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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 56

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 8, 2022 10:00AM
  • Apr/8/22 11:04:44 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance tabled a budget yesterday that will invest in the backbone of a strong and growing country: our people. Sherbrooke is experiencing a serious housing crisis. The measures set out in the budget to increase the number of housing units and speed up housing construction and repairs will help families, workers and seniors find a safe and affordable place to call home. Here is what we are doing to ensure that more housing will be available and to meet our target of keeping the rental price of at least 40% of new housing at or below 80% of the average market price. We are encouraging cities to build more homes. We are launching a fund tailored to the needs and realities of cities and communities. We are building affordable housing faster. We are extending the rapid housing initiative. We are creating a new generation of co-op housing. Finally, we are continuing to provide doubled annual funding for Reaching Home. This is good news for the people of my riding.
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  • Apr/8/22 11:22:18 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite raises the issue of housing, which happens to be one of the themes of our budget of yesterday. Housing is an important way that we are going to help Canadians deal with the increased cost of living. Housing is incredibly important for us right across the country, and we are the government that has invested the most in the creation of housing. Ninety per cent of the investments in our budget on housing are on the supply side, because we are going to build homes.
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  • Apr/8/22 11:22:54 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today, the day after the budget was tabled, the price of food continues to increase. The cost of housing continues to increase. The cost of gas continues to increase. Why? It is because the government did not directly tackle the number one problem affecting Canadian families: inflation. Inflation is now at a 30-year high. That is the Liberal record. Today, in this budget, there is absolutely nothing. Why is the government pretending that there is no inflation when it is affecting the daily lives of all Canadian families?
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  • Apr/8/22 11:31:25 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, like everything in this spend-DP-Liberal budget, what they announce is not what we get. Instead of a real ban on foreign ownership and housing like the Conservatives proposed, their so-called ban on foreign buyers is anything but that. Under this policy, a foreign national can still purchase a home. If they separate from their spouse, they can buy another home. If their child turns 18 and wants to buy the house across the street, they still can. This does nothing to help put first-time homebuyers first. Why is the so-called ban so full of holes that it is like Swiss cheese?
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  • Apr/8/22 11:32:05 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, affordable housing is not just good social policy; it is a powerful economic policy as well. Our government will increase housing supply by doubling residential construction across Canada over the next 10 years. We will ensure that homes are treated as a place for families to live instead of as an investment vehicle. We will build new pathways for first-time homebuyers. In Canada, everyone deserves a place to call home, and budget 2022 is going to help make that a reality.
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  • Apr/8/22 11:32:31 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, another spend-DP-Liberal housing policy that is not as advertised is the first-time homebuyer savings account. So many millennials cannot go to the bank of mom and dad and instead have to scrimp and save every penny, and they do not qualify today for a mortgage because of the Liberal stress test. If those who are fortunate enough to have saved today cannot get into a home, how in the world will it be any different for those millennials who will scrimp and save over the next five years in their shiny savings account when the stress test bounces them as well?
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  • Apr/8/22 11:33:39 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government asked young people to lock down for two years and they complied. Their reward is a housing market that they cannot buy into and being saddled with a ton of debt to keep them down. Debt is keeping housing unaffordable and the government keeps spending. Why are millennials being shut out of the housing market for the Prime Minister's vanity projects?
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  • Apr/8/22 11:35:16 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, budget 2022 contains concrete measures. We will invest $10 billion over the coming years to increase the housing supply and ensure that everybody, including seniors, has a place to live.
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  • Apr/8/22 11:41:16 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my riding has a lot of seniors who are struggling to make ends meet with the rising costs of food, gas and home heating. There is no affordable housing left in my riding, and the government has done nothing to address the rising cost of inflation that is making everything worse. Why is the government taking from grandma and young people, and when will the NDP-Liberal government give them a break?
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  • Apr/8/22 11:47:09 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while the other side is talking about what is not in the budget, today I want to talk about what is in the budget. We have historic investments in indigenous housing. We have historic investments in Jordan's principle. We have historic investments in infrastructure. We have historic investments in mental health. Overall, we have invested more than $27 billion for indigenous issues. On this side of the House, we are committed to reconciliation. We are committed to moving forward on indigenous issues. We are committed to working with the member opposite to make sure that we are doing everything possible for indigenous people in Canada.
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  • Apr/8/22 11:47:53 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, housing has been top of mind for so many Canadians, especially first-time homebuyers and middle-class families, like those in my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge. Yesterday's historic budget was a housing-focused budget with important investments and initiatives. Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and my great friend please share with us some of the key measures that will help ensure every Canadian has a safe and affordable place to call home?
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  • Apr/8/22 11:48:26 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for that very important question. All across the country we have seen housing become unaffordable. That is why housing is the centrepiece of budget 2022. We are making unprecedented investments to double housing construction, help Canadians buy their first homes, cut unfair practices that drive up the price of housing and support the construction of affordable housing. We did this through federal leadership, and we will continue to deliver the homes people need all across the country.
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  • Apr/8/22 11:49:47 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Canadians across the country are finding it extremely difficult, or almost impossible, to buy a home. That is unacceptable, and it is why budget 2022 presents some tangible measures, such as a $200‑million investment to develop rent-to-own projects, a tax-free first home savings account for up to $40,000, and a two-year ban on foreign investment in housing. Our government has taken leadership on housing since 2015 and we will continue to do so, because the Conservatives did nothing when they were in government.
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  • Apr/8/22 11:50:29 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday’s budget will not put money into the pockets of young families in Ivanhoe. It will not build houses for people in Tamworth, and it will not fix the labour shortage plaguing the entire construction industry across my riding. What Canadians want and what Canadians need is a foundational plan from the government to fix our broken housing sector. This means lowering inflation, lowering the debt and letting Canadian families keep their hard-earned money. When will the government stop holding ambitious home-seeking Canadians back and start helping them?
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  • Apr/8/22 11:52:04 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, using the example in the budget, a couple earning $90,000 per year would qualify for a home purchase of $355,000. Using the tax-free savings account in 2027, the couple would be eligible for a $500,000 purchase price, if all other variables, including mortgage rates, remain constant. Failing Liberal housing policy has doubled the price of homes to $816,000. Why is the government continuing to fail aspiring homeowners?
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  • Apr/8/22 11:52:50 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, no government in Canadian history has invested more in the creation of housing than our government through this budget. We are there in order to ensure that more homes would be created— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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  • Apr/8/22 11:53:19 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are so excited by our housing policy in this budget that they cannot help themselves. We are investing a historic amount in the creation of housing in this country, and it is going to help each and every Canadian purchase a home. We have incentives for first-time homebuyers. We have plans to create co-op housing. We have plans to ensure that affordable housing is there so that every Canadian could put a roof over their head.
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  • Apr/8/22 11:54:30 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I remind my hon. colleague that the national housing strategy has numerous benefits, and that it not only helped Canadians pay their rent but also helped many of them buy a new home. The historic investment we have made in budget 2022 will support homeowners and get them their dream house.
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  • Apr/8/22 12:17:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one thing that I think members from all sides of the House should be supporting is the government's ambitious commitment, through budgetary dollars going into the hundreds of millions of dollars, to double the number of housing starts over the next decade, something we all know is critically important. We also know that it is not just the federal government that has to play a role. In fact, what we will see is the municipalities, the provinces and other potential stakeholders working with the national government to ensure we see a dramatic increase in housing starts in the country. I wonder if the member could indicate whether the Bloc party supports the government's efforts to double the number of houses being constructed. That support would imply that we will continue to work with the municipalities and provinces to make it a reality.
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  • Apr/8/22 12:18:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada is short 1.8 million housing units. The government's plan is to provide 100,000 more units. It is true that we need to build more housing units, but saying so and doing so are two different things. I also want to raise the issue of social housing. Even though the budget does mention it indirectly, the government chose to use the expression “affordable housing”. That is not at all the same thing, and it could turn out that a two-bedroom apartment for $1,200 per month is considered affordable housing. The government says it is going to build 6,000 units, which is really not enough. We need clearly defined social housing, not affordable housing. I also criticized another aspect of the speech. In the budget, Ottawa is threatening municipalities by telling them they will get their infrastructure transfer if, and only if, Ottawa thinks they have built enough social housing units. It is not up to Ottawa to tell municipalities how to do things and play father knows best. We expected much better.
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