SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 339 - Sep/19/24

Mr. Xavier Barsalou-Duval (Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, BQ)

Sep/19/24 10:34:07 a.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the Conservatives for starting this debate, because I think it is timely. We are in the midst of a housing crisis, so I think it only makes sense to talk about housing. That said, my question has to do with the Conservatives' strategy for solving the housing crisis. Not too long ago, I had a conversation with people from the UMQ, the Union des municipalités du Québec. They told me they were concerned because the Liberals' strategy was to say they would invest a bit of money in municipal infrastructure but that they themselves would set the municipal regulations and decide how the cities should manage urban planning rules. The Conservatives' strategy seems almost like a carbon copy of the Liberals'. They say they will dole out money to the cities based on what they build, but the cities will not get any money in the meantime. Cities need money to build infrastructure, however. At the end of the day, it seems like both parties have the same strategy. The Liberals and Conservatives—we might call them a coalition—are both saying that, ultimately, Ottawa will tell municipal elected officials how they should run their cities. What does the member have to say about that? There are people who were elected in Quebec's cities to manage things. There are people who were elected in Quebec City to manage things. Why must it always be Ottawa that decides for the cities?

251 words

Context: House Hansard - 339 - Sep/19/24

Mr. Dan Albas

Sep/19/24 12:33:46 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, as a former municipal councillor for the great community of Penticton, I learned that under the Local Government Act, yes, municipalities are authorized to create development cost charges to capture some of the costs for building new. However, let us be remindful of two things. First of all, when a development cost charge is added, without explaining what can be charged and what should be considered a development cost charge, there will always be bureaucratic overreach over a period of time. Things like community art, which should be paid by all taxpayers in a community, are now being jammed into DCCs. I will just be mindful that places like my old community of Penticton, just before the new council took office in the current term, said that Kelowna raised its DCCs and that Penticton should increase them by 50% to play catch-up. This is the problem. People are not asking whether development cost charges are correct or whether they are the right items and at the right costs. They are playing follow-the-leader, and the leader is more expensive. What does that mean? It means young people have less opportunity to own a home, because that is who pays for it.

205 words

Context: House Hansard - 339 - Sep/19/24

Mr. Dan Albas

Sep/19/24 12:36:00 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I believe that the member also served as municipal councillor at one particular point, and I want to let her know that while there are gatekeepers, I am sure she was mindful, when she made her votes at Victoria council, of young people and their opportunities. However, first of all, the Harper government worked with the Campbell government at the time, and instead of having duelling agencies, it gave all the money to the Province of B.C.. I remember that the B.C. government at the time said it was the best way it could invest soundly across the whole country, including in places like Penticton at the Kiwanis housing facility, which I was happy to open with Bill Barisoff. What I would also say to the member is that at the same time, we need to have a government that tries to remove the gatekeepers. We need to have a system that is responsive to youth. While we can point a finger at what happened during the Harper years, we are here to focus on the government and what it has done during its tenure. It has become worse.

193 words

Context: House Hansard - 339 - Sep/19/24

Mr. Ken Hardie (Fleetwood—Port Kells, Lib.)

Sep/19/24 1:01:28 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, the federal government is usually just the ATM that helps make things happen. The actual policy, regulation and control usually rest with provinces and municipalities. Would the hon. member reflect on the share of responsibility between provincial governments, municipal governments and the federal government? Maybe he can spread the news around about who needs to do what and do so a little more equitably than he has today.

70 words

Municipal

Context: House Hansard - 339 - Sep/19/24

Mr. Todd Doherty

Sep/19/24 1:02:06 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, the government has continued to funnel billions of dollars to municipal gatekeepers. Municipalities, in turn, have raised the prices on permitting and the length of time to get homes built. Our colleague from the NDP is right. We need more affordable homes. A government led by our hon. colleague, the member for Carleton, would incentivize municipalities to build more affordable homes. That is how things are going to get done under our Conservative government.

76 words