44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 5, 2024 02:00PM
- Jun/5/24 2:17:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when the Conservative leader was housing minister, he built only six affordable units. Our government is focused on building affordable homes. Under two years ago, I joined the housing minister and the local government officials to announce rapid housing initiative funding: $53 million for three projects, 110 affordable homes for Peel and $30 million to convert a hotel into homes for Brampton. Two weeks ago, I participated in the grand opening of Birch Place, a housing project with 67 affordable rental units.
Our government is getting shovels in the ground. The Conservative leader has no plan. He does not care about building homes for Canadians. We are focused on working with local governments to build more homes for Canadians.
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- Jun/5/24 3:05:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General released another report yesterday about another Liberal scandal. This time, it is was about Sustainable Development Technology Canada's green fund.
According to the report, administrators gave themselves funding 186 times, $123 million was paid out inappropriately, and half of that should never have been paid out in the first place.
There is only one way to get to the bottom of this situation. Does the minister agree with our proposal to have the RCMP investigate?
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- Jun/5/24 3:05:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives, that is for sure. We have been very clear. The moment the allegations were made, we launched investigations, one by Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and one by the law firm McCarthy Tétrault.
Members know that this is an organization created by Parliament 20 years ago that operates at arm's length from the government. In light of the allegations, we suspended the funding, and the chair of the board and the CEO both resigned.
Now we have a new governance model. The activities will be transferred to the National Research Council. We are committed to the highest standards of governance and that is exactly—
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- Jun/5/24 3:08:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are so allergic to good news that they go to old news. The big news today is 4.75. That is the number that all Canadians will remember, because we have good economic news, but I am happy to answer the same question again.
What is a responsible government? It is about launching an inquiry. That is what we did, and on the basis of the findings we suspended funding to the organization, and the CEO and the chair resigned. Now, we are proposing a new governance model with the National Research Council, because we want to restore funding to small and medium-sized businesses in this country.
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- Jun/5/24 3:15:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, indigenous tourism is a pillar of the government's tourism growth strategy, and Canada has the potential to become a leader in the world when it comes to authentic indigenous tourism. That is why NACCA will be delivering new funding to support large, scaled-up indigenous tourism projects. It will enable indigenous communities to scale up their projects and grow their own economy.
While Conservatives have always looked down on indigenous communities, we will continue to support indigenous tourism growth through an indigenous-led process.
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- Jun/5/24 6:03:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, in the bill, funding is a key element of this whole issue. The construction, administration and maintenance of water management infrastructure requires significant, recurring and predictable funding.
Does the member feel that this bill seriously addresses the issue of funding? In his opinion, is the language in the bill still somewhat superficial with regard to funding, or is something really significant being proposed that would enable adequate funding to be put in place?
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It is an emblematic issue because if we cannot solve this problem in conjunction with first nations, how can we have confidence that we can manage our water resources more generally in this country? It is an important issue because it involves the health of first nations, and it is an emblematic issue because it says a lot about how we can manage water in general in this country.
It is one of the most stubborn and complex issues to face any government in Canada, and it not only requires money, but also requires major investments. For example, what I have read recently is that, as we know, one of the issues in terms of bringing clean drinking water to first nations is sustainable financing for maintenance of first nations water systems. I have read somewhere that the funding requirement over a 10-year period, from 2016 to 2026, is about $430 million, yet there is only about $291 million available. Therefore, there is a need to increase funding for maintenance of first nations water systems. Now, what I have heard, on the positive side, is that since 2021, Indigenous Services Canada pays 100% of maintenance costs; whereas before, it only paid about 80%.
What has been required all along in dealing with this issue is not only the financing, but also the will to make it a priority. This is not to cast aspersions on any previous government. I do believe that there has been a serious commitment to resolving the issue by this government. I did not see this for myself, but I am told that at one point, the minister in charge at the time basically put up a map in her office and pinpointed where all the problem drinking water systems were. She would be able to see this map every day and would be reminded that this is a major government priority. Therefore, the will to do something about this problem is fundamental to solving the problem.
As I said, I intend to be a part of a committee study, and one of the issues that I hope to learn more about as we study the bill at committee is how we can better protect source water. Clean drinking water not only is dependent on the kind of system that is in place or built in a first nations community, but also is a function of the source water. As a matter of fact, the kind of system they build is a function of the source water as well. How do we protect source water?
I first became aware of the issue of source water about 10 years ago when I sat on the environment committee. It was a minority Conservative government at the time, and we undertook a study of the impact of the oil sands on the Athabasca Watershed. There were concerns downstream from the oil sands operations, basically in Fort Chipewyan, that the drinking water was being contaminated by the oil sands industry. That, in itself, is a source water problem and a source water issue.
How do we protect source water so that first nations can have confidence in their drinking water? How do we protect source water when a lot of the source water is in provincial jurisdiction and a province is managing economic development in its jurisdiction? How do we get the province to co-operate with the federal government and first nations to protect the source water? As a matter of fact, the whole issue of source water and the oil sands came up again at the environment committee when we were studying the leaks and spills at the Kearl tailings pond. Again, the first nation in Fort Chipewyan is very concerned about how the oil sands and how this particular spill could be impacting the first nation's source water downstream.
How do we protect source water? How do we manage the interface between jurisdictions to make sure that we can protect source water in the best interests of those who are downstream and are consuming that water?
I hope to learn more about this when I attend the committee study of Bill C-61. I am pleased to say that there has been progress since our government took power in 2016. There were 144 long-term drinking water advisories in place in November 2015. There are now 29 left in 27 communities. Sometimes an advisory will be lifted, but then it will recur or one will recur elsewhere in the same community.
There has been progress. I do not think we should say that there has been no progress because that does not do any good. It just discourages Canadians and governments from doing what they can to solve the problem once and for all.
The bill is very important for three particular reasons. One, it affirms the inherent right of first nations to self-government in relation to water, source water, drinking water, waste water and related infrastructure. Two, it creates a legal framework for protecting source water adjacent to first nation lands, which is what I was referring to.
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- Jun/5/24 6:16:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do not believe that I was being overly optimistic. I was very clear and I said that the challenges were enormous. The fact remains that there are far fewer boil water advisories than there were in 2015. The situation is far from perfect.
Additional funding is required to solve all these issues. There are systems that are on the verge of being operational. In 1% of cases, a feasibility study is under way. We have made quite a bit of progress, but the purpose of the bill is to consolidate the progress that has been made so far. The bill is not going to correct the situation entirely. Funding will.
We are getting on with the job. As for this bill, it will create a framework for the future while consolidating the progress that has been done so far.
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- Jun/5/24 8:21:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member opposite for the question she has posed. I appreciate the opportunity to highlight the work that our government is doing to tackle affordability in Canada. I would like to start by welcoming the Bank of Canada's decision to lower the interest rate. It was a very significant moment today. It is truly great news for Canada and for Canadians.
In fact, Canada is the first country in the G7 to have an interest rate cut take place. It is the result of the federal government's economically responsible plan. It is a plan that the government has been working really hard on to create the economic conditions that would make it possible for the Bank of Canada to lower the interest rate. It does not happen in a vacuum. It is as a result of the economic plan and the agenda the government has been working on. We are seeing the fruit of that hard work now.
On the matter of housing and building more homes faster, the Liberals are absolutely committed to tackling housing affordability by building more homes. The best way to bring down home prices is to increase supply and increase it quickly. The $4-billion housing accelerator fund is already cutting red tape across the country, with 179 agreements with municipalities, provinces and territories, which will enable the construction of over 750,000 new homes over the next 10 years.
In fact, in budget 2024, that work is built on by proposing to top the fund up with $400 million to build more homes faster in more communities. Budget 2024 also proposes an additional $15 billion in new loan funding for the apartment construction loan program, bringing the program's total to over $55 billion. This investment will help build more than 30,000 additional new homes across Canada, bringing the program's total contribution to over 131,000 new homes by 2032.
To support this new housing, we are investing in the infrastructure community's need to grow, which is why budget 2024 proposes to provide $6 billion to launch a new Canada housing infrastructure fund that would allow our communities and municipalities to build infrastructure, like sewer systems, and access to electricity and natural gas, in order for people to enjoy their homes.
Furthermore, budget 2024 takes action to unlock new pathways for young renters to become homeowners, and to protect middle-class homeowners from rising mortgage payments. For example, budget 2024 announced the government's intention to strengthen the Canadian mortgage charter to allow 30-year mortgage amortization for first-time homebuyers purchasing newly constructed homes. To help our younger generation purchase their first home faster, we are proposing to increase the homebuyers' plan withdrawal limit from $35,000 to $60,000.
Yes, there are a lot of measures here in place, but it is a big task to ensure the government enables the building of more homes across the country in all communities. This will be done not just in large urban centres, but in smaller communities in the country as well. It will require multiple initiatives, like the ones I have outlined, for that to happen. What will not help are mere slogans. Just to say that we will build homes, as we hear from the Conservatives and as we hear from the member opposite, is not going to build a single home. These measures will.
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