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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 254

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 23, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 254 - Nov/23/23
Hon. Sean Fraser (Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, Lib.)
  • Nov/23/23 2:37:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is fascinating and clear that the hon. member has not read the document. He seems to have missed $15 billion in low-cost loans, which is going to get Canada building. He missed a $1-billion investment to keep affordable housing going. He missed the fact that we are cracking down on short-term rentals to release tens of thousands of homes to increase supply. When I look at their plan, they want to raise taxes on home builders by putting the GST back on, they want to cut funding for cities that build homes with the housing accelerator fund and they want to add layers of bureaucracy to do it. We are going to do what it takes to get more homes built. I invite the Conservatives to join us.
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Context: House Hansard - 254 - Nov/23/23
Mr. Chris Bittle (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, Lib.)
  • Nov/23/23 5:07:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that was an interesting answer; the member said he does not see a correlation, then specified the correlation that we need to build more housing. Reducing the cost of building, especially by reducing the GST, would make rental projects more profitable for builders to develop, increase the supply and increase competition in the rental market. Would he not acknowledge that reducing this cost is going to have an impact, which is what we want to see?
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Context: House Hansard - 254 - Nov/23/23
Ms. Lindsay Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe, NDP)
  • Nov/23/23 7:13:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am at a loss in terms of the ridiculousness of the answer to the previous question, saying that the government has no place in housing. That is why we are in this crisis in the first place. It is because government has stepped away from the business of building houses and has left it to the market when, ultimately, housing is a human right. We cannot live without it, and we therefore expect that a government has to take it into account. I have heard from home builders. They are doing wonderful things in our community, but they do not do it out of the goodness of their heart. They do it for a profit, and that cannot continue when people are left homeless and dying on our streets as winter comes forward. How can the member possibly defend his position?
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Context: House Hansard - 254 - Nov/23/23
Hon. Mona Fortier
  • Nov/23/23 7:41:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. colleague for sharing his thoughts on this bill. It would be great if he could support this measure, which has been brought forward by developers for the last many years, who say that the GST removal would give them a break and help them move forward in building. This is one of the many measures we have been bringing forward. The other one that I know is big talk in Ottawa right now is about how we are going to bring forward the accelerator fund. The housing accelerator fund is another measure that will help everyone, such as the builders, the community housing associations or organizations and also the federal government, to support the city to move forward. I believe we are on a path where we have many measures that will accelerate access to safe homes for Canadians, especially in Ottawa—Vanier.
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