- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Liberal
- Hamilton East—Stoney Creek
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $105,519.46
- Government Page
- Nov/23/23 10:04:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that was a bit hard to listen to, because I was a municipal councillor at the time the member for Carleton was the housing minister. Municipalities begged and pleaded with the minister of the day for housing resources and none came.
When we talk about support for municipalities, the leader continues to play the blame game. He is not helping municipal councils. He is blaming municipalities today, the small-town mayors and councillors who are trying to get housing supply out the door. He had his chance as part of a government to support municipalities for many years. In fact, we came individually and then went through FCM, and all of those efforts were rejected by the member and his government.
It is hard to listen to the speech today by the member opposite when he talks about supporting municipalities. The Conservatives have no intention of doing that. If they did, they would have done it when their leader was in government prior.
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- Oct/30/23 5:42:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is always great to rise to speak on behalf of my constituents of Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, and it is always great to rise on the topic of housing, something that is near and dear to my heart.
I am one of probably a handful of people in the House who have lived in social housing, and that was through the 1970s with my family. I have that perspective of being a tenant. My perspective of living in a social housing unit is probably a lot different than my mother, who had two small kids in tow when we moved into the unit on Oriole Crescent.
It is important, when we talk about the financialization of housing, that we focus on what many have talked about today, and in other debates, and that is the perspective of the tenant and the challenges they face in trying to make ends meet in a very challenging market. That has happened historically. We have heard that through the decades. We have seen the rise and fall of interest rates. We have seen housing challenges with supply issues. Those challenges, of course, are back today. There is no denying that we have a crisis today.
Being a municipal councillor for so many years, I had the opportunity to serve on our municipal non-profit. CityHousing Hamilton was the largest non-profit housing provider in the city of Hamilton. We managed 7,000 of the city's 14,000 affordable housing units. I worked with an incredible team, including people such as Tom Hunter, Sean Botham, Leanne Ward, and Adam Sweedland, who is the CEO now, who are the front lines in providing support.
As my friend and colleague just mentioned, for those who are on the front lines providing support to tenants who are in need and those looking to find an affordable place to live, there is really no issue of who the government is or what political stripe they are. What housing providers are looking for, in this case for units that were owned and managed by the municipality, is financial support and policies that protect tenants, as well as policies and legislation that would make investments in housing.
When I think back to my time serving for over a decade on our municipal non-profit, and for the last seven years before my election here, I served as its president, I look at the challenges that we faced at CityHousing Hamilton, and the other housing providers that we worked in consultation and co-operation with. They were people such as Jeff Neven at Indwell services and his team, who provide incredible support, not just in Hamilton but in southern Ontario as well. There are the organizations such as Mission Services with Carol Cowan-Morneau and her team there, including Sue Smith and others, who do tremendous work in assisting some of our most vulnerable Canadians and Hamiltonians.
Another organization is Good Shepherd. I had the opportunity to speak to Brother Richard the other day at the ONPHA Conference in Toronto. At the Ontario Non-Profit Housing Association Conference, Brother Richard was talking about projects Good Shepherd has on the horizon.
All of those groups and organizations look to all three levels of government for support. As has been referenced earlier today, and I have relayed this point many times in the House, for 30 years, non-profit housing providers have been left to their own devices. Back in the 1990s, the federal government decided to exit the sector. They passed on and downloaded that responsibility onto the provinces.
In the province of Ontario, when that was downloaded, Mike Harris and the common-sense revolutionary guard in the Legislature decided to pass those services and the costs for social housing on to municipalities. Municipalities have struggled to not just provide quality services for those services that were downloaded onto them, but they have struggled to get at the affordability housing wait-list. Those units I mentioned earlier, thousands of them, were passed on to city hall with the keys and no resources attached.
Here we had thousands of post-war units that were providing support for tenants, a safe place to call home for many, and the municipality was then left to its own devices in trying to incorporate the costs of repairing and renovating those units in their municipal budgets, which is unheard of. It happens nowhere else in Canada, except the province of Ontario, where a Conservative government would see fit to download those services to the municipalities.
As members of CityHousing, we had to find unique ways to make ends meet. We were land rich and cash poor and looked to our holdings of land to provide opportunities for development. We went out to the private sector and found unique partnerships to try to encourage the private sector to build on properties that we owned and to provide new units. The units people were living in were post-World War II units, for instance, where the windows were leaking, the roof was leaking and maybe the elevator did not work in a medium- or high-rise building. We needed partners who had resources, and we allowed access to our lands in order to provide density and new units, trying to get at that 6,200- to 6,400-unit wait-list we had.
When I look at the national housing strategy and what it does, it is providing support to housing providers. I just listed a handful of many dozens in the city of Hamilton. The national housing strategy was a game-changer. Municipalities, since the early 1990s, had asked consecutive federal governments for resources for renovation and repair. Many of the units that stakeholders and housing providers managed in the city of Hamilton could not pass a property standards inspection because of the state of disrepair. They asked for resources to get at the wait-list. Some of our most vulnerable Canadians sit on that list, including seniors and persons with disabilities. We know that indigenous people make up a greater percentage of those on the wait-list than the general population in Canada does. We looked for ways and means to renovate, repair and build units on our own, but we just could not make it work.
The national housing strategy, when it was announced early in the first mandate, was a game-changer for municipalities. It was a program that provided opportunity and hope for housing providers that there would be resources and that we would not have to continue to try to make ends meet on our own.
I look at the investments that have been made. I will use Hamilton as an example. The co-investment fund meant that we had tens of millions of dollars in federal resources available to get at our oldest units, to get at energy efficiencies, to reduce greenhouse gases and to make our units more accessible for people with disabilities.
I look at the rapid housing initiative. It pulls people out of encampments and seeks to address the issue of women fleeing domestic violence. The rapid housing initiative, of course, came at a perfect time. It came during the pandemic, when municipalities were struggling to build new units with supply chain issues. When I look at the resources that were passed along there and look back to my participation on our board, I would say that irrespective of what one's partisan stripe was on city council or who participated as board members for a municipal non-profit, we were just thankful that a government recognized the need and recognized that municipalities and housing providers had their challenges.
I look to the Canada housing benefit. It provides a portable rent supplement to people who are looking for a market unit to live in. It also provides a top-up for them to go out and find an affordable place to call home.
I look at the housing accelerator fund, which we have talked about extensively here, and the assistance it is providing in working with municipalities as our partners and working with stakeholders in municipalities across the country. Instead of casting blame on municipalities, small-town mayors and councillors, we are working with our municipal partners.
What I have heard is interesting, because many of the people on the opposite side of the House in the Conservative Party are former municipal representatives. Every time the Leader of the Opposition gets up and chastises the gatekeepers, this fictitious bogeyman entity to blame for the housing challenges we have, members who were municipal councillors get up and encourage him to do more and say more to chastise municipalities.
It is important to recognize the inroads we have made with the national housing strategy. It is a fluid document. Members are going to continue to see changes. The GST waiver is an important initiative that we just announced. They are going to see movement on the co-op file. They are going to see other initiatives that have been called for. I am hoping for an acquisition strategy at some point in time. We know our rural partners need additional supports.
For me, these are all important initiatives and they prove that the federal government is listening to the stakeholders. It proves that we are providing those investments contrary to what we have seen for the last 30 years.
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- Oct/30/23 5:41:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my friend and colleague emphasized the importance of working with municipalities, provinces and everyone in the sector. The Leader of the Opposition has taken the approach of blaming municipalities, municipal councillors and mayors, who are our partners in this space.
Could he elaborate on why it is so important, as a former mayor and municipal representative, to work with municipalities, rather than blaming them for the challenges we have nationally?
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- Oct/16/23 2:55:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while the Leader of the Opposition continues to blame municipal mayors and councillors for our housing challenges, we have decided to work in collaboration with other levels of government, including our municipal partners. Our housing programs, including the housing accelerator fund, incentivize municipalities, non-profits and the private sector to build more affordable homes, including purpose-built rentals.
Can the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities please share with the House the importance of working in partnership with other levels of government and other housing stakeholders?
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Madam Speaker, that was a bit hard to listen to.
I was a municipal councillor in the 2008-09 recession, and municipalities individually begged the previous government for assistance on the affordable housing front. We witnessed our affordable housing wait-lists almost double, and so in Hamilton it went from 3,600 families and individuals to almost 6,200 or 6,400, if memory serves me right.
We also collectively asked, through FCM, for the previous government to assist municipalities. Guess who was part of the government? The Leader of the Opposition. This is not a case of playing catch-up, this is a case of making up for lost time. All the years the Conservatives were in government, they had no housing plan.
Now our government has come forward with a national housing strategy that responds to the concerns and requests from municipalities from across the country. Is the member aware of that?
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Madam Speaker, I really appreciate the comments and advocacy for additional affordable housing resources. I served for several decades as a municipal councillor and looked to higher levels of government for increased spending. It did not come from the province for two decades, it certainly did not come from the federal government for the 26 years that I was a member of city council. It was not until this government arrived and created a national housing strategy that we have seen record investment.
While I take the criticism that we can always do more, it is important to emphasize that we have made investments in municipalities across the country. We have invested a lot in Windsor-Essex through the co-investment fund. That was a $90-million investment. The rapid housing initiative was a $20-million investment.
Everyone gets up and bemoans the fact that we need to do more for housing. I completely get it, but there needs to be some recognition of what the government has done with regard to making historic investments, investments we have not seen since the 1980s. I want to make sure that member is aware of the investments that we have made in Windsor-Essex and other mid- to large-sized municipalities, including rural areas across the country.
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Madam Speaker, I do not agree with my friend and colleague's comments in terms of demonizing the private sector. The private sector is going to be an important partner to get us out of this housing crisis. However, I also do not agree with the Leader of the Opposition when it comes to demonizing municipalities.
My friend and colleague talked about working with municipalities to build the non-market housing supply. Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, who has demonized small-town mayors and municipal councils, we have worked with municipalities; our housing accelerator fund is one example of that.
Why is it important to work with municipalities rather than making them out to be the demons, as part of our housing crisis that we have today?
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- May/2/23 1:49:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it has been an odd debate to follow today because we have consistently heard the message from the party opposite blaming municipalities for a lack of supply and lack of affordable housing support, and many of them are former mayors and councillors.
What I have not heard today is any one member of the Conservatives single out a municipality or tell the government which municipalities are the gatekeepers, which ones have the red tape and are blocking supply. Not one of the Conservative members have referenced that, and I hope the member opposite can assist right now in identifying a geography in Canada that is not playing its part.
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- May/2/23 1:23:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as a former Hamilton councillor, I know that my former colleagues and municipal staff are doing everything they can to increase housing supply, as well as provide support for affordable housing.
What I do not understand is the motion that has been put today by members on the opposite side of the House, which seeks to blame their former municipalities or the municipalities where they are from and the municipalities that they represented.
The member opposite was from Centre Hastings, a former municipal councillor who is blaming her municipal staff for standing in the way, the gatekeepers, in terms of preventing supply and affordable investment.
We have heard from the former mayor of Collingwood, whose motion here today speaks to that same issue, in terms of blaming municipalities.
I wonder if my colleague sees fit, in terms of supporting municipalities, and sees how our national housing strategy is providing support to municipalities instead of laying blame at their feet.
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- Feb/20/22 10:56:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate your time today in the chair. You have been here since early morning, and I appreciate the service you provide to the House. Please note that I will be sharing my time this evening with the member for Acadie—Bathurst.
It is important for us to put into context what has transpired over the last number of weeks as it relates to events here in the city of Ottawa and at various other locations in Canada. The vast majority of us in the chamber are visitors in the city of Ottawa. We reside here on a temporary basis, with our principal residences back home in our respective ridings. For me, that is Hamilton East—Stoney Creek.
In the past three weeks, I have spent many days here in the nation's capital watching the occupation grow in size and spread through the downtown, well beyond the parliamentary precinct and into residential neighbourhoods surrounding where we meet here today. During that time, the downtown descended into chaos, offending the lives of those people who reside here in the city centre.
I have had the opportunity to speak to many people here in the downtown who have been impacted by the occupation and they have made it clear to me that they are accustomed to visitors in the city. On any day of the year, it is not uncommon to witness protests, demonstrations, vigils or ceremonial activities in and around the parliamentary precinct. Peaceful activities are not only welcomed but encouraged by the people who live here in Ottawa.
Unfortunately, what we have witnessed over the past three weeks was at times neither peaceful nor lawful. What started as a protest quickly turned into an occupation. For those of us in the chamber who have served at the municipal level as city or town councillors or possibly as a mayor, we know it is not uncommon to receive calls for service related to municipal bylaws. We know that municipal bylaws are important, as they keep the city moving and provide an element of protection for law-abiding citizens.
I was not surprised, to be honest, to hear that over 3,700 notices of violation have been issued to date here in the city of Ottawa. However, thousands of violations occurred without enforcement, and these violations significantly impacted the quality of life for everyone who resides in the downtown area. As reported in the media, residents have been subjected to illegal and tortuous behaviour. I try to picture what has occurred here in Ottawa and think about how the occupation would be received by my own constituents in Hamilton East—Stoney Creek or other communities across the country.
I want to be clear that those of us residing here temporarily have witnessed, over the last three weeks, fireworks displays at 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. on a regular basis. We witnessed, even through the period of the injunction, the constant honking of horns and the use of whistles, bells and other noisemakers, again sometimes well into the early morning hours. We witnessed the illegal confiscation of public property and the blockade of public streets, which led to the detour and cancellation of public transit routes and prohibited first responders, including police, fire and ambulatory services, from accessing people in downtown Ottawa. We witnessed trucks and vehicles parked on public sidewalks and many of them illegally parked throughout the core of the city, preventing access to businesses. Sadly, many of those businesses had to close.
We read with horror and disgust about a report from local police that there was a concerted effort to tie up the 911 lines here in Ottawa, a campaign planned to prevent the people of Ottawa from accessing emergency services provided by police, fire and ambulatory staff. We witnessed the illegal erection of cranes, stages, tents and other permanent structures in the middle of residential streets. On the hour, we witnessed people haphazardly transporting fuel on city sidewalks to encampment areas as part of the occupation that occurred here in the downtown. We witnessed illegal fires and barbecues on city sidewalks and in city parking lots. I am sure everyone in the House is aware that a fire was started in the lobby of an Ottawa apartment building here in the city centre.
We witnessed the harassment of local residents who, in their daily travels, were mocked and chastised for wearing masks as they went about their lives, minding their own business. This is just a brief description of what has transpired here over the past three weeks. I know very well how my residents would react to these illegal actions. They would not be tolerated. There would be an expectation that those responsible for upholding the law would attend and restore the peace and ensure people's rights were upheld as tenants and property owners.
Ottawa residents want their lives back. They want a peaceful night's sleep. They want their public transit back. They want access to roads and sidewalks. They want to see businesses reopen. People want to go back to work. They want their city back. The only way to restore peace and some sense of normalcy is with all three levels of government working together.
At this point in time in the House, I want to publicly commend the premier of Ontario for his support. Instead of handing out coffee and doughnuts, as members of the opposition did, he declared a state of emergency in the province. Instead of taking selfies with those who illegally occupied downtown Ottawa and blocked the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, he signed an order that sought to assist the City of Ottawa and complement the actions of the federal government. He appropriately described the situation as a “siege”, and these illegal actions as holding millions of people “hostage”.
Compare and contrast the premier's comments with those of the interim Leader of the Opposition, who stated, “I don't think we should be asking them to go home”, if members can believe that. Then, as has been the trademark of the official opposition, the flip-flop statement soon followed from the same member. Just over a week ago, the interim leader finally recognized that the extent of the damage inflicted upon the city of Ottawa, its citizens and the Canadian economy had reached a breaking point. By the time she issued her uninvited speech, the damage was already done. The hollow words that it was time to take down the barricades, stop the disruptive actions and come together were delivered. It was too little, too late.
I think it is imperative that we recognize the joint forces that have come together here over the past number of days. It is, as Ottawa's interim police chief described it, a real “Canadian effort.” I come from a police family and, as a city councillor for 26 years, I served for many years on the city's police services board. I am a strong supporter of the police, so I was pleased to hear that 28 members of the Hamilton Police Service are here in Ottawa to assist with efforts to restore peace and return the city to its citizens. Members of the Hamilton Police Service have joined officers from Toronto, Sudbury, York, Kingston, Peel, Durham, London, Calgary, Edmonton and other jurisdictions.
The ugly side of the occupation has continued to be laid bare on television over the past couple of days, with extraordinary scenes of people spitting on officers, berating law enforcement officials, throwing objects at police and their horses, and engaging in other disruptive activities with the sole objective of standing in the way of reclaiming the city and upholding the rule of law.
We heard here in Ottawa that the local police needed additional support, additional resources and tools to confront a national event in an area that falls under the jurisdiction of local police services. To date, the police have shown great restraint, even while under attack. As has been reported, the police have been the target of protesters not just here in Ottawa, but at other locations across Canada, including southern Alberta. The domestic terrorist plot in Alberta highlights and emphasizes the need for all levels of government to provide the police with the appropriate level of support and necessary tools to keep their members and the public safe, and we are doing that here tonight.
I look forward to the studies and inquiry that will follow, and the reviews that will help us plan for future events that will occur, whether in Windsor, Coutts, Ottawa or elsewhere.
We cannot sit on our hands and hope the problems will go away on their own, as the official opposition has suggested. We need to fully understand how the illegal blockades and occupations were planned and funded. The recommendations—
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