44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 3, 2022 10:00AM
- May/3/22 11:53:25 a.m.
- Watch
- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her excellent speech. I know that she is quite involved in the housing file, as am I. She mentioned this in her speech. Housing is a problem in her riding, much like it is in my riding of Longueuil. It is a problem all across Quebec.
There are some good measures in the budget, especially when it comes to housing. I am talking about measures such as the tax-free first home savings account and the first-time home buyers' tax credit, which will help boost demand. The budget also allocates money to programs that support affordability, such as the rental construction financing initiative and the national housing co-investment fund. However, over the years we have seen that this does not always create affordable housing.
Would it not be better to focus on the programs that work really well, such as the rapid housing initiative? Organizations really like this program, but the problem is that it is underfunded. Would it not have been better to focus on that program to help improve access to more affordable housing in Quebec and Canada?
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- May/3/22 11:54:33 a.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, I share a lot of the concerns my colleague raised. I had the pleasure of participating in a round table he organized in his riding and I really appreciate that.
There is no one single measure that will address the housing crisis. That will take a whole series of measures. We cannot simply focus on social housing; we must focus on affordability, home ownership, and buyers' and renters' rights. It will take a series of measures, and that is exactly what we are doing with our budget and, in part, with Bill C‑8.
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- May/3/22 12:11:46 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague about a specific aspect of Bill C-8, and that is the tax on underused housing. Everyone agrees with the basic intent.
My first question has to do with the rate of 1%. Is that enough? We know that other places like British Columbia and France have much higher rates than that.
Other than the rate, there is also the way this tax will be applied. The federal government is once again infringing on areas of jurisdiction belonging to the provinces, and Quebec in particular. I think that this should be done in co-operation with the municipalities, rather than imposed by the great, all-knowing Ottawa. What are my colleague's thoughts on that?
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- May/3/22 12:12:30 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, my colleague and I worked together on the agriculture committee and I do appreciate his insight.
One thing I would say is that the current government has not really taken a broad enough approach to housing. The Liberals brought forward a budget here in 2022 where they are not going to have one house built in a year and a half or two years.
I think a provincial approach to housing is a good idea. As a member of the legislature of Saskatchewan, I had some responsibilities and I know how the Province of Saskatchewan has reacted to housing issues. There should be respect for provincial jurisdiction, so provinces should have a good say and a fair say on some of the housing initiatives, moving forward.
The current government has failed on housing since 2015. Housing has gotten less affordable. Vacancies are fewer. Really, it is just a dog's breakfast when we look at the current government's housing initiatives.
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- May/3/22 12:27:39 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very sensitive speech. I came to really enjoy his company after spending 12 days with him on a recent mission in Italy.
I would like to know what he thinks about housing affordability. The real estate market is obviously overheated, given that the vacancy rate is under 3%, prices have gone up 18.6% over the past five years and it is considered normal to pay $2,225 a month in rent in Montreal, judging from what the government is saying.
What does my colleague think about that? Does he have any solutions to propose?
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- May/3/22 12:28:25 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, it was a pleasure to spend time with my hon. colleague. He is someone who really does care about what happens in the chamber. I had hoped to talk about housing, but I just did not get there.
We need shovels in the ground. This is a supply and demand issue. I have frequently heard the housing minister talk in the chamber about the fact that they have spent money and done this and that. What we need is to increase the supply. Having programs that encourage people to save up over the years may well be helpful for some people, but those programs likely would not go far enough when housing prices have doubled from $430,000 to over $850,000 during this mandate.
To answer the question as directly as possible, we need shovels in the ground and to encourage that.
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- May/3/22 12:39:52 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague touched upon housing. I think there is not a member in the House who does not have constituents with serious concerns about the lack of affordable housing.
There are some measures in this bill that deal with housing, I think, mainly about underutilization of property, but there is nothing in the bill about an anti-flipping tax. There is nothing on blind auctions. There is no real additional funding to increase affordable supply, or a housing strategy by and for indigenous communities.
I am wondering this. What does my hon. colleague think about that, and what measures does she think the government should take in order to provide affordable housing options for Canadians?
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- May/3/22 12:40:32 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, I agree that housing needs to become more affordable. This is only a start as to how we can get it to that point. I know that our government has spoken about commitments to further help housing become affordable in Canada, so I look forward to working with the member on this point.
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- May/3/22 1:24:21 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, in Bill C-8, there is some mention of housing, but there is a bit more in the budget. Canada is the worst country in the G7 for the average number of homes per 1,000 population. This is already a scandal, it is already something quite significant, and it is a major problem.
The budget even contains an admission of failure, since it recognizes that Canada needs 3.5 million housing units in order to solve the crisis, but it does not indicate how it is going to be solved. It does not propose any measures for addressing it.
I frequently hear my Conservative colleagues criticize the government on housing. During question period, they keep asking the Minister of Housing question after question on this issue, with good reason, but I do not hear them suggesting any solutions. What are their solutions for fixing the acute housing crisis that Quebec and Canada are currently experiencing?
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- May/3/22 1:25:11 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, the member is certainly right. There has been a litany of failures when it comes to housing. I did not have a chance to get into the fact that the Liberals' approach to try to address the overinflated housing market certainly has not worked in other jurisdictions in Canada that have tried. I am doubtful that it will work in this case.
Here is the reality. Canada needs to become a country that says yes again. Canada needs to become a country that allows homebuilders to build houses again. Canada needs to become a country that ensures there can be investments in things like property so that people can have affordable housing—
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- May/3/22 1:40:52 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, I am sure that Quebec is no different than any other province in that the citizens of these provinces are having a terrible time finding affordable housing. This is one of the areas where we are all in agreement that it takes all levels of government working together in order to provide a supply.
In my riding, we still have many constituents who have benefited from the very successful co-op housing program of the federal government of the 1970s and 1980s. I wonder if my hon. colleague can comment on whether co-operative housing and federal support for building co-op housing in Quebec would be a significant way to help people of Quebec develop at least one model of affordable housing.
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- May/3/22 2:02:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, April 29 was a good day for housing in St. John's East, as it marked the announcement of 132 new affordable housing units. Affordable housing options are transformational investments for our communities, and we know that if we want to improve housing affordability and combat homelessness, we need to continue investing across the whole housing continuum. That includes building more affordable housing near necessary supports and amenities, and having repairs done for existing homes to preserve and revitalize communities.
This is why the national housing strategy is so important. It ensures that women have the housing they need to stay safe and thrive. It provides workers with a home they can return to at the end of the day so they do not have to make the decision between rent and food. Last week, it was about ensuring that the most vulnerable residents of St. John's have somewhere to go and a place to call home.
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- May/3/22 2:53:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, housing prices in my community have doubled since 2015. Former Conservative governments kept the housing market stable. HouseSigma, using house sales data for Weston, the housing minster's own neighbourhood, shows the price of a home in May 2007 was $233,500. In April 2015, it was $296,250, and in April 2022 it was nearly $800,000.
Why is the minister failing even his own constituents, who are having to pay over half a million dollars more for a home since he was elected?
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- May/3/22 2:54:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in budget 2022 we are investing more than ever before in the building of more affordable housing. We are doubling the number of new homes built in Canada in the next 10 years. We are introducing the tax-free first home savings account and making sure that we double the first-time homebuyers' tax credit and extend the first-time homebuyer incentive. In addition to that, we are cracking down on speculation and unfair business practices in the real estate sector while also helping first-time homebuyers.
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- May/3/22 2:55:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, François and Josée can be helped by the tax-free first home savings account, the first-time homebuyer incentive and the doubling of the first-time homebuyers' tax credit. They will also be helped by the ban on foreign ownership, something the party opposite has opposed. This will help free up more housing stock for first-time homebuyers like those the hon. member mentioned. In addition to that, we are building more housing supply, tackling speculation, ending blind bidding and introducing a new homebuyers' bill of rights. All of these things taken together will do a lot to help first-time homebuyers.
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- May/3/22 2:56:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after seven years of the Liberal government, the price of the average home has doubled from $400,000 to $800,000. More and more Canadians are unable to afford a home, and others cannot even afford rent. In Canmore and Banff, people are forced to live in vans or share apartments with a dozen other people because they cannot even afford rent, let alone buy a home. In Airdrie and Cochrane, young couples are living in their parents' basements with their children. No matter how hard people work, adequate housing is just not attainable.
How is this acceptable, and why has the government not done anything to fix it?
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- May/3/22 2:56:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the party opposite has absolutely no credibility on this issue. Its members downloaded housing to the provinces and municipalities. They had no help for renters. We are the party that introduced federal leadership and significant resources back into affordable housing.
The hon. member talks about renters. We introduced the Canada housing benefit, which has helped tens of thousands of families in his home province, but the Conservatives voted against it. We are not stopping there. In budget 2022, we are adding an additional $500 to the Canada housing benefit.
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Madam Speaker, I am going to circle back to the hon. member's comments about housing and the housing market.
We have heard a lot of discussion, particularly from my Conservative colleagues, but also from elsewhere in committee, on the role that government expenditure may play in the housing market. Prior to the pandemic and prior to quantitative easing, we also saw astronomical increases in housing prices over a long period, including when the hon. member was around the cabinet table.
We know that private capital is also playing a significant role. There is a significant domestic investor presence in the Canadian market that is eating more and more of the housing stock, and after outbidding Canadians on their dream home or what they were hoping might be their starter home, they then rent it back to them at extraordinary high prices.
I wonder if the member might want to take some time, perhaps for the first time, to talk about the role of private capital and domestic investors in the housing market, and the affect they are having on prices in the housing market.
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Madam Speaker, I think what my hon. colleague from the finance committee is signalling is a concern over the financialization of housing in Canada, where people see housing as simply being an investment to be profited from rather than a roof over a person's head. I do share his concern that, if we are not sensible about this, it is going to cost Canadians significantly.
However, I do take issue with his assertion that, under the Harper government, somehow housing prices also spiked. No, that is not true. Housing prices were very stable during the Harper years. We a had a slight appreciation in value over time, which is what Canadians expect. They want to see a return to stable house prices in Canada. We, as Conservatives, are capable of delivering that.
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Madam Speaker, these Liberals continually promise the moon to millennials, especially when it comes to housing affordability, but their new savings account for first-time homebuyers is not in this bill. The things that are in it either make the problem worse, or they do not help at all.
In Bill C-19 itself there is an assignment of sale that would only give more revenue to the government, which would be allowed to charge GST on a second unit, and that is simply going to raise the price of housing. There is also a ban on foreign ownership. I thought that the original policy was so full of holes that it was like Swiss cheese, but they left the biggest loophole to the government. What was that? It would essentially allow the government to choose if and when the actual ban ever comes into place.
Can the member please comment on a few other things that are in the bill or the budget that the Liberals have promised but do not deliver on?
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