bank of Canada in action. The Bank of Canada has raised interest rates 10 times in the last 19 months. Even former Liberal finance minister John Manley said, per the National Post, “Trudeau's deficits press on the inflationary gas pedal, which forces the Bank of Canada to press harder on the brakes”—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Oct/17/23 1:15:44 p.m.
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The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.

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Secretary

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Oct/17/23 1:15:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on a point of order, the member is not allowed to use the names of members inside the chamber, just so he is aware of that.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Oct/17/23 1:15:58 p.m.
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I think the hon. member got the information, but yes, hon. members are not to use names of parliamentarians who sit in the chamber. The hon. member for Oxford.

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Oxford

Mr. Arpan Khanna

Oct/17/23 1:16:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, now Canadians are on the brink of losing their homes and their livelihoods. Just last week, I met with a home inspector who has done seven home inspections of homes in Oxford County that are going up for bank foreclosure. That is just in one week. Normally that would be in one year. That is the true impact of rising interest rates. The Liberal government encouraged Canadians to borrow when interest rates were at an all-time low, but now Canadians have one of the highest household debts of any other G7 country. This is more than just numbers and dollars. It is about real people and the impact this has on their lives. I recently told this House of the single mother in Woodstock who cried at the door because she was struggling to put food on the table for her kids. There is the young couple in Tillsonburg who went to school and got a job but now cannot access the housing market because of the rising cost of housing. There is the senior who lives in Tavistock who now relies on handouts from his family because he cannot survive on his own. He has even looked at MAID as an option. These are real people with real, devastating human consequences. The government needs a common-sense plan. If it stops the deficits, it will stop inflation from continuing to rise, it will stop the increasing interest rats and it will stop the defaults from happening. That is why we are calling on the government to bring its financial affairs in order. We are calling on the government to introduce a fiscal plan that includes a pathway back to balanced budgets so we can decrease inflation and interest rates. We need a plan because we know that budgets do not balance themselves. I hope all my colleagues will use common sense, cap spending, cut wasteful spending, balance the budget and bring home economic stability for all Canadians.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Oct/17/23 1:18:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member made reference to the issue of deficits. He was not here at the time, so I will forgive him for not necessarily being aware of the fact that the Conservative members of his caucus voted in support of billions and billions of dollars to support Canadian businesses and individuals. A couple of years later, they are upset with the government for spending billions and billions of dollars. I wonder if he feels there is any sense of hypocrisy when the Conservatives at one time were saying yes but now seem to be saying no. It sounds more like it is political wins that seem to be dictating Conservative policy.

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Mr. Arpan Khanna

Oct/17/23 1:18:56 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what I do remember is having a balanced budget under the Conservative government before the Liberals took office. I remember that very clearly. My hon. colleague talked about spending during COVID. We did not sign up for the $54 million of wasteful spending on the ArriveCAN app. We also did not sign up for the $200 billion that they have spent that was not related to the pandemic during the COVID pandemic. Although my hon. colleague talked about that, I have a very clear memory and I know what it takes to get back to a balanced budget. Right now, under the NDP-Liberal government, Canadians are struggling to put food on the table. We will fix that once we are in government.

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Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)

Oct/17/23 1:19:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, to listen to the Conservatives, one would think that every bit of spending is inflationary spending. Last week, the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec finally came to an agreement on a program to speed up the construction of housing, something that we voted on a year and a half ago and from which we are now finally starting to see some results. The federal government will provide $900 million. I would like to remind the House that, at last count, there were 10,000 homeless people in Quebec alone. Does my colleague think that the $900 million that will be used to build housing to help those 10,000 homeless people constitutes inflationary spending?

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Mr. Arpan Khanna

Oct/17/23 1:20:25 p.m.
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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.

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Ms. Niki Ashton (Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, NDP)

Oct/17/23 1:21:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, today's Conservative motion ignores the role of corporate greed and the rise of the cost of living. We know that working people and people on fixed incomes are going through very hard times, but we also know that the wealthy are getting wealthier. Does the member support making sure that the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, something they are not doing right now? Does the member support bringing in a wealth tax to begin to counteract the role of rampant corporate greed in our country and give Canadians a break?

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