44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 21, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/21/23 2:48:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with respect to my hon. colleague, she just does not have her numbers right. She is entitled to her own opinion but certainly not to her own facts. I will tell colleagues specifically what Stats Canada indicated. It is not some Liberal organization; it operates independently. It indicated this month that investment and residential building went up 7.3%, single-family home investment increased 6.4% and multi-unit construction rose 8.2%.
If the Conservatives are concerned about the housing crisis, why are they committed to cutting funding for homebuilding and to raise taxes on home builders?
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- Nov/21/23 2:49:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, rent has doubled, house prices have doubled and mortgage payments are up 150%. Just now, Statistics Canada shows that investment in housing construction is down 14%. It turns out that photo ops with the housing minister in a hard hat do not build homes. Who knew?
Will the government end their photo ops so Canadians can get houses built?
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- Nov/21/23 2:49:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I find it fascinating that there are accusations of using photo ops for political gain when the leader of the Conservative Party, when he was the minister, actually violated the election rules for a photo op when he showed up wearing a Conservative party logo when he was there on behalf of the government at that time.
With respect to my hon. colleague, he has the facts wrong. Stats Canada has indicated that we are seeing an increase in housing investments in the residential sector. Housing starts are up. In fact, we are on pace to build more than 50,000 additional homes, over and above the record that the Conservatives achieved while they were in government.
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- Nov/21/23 2:50:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when the Conservative leader was the minister of housing, a typical family home cost only $450,000. Investment in housing construction is down 14% under the minister today. Rent has doubled. House prices have doubled, and mortgage payments are up 150%.
Will the government end their photo ops so Canadians can get houses built?
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- Nov/21/23 2:51:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know that the Conservatives like to make up facts, but I did not realize that they were trying to make up a new way of doing math. When Statistics Canada says that housing starts are up 7%, that does not equal a decrease of 14%. I would encourage the members opposite to look at the Stats Canada report, but we understand that they do not have a lot of respect for Stats Can. They were the ones who cut the long-form census when they were in government.
They do not like to make policy based on data because then they would have to realize that they are making bad policy.
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- Nov/21/23 2:52:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's public service workers stepped up during the pandemic and every day since to deliver the critical services Canadians rely on. How did the government thank them? With a disastrous rollout to a new health care plan. Workers are paying thousands of dollars out of pocket for their medication and health care, and are waiting months to be reimbursed, which is forcing families to make impossible decisions. The Liberals' lack of urgency to act just shows how out of touch they are.
When will the government stop delaying and fix this mess so workers can have the benefits they have earned?
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- Nov/21/23 2:52:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's public servants and their families deserve to have access to their benefits as quickly as possible. I have been in close touch with the supplier and have ensured that the supplier will agree to bringing down call wait times to between five and 10 minutes by December 31, opening call centres on weekends as well as introducing escalation processes for those who are not served well.
We will always make sure that Canada's public servants are reimbursed for their benefits. We are grateful for their service every single day.
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- Nov/21/23 2:53:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are getting the fall economic update from the government today.
Let me give an update from small businesses in northern Ontario. First, they were hammered by the pandemic. Then they were hammered by high inflation. Now they are being hammered by Liberal indifference. If the Prime Minister does not change course on the CEBA repayments, many of our businesses are going to be forced to close their doors in January.
Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and extend the loan repayment deadline so that our small businesses can get back on their feet?
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- Nov/21/23 2:54:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know times were tough and are still tough for small businesses.
If they are unable to repay by January 18, they still have a full three years to repay their CEBA loan. We extended the term loan repayment deadline to make sure that small businesses are able to focus on navigating pandemic recovery. We are also cutting taxes for growing small businesses and lowering credit card fees by up to a quarter. We will always be there for small businesses. That will never change.
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- Nov/21/23 2:54:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Canada pension plan is a key pillar in the federal government's commitment to support Canadians in their retirement. Residents in my province are worried about the attack it is facing. Even more alarming is the official opposition's continued silence on the issue.
Could the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages tell us what our government is doing to protect Albertan pensions and ensure that the Canada pension plan we have all paid into is there for people in retirement?
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- Nov/21/23 2:55:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Calgary Skyview for his hard work.
Albertans must speak up on this matter. As a federal government, we will always protect the pensions of Albertans and fight the reckless and risky proposal of Alberta Conservatives to pull Albertans out of the CPP.
Every member in the House should be defending the CPP, but what do we hear from Alberta Conservatives? Silence, zero, zilch. Their silence speaks volumes about their unwillingness to protect Albertans and their pensions.
We will stick up for Albertans every day and for the Canada pension plan. They can do whatever they want. We have the backs of Canadians.
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- Nov/21/23 2:56:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, we know the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. He is planning to quadruple the carbon tax on gas, groceries and home heating, but our common-sense plan is to axe the tax to bring home lower prices.
Today the government has an opportunity. Will it include in today's mini budget a plan to finally stop its carbon tax hikes?
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- Nov/21/23 2:56:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party pretends to offer certain principles and if people do not like those, they have other principles.
In the 2008 platform of the Conservatives, it states, “We will work...to develop and implement a North America-wide cap and trade system for greenhouse gases and air pollution.” In their 2021 platform that they all ran on, they said, “We recognize that the most efficient way to reduce our emissions is to use pricing mechanisms.”
Given the flip-flopping on that side of the House, how do Canadians believe anything those folks say?
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- Nov/21/23 2:57:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the simple fact is that the government's plan just is not working. It continues to miss climate target after climate target. It is only driving up the cost of living for Canadians.
In northern Ontario, we cannot afford to pay more for gas and home heating, but the Liberal and NDP politicians across northern Ontario continue to leave their residents out in the cold.
I will ask this again. Will we see in today's mini budget a plan from the government to finally cancel its carbon tax hikes?
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- Nov/21/23 2:58:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct the record. The Harper government did not meet any of the environment targets it had. We are on track and are 85% of the way to meeting our 2030 targets. We have six years left to get there, and we will meet the interim 2026 targets. We are meeting our targets when it comes to climate change, protecting nature and phasing out plastic pollution.
Conservatives do not believe in any of this. They want to increase pollution in Canada, but not us on this side of the House. We are working for Canadians, for the health of Canadians, and for the future of our kids and our grandkids.
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- Nov/21/23 2:59:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Scotiabank has calculated that government overspending has added two percentage points to Canada's interest rates. As a result, Canadians who are struggling to pay their mortgages are still suffering.
I remind members that, in eight years, this government has yet to present a balanced budget. Will the government announce a plan to return to balanced budgets in today's mini-budget so that interest rates can come down and Canadians can keep their homes?
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- Nov/21/23 2:59:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Conservatives looking to blame inflation on federal government spending have a very difficult job indeed.
The report my colleague is citing says that COVID-19 support measures and provincial government spending are responsible for an increase, not federal government spending.
My colleague is a former member of Quebec's National Assembly. Is she saying that we should demand that the provinces spend less? Is that what she is saying right now?
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- Nov/21/23 3:00:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, I have a reality check for my colleague. The economic situation is such that a 30-year-old man from Sherbrooke has to resort to spending the winter in a tent because he does not have access to affordable housing.
The costly Bloc-Liberal coalition wants to drastically increase the carbon tax, and that makes everything more expensive. Voting for the Bloc Québécois is costly.
Today, we want the government to do three things in the mini-budget: cancel carbon tax increases, balance the budget and build housing without bureaucracy. Will the Minister of Finance surprise us and balance the budget, or will she disappoint us once again?
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- Nov/21/23 3:01:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what is disappointing for many of the people watching us right now is the fact that the opposition member, who was part of a government that supported carbon pricing and who advocated in favour of fighting climate change, is now flip-flopping. Gone is her belief in climate change. Gone is her belief that it is important to fight to protect the environment our children and grandchildren will live in.
That is what Canadians find disappointing.
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- Nov/21/23 3:01:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our media are in crisis.
Yesterday, the big boss at Québecor said that TVA was hanging on by a thread. The vice-president of Bell Media added, “The longer we wait, the more we put ourselves at risk, and the more we risk losing news sources”. Meanwhile, what does the minister have to say? She said, “We hope to have a new regulatory framework by 2025.” The media are at risk now. Do I understand correctly that we might have to wait another two years?
By 2025 it will be too late. What exactly is the minister waiting for?
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