SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 254 - Nov/23/23

Nov/23/23 1:15:08 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I cannot answer for why it took so long. I do not sit around the cabinet table for discussions on which policies come forward and which do not. However, I am delighted, and I know the people in my riding are delighted, that we are actually moving this envelope forward. We are going to make more houses and rental units available and have more people living in homes that they deserve. It should be a right, not an option, for people to have homes.

86 words

Context: House Hansard - 254 - Nov/23/23

Mr. Brad Redekopp

Nov/23/23 1:43:15 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I am very hesitant to say that the solution to the housing problem is to get the government more involved, to have it owning and producing houses. The current government especially has proven it is unable to get that done. I was a home builder before I became a member of Parliament. I probably built more houses than the government has ever built. The fact is that we cannot rely on governments, especially the NDP-Liberal government, to have any hope of building more houses. We have to engage all different parties. The more the government gets out of the way, the better it will be for our future in housing and the economy in general.

118 words

Context: House Hansard - 254 - Nov/23/23

Mr. Michael Cooper

Nov/23/23 3:41:56 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, with respect to the GST measure on rental housing, that is something the Liberals promised six years ago and are only now acting on it. It was provided for by the bill put forward by the leader of His Majesty's loyal opposition, the building homes not bureaucracy act. That bill is a common-sense piece of legislation aimed at getting gatekeepers out of the way by tying infrastructure dollars to the number of homes actually built. The Liberal government has thrown around billions of dollars, yet there were fewer houses built in the past year than were built in 1972 when Canada's population was half of what it is today. The record of the Liberals is to build up bureaucracy and not houses. The plan of the Leader of the Opposition is to get homes built for Canadians.

142 words

Context: House Hansard - 254 - Nov/23/23

Mr. Randy Hoback

Nov/23/23 7:11:43 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, actually, it is not up to government to build houses. It is up to the marketplace to build houses. It is up to government to actually set the stage, to put the environment in place so houses get built. It is up to government to make sure the platform is there so developers and homeowners who want to build a new house can actually do that. What have we done here? We have taxed them. We have taken away all of their disposable income. We have made it tough to actually even afford groceries, so how are they supposed to build a house? Talking about revenue properties and social housing, there is a role for government in social housing; there is no question about that for municipal, federal and provincial governments. Let us have a proper game plan to see that happen. Do members know what? It is pretty tough when the cupboard is bare because the money was spent on things we cannot find.

167 words

Context: House Hansard - 254 - Nov/23/23

Ms. Lindsay Mathyssen (London—Fanshawe, NDP)

Nov/23/23 7:13:13 p.m.
Watch

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?

144 words

Context: House Hansard - 254 - Nov/23/23

Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)

Nov/23/23 7:28:00 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, the housing crisis is affecting the entire country. As we know, in New Westminster—Burnaby, a one-bedroom apartment costs $2,500 a month. Becauase of this crisis, people simply cannot afford to put a roof over their heads. It is not an exaggeration to say that. This crisis has been brewing for 17 years. We saw it first under the Conservatives, and after that the Liberals did virtually nothing for many years. Now, with pressure from the NDP, they are just starting to take action. However, the reality is that we are still far behind where we should be in terms of building houses. I would like to ask my colleague the following question. Why is the government waiting two years before making the investments that would allow the construction of social, co-operative and affordable housing to begin right away?

145 words