SoVote

Dec/9/21 3:55:52 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to join the debate today on our Conservative opposition day motion addressing the topic of housing, which is so important to people in the Kenora riding and across northern Ontario. I am pleased to join my Conservative colleagues, who have done a great job speaking about this issue in their own ridings. I am looking forward to hearing more about what they have to say going forward, including the great member for Elgin—Middlesex—London, whom I am very pleased to be sharing my time with today. She has been a great advocate for her riding in this chamber and especially for women and girls across the country. I thank her for her work on that important file. Housing is by far the number one issue I am hearing about in the Kenora riding right now. In my riding, I represent nine municipalities and 42 first nations across a very vast, diverse area. There is quite frequently a number of different issues, depending on where we are in the region. However, the one thing that has been unifying is the issue of housing, whether in a municipality, a first nation, or even the unincorporated areas. Whether I am in Kenora, Dryden, Sioux Lookout, Sioux Narrows, Ear Falls, Slate Falls, Red Lake, Pickle Lake, Bearskin Lake or Kasabonika Lake, I am hearing about the housing issue. I recently had the chance, after the last election and before Parliament reconvened, to visit all nine municipalities in my riding and many first nations as well. I can tell members that municipal and first nation leaders have consistently raised this issue. What they tell me is that it is more than just a housing issue, but it is specifically about housing supply. “Supply, supply, supply” is all I hear across the riding, and I am sure that many members in this chamber have heard similar things at home as well. The issues we are seeing are touching people from all walks of life, whether they are looking for affordable housing, starter homes or family homes. Even seniors looking to move into a seniors home are not able to find one. The only way we can address that is to increase the supply through, for example, the plan we put forward in the last election campaign, which is included in this motion, to free up and release 15% of federal land for development. I heard on the doorsteps that it was a very positive plan to put forward to help address the root cause of the crisis. This is especially important in a region like mine. The Ear Falls community, for example, is quite large geographically. After passing the sign that says “Welcome to Ear Falls”, it feels like forever until we actually get to the community. The population is very small and the tax base is very small, and a bulk of the land within the municipal limits is Crown land. That has been a problem not just for residential development, frankly, but for commercial development as well. The community is having a lot of trouble growing because it has had difficulty acquiring the land that it needs for development and to attract people to the community. Of course, in the last campaign we talked about the economy and our economic recovery from COVID-19. Many people noted to me that we cannot have a recovery in northwestern Ontario or in my riding of Kenora if people do not have houses to move into. That is really the crux of why this is such an important issue. Another example I like to give is Kasabonika Lake First Nation, a community that some time ago was actually displaced by the federal government. The community is now essentially all on one island in the northern part of my riding. People there have really outgrown the area they are living on. They are looking for opportunities for development and for more housing units, but they have nowhere to go. They have had a very difficult time working with the federal government to access more land and expand their borders. That is why, specifically on the supply side, I believe the motion we put forward today is taking a tremendous step in the right direction of addressing this housing crisis. In the motion, we have also proposed to ban foreign investors from purchasing Canadian real estate. This issue is, I guess, a bit bigger in the larger centres. As we know, commonly, foreign investment is coming into centres like Vancouver and the GTA, not as much into the Kenora riding, frankly. However, it is important to note that the effects of market changes and the pressures that are put on rising home prices in the GTA, for example, expand beyond big city borders, as people are now looking to move to Huntsville, the Muskokas and other areas, and are expanding farther and farther away. Eventually, these higher prices will make their way into northern Ontario and rural and remote parts of the country, so I am happy to see that the motion is proposing this. Something else has become a bit of a topic of discussion today. We are asking the government to commit to never introducing a capital gains tax on the sale of a primary residence. We know this is something the government had flirted with in the past. If I am not mistaken, the previous member for Spadina—Fort York was once a proponent of this. Government members have now gone to great lengths to try to distance themselves from their own platform and from their previous comments. Frankly, I am glad to see they are trying do that, because we know this would only penalize and discourage Canadians from selling their homes, which is certainly not going to help us address the housing supply crisis. The motion we put forward has a number of very important elements. Is it going to fix the housing crisis? Of course it will not. This is a deep-rooted issue. There are many facets to it and many things we need to do to move forward. However, this is an incredible step in the right direction, specifically the first point I mentioned about releasing 15% of federal land for development. Once again, I cannot reiterate strongly enough how important that would be for the people in my riding. One thing has troubled me about the debate today. We put forward the plan that we ran on, which many economists and observers said was one of the strongest housing plans put forward in the last election, but what we are seeing from government members is they are digging in their heels and doing a bit of grandstanding. They are saying that nothing is broken, that they do not need to change gears and do not need to sway from the plan they are currently moving forward. The government has made some progress and has been trying to address this crisis. However, the fact of the matter is that housing prices are continuing to soar. I believe they have gone up 30% over the course of this government. I think it is important that we have a very robust discussion about all the different ways we can address this. We can work together in the House. In my view, that is why we brought forward the motion today. It is so that we can have a discussion, find a path forward and start to build upon the work that this government and all previous governments have done to help address this issue. This is something we have been seeing for a number of years, but it has been exacerbated by the rising cost of living, inflation and many other factors. I look forward to hearing questions and comments from my colleagues. I am hoping to hear some new ideas and a positive discussion on how we can move this motion forward and ensure that we make housing more affordable for all Canadians.

1345 words

All Topics

Context: House Hansard - 14 - Dec/9/21

Mr. Eric Melillo

Dec/9/21 4:06:09 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I know the member really enjoys the theatrics of this place and likes to contribute to that quite a bit. To reiterate, we need to be looking at ways we can work together, as I said, to ensure we are increasing the housing supply in this country. I encourage the member to come and join me on a trip to the northern part of my riding to see how the housing crisis is manifesting itself and why it is so important for the government and this Parliament to work toward that. I hope the member will actually start working with the opposition, with all members, instead of just his political grandstanding.

113 words

Context: House Hansard - 14 - Dec/9/21

Mr. Eric Melillo

Dec/9/21 4:07:49 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, of course my colleague would understand the situation in Quebec far better than I would. This is definitely the kind of thing we need to be talking about. These are the discussions we need to have. Unfortunately, I do not have enough time to go into the detail I need to with the member, but those innovative ideas are all the things we need to be talking about to help find some unique and innovative ways to help address this crisis.

83 words

Context: House Hansard - 14 - Dec/9/21

Mr. Eric Melillo

Dec/9/21 4:09:15 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, it is important we look at all solutions. We need to ensure we have affordable housing and that we have public units, no question about it, but we also have to work with the private sector. We have to encourage development in all areas. What I am seeing in the Kenora riding is that this is something happening right across the board. There is a shortage of housing when it comes to affordable housing, starter housing and, really, housing for people in all stages of life, so we need to work to find a number of ways to work toward this.

103 words

Context: House Hansard - 14 - Dec/9/21

Mr. Eric Melillo

Dec/9/21 4:10:30 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, I believe the short answer is yes, this is definitely a very positive idea. Of course there are a number of things we can talk about at great length. Unfortunately, I do not have the time, as I see the Speaker is about to get up, but I appreciate the opportunity to respond.

55 words