44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 19, 2024 10:00AM
- Sep/19/24 10:19:26 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to commend my colleague from Parry Sound—Muskoka for his excellent contribution. He did a good job explaining and presenting what we are discussing today. This subject is of interest to a great many Canadians and Quebeckers too. The housing crisis we are facing today was caused by this government, which has mismanaged its files since it came to power in 2015.
My colleague spoke about this government's incompetence, which I believe takes many forms. I hope to have the opportunity to point to some of the factors that led us to this housing crisis, which has sadly affected all of Canada and all of Quebec, including in places where homelessness would have been unthinkable. This has caused terribly unfortunate situations in our cities as well as in our small towns.
As my colleague was saying, people are having to sleep on couches. This is a hidden form of homelessness, and even our small towns are not immune to it. In fact, this is happening in my riding and pretty much across Quebec. Other forms of homelessness are increasingly visible, and that is so unfortunate to see. It is truly sad that people in Canada, a G7 country, a G20 country, are not even able to put a roof over their heads. Plenty of ordinary Canadians are now finding themselves on the streets, homeless.
This week I heard a man on a call-in show describe his situation, which was pretty cut and dried: He was forced out of his home because the landlords were taking over the property. This is allowed in Quebec. He found himself on the street because there is no housing. He bought himself a tent and that is where he lives today. Does anyone think we have palm trees and sunny skies year round in Canada? October is coming. November too. In December the snow comes, along with temperatures in the negative twenties and thirties.
These people will be sleeping outside. As parliamentarians and members of this legislature, we cannot simply look away. It borders on the criminal to do so.
Thomas Mulcair, a well-known former politician who used to lead the NDP, is now a high-profile political commentator in Quebec. He said that the Prime Minister and his government promised affordable housing in 2015. They promised they would build homes so that everyone would have a roof over their head. Where are we today? The situation, as my colleague pointed out, is worse than it was nine years ago, when this Prime Minister came to power.
Many people of all backgrounds and circumstances have entered our country in recent years, and it was the Liberals who did this. However, they built less housing. How can it be that they did such a poor job? Let us crunch the numbers. Fewer homes were built in 2022 than in 1972, despite the population having doubled. How can they have done such a poor job? I repeat, fewer homes were built in 2022 than in 1972, despite a doubling of the population. In my opinion, someone somewhere is not doing their job. Someone, somewhere, on the other side needs to wake up, because this is not working.
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC, has indicated how many homes must be built by 2030 if we are to try and get a handle on the situation.
We will need 8.5 million housing units. I am not the one saying this. It is the CMHC. They are the experts. Here are some figures. I do little summaries like this on every sector in Canada. I can also talk about the budget and a whole host of other things, but since I only have four minutes left, I am going to focus on the housing question. Rent has doubled since 2015. Mortgage costs have doubled since 2015. Of all the OECD countries, Canada is the slowest to build. Of the G7 countries, based on our land mass, Canada has the fewest homes, and yet, if one looks at a map of Canada, it is not for lack of space.
In Toronto, it takes 25 years to save for a down payment, when that should be the repayment period. That is unbelievable. I repeat: Fewer housing units were built in 2022 under this government than in 1972. Something is not working. Right now, money is being spent left and right. We do not know what is happening with that money. Right now, we are seeing just how overwhelmed Canada's big cities are with what has been happening, especially in Montreal. Does anyone feel like going to Montreal these days? Shots are being fired, there are guns everywhere and people are sleeping outside. That is the current situation.
Our leader introduced a bill to build housing and encourage the use of federally owned surplus buildings and land, but it was voted down. The bill stipulated that municipalities would have to build 15% more housing and meet housing construction goals. How could anyone think that voting against that bill was a good idea? I will tell the House why they voted against it. They voted against it simply because it came from the Conservatives. That is the only reason. It is a matter of partisanship, when what we are trying to do here is to take care of Quebeckers and Canadians, to put a roof over their heads. That is what we are trying to do here—
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- Sep/19/24 11:34:59 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague's question is extremely interesting. It brings the Conservatives' hypocrisy to light. In fact, my colleague's question is not about the motion or the report on the housing crisis we are discussing today, despite the fact that the Conservatives are the ones who started the debate. If they really wanted to resolve the housing problem, I think they would ask questions about housing. That is not what they are doing. Instead, they are asking whether we will vote with them or against them in a non-confidence vote to bring down the government.
I find that interesting because it gives us a glimpse into their priorities. Do they really want to resolve the housing crisis, or do they want their leader to sit across the aisle in the Prime Minister's seat?
Let me explain something. We in the Bloc Québécois are not Conservatives, and we are not Liberals, so we are not obliged to vote for one or the other. What we decide, who we decide to vote for and why we decide to vote is based on what is good for Quebec and what will improve living conditions for Quebeckers.
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- Sep/19/24 2:20:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Premier of the Quebec nation said today that the Liberal government's decision to double the number of temporary immigrants to 600,000 individuals poses a threat to social services for Quebeckers.
Will the leader of the Bloc Québécois do what the Premier of the Quebec nation is asking, and reconsider supporting this Liberal government next week? Will he defend the interests of Quebeckers and the Quebec nation?
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- Sep/19/24 2:20:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, like you, I was a page in the House of Commons a few years back, and I would like to congratulate and thank the new cohort of pages we are fortunate to have with us this year. We know how important their responsibilities are. Members of the House appreciate their service. I thank them for being with us in the coming months.
As for the Leader of the Opposition, what he is saying is laughable. He is saying that we should just keep cutting back on programs to help Quebeckers and the Government of Quebec, including health care, child care and day care.
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- Sep/19/24 2:21:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is not just the Premier of the Quebec nation. The Bloc Québécois's political cousin, Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, is also condemning this costly, centralizing government.
He said, quote, “Quebec was deliberately destabilized. This is an abuse of federal power.” According to the PQ, the governing party is hurting Quebec, and the Bloc Québécois is keeping that party in power.
Why did the leader of the Bloc Québécois turn his back on the Parti Québécois and all Quebeckers to keep the most centralizing and costly prime minister in Canada's history in power?
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- Sep/19/24 2:22:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the last time Mr. Legault got in bed with the Conservatives, Quebeckers put him in his place. It will be the same thing this time.
I find it rather strange that Mr. Legault and Paul St-Pierre Plamondon are supporting a party that is bent on destroying our most important institution in Quebec, an institution that defends the French language, Quebec culture and Quebec's cultural creators, namely CBC/Radio-Canada. It is shameful.
Those of us on this side of the House will always fight for Quebeckers, for the right to our language and for the right to our culture.
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- Sep/19/24 2:29:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the citizens of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun for putting their trust in the Bloc Québécois.
The truth is the Bloc Québécois is in the best position it has been in over 15 years. If increasing the number of Bloc members was our priority, an election would have already been called. However, our priority is Quebeckers. Quebeckers are concerned about the living conditions of seniors, among other things. That is why we are asking the Liberals to stop financially discriminating against seniors aged 65 to 74.
Are they finally going to increase old age security by 10% for that age group?
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- Sep/19/24 2:34:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, New Democrats built medicare; Liberals and Conservatives are tearing it down.
The Liberals promised to help seniors in Quebec with the age well at home initiative, but Quebeckers are not receiving anything because the Liberals and the Legault government are too busy bickering.
Will the Prime Minister stop this nonsense and finally deliver on the promise to help Quebeckers?
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- Sep/19/24 2:56:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives certainly cannot be counted on to defend Quebec's interests, and certainly not those of the Quebec government.
The Conservatives, including unfortunately my colleague from the Quebec region, want to cut everything, and this includes cuts to child care, housing, public transit and health transfers.
How is making cuts, cuts and more cuts, including cuts to supports for Quebeckers, good for Quebec?
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- Sep/19/24 2:57:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are going to cut taxes and cut cost increases for Quebeckers. That is where we are going to make cuts.
The “Liberal Bloc” has made no gains for Quebec. Now, it is going to blindly support a centralizing Liberal government that is taking money out of Quebeckers' pockets to feed a big federal machine that imposes programs in areas under Quebec's jurisdiction; a government that is creating immigration chaos, pushing Quebec to the breaking point; a government that is imposing an order that will wipe out forestry jobs. Even the Premier of Quebec is begging the Bloc Québécois to vote to defeat this terrible government.
Will the Liberal Prime Minister admit that his new Bloc ally is harming Quebec's interests?
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- Sep/19/24 2:57:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, instead of undermining the interests of Quebeckers, my colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable should be looking out for his constituents and correcting the lies told by his Conservative leader, who says that the Canadian dental care plan does not exist. In my colleague’s riding, 11,000 seniors have registered for the Canadian dental care plan, yet he stands by while his leader claims that the Canadian dental care plan does not exist.
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- Sep/19/24 3:01:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal-sponsored surge in temporary immigration is creating serious problems when it comes to delivering public services. Look at what is happening right now with asylum seekers. Four provinces are refusing to help Quebec by shouldering their fair share of the responsibility. I am talking about the Conservative premiers of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Alberta. These Conservative premiers are forcing Quebeckers to take in a disproportionate share of asylum seekers. Interestingly enough, we have never heard the Conservative leader tell his buddies to stop overburdening Quebeckers.
Would the immigration minister say that this is because the Conservative leader agrees with his buddies?
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- Sep/19/24 3:02:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the spring, the Liberals promised a plan to spread out asylum seekers among the provinces. It is now the fall, and there is no plan, but that is not stopping Conservatives from concocting ways to sabotage the non-plan before it even sees the light of day. Quebeckers are trapped in the middle, and their public services are overwhelmed. Some asylum seekers in Quebec are unable to get their basic needs met because Quebec has exceeded its intake capacity.
When will the Liberals and the Conservatives understand that their irresponsibility is hurting Quebeckers and asylum seekers?
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- Sep/19/24 3:04:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, with the cost of living, inflation and interest rates, Quebeckers already have a lot on their plate.
Now, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change wants to make life even harder for forestry workers by imposing his catastrophic order. Many of them are worried and wonder why he is choosing to go after them.
At the same time, the Bloc Québécois, which claims to defend Quebeckers, is supporting the Liberals by giving them its vote of confidence without even demanding that the order be revoked.
Will the Prime Minister think about the people and promise not to impose his order?
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