44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 26, 2022 10:00AM
- Apr/26/22 10:18:04 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question.
In the previous Parliament, under the rapid housing initiative, nearly 40% of the funding was allocated to Quebec. We have a strong partnership with the Government of Quebec to propose and deliver housing in Quebec. I am confident that this partnership will continue in the future.
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- Apr/26/22 10:20:26 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I always enjoy hearing my colleague speak in the House of Commons.
We know that housing has been in crisis now for decades. It has been since the Paul Martin Liberal government ended the national housing program. For its first term, the Liberal government only constructed or started construction on 14,000 units of affordable housing, when we need hundreds of thousands of units across this country.
With the NDP push on this budget, we finally have the kinds of investments that are needed to build those hundreds of thousands of housing units right across the country to really address the housing crisis that so many people, including my constituents in New Westminster—Burnaby, feel very keenly.
My question is very simple: Why did it take the NDP and the strong push by the member for Burnaby South to have the Liberal government finally address the housing issue?
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- Apr/26/22 10:21:23 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the initiatives that we are bringing forward were in our platform promise in the 2021 election. The member opposite talked about some of the past government choices to not invest in housing, but we are stepping up and making sure that they are there.
It is very similar to child care. For a long time, it was talked about. We are the government that stepped up and delivered it, and now we have something across the country. Indeed, we will work with all parliamentarians in the House to build on our housing and to make sure that everyone has a place to call home across the country.
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- Apr/26/22 10:32:54 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have been investing in Canadians from the moment we came into government. Right here in my community, as I was mentioning, we have seen a tremendous amount of investment in affordable housing. In the past, under the previous Conservative government, the federal government was nowhere to be seen in the business of building new affordable housing.
In fact, I had the honour of serving at the provincial level, and back then, in Ontario, we were working very closely with our local municipalities and we only wished that the federal government was at the table so that we could really address the issue of chronic homelessness. That is the kind of investment our government has been making.
Another good example is the child benefit, to ensure that we bring children out of poverty. All of those things helped us get through this pandemic. Now it is time to work on the next set of postpandemic recovery plans.
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- Apr/26/22 11:36:36 a.m.
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Qujannamiik, Uqaqtitiji.
I would like to thank the member for Richmond Hill for focusing on housing. As I have mentioned many times, indigenous housing is a major issue and a dire need in many of our communities. I had the privilege of visiting a family in one of my constituent communities in Kugluktuk. There were 13 people living in a three-bedroom unit.
Does the member agree with me that everyone in the House needs to do better to advocate for more indigenous housing? Will the Liberal government commit to do more than what it promised? I realize there was an increase of $4.3 billion, but that is not sufficient to meet the housing needs of indigenous people.
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- Apr/26/22 11:37:54 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise to join the debate on budget 2022. I think it is the fifth budget I have been able to debate since arriving at this place.
This seems to be another case with the Liberal government of “if at first you don't succeed, try and try again”, duplicating past budgets with lots of spending and lots of added debt, but with a poor outcome. I think in the case of the government, though, the saying should be “in case you don't succeed, spend and spend again”.
I want to touch on three major items in today's budget. The first is housing. It is no surprise that I want to talk about housing, and it is covered a tiny bit in the budget.
We know there is a housing crisis of prices in Canada right now, an affordability crisis, and I want to read a couple of quotes from the housing minister. In February, just a couple of months ago, he said, “We have ensured that we have housed 1.1 million Canadians since the beginning of this government.... We have built over 480,000 units of housing through the...the national housing strategy.” Two months later, just last month, he said they spent $72 billion and have housed two million people. In two months, he claimed in the House, we have gone from 1.1 million Canadians housed to two million. That is 900,000 additional Canadians housed in just two months. Unfortunately, it is not true.
Here are the facts, and this is from the Parliamentary Budget Officer. This is not me making up this information, nor pundits. This is actually from the Parliamentary Budget Officer. Across the country we know the average house price has doubled since 2015. The Parliamentary Budget Officer stated that funding for housing programs intended to help low-income households has, under the government, actually decreased 15% in purchasing power.
The government will stand and tell us to look how much money it has spent. It has spent all these billions, but we know that there is an inflation problem. We also know there is a housing affordability problem, with prices going up. The Parliamentary Budget Officer himself has said that the money put in by the government, based in real dollars, is down 15%. He further stated that since 2015, there has been a 42% reduction under CMHC's low-income housing units for houses that have been supported. Again, just in April, the housing minister said two million Canadians have been housed, up 900,000, miraculously, from two months earlier. However, here we have the Parliamentary Budget Officer noting a 42% decrease.
The PBO further states that CMHC's shift to capital contributions over affordability assistance, like rent assistance, means that little short-term relief is actually delivered to Canadians. Further, he says that while these capital contributions are spread out over time, even when looking at the long term, the actual result in lowering rents for Canadians is very little and maybe not worth the investment. The PBO also states that there are as many Canadians living in vulnerable housing now as there were in 2015, after $30 billion to $72 billion. It is hard to say how much because the housing minister changes the numbers each time he stands to speak. It is $30 billion in one moment and then $72 billion. Say it is on the low side, at $30 billion in spending. What do we have for it? We have as many Canadians in vulnerable housing as we did in 2015. Homelessness in Edmonton has actually doubled in the last couple of years under the government.
I want to get to the second part: growth and the economy. What has $1.4 trillion in debt, hundreds and hundreds of billions in added debt, by the government gotten us? The finance minister stands in this House, just as she did yesterday, and states that we have the highest GDP growth according to the IMF. Well, according to the IMF, with numbers that come directly from the IMF website, in 2021, the year the minister claimed we were number one, we were actually fifth in the G7 for growth. We are second in 2022. In 2023, the IMF predicts we are going to below the advanced economy average for growth. Think about that. In 2021, we were fifth in the G7. That is after a 67% increase in the price of oil. Here we have our economy surging because of the price of oil and we are still fifth. In 2022, we are seeing another 12% increase in the price of oil, yet we are still not at the top in the G7.
There is an OECD report out called “The Long Game”. It says that Canada is going to have the worst-performing advanced economy from 2030 to 2060. When I was reading through this report and saw we are going to be the worst from 2030 to 2060, I thought maybe we will be okay from 2022 to 2030. Then I read the next page and it said that oh, by the way, from 2020 to 2030 Canada is going to have the worst-performing economy in the OECD as well. This is the OECD; this is not me. These are real numbers from the OECD. In that same report, the OECD talks about productivity. Canada is going to have one of the worst productivity improvements in the OECD.
Part of the name of the budget is “A Plan to Grow Our Economy”. This gets back to my comment about the government: “If at first you don't succeed, try and try again”. The Liberals have been trying for years and years and spending more and more, and what do we get? We get what the OECD says is going to be the worst-performing economy in the OECD. Turkey, Greece and second world countries are all going to have higher economic growth than Canada.
I will go on to the environment. Here is a quote from our environment minister from January 31: “I would like to remind him that over the past few years, our government has implemented more than 100 measures and invested $100 billion in the fight against climate change.” What are these 100 measures brought in by the government and this $100 billion, as the environment minister claims? According to Stats Canada and the Library of Parliament, GHG emissions have actually risen every year under the government. Therefore, $100 billion of taxpayer money is spent and there are 100 new regulations and programs, but we get higher GHG emissions. I wonder where we would be if the government had done nothing. I think we would be a lot better off.
I want to get back to another claim by the finance minister. Besides saying we have the fastest-growing economy in the G7, she talks about our GDP growth being the highest in the G7. What she leaves out is that this is not what we call real GDP growth, which is the real growth when we take inflation out of the GDP. When we take out our out-of-control inflation, we actually drop quite a bit in the G7. We are not the top, as the Liberals claim. Adjusted for inflation, OECD numbers say we are the fifth in the G7 for economic growth.
We heard today claims about the debt-to-GDP ratio. We notice the Liberals always say “net debt-to-GDP” or they just say “debt-to-GDP”. They do not talk about the gross debt-to-GDP. Do members know why that is? When we take the real debt or the gross debt, we are not the best in the G7, we are not the second and we are not the third. We are actually the fourth. When we look at the developed nations of the OECD, we are the ninth worst out of 38 for debt-to-GDP.
What is the difference between what the Liberals are claiming and the truth and reality? In net debt, they include the half a trillion dollars in assets of the CPP and the Quebec pension plan. They do not count the liabilities and all the money put aside by our parents, ourselves and our grandparents. They do not include that liability, but they include the money they have set aside. The government is therefore not counting every penny set aside for someone tomorrow, next year or in 10 years when it makes the claim of how great our financial situation is. Other OECD nations do not record the net amount like we do, so it is a false statement. It is unfortunate that the government continues to mislead Canadians on how bad things are with our debt, which actually has to be eventually repaid one day, one would hope.
Obviously, we are in a problem here in our nation. We have an aging population, no growth coming and an out-of-control deficit. Canada needs better, and that is why I will not be supporting budget 2022.
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- Apr/26/22 11:49:49 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I tend to agree with my colleague's criticism of the government's inconsistent housing figures.
The government admits defeat on the housing crisis right in the budget. The government admits that its proposal will not be enough. The Liberals claim that 3.5 million homes need to be built by 2031. I do not know where they got that figure of 3.5 million, but that is what they said.
The government said that Canada currently constructs 100,000 homes and that it will double this number. This 100,000 figure is not real. It does not exist. The National Housing Council said that 35,000 homes have been built since 2017. Say it were true that 100,000 homes have been built. This government is suggesting that 200,000 be built, but 200,000 a year for the next 10 years is just two million homes.
The government says that we need 3.5 million homes, but this will not happen. It is basically admitting that it will fail.
What are my colleague's thoughts on that?
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- Apr/26/22 11:50:39 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with my colleague, and it has been disinformation from the government. We heard the housing minister in February talk about 1.2 million Canadians housed by his government. Two months later, it is two million Canadians. One moment it is $32 billion spent, and the next moment it is $70 billion.
The reality is that we have a housing shortage. We built fewer houses in the last six years, since the government came to power, than any of our peer nations in the G7. What the government is doing is not working. It has to change track. It should listen to us, to colleagues with the Bloc and to colleagues with the NDP. What the government is doing is not working and it needs to change track to help Canadians, not just its political fortunes.
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- Apr/26/22 11:51:27 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I understand that the member for Edmonton West is quite concerned with debt and that the cost of housing is increasing in his community, as it is in mine.
My question for him is on his level of openness when we talk about addressing house flippers and speculators in terms of new revenue options, whether it is increases to a vacancy tax or reducing capital gains exemptions for second, third and fourth homes. Can he comment on these as additional ways to reduce the speculation in the market and increase revenue to do more for affordable housing?
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- Apr/26/22 11:52:01 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I respect the question and where my colleague is going. The reality is that Canada has a shortage, and that is not going to be fixed with taxes. It is not going to be fixed with the home equity tax the Liberals seem to keep funding studies of, but by addressing the supply issue.
We need to get government out of the way. We need more supply built. We see it in our G7 peer countries that have proper supply. They do not have the housing crisis, the affordability crisis, we have now. The best thing we can do is get government out of the way and build more houses.
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- Apr/26/22 12:34:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his feedback and for his question. I am excited to say that, as a part of our budget 2022, we are certainly investing in Canadians and making life more affordable. Specific to housing, I can say that we are allocating 25% specifically to women to ensure that they can continue to be supported in Canada.
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- Apr/26/22 1:21:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member talked about the action the government is going to take in reducing foreign investment in Canadian real estate for the next two years. That is a great idea that came from the Conservative platform. I have two quick questions for him in regard to that.
We indicated that in two years it would be reviewed again. Two years is a short term for people who have investment plans, so would the government be looking at that? Does the member feel the government needs to make sure that it readdresses that?
Also, there is a loophole, and I have heard this from people in the Lower Mainland. This does not prevent students coming to Canada from having their parents purchase housing when of course they are here for the short term, on student visas. Does the member see that as a potential loophole that is harming Canadians' ability to afford a home?
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- Apr/26/22 1:22:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, indeed this is a measure that is put in place for two years, and we will be able to monitor the impacts and benefits of this measure to determine what the path forward is at that point. We want to make sure that homes in Canada are used for people who actually live here and not as investments, and this will make sure that we are able to do just that.
I would caution a bit that this is certainly going to have an impact, but not a huge impact, as the experience from B.C. shows. However, I would also mention that as we are doing this measure we are also accelerating our path forward on a beneficial ownership registry. This will give all governments the tools to make sure that housing in Canada is not being used to evade taxes, for money laundering, or in other areas that are also boosting the price of real estate, so it is part and parcel of our overall fairness in real estate action plan.
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- Apr/26/22 1:23:18 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, last year in committee I had the opportunity to interview the president and CEO of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, who came to talk about the housing crisis. When I asked her what we should do now to resolve the crisis, she had one answer: increase supply.
There are in fact a few measures in the budget aimed at increasing supply. However, there are long-term measures focusing on demand that we are having trouble understanding. For example, the tax-free savings account for the purchase of a first property is not a bad measure, but why will it take effect only next year? People will be able to contribute up to $8,000 a year for five years. We will not be seeing any results for a while. In addition, to invest $8,000 a year in a house, you need some income. These measures will not help the most disadvantaged.
Why are we not focusing on real investments? Consider the rapid housing initiative. It is a good, $1.5-billion program that will actually create social housing. We could have invested a lot more money into it to really help the most disadvantaged, but the budget falls short in that regard.
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- Apr/26/22 1:24:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question.
The budget includes investments in the rapid housing initiative. I think that it is an important program for the most vulnerable Canadians. However, it is not the only investment. We also plan to invest in co-operatives. It will be the largest investment in 30 years.
There are also other investments to consider, such as the housing benefit and the additional $500 payment, which are also positive measures. I believe that all of these investments amount to $14 billion.
However, we must work very hard with the provinces and municipalities to do more for the most vulnerable Canadians.
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- Apr/26/22 1:36:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, not only do I sit on the natural resources committee with my colleague, but for a few years we were Arctic parliamentarians together and he has certainly been a tremendous support for communities across the Arctic as well.
I want to say a couple of things. First of all, members cannot get up one moment and in one sentence criticize the fact that the Government of Canada is investing in Canadians and then in the same breath say it is spending too much money on Canadians. It is one way or the other. As a government, we have invested in housing. We have invested in housing for urban centres, for rural centres, for indigenous people and for low-income families. We have invested in housing for women and for women fleeing violence. We have invested in housing for the homeless and for many groups and developers who want to provide co-development housing. We have invested to make it more accessible and affordable for homeowners to buy.
My question for the member is this. What suggestions do you have that we have not done to make the programs stronger and more affordable for Canadians?
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- Apr/26/22 1:39:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I certainly understand where my colleague is coming from. I know that he recognizes a problem that has been challenging for many Canadians with regard to homelessness. He will be happy to know that in this budget we are investing over $8 billion in housing and homelessness across Canada. It is the first housing strategy ever in the country, and I look forward to his voting for the budget and supporting that initiative.
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- Apr/26/22 1:39:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I always enjoy listening to my colleague in the House of Commons. She represents a stunningly beautiful part of this country in Labrador, but it is also an area, as she well knows, that has been unfortunately facing the same incredible shortage of affordable housing that we have seen in other parts of the country. Over the past few decades, from the former Paul Martin government that axed the national housing program to the dismal decade of the Harper government and going back to the current government, we have seen that governments have not adequately funded the important sector of affordable housing. Because of the NDP push and the work of the member for Burnaby South, we now have, for the first time, adequate investment in housing.
How does my colleague feel about these previous governments that refused to take the incredible dearth of affordable housing seriously?
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- Apr/26/22 1:40:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the question from my colleague, but it would take me the rest of the afternoon to answer it in terms of telling him how I really feel.
What I will say is that the money in this budget is not by accident when it comes to responding to housing needs in Canada. We know they are there. We know what Canadians have been saying. We have been listening and we are responding. I want to thank my colleague for his advocacy and his support toward these investments for Canadians.
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- Apr/26/22 2:06:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it takes a village to build a community. There are five tiny homes being built in Halton as part of a pilot program to serve the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation. This means affordable emergency housing options will be available on reserve, giving community members a sense of dignity, independence, safety and so much more.
Notre Dame Catholic Secondary School is one of the schools where students have explored skilled trades and are getting hands-on experience. Over 57 students have participated in the project across two semesters, plus an additional 38 students who joined the after-school program, all led by inspirational teacher Mr. Allan Nason. Recently, I joined the Minister of Housing, the Chippewas of the Nawash chief, Veronica Smith, partners from Habitat For Humanity and Notre Dame students and teachers to tour the tiny homes and speak of the impact that these homes will have.
Congratulations to all involved in making a difference.
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