44th Parl. 1st Sess.
January 29, 2024 11:00AM
- Jan/29/24 2:42:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to begin by welcoming my colleague from the Bloc back to Parliament. I understand that, for the Bloc, this is about the essence of immigration. Let us just make sure we work in the interests of immigrants.
I had a good conversation with Minister Fréchette on Friday. We are prepared to do more. It is clear that Quebec has done more than its fair share, but we are here to work together.
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- Jan/29/24 2:43:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would invite all of the political parties to be mindful when they talk about immigration. The immigration minister already has one strike against him.
At this point, one would think that the Liberals would have learned that when they fail to address problems, they never get resolved. They only get worse.
When the House recessed in December, the federal government owed Quebeckers $460 million for taking in asylum seekers for whom Ottawa is responsible.
Not only did the federal government do nothing, but it told us that it was not an ATM. As a result, the bill is now up to $470 million.
When will the government reimburse Quebec?
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- Jan/29/24 2:43:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, good news is coming this week.
It is clear that relationships go both ways. We will continue to work with Quebec to deal with the record number of asylum seekers who have arrived this year. That is not something that is going to end any time soon. More work needs to be done by both levels of government.
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- Jan/29/24 2:44:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is better already. Quebec is also demanding that the federal government reinstate visas for Mexicans. Since the Liberals suspended visas, the number of refugee claims by Mexicans has risen from 110 in 2015 to 24,000 last year.
Most of these applications are denied, meaning that the majority of these people are not refugees. Worse still, we know that these people can be trafficked by Mexican criminal groups that have a strong presence at Canada's borders. They are being exploited.
Will the minister reinstate visas for Mexicans?
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- Jan/29/24 2:44:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are facing historic influxes, and not just from Mexico. It is clear that restrictions are needed, as I have said publicly.
The member opposite has enough experience in politics and in the House to know that the details of such matters cannot be discussed in the public arena, knowing that people who do not have Canada's interests at heart could well make decisions based on what they hear.
I urge my colleague to be patient, but it is clear that we are going to take action.
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- Jan/29/24 2:45:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, every time the Prime Minister comes back from another extravagant vacation he did not pay for, or cabinet decides to have a meeting in a luxury hotel, more Canadians are left without an affordable home. Even more are worried about losing their homes.
After eight years, the Liberals have doubled the cost of a home, the price of rent and the down payment that is needed to buy one. Interest payments on a mortgage are going up a staggering 30% this year. Eight years of the Liberal-NDP government's inflationary spending have made owning a home unattainable.
How can anyone trust the people who created the crisis to fix it?
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- Jan/29/24 2:46:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the opposition seems interested in drawing on the anxieties that people are experiencing, which are very real, when it comes to housing affordability in this country.
However, when we actually look at the plan the Conservatives are putting forward, it is clear they have no idea what they are talking about. Where we are reducing taxes for home builders, they want to put taxes back on. Where we are making investments to promote affordable housing, they plan on making cuts. In fact, the Conservatives want to do away with the housing accelerator fund, which has now created 30 agreements that will see half a million homes added over the next decade.
We will build the homes; they would make the cuts. Canadians can make their choice.
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- Jan/29/24 2:46:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, those are photo ops the minister is talking about.
Home construction was down 7% last year. That is even worse than his nameless predecessor, who was fired from the gig. People cannot live in a photo op. The videos will not bring warmth to the 300,000 people without homes. His tweets will not help the single mom who is trying to make her mortgage payment next month. His press conferences will not help the thousands of young people trying to move out of their parents' basements.
Why will the minister not stop subsidizing the bureaucracy that is blocking construction to focus on getting builders with shovels in the ground?
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- Jan/29/24 2:47:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what the Conservatives dismiss as photo ops are binding agreements with cities that have led them to already change their rules to get more homes built.
What they dismiss as press conferences included a new measure this morning that is going to extend low-cost loans to colleges, universities and builders to help those young people find a home and free up supply in communities.
If the Conservatives are concerned with housing stats as the appropriate metric, I would point out that never once when the opposition leader was the housing minister did he get as many homes built as we did last year.
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- Jan/29/24 2:47:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canada's housing crisis keeps getting worse. Canada saw over 17,000 fewer housing starts in 2023 than in 2022, and the average asking rent in British Columbia is now $2,500 a month. Working-class people are living in their cars in parking lots, and its own housing agency even said that there is no plan to build the number of houses that Canadians need in this country.
The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost. When will the Prime Minister have a plan to build houses, not bureaucracy?
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- Jan/29/24 2:48:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have a plan to build houses. In fact, we have a plan to build houses in real communities.
Let us take the hon. member's constituency as an example. She represents the good people of Kelowna. Not only have we put programs in place that supported affordable housing in her community, but we have also invested $31.5 million to change the way that homes get built permanently in Kelowna. This is going to add up to 20,000 new homes of stock in the city she represents.
On both the plan to change the way the city builds homes and this specific project, the member voted against the programs that fund them. I think we can rest our case.
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- Jan/29/24 2:49:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, hate led to the murder of six worshippers at the Quebec City mosque seven years ago today. They were killed in cold blood because they were Muslim. The perpetrator of this Islamophobic terrorism was influenced by hate, which continues to multiply online. The Prime Minister promised to take action to combat online hate within his first 100 days in office. Years have passed, and there is still no action.
When are the Liberals finally going to crack down on online hate? When will they take action?
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- Jan/29/24 2:49:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge that today is the seventh anniversary of a terrorist attack at the Quebec City mosque. We commit ourselves to commemorating those victims and to taking action on Islamophobia.
The point the member is raising about Islamophobia and all forms of hate is a very important one. We know that the radicalization of people who take violent and sometimes lethal acts in this country is fuelled by what they learn online. That is why we are committed to addressing this matter in a comprehensive piece of legislation that would tackle this pernicious issue and address and promote the safety of Canadians.
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- Jan/29/24 2:50:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the same day that the ICJ ruled that there is a risk of genocide in Gaza, the Liberals paused funding to UNRWA, which is a lifeline for millions of innocent Palestinians. People will lose their lives, and unbelievably, the Conservative leader has accused 30,000 UNRWA humanitarian workers of being terrorists. He does not deserve to lead.
New Democrats support an investigation into the 12 former staff, but defunding UNRWA is collective punishment, and it is illegal. When will the Liberals stop abandoning Palestinians?
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- Jan/29/24 2:51:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, these allegations are extremely disturbing, and we take them very seriously. We have communicated that to the head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini.
What we are doing, which is the prudent thing to do, is pausing funding while the investigation is ongoing. We will continue to be there for Palestinian civilians through working with like-minded partners on the ground, trusted partners, who are doing important work to deliver life-saving food, medicine and other much-needed supplies to the people of Gaza.
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- Jan/29/24 2:51:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, through the housing accelerator fund, our government is partnering with the City of Richmond with a tremendous investment in housing in our community, building over 1,000 new housing units, which is way more than what the Conservative government did. While the Conservative leader continues to marginalize our municipal partners, our government is committed to working together with municipalities such as Richmond to build more homes faster.
Can the minister share with my community how we are working with local municipalities to build more homes faster in the city of Richmond?
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- Jan/29/24 2:52:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his work not just to secure $35.9 million for the City of Richmond but also for the thousands of homes that will be built as a result of the changes we are incentivizing.
We are putting federal money on the table to permanently change the way that cities build homes to create more density near the services, infrastructure and post-secondary education institutions that people need to do well in their communities. This program is creating hundreds of thousands of homes across the country, including in Richmond, and I once again want to thank my colleague and congratulate him on his important work.
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- Jan/29/24 2:53:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this government, in the Prime Minister's riding, the cost of rent has gone from $760 a month to $2,249 a month. That is three times as much. The Prime Minister thinks only of himself. He travels to Jamaica at a cost of over $9,000 a night on our dime.
Can he come back to Canada's reality and address the housing problems of Canadians, beginning with those in his own riding of Papineau, in Montreal?
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- Jan/29/24 2:53:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the Leader of the Opposition's solution is to say that mayors are incompetent. That is inappropriate under the circumstances.
We are investing to build affordable housing in la belle province. For example, we signed an agreement with Quebec to build 8,000 new affordable housing units. We continue to make very important and essential investments to build a lot of housing very quickly.
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- Jan/29/24 2:54:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I wish I had been a fly on the wall when the Prime Minister and the mayor of Montreal had their talk about housing. The Plante administration blocked the construction of 25,000 homes and apartments, yet this Prime Minister is rewarding it for its incompetence by continuing to send cheques. Clearly, the meeting amounted to nothing.
Why not tie municipal funding to the number of housing units built? That is simple common sense.
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