SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 318 - May/27/24

Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

May/27/24 11:56:36 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, after nine years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing, which has doubled since he took office. It is hard to believe, but on my last day as housing minister, in November 2015, the average rent in Canada's 10 biggest cities for a one-bedroom was $973. Can members believe that? It is now $1,893. The average down payment needed for a new home then was $22,000; it is almost quaint. Now it is almost $50,000. The average mortgage payment needed on a brand new home was just $1,400. It is now almost $3,500. It took about 39% of the average family paycheque to make monthly payments on the average home. That number has now risen to 64%, a record-smashing total, meaning that one would not be able to eat, clothe oneself, own a vehicle or do anything other than pay taxes and one's mortgage if one is the average family buying the average home. The Prime Minister did not care much about any of this until he started crashing in the polls, and then he panicked and appointed a big-talking housing minister to take the helm of the ministry of housing. This minister had already, according to Liberal admission, caused immigration to run out of control. Since that time, we have seen a flurry of photo ops and new government programs designed to generate media headlines. However, predictably, these headlines have not reduced housing costs or increased home building. Home building is down this year. The federal housing agency says that it will be down next year and the year after that. Rent and mortgage payments continue to rise. That is because the government, under the Prime Minister, is building bureaucracy rather than homes. My common-sense plan is the building homes, not bureaucracies act. It seeks to provide exactly what it says: less bureaucracy, more homebuilding. In a nutshell, here is my common-sense plan to build the homes: First, we would require municipalities to permit 15% more homebuilding as a condition of getting their federal funds; second, we would sell off thousands of acres of federal land and buildings, so they can be used to build homes; and third, we would axe taxes on homebuilding. In this plan, we would get rid of the carbon tax, the sales tax and other taxes that block homebuilding. This is a fundamentally different approach than what we see from the current Liberal government. What it currently does with its so-called housing accelerator program is to fund box-ticking. It puts together a bunch of boxes that municipalities have to tick for procedural and bureaucratic reforms. Once the boxes are ticked, the money is sent and we move on. The problem is that, even if those are the right boxes to tick and the municipality ultimately ticks them, when the feds turn their backs, the city can then put in place a bunch of new obstacles. For example, municipalities such as Ottawa and Toronto have actually jacked up development charges after getting federal housing accelerator funds. The City of Winnipeg got federal funding and then blocked 2,000 homes right next to a federal transit station. That is why trying to manage process will get one nowhere. When one pays for bureaucratic box-ticking, that is what one gets. However, people cannot live in a box ticked by a bureaucrat; they have to live in a home. That is why my plan would pay for results. It simply requires that municipalities permit 15% more homes per year. If they hit the target, they keep their federal money. If they beat the target, they get a bonus. If they miss the target, they pay a fine. They are paid on a per completion basis, just as a realtor or a home builder is paid per home built. We want to pay for keys in doors and families sitting in a beautiful new kitchen, enjoying their dinner. We want families to be housed, healthy and safe, with money in the bank. That is the result we are going to pay for. Now let us bring it home.

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Context: House Hansard - 318 - May/27/24

Mr. Ryan Williams (Bay of Quinte, CPC)

May/27/24 2:16:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are experiencing pain and anxiety as rent and mortgage payments have doubled after nine years of the Prime Minister. Housing is a need, not a want, yet OSFI just made a report stating that 76% of Canadians are going to face trouble paying their mortgages. That is 34 million Canadians who have a mortgage, who live with a mortgage holder or who rent from a mortgage holder. Trust is a powerful word. It is an experience more than a statement, and Canadians are facing anxiety and pain, and are losing trust over the Liberal Prime Minister, who cannot take care of even the basic needs: housing, low taxes and an affordable cost of living. Trust does not require billions; it requires action. To make Canada right, we need change. We need a new prime minister who is going to restore trust, build homes for Canadians, and bring it home.

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Context: House Hansard - 318 - May/27/24

Hon. Chrystia Freeland (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)

May/27/24 2:19:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are not really worried about Canadians who are struggling to pay their mortgage. We know that because the Conservatives refused to support our Canadian mortgage charter, which truly provides significant support for Canadians. They are against 30-year amortization for new buyers. The only thing the Conservatives understand is cut, cut, cut.

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Context: House Hansard - 318 - May/27/24

Hon. Chrystia Freeland (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)

May/27/24 2:22:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know the truth. The Conservatives do not actually care about Canadians who are struggling to pay their mortgages, and we know that because when we put forward something very concrete to support those Canadians, like the strengthened Canadian mortgage charter, they refused to support it. When we put forward a plan to help first-time homebuyers with 30-year mortgage amortizations, the Conservatives voted against it. The fact is that the only thing the Conservatives know how to do is cut, cut, cut, and the only Canadians they care about are themselves.

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