Yesterday was my first stop on our ice cream tour across Toronto–St. Paul’s. We hung out in one of my favourite neighbourhoods, the Winona and Vaughan neighbourhood. We went to Cy Townsend Park. Today, we’re going to be at Marian Engel Park, in our Melita Avenue neighbourhood.

It was all fun with the kids. The kids—of course you’ve got to love the innocence of children; they were not bothered. But I tell you, the adults at the park hanging out with me, the parents, the post-secondary age young adults, their concern was all about affordability. I spoke to a 23-year-old university student literally with tears in her eyes. She feels that there is no moral value, no character left in the province, in this House, because she feels that the government is not listening to her—and many people’s—concerns around affordable housing. She, like many of the parents, simply wants to be able to make ends meet, wants to be able to have a better future and wants to be able to live in St. Paul’s and stay a while.

What’s happening now is we’re being besieged by demovictions, by renovictions, by skyrocketing rent increases that folks just simply cannot afford. Even No Frills, on Alberta, where I go grocery shopping as well, too, is becoming more expensive for too many of us. So we really want the government to hear from St. Paul’s.

Affordability is a crisis, and you’ve got to—

It is really an honour to rise to speak on second reading of Bill 3, the Strong Mayors, Building Homes Act, 2022. This legislation will provide the city of Toronto and my beautiful city of Ottawa with the additional tools needed to advance provincial priorities. We’ve heard many of those issues over the last few days of discussions at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, and I believe if we were listening, as my side of the House was, that we understand those problems that were brought to us.

One of the provincial priorities is to create more housing in this great province of Ontario. During the election campaign, it was loud and clear that we need to address the housing shortage Ontario currently faces. We heard that message and that’s why our government has a plan to deliver more housing, and the legislation will help us reduce red tape and allow municipalities to remove barriers to creating homes. We know that too many families are frozen out of the housing market, particularly younger families, and we believe that everyone deserves a safe place to call home.

Under the leadership of the Premier and my colleague the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, our government passed the More Homes, More Choice Act and More Homes for Everyone Act in the last Parliament. Our government has an ambitious goal of increasing the housing supply in Ontario by 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. The most populous province in Canada will continue to grow, and our government needs to ensure that new housing is created to meet that growth. It is expected that one third of this population growth will take place in the city of Toronto and the city of Ottawa.

For example, my riding, Kanata–Carleton, is home to approximately 110,000 people. We’ve grown by 10% between 2011 and 2016, according to the Canadian census, and neighbourhoods continue to grow. At 10%, our growth is above the average provincial growth of 4.6%. If passed, this legislation will give the city of Ottawa’s mayor the strong powers they need to ensure that housing demands are met.

I have to emphasize that this is a tool that mayors have the choice to use or not. It is a tool in their tool box; it is not a super power. This tool will provide an additional array of supports in terms of the creation of housing that can be developed more quickly and deliver on the shared municipal and provincial goal to increase the supply of housing. We will empower the newly elected Ottawa mayor and city council to work more effectively with the provincial government to reduce timelines for development, standardize processes and address local barriers to increasing the housing supply.

Mr. Speaker, speed matters. To this effect, implementing the strong-mayor system in Ottawa will allow the mayor some level of autonomy and, if needed, to veto bylaws that would obstruct broader priorities, like the creation of new housing, to take one example. Again, I want to emphasize the importance of a home being foundational for a stable society and for stable families and individuals. And again, I’m going to point out that mayors do not have to use this tool. It is a tool in their tool box. Our hope remains that mayors and councils work together to proactively enable the conditions to increase the housing supply which we so badly need. Bill 3 is intended to support the mayors of Ottawa and Toronto to get it done for their communities.

Mr. Speaker, we’re elected here as voices for our communities. People are depending on us to do what is necessary, to take sometimes difficult decisions, to address some very complicated issues of our society, and to continually work to make progress. That’s what we’re doing. Bill 3 is also intended to give mayors the flexibility to fix things faster, to achieve better outcomes in the housing crisis. We’ve seen the impact of COVID on the supply chain and the impact that it has on prices. We know that every day, every month, every year that goes by that a house does not get built, it will cost more in the future—when the demand is now.

If they choose to, mayors would be able to create and reorganize departments, as well as appoint chairs and vice-chairs of committees and local boards, if any are identified by regulation, and establish committees. Our democracy is built on checks and balances, and that’s what this is. We’re creating a bill in an effort to create a supply of housing that is going to help people in our society across the board.

Additionally, the mayor could bring matters before council consideration related to provincial priorities. Implementing strong-mayor powers in Ottawa and Toronto would provide the tools these two communities may need to break the barriers that have historically slowed down progress—and I’m going to say it again: Speed matters. A house not built this year is going to cost us more. It’s going to be harder for young families to afford a place to live, and a place to live is a foundation for a stable society.

If passed, the proposed changes will come into effect on November 15, 2022, so that the new mayor and city council can utilize these powers accordingly.

By increasing the housing supply with the support of our municipal partners—and it is a true partnership—we will ensure that there is a good mix of housing available for all Ontarians. This must be the goal. This must be what we are dedicated to achieving. And we must create the environment in which that can be achieved.

Speaker, we must acknowledge that our communities are growing, and we must acknowledge that growing communities need places to grow. Many young people are choosing to move to Ottawa, as they know our community is an incredible place to live, work and play. There is opportunity here, and people see Ottawa as an ideal place to have families, with access to good schools, great jobs and strong essential services and, more than that, to have a community they can call home.

There are other people who are looking to downsize, like seniors or soon-to-be empty nesters who want a home that meets their needs without the need to move far away from the people, the communities and the places they cherish.

Many residents, young and old, have chosen to live, work and raise families in Ottawa because it is a beautiful place to live and a great place to work that is a hub for innovation. We have many great neighbourhoods like my community of Beaverbrook where I grew up, Glen Cairn, Bridlewood, Emerald Meadows, Katimavik-Hazeldean, West Carleton, and that diversity is appreciated.

Kanata–Carleton is home to Silicon Valley North, home to Canada’s largest tech park, and this requires talent. It requires people. It requires skills that need to be brought to the community by our talented workforce, and they need places to live.

With that said, Speaker, I’d like to focus the remaining remarks on people who choose to rent, and not everyone is able to afford a home or wants a home. For some people the maintenance of a home is too much. They want the benefits of renting, and our government has been steadfast in supporting people with a choice.

Renters make up 34.3% of residents in the nation’s capital. They’re finding it increasingly difficult to secure housing as prices soar to record-breaking heights while the number of listings available to rent continues to drop. Currently, the average monthly price for a two-bedroom apartment, condo, townhouse, duplex or house in the city of Ottawa is approximately $2,100 per month. Rental listings for two-bedroom units have half the supply they did just a year ago with 130 listings compared to 310. Last October, the vacancy rate of Kanata–Carleton for a two-bedroom rental unit was 2.2%. All of this is without even touching on the supply of affordable housing.

Meg McCallum, the interim executive director at the Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa said fewer than half of those rental units are affordable: “There’s not enough rental stock to begin with. And when people are looking for affordable homes, there’s so much competition.”

With increased housing supply, the cost of home ownership and renting will decrease, giving more opportunities for the people in our community to call home. Giving strong-mayor powers to Ottawa and Toronto will ensure housing will be created in a timely manner. Mayors can choose to use it or not.

Speaker, I am supporting this legislation and ask all members of this House to pass Bill 3. Thank you.