44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 7, 2023 10:00AM
- Dec/7/23 10:29:03 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I feel like I am in a kind of parallel universe this morning as I listen to the Conservatives talk about the carbon tax yet again. I have no idea what universe the Leader of the Opposition is living in.
I toured Quebec in recent months and met with over 400 housing organizations, including the Réseau québécois des OSBL d'habitation, the Réseau Solidarité Itinérance du Québec, and technical resource groups that work with homeless persons and women who are victims of domestic violence or that build social housing. No one ever talked to me about the carbon tax. What these people want is for governments to invest. They want the failed national housing strategy to be reviewed. They want the government to send Quebec a cheque so it can build real housing that people can live in. That is what people want. No one ever brought up the carbon tax to me.
What universe are the Conservatives living in?
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- Dec/7/23 12:01:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague. She spoke at length about the housing crisis.
Last week, I travelled to France with the Canada-France Interparliamentary Association and I met a socialist senator. We talked about housing and she was surprised that Canada gives or lends money to private developers to build housing. Her jaw dropped. To her this is totally absurd.
I know that my colleague spoke earlier about an acquisition fund. One of the problems with the national strategy is that too much money is being sent to private developers for housing that is not at all affordable, for example housing at $2,000 a month in Montreal. She talked about this acquisition fund and the fact that it would be important for the government to lend money to non-profit organizations to buy housing to get it out of the private market. I would like her to elaborate on how important that is.
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- Dec/7/23 12:02:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for the question. It is a very important one.
A housing acquisition fund is a key policy piece that can support housing organizations to acquire the land to provide housing. It is wild to me that the government is giving money out to private developers with no strings and no requirements to ensure affordability or to ensure that the people whose housing is being demolished to build new housing will be able to afford the new units. It is unbelievable.
We also need to tackle real estate investment trusts, which are raking in record profits while renovicting tenants to maximize profits. We give them tax loopholes and incentives and do not make them pay the corporate tax. It is wild.
Let us implement a housing acquisition fund. Let us take the loopholes out of our system—
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- Dec/7/23 12:18:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for such an important question. The concerns of first nations, Inuit and Métis are truly at the heart of the NDP's work on social justice and true reconciliation.
I want to congratulate my colleague from Nunavut for all the work she is doing, especially on indigenous housing and on having a housing program for and by indigenous peoples. Housing is a major issue in the north in general, where people have felt the effects of Conservative budget cuts and are now feeling the effects of inadequate Liberal investments.
These people can count on the NDP, which will continue to speak out about the challenges of housing and the cost of the groceries for first nations, Inuit, Métis and all northerners.
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- Dec/7/23 12:32:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the saying goes, one step forward, two steps back. That is the impression I am getting from this debate. We are concerned about people who are struggling with the cost of living, and we are concerned about the housing crisis that is affecting our constituents. However, the Conservatives' proposal would do nothing to correct these situations, just like the government's climate change policies.
There is one thing that could be done. Canada is a petro-state, and climate change affects everything we are talking about: the price of groceries, agriculture, housing and food. In that context, how do the Conservatives aim to present a serious plan to address climate change?
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- Dec/7/23 12:33:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, very clearly, there are two parts to the answer.
One is that, first and foremost, we need to make it more affordable for Canadians to live. There will not be a country if people cannot afford to eat, to heat their homes and to house themselves. We know that those are the three main requirements to having a life to live, so that is very important.
The second incredibly important point is that we know clearly on this side of the House that Conservatives continue to put forward great ideas. For example, the leader of His Majesty’s loyal opposition put forward a 15-minute video releasing his housing documentary. However, the Liberals, of course, did not even have the decency to watch it. If they did watch it, we know exactly what would happen, which is that they would abscond with those ideas. They took advantage of the credit for the great Bill C-323, which was released. It happened to be my bill. What did they do? They included it in their mini budget, because they are out of ideas, and, of course, we all know they are out of time.
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- Dec/7/23 1:31:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will ask my colleague the same question I asked the leader of the official opposition earlier.
There were all sorts of food drives over the weekend. I met with organizations in my riding, very dedicated people, food banks, families, people involved in housing as well, who build social housing. They talked to me and what they want are massive investments to build social housing for families, for women who are victims of domestic abuse and for single mothers.
Again, no one talked to me about the carbon tax and the related rising costs in Quebec. What they need is housing. No one talked to me about the carbon tax. The carbon tax does not apply in Quebec.
What is it going to take for Conservatives to understand that this does not apply in Quebec? What would my colleague say to the woman who says we need investments in social housing?
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- Dec/7/23 2:08:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, housing is booming across the nation and Surrey Centre is no exception. Our government's rental construction financial initiative will invest more than $82 billion to give more Canadians a place to call home.
My home city of Surrey hosts the fastest-growing economy and fastest-growing population in British Columbia, and our housing strategy reflects Surrey's thriving community.
With a total of $320 million over three projects, residents living in Surrey Centre can expect to move into these 843 new purpose-built rental homes by early 2025. These investments include $146 million for 392 units at Comma King George, $145 million for 373 units at Brightside Tower and $28 million for 78 units at Parker Living. These are on top of the already 94 homes built in Surrey Centre under the rapid housing initiative, for a total of 932 homes in Surrey Centre alone. For the record, that is 10 times more in Surrey Centre than the Conservatives built in all of Canada in 10 years.
Do not believe a word that the Leader of the Opposition says. He talks a lot, but his resumé is rather small. Even if we increase—
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- Dec/7/23 2:49:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the people of Attawapiskat continue to suffer a brutal housing crisis. Now there are serious questions about their water supply, and with winter hitting hard, a crisis is looming.
We remember the winter of 2011 when Attawapiskat asked the Conservatives for help. The Conservatives falsely blamed them for ripping off taxpayers and then expelled a democratically elected council. However, under the Liberals, there has just been vague promises and no action.
As this winter hits, will the government send a team to assess the situation on the ground and help find a solution for the people of Attawapiskat?
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- Dec/7/23 6:37:18 p.m.
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moved:
That Vote 1b, in the amount of $408,566,117, under Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation — Repayments to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, in the Supplementary Estimates (B) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, be concurred in.
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