- May/2/23 12:41:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since the government came into power, the cost of housing has doubled. Nine out of 10 young Canadians believe they will never have home ownership. Families from coast to coast to coast cannot even afford the interest on their mortgages. Numerous rankings regularly list Vancouver and Toronto as among the most unaffordable cities in the world. To put that into context, they are worse than those notorious for their high cost of living like New York. Perhaps the most illustrative comparison is that with our neighbour down south.
The United States has just shy of 332 million people living on 9.8 million square kilometres. In contrast, Canada has 38 million people living on 10 million square kilometres. In no world does it make sense that housing should cost twice as much here than in the U.S. despite its density being nearly 10 times our own.
The simple reality is that the government's mismanagement coupled with local NIMBY gatekeepers block development and drive up mortgages and housing costs. This is the only explanation of the fact that we have the fewest homes in the G7 per capita despite having the most space.
The Prime Minister has enabled municipalities that block development and rob our future generations of a chance of home ownership. A Conservative government would put an end to that. We would remove the bureaucratic gatekeepers from the equation, free up land and speed up the accreditation and permit process to get more shovels in the ground as soon as possible. This is a dire necessity that needed action yesterday, not tomorrow.
In eastern Ontario, a recent report stated that our region needed to build upward of 14,000 rental units just to meet demand. This does not include any actual growth, but solely takes into account what we need to build to meet the demand. This is ludicrous and a direct result of the failure of governments at all levels that acquiesce to activists.
This crisis is not just limited to housing. Just last week, I received an email from the Food Sharing Project, which serves Hastings—Lennox and Addington and the Kingston area by providing food and equipment to schools. It said:
The 2022-2023 school year has been unprecedented for The Food Sharing Project. Due to increasing demand and the skyrocketing costs of food, we are facing a significant budget shortfall as we are now sending out over $25,000 in food every week. We need your help to ensure that students do not go through the school day hungry.
This is the reality of the Prime Minister's Canada: kids who cannot eat and parents who cannot afford shelter.
Inflation is at a 40-year high. Canadians are sacrificing on food for shelter. Mortgages have doubled since 2015, averaging approximately $3,000 a month. Mortgage interest costs rocketed up to 26% in March alone. Red tape is costing an additional $200,000 on new homes. Average rent has nearly doubled for a two-bedroom apartment since 2015, increasing to $2,200 from $1,171 a month. Our youth have lost their dream of home ownership.
The current housing crisis is affecting every single riding across Canada. Each and every one of us in the House is elected to this place to represent our constituents. We have all been contacted by our constituents. On this side of the House, we have a plan to fix the housing crisis, with six simple solutions for Canada.
Canada's Conservatives would require large urban centres where the cost of living is particularly egregious, like Vancouver, to substantially increase home building in their borders. Those that cannot comply would face penalties in the vein of withheld federal funds. This is completely in line with existing legislation regarding provincial governments under the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act.
We would crack down on everyone's most annoying neighbours, the NIMBYs. We would implement a system for residents to raise concerns about the pedantic obstructionism. Should the decision body decide the complaint is well founded, we would supply infrastructure dollars to get those housing units built. In short, we would out-NIMBY the NIMBYs.
We would incentivize municipalities to increase their housing capacities by rewarding those that take the necessary steps to build homes in the form of a building bonus. This would give the latitude to municipalities to decide how to best address their individual needs instead of a cookie-cutter approach, which so often fails in a nation as large and diverse as Canada.
Further, we would require any municipality that seeks federal funds to pre-approve high-density and employment applications on available lands surrounding areas such as bus and subway stops. This would allow common sense residential zones to be built around accessible, walkable areas so residents will not need to choose between living downtown so they can walk to work and living in the suburbs but requiring a car. This is good policy, not only for the pocketbook, but also for the environment.
We would take advantage of the recent remote work paradigm by selling off 15% of federal buildings and have them turned into affordable housing. These buildings are generally already located in urban centres and are already built. The only construction would be converting them and rezoning them to be residential. We expect this would result in 5,500 new residential buildings capable of housing dozens, if not hundreds, of units each.
However, perhaps most importantly, we would stop printing money. Taking inspiration from the Harper era's one-for-one rule regarding red tape, we will require every dollar that we spend to be matched by a dollar saved. This would end the constant cycle of inflationary bubbles caused by out-of-touch central bankers who, on occasion, have helped created the current housing and market crisis.
I would also like to take a moment to address a somewhat different housing crisis affecting some Canadians, our armed forces. The federal government recently implemented changes to the post living differential. This is essentially a top-up for CAF members based on where they live. The government rightly sought to update the formula to better address the current economic climate of the posting areas, as the initial computation was done years ago.
While the formula was due for an update, the government completely revamped the benefit in a manner that has massive financial implications for longer-serving members. They get penalized for being promoted, changing bases, being married to CAF members and succeeding. They are, quite literally, being more penalized the longer they serve. This is having massive consequences for troop morale in a time when retention is quite literally an institutional crisis that cannot be understated. This will add to the already ongoing dearth of long-serving members, as they are looking to transition out of the armed forces. This is unacceptable, and it needs to be addressed. Those men and women who are serving, or who are thinking of serving, should know that a Conservative government would have their backs.
Canada's Conservatives will build and bring it home.
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- Apr/27/23 2:45:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years under the Prime Minister, many Canadians cannot afford a place to live. The Liberals have committed $90 billion to housing, and what do they have to show for it? It is a record of unprecedented mismanagement and ineffective governance.
Mortgages and rents have doubled. It now costs an average of $2,500 a month to rent one room in a townhouse. Where is the Prime Minister during the crisis? He would rather be gallivanting to New York City. I cannot wait to see the outrageous bill he will foist on struggling Canadians for this junket.
When will the Prime Minister and the government get serious and get back to work?
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- Apr/24/23 2:18:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as a result of the Public Service Alliance of Canada strike vote, over 700 CAF members at CFB Petawawa are left without hot water or heat because the workers manning those utilities are not considered essential.
This is absurd. Supporting the men and women who keep us safe in an increasingly volatile world is among the most essential of jobs. The government needs to either declare these workers essential or end the strike as soon as possible and turn the heat and water back on at CFB Petawawa.
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Madam Speaker, I rise to seek unanimous consent concerning a vote held earlier today on Bill C-34. I would like to mark my vote as affirmative.
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- Apr/17/23 4:48:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, after two weeks of meeting with people, businesses and families in my constituency, I can say that the consistent message is that Canadians need a break. Canadians need a responsible government to step up.
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- Apr/17/23 4:46:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is definitely no secret that Canadians are stretched in every possible regard, whether it is with housing or labour issues. The bottom line is that the budget that was presented is not responsible. It is a budget funded by Canadians suffering from inflation. Rather than providing real solutions, this NDP-Liberal government has unleashed an avalanche of uncontrolled spending.
From my perspective, Canadians cannot afford business as usual. No democracy is perfect, but all are perfectible.
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- Apr/17/23 4:44:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there is no question that Umicore, the battery materials plant, is the first of its kind in North America, and I applaud the member opposite for raising it. I was there and I welcome that. It is expected to launch in the fall of 2025. I will certainly celebrate the small wins from the government and recognize that locally in Hastings—Lennox and Addington we celebrate when things go right.
I would like to acknowledge that it is a good win, and members on either side of the House need to recognize and applaud when things go right, not just knock heads. They should respect each other.
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- Apr/17/23 4:35:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the government has touted this budget as a budget that will tackle the high cost of living. Observers could be excused for thinking this meant the government would actually take substantive steps to address the underlying factors that have caused the historic rise in the price of food, heating, gas and other everyday essentials. Unfortunately, Canadians did not receive such a budget, and as a result, their confidence in the competence of the government's economic management continues to dither.
Instead of taking care of the issues of the day, the government has burdened future generations of Canadians with billions upon billions of dollars of unnecessary debt. It should not be up to Canada's sons and daughters to foot the bill for a government looking for a quick vote today.
Canadian families are suffering. That is the bottom line. This we know; we hear it every day. I can recite countless examples locally of small business owners or farmers who have had to make extremely difficult decisions in order to stretch their dollars further. However, there is one group of Canadians often overlooked in these discussions, a group of Canadians that has been treated as an afterthought by governments and looked at as an easy source of money when it needs to be found: our armed forces and its members.
Over the past couple of weeks, my office has been inundated by an alarming number of CAF members expressing grave concerns over numerous issues, most recently the replacement approved by Treasury Board of the post living differential to the Canadian Forces housing differential. The push-back on this new policy has been astounding.
One person, who granted me permission to use their quote, wrote, “ Many are losing money. The sliding scale it operates on has newly joined members making more money than those that have been in for 12-15 years. This means as you work hard, strive to lead and progress you will actually lose money. In what world does it make sense that as you promote into higher positions you take a pay cut? You have members who will lose money because once they move up in ranks and strive for more, they no longer qualify for the CFHD benefit and the raise does not match what they were receiving from CFHD. I'm talking about a decrease in pay anywhere from a couple dollars to 500 dollars a month. The CFHD benefit goes away for people who live in the same area for 7 years or more. Sure, many members get posted. But the Navy folks on ship are only stationed on each coast. Things don't change for those folks after 7 years for cost of living. Well it does. It gets more expensive but let's take away an allowance.”
I want to personally thank this person for being courageous enough to reach out to my office to share their concerns. If politicians never actually talk to our soldiers, sailors and airmen, regardless of rank, how will we ever know the issues they are facing and how can we begin to start working on them to solve the problems?
While I am sure the objective of this government was to increase the draw of new recruits into the forces, it has done this at the expense of keeping the ones we already have. The 7,700 troops who currently receive the post living differential will not qualify for the Canadian Forces housing differential. For them, it is just another benefit axed. For members living together who do qualify, that benefit is halved, and at a savings of $30 million. I can promise everyone in this House and everyone watching that the long-term effects in talent and investment we will lose as a result of this will far exceed that amount. That is only what we can realistically monetize in training costs. The amount of damage done to morale cannot have a dollar value attached to it.
It also unfairly targets the navy, as the new differential expires after seven years in the same address, and the navy is notoriously non-transitional in postings. The government needs to commit to communicating with our troops and ensuring that they will not be unfairly nickel-and-dimed to pay for over-budget programs like the Canadian Coast Guard Arctic and offshore patrol ships, AOPS, which just had its program cost quietly and unceremoniously increased by half a billion dollars, especially at a time when we are in a recruitment and retention crisis. The only solution for the reconstitution crisis is to take the stopgap that exists at the recruitment phase and put it into the retention phase so that there are more soldiers in and fewer soldiers out. The CFHD fails in that objective.
What we need is better equipment. We need to start replacing our Victoria-class subs and our aging Auroras, expand our over-the-horizon radar capabilities and commit to spending 2% of our GDP on national defence. Our troops need better incentives, better pay, better housing, a fair and timely recruitment process and a quick and compassionate transitioning process. We also need to remember that the government’s solemn responsibility to our soldiers, sailors and airmen is not nullified as soon as they leave the CAF.
At this point, I want to thank my two colleagues, the members from Banff-Airdrie and Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, for their excellent work in advancing veterans issues and being staunch advocates for our former CAF members.
Canadians, regardless of job, have been struggling. This budget was an opportunity to provide relief to those who have been dealing with these costs since well before the last election. Instead, we have a government that chooses to run up billions in new debt while simultaneously turning a blind eye to the harsh realities facing everyday families the country over, including those in uniform.
The country is facing crises on many levels. The government came out with a pay raise for our forces members and almost immediately negated that net increase by completely revamping their housing differential in the middle of a cost of living crisis, a recruitment crisis and a retention crisis. They expect our normally stoic forces members to be happy about this newest slap in the face. Struggling Canadians both in and out of uniform deserve better than a complacent government content with the status quo.
When he retired, Jim Flaherty was, as many opined, a “steady hand at the tiller”. During the last economic crisis, the prudent and conservative approach he took showed Canada to be an island of stability in a global sea of uncertainty. It is crucial that the government of the day, regardless of its stripe, ensures economic stability and does not fall pray to the siren calls of political gamesmanship. It is for these reasons that I will be voting against the budget.
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- Mar/30/23 2:59:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, gas, home heating and groceries are more expensive than ever before. This is not new news. That costly coalition is punishing families by pushing people further into debt, and the additional financial stress brought on by this budget will wreak havoc and chaos on so many levels.
In Ontario, the Parliamentary Budget Officer reported that carbon tax would cost approximately $1,800 per household. The government has created a new class: the tax-poor class, people who are going to work hard all of their lives and have little to show for it. Canadians need solutions.
Will the Liberals cancel their plans to increase the carbon tax this Saturday?
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- Mar/27/23 3:01:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, reckless spending, record debt and tax increases is a result of eight years of this Prime Minister. With the cost of living climbing higher and higher and the economic outlook more bleak than ever, many Canadians are at their breaking point.
In tomorrow's budget, the government should reassure all Canadians that it will stand behind them, exhibit some fiscal responsibility and help restore stability in the country.
Will the Prime Minister commit to cancelling the planned carbon tax hike and no new taxes in tomorrow's budget?
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- Mar/21/23 2:55:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that empty answer is not giving any reassurances to struggling Canadians like John and Judy in my riding. They are just one senior couple among many who built this country. How does the government repay them? It has increased the tax on their already ludicrously high heating bill by nearly 20%.
The Prime Minister needs to stand up today and justify this unnecessary and completely avoidable tax hike to John, Judy and the countless other Canadians suffering under this carbon tax.
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- Mar/21/23 2:54:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight long years under this tax and spend Liberal Prime Minister, many Canadians are sinking into debt. They cannot afford food, heat or shelter.
On April 1 of this year, the Liberals are determined to make life even more difficult for struggling Canadians by increasing the carbon tax. It is more money out of their pockets. Canadians are spent.
When will the government cancel this cruel and callous carbon tax?
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- Feb/7/23 2:11:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, Canada has lost respect and credibility abroad and is being dismissed and disregarded on the international stage. After eight years, our armed forces are facing a recruitment crisis that will take years to overcome. After eight years, our troops are still operating without the basic equipment they need to keep our country strong, safe and secure. After eight years, violent crime in Canada has risen by 32%. After eight years of spend, spend and complete debt mismanagement, the current government now wants to pile it on vulnerable Canadians by imposing a carbon tax.
A tax plan is not an environmental plan. Enough is enough. Canadians are in crisis mode and looking for disciplined, principled leadership. Canada's Conservatives will keep the heat on and take the tax off.
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- Jan/31/23 2:58:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, Canadians have never had it so bad while Liberal lobbyists have never had it so good. Yet another lucrative government contract was handed out by the Liberal Minister of Diversity to line the pockets of insiders. This is insulting to Canadians and it has to stop.
Excuses do not pay the bills. How can this continue to happen without any consequence? Will the minister do the only honourable option he has left and pay the money back?
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- Jan/30/23 2:56:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, yet again another Liberal patronage scandal. Not content with gifting lucrative government contracts to hateful anti-Semites, now the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion, the member for York South—Weston, handed $93,000 to a staffer's sister for public relations advice.
It is not difficult to realize that handing over taxpayer dollars to a staff's family is a bad idea, yet here we are again. Will the minister do the only responsible and dignified action and pay back the money?
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- Dec/14/22 2:57:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have warned Canadians about the government's medical assistance in dying legislation. The bottom line is that this literally life-or-death legislation deserves thorough review.
We must ensure vulnerable people are protected. It is very disappointing to see that the Liberal government is offering state-sanctioned suicide to our military heroes instead of providing them with the care they need. This is so wrong on so many levels.
Will the Prime Minister please press pause on this deeply flawed legislation?
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- Dec/7/22 2:09:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, according to the 2022 “Food Price Report”, food prices are expected to rise up to 7% next year. For a family of four, it predicts the average grocery bill to ring in at $16,300, a staggering increase of $1,100. A key culprit in this increase is the Liberal carbon tax, which will cost a typical farm thousands of dollars once it is tripled, which will increase the cost for farmers, for producers and for truckers to transport, all resulting in ballooning grocery costs.
Just today, a new poll shows that 53% of Canadians are fearful about not being able to put enough food on the table. That is not okay. A Canada where food prices are at near record highs and food bank usage is ballooning is not a Canada I recognize nor am I willing to accept. This is unsustainable, and it is high time that the government takes action to help lower the cost of food in Canada.
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- Dec/5/22 3:00:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Liberals do not have an environmental plan. It is a tax plan. Liberals have not met a single target that they have set. As is typical with the government, I got another non-answer. I asked for a yes or no response, not more empty rhetoric.
I will provide the government with another opportunity to answer the simple question: Will they cancel the carbon tax, yes or no?
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- Dec/5/22 2:59:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has shown a serious disrespect to all Canadians. He seems to think he can skirt the responsibility that comes with elected office by blaming global trends. Canadians elected him to govern and help Canadians through record costs of everything, which he can do today by eliminating the carbon tax.
Will the Prime Minister take leadership, assume some responsibility and cancel the carbon tax, yes or no?
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Madam Speaker, there is no question the reckless spending of the government is burdening Canadians significantly. It is mortgaging the futures of our future generations. We need to step up. This tax-and-spend government is not sustainable.
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