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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 58

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 26, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 58 - Apr/26/22
Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)
  • Apr/26/22 10:17:12 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague talked about housing. With this budget the government claims to want to help cities accelerate housing construction and address zoning issues. Cities are a provincial jurisdiction, so the federal government will have to negotiate with Quebec. That is a problem. Following the 2017 launch of the national housing strategy, which was negotiated with Quebec, it took three years for the money to flow to housing in Quebec. Meanwhile, billions of dollars were being spent in Toronto and Vancouver. Everything was going very well for them. My biggest fear is that it will take that long again. Would it not have been simpler to send a cheque directly to the Quebec government, so that those who actually know the needs on the ground could manage municipal issues?
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Context: House Hansard - 58 - Apr/26/22
Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia
  • Apr/26/22 3:49:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, housing is a very complex area. We have brought in some important measures to help with housing affordability. We have a new savings vehicle. It is a very creative combination of a TFSA and an RRSP that will benefit first-time homebuyers. There are other aspects of the housing situation that are under the control of municipal governments. I think the member has probably seen this in his area. I have seen it in mine. There is a big debate going on in my community about densification, and some amount of densification is going to be necessary if we are going to increase the housing supply in a geographic area that is already highly developed. Obviously, we cannot influence municipal bylaws and permitting, but through the housing accelerator fund we can exert a certain amount of influence, and hopefully that will be helpful.
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