SoVote

Mar/24/22 2:16:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is a critical shortage of affordable housing in my community. Many people have given up on the idea of ever owning a home, but even finding an affordable place to rent is getting further and further out of reach. B.C. has not been getting its fair share of federal funding under the rapid housing initiative. Worse still, the supply of older rental stock is being bought up by REITs, real estate income trusts, that use tactics like renovictions to jack up rent, pushing people out of their homes and removing affordable units from the market. Housing advocates and the City of Victoria are calling for a federal acquisition fund to give local governments and non-profits the quick capital to buy properties at risk of being bought up by these predatory REITs. We must preserve our existing affordable housing stock. It is time for the federal government to return to the table as a true partner with municipalities, indigenous governments and co-operatives to stop treating housing as an investment and start treating housing as a human right.

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Context: House Hansard - 45 - Mar/24/22

Mr. Ryan Turnbull (Whitby, Lib.)

Mar/24/22 2:20:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all across Canada, and especially in my riding of Whitby, small businesses are the backbone of our economy. After two challenging years, it is time for good news. That is why I was happy to join the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario to announce funding for the revitalization of downtown Whitby and downtown Brooklin through the My Main Street local business accelerator program. Downtown Whitby and Brooklin will be supported with three dedicated main street ambassadors, customized market research, data analysis and non-repayable funding contributions for new and existing small businesses. This will support our community by assisting our existing businesses to bounce back from the pandemic and enhance the ability of our new start-ups to rapidly grow. The entrepreneurial spirit in Whitby is strong, and I look forward to seeing our unique, resilient and diverse small business community thrive all along our main streets.

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Context: House Hansard - 45 - Mar/24/22

Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan (Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada, Lib.)

Mar/24/22 3:09:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle for this question and for her hard work. The conflict in Yemen continues to impact almost 20 million people who need help, especially women and children. This is why last week I announced an additional $62.5 million in funding to help with urgent humanitarian needs. By providing food assistance, clean water, sanitation, protection and health care, this aid will help the Yemeni people whose lives have been impacted by this.

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Context: House Hansard - 45 - Mar/24/22

Ms. Laurel Collins (Victoria, NDP)

Mar/24/22 3:46:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to echo the comments of some of my colleagues who talked about the need to ensure Canada's tourism industry recovers. There are a lot of other ways that we can do that. One part of it is that the tourism and hospitality recovery program funding will be cut by 50% and will end in May. Also, many seasonal tourism operators were excluded altogether because of the 40% revenue loss requirement for each month, and I am sure the member knows that many tourism businesses are seasonal. What is the government going to do to ensure that these businesses are not left behind?

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Context: House Hansard - 45 - Mar/24/22

Mr. Tony Baldinelli

Mar/24/22 4:12:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what should be disturbing to this new NDP-Liberal coalition government is the funding that is required through the COVAX program. The federal government should be ashamed that it actually took money and vaccines from that program that should be going to those countries that need it most, so that they can get vaccinated, so that we can provide assistance to them and so that we can avoid situations with continued growth of variants that continue to emerge throughout the world.

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