44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 26, 2022 10:00AM
- Apr/26/22 11:03:58 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Canada Infrastructure Bank provides opportunities for capital investments, and one of the significant aspects of capital investments is to have a green transition. A good example of that is in Brampton, where zero-emission buses will be put in place as a direct result of agreements between the City of Brampton and the Canada Infrastructure Bank. I am wondering if my colleague could provide his thoughts on the potential positive role the Canada Infrastructure Bank could have in investing in green transition.
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- Apr/26/22 1:20:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, indeed there are some very important investments made as part of this budget to support the path forward on reconciliation. I mentioned in my speech earlier the very much needed investments into indigenous housing. There are also important investments made in implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the action plan on that, as well as dealing with some of the main economic barriers that indigenous peoples continue to face that are preventing them from having the type of economic development that the rest of the country has, so the changes to the First Nations Land Management Act will be very important in that regard. As well, there are some very important investments on improving child welfare in indigenous communities.
I think, collectively, there is a lot in this budget that will support the path forward on reconciliation, which is of course a critical priority of this government.
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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 1:40:51 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 2:20:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, no. This matter was settled years ago when the Ethics Commissioner released the report. While the Conservatives continue to focus on petty politics and on me, Liberals are going to continue to focus on Canadians, on investing in housing across the country, on $10-a-day child care for families and on continuing to lead on world-class investments in fighting climate change. That is what Canadians expect of us. That is what we continue to do.
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- Apr/26/22 2:30:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been working for years to bring the price of cell service and Internet access down for Canadians. On average, cellular phone bills are down 25%.
We know that competition, innovation and affordability are essential in Canada's telecommunications sector. That is why we are still working to improve service and lower costs, and we are making historic investments to achieve that.
Over the past five years, we have invested 10 times more than the Conservative government did during its 10 years in power to improve rural connectivity, and we will keep working on it.
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- Apr/26/22 3:11:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the member that there is $2.2 billion in a federal pathway for missing and murdered indigenous women. However, when we look at the budget, we also have to look at the investments we have made toward housing, the investments we have made toward Jordan's principle and the investments we have made toward mental health. These will all help indigenous women.
Just because it is not a line item in the budget does not mean we are not helping indigenous women. We are out there making sure that they are safe and supported, and we will continue to do so as a government.
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- Apr/26/22 3:44:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I was happy to see an injection of about $25 million into the Experimental Lakes Area and an injection of about $8 million into creating the freshwater action plan.
This is one budget, but there will be others to follow, and I can assure the member that I will continue to advocate for greater and greater investments in freshwater science and protection. There is money for the Canada water agency. The agency will take a while to develop, so it is good to take a step-by-step approach to funding it.
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