SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 240

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 26, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 240 - Oct/26/23
Ms. Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody—Coquitlam, NDP)
  • Oct/26/23 2:31:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister keeps talking about solutions that are not going to happen for this winter. As my colleague from Edmonton said, people are already sleeping out on the streets. Students are sleeping in tents, couch surfing or living in overcrowded conditions because they cannot find affordable housing. It is beyond unacceptable. The lack of affordable rental options for students in B.C. is leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and homelessness today. However, the Liberals and the Conservatives are too busy blaming each other and other levels of government instead of getting to work. When will the Liberal government invest in affordable and safe student housing for today?
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Context: House Hansard - 240 - Oct/26/23
Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, Lib.)
  • Oct/26/23 2:32:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to share with the hon. member that as a result of the measures we put in place directly to support some of Canada's most vulnerable, we have prevented more than 120,000 Canadians from becoming homeless, and we have found permanent housing for almost 70,000 more who were experiencing homelessness. We know there is more to do. That is why we continue to make investments through the national housing strategy, which has now created or retrofitted half a million homes for Canadians. We will do everything we can to build more homes. I am glad the NDP is alongside us. I invite the Conservatives to get on board.
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Context: House Hansard - 240 - Oct/26/23
Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, Lib.)
  • Oct/26/23 3:05:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons we are dealing with such extraordinary housing challenges, including those that are impacting the country's most vulnerable, is that successive governments for decades made no effort to invest in affordable housing. For the entire decade the hon. member's party was in power, it did nothing to build housing for low-income Canadians. We have changed that over the last number of years specifically to address homelessness, which is a crisis for those experiencing it. We doubled support through the Reaching Home program. The member voted against it. I cannot accept criticisms from him when he does everything to get in the way of the supports that would help the very people that form the subject of his question.
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