44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 8, 2022 02:00PM
- Jun/8/22 2:37:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
I want to take this opportunity to point out that there is money that will be given out this year in a targeted way to those who need it. This year, we increased the Canada workers benefit. The people who need it most will receive an additional $2,300 this year. We will also be making a one-time $500 payment to people facing housing challenges.
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- Jun/8/22 2:38:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the fact is that we looked ahead. Our government has already set in motion five important programs that will deliver supports starting this year to the Canadians who need it the most. With the Canada workers benefit, a family of three can get up to $2,300 more. With the 10% increase in the OAS, a senior can get $815 more. There is $500 payment to people experiencing housing affordability challenges, dental care—
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- Jun/8/22 3:13:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada is in a housing crisis. Too many families are unable to find a safe roof over their heads and many young Canadians are just being forced to give up on the dream of ever even owning a home. There is a simple solution, though. It is to build more houses and increase the housing supply. All we see the government do is pose for photo ops at spending announcements, but there is a curious lack of ribbon cuttings.
My question is simple: When is the government going to get off the sidelines, demonstrate leadership to end exclusionary zoning and say yes to building more homes for Canadians?
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- Jun/8/22 3:14:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have no doubt in saying they are facing a crisis of leadership, because the hon. member fails to mention his very leader refuses to help municipalities with supply. His member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon says that we should step back and not invest in provisional housing programs. He is opposed, on the record, to the foreign ban of Canadian residential real estate and has opposed funding for affordable housing for indigenous peoples. It is all rhetoric and more rhetoric.
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- Jun/8/22 3:14:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there it is once again: more rhetoric, more talk, but no real action. If announcing billions of dollars could solve this problem, we would have a housing surplus in this country right now. In fact, the number of houses per 1,000 Canadians has gone down dramatically since 2016 under this government's watch.
Again I ask the minister: When is the government finally going to have the courage to do what is right and commit to working with provincial governments and municipalities to end exclusionary zoning and fix this crisis?
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- Jun/8/22 3:15:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are doing exactly that through the housing accelerator fund. The housing accelerator fund is all about supply, supply, supply, but they are on record as opposing the housing accelerator fund—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Jun/8/22 3:15:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member should speak to his leader, who has trashed the housing accelerator fund, which is all about supply. His colleagues from Calgary Centre, Edmonton Riverbend, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon and Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola have all said contradictory things about housing supply, about support for first-time homebuyers, about building more affordable housing in this country. They have no shame.
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Madam Speaker, on the situation with housing affordability in Canada, we need more housing supply. The plan we have put forward is a holistic plan. It is a plan that will need collaboration with provinces municipalities and regions to increase housing supply. It is a plan that targets the froth in the housing market with banning foreign purchases, the anti-flipping measures that we have put in place, and the $4-billion home accelerator fund. We have put in place a lot of measures in the BIA, including the measure the member talked about, to allow first-time homebuyers to actually save.
If someone is a young, downtown professional and they need to save for a first home, this is going to be a great measure and great vehicle for them to do that. This is much like the tax-free savings accounts, which millions of people have used year after year. This is going to be another measure for Canadians to utilize and leverage, and I am so happy to see it in Bill C-19.
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Madam Speaker, I sit on the defence committee and we heard a lot about the need of those in the armed forces who are struggling with the cost of living, with having to move all the time. Families are struggling with housing costs. One of the things that was offered up was a reinstatement of the cost of living differential for Canadian Armed Forces members.
I would like to hear the member's thoughts on how that would help.
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Madam Speaker, first, I would like to say that I am sharing my time with the hon. member for Kings—Hants. I am pleased to add my perspective on the budget implementation act and discuss some of what this budget would achieve for the Yukon while having something for all Canadians.
According to the 2021 census, the Yukon is Canada's fastest-growing territory or province. It is a wonderful place to call home as a steady influx of new residents will attest, yet like everywhere in Canada, we are experiencing an acute housing crisis. This is felt keenly in Whitehorse, Dawson City and communities across the territory.
I recently spoke to constituents from the village of Mayo who expressed alarm that the lack of housing was a key part of their inability to keep health care workers in the community, particularly those trained to address the opioid crisis we are facing. Our government is taking action to address this national issue through budget 2022 by making a historic $10-billion investment in housing in Canada, including $30 million to the Yukon specifically, for housing. Yukoners will be able to benefit from the measures we are introducing to make housing more affordable and accessible for all Canadians, including expanding the first-time homebuyer incentive and making property flippers pay their fair share.
Housing measures in this budget also include an expansion of the rapid housing initiative by $1.5 billion. This fund has already made a positive mark in Whitehorse and Yukon communities. Already, 149 units are being created in the Yukon, and I look forward to that number continuing to grow.
These are just a few examples of the investments we are making to ensure Canadians have a safe place to live and feel at home. While the housing crisis affects people from all walks of life, we know that first nations communities face unique obstacles.
Adequate housing and infrastructure are both critical determinants of community health and well-being. We will not achieve our goals in reconciliation without ensuring first nation citizens have access to adequate, safe and affordable housing.
In the last Parliament, the human resources committee conducted a study on rural, urban and remote indigenous housing. Its report, “Indigenous Housing: The Direction Home”, included several recommendations to address this crisis. One was to establish a distinct urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy, co-developed with CMHC, created for, created by, and led by indigenous peoples. Budget 2022 commits $300 million to create this very important program.
It also commits $565 million to support housing for self-governing first nations and modern treaty holders. Eleven of the 14 first nations in the Yukon are self-governing. They are nations such as Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, Teslin Tlingit Council or Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.
These are important investments for Yukoners and Canadians in their journey toward reconciliation. It is a journey that is well under way but with much yet to accomplish.
Providing access to affordable housing is not the only mission we are embarking on today. We must also take bold, decisive action to mitigate and adapt to the impact of climate change on our living environments.
Canada's homes and buildings account for 13% of our GHG emissions. It is imperative that we work to support retrofitting our homes and places of work and adjusting our building standards so that Canada's buildings can be as energy efficient as possible. Greening our homes not only reduces impacts on the environment, but also has substantial savings for Canadians through reductions in heating and other costs.
The government has long been committed to greening our homes and communities. This year, we are providing $150 million to Natural Resources Canada to develop the Canada green buildings strategy.
We are also investing $458.5 million in the Canada greener homes loan program through CMHC to provide low-interest loans and grants to low-income housing providers to support a green retrofit.
Greening our homes and buildings goes a long way toward reducing our emissions and fighting climate change, and it is also a way of dealing with the housing crisis. However, we still have a lot of work to do if we want to succeed in bending the curve of emissions.
The recent IPCC report was clear: We have not been doing enough to combat catastrophic climate change. We are not taking big enough steps to avert a worst-case scenario. If we do not expedite and expand our efforts, we will not be leaving a livable planet for our children.
I look around the House and see a welcome array of ages, but by 2050, when we should have reached net-zero emissions and when we are supposed to have kept global temperatures below a 1.5°C increase, many, even most, of the members making decisions for Canada now may no longer be here.
The decisions we make now will determine the options our successors in the chamber have at their disposal, and it is critical that we do not shortchange them simply because the timelines we are keeping are 30 years into the future.
As a father of two teenagers, I cannot stand by. We are seeing the effects of climate change daily, from severe flooding and devastating fires to dramatic declines in biodiversity and an Arctic warming at two to three times the global rate. Our land, our people, our economies risk devastation across Canada.
We can hope. Although we are behind, we have momentum. What is more, we have an ambitious plan to reduce emissions complete with objectives, timelines and especially obligations that are set out in the legislation.
Since January, I have been pleased to take part in announcements totalling more than $1.5 million to expand zero-emission charging stations across Yukon. Transportation is another key source of emissions, and with $400 million announced in budget 2022 to further expand ZEV infrastructure in suburban or remote communities, I look forward to taking part in more of these announcements, which will support making all road-accessed communities in our territory accessible by ZEVs by 2027.
Our government has committed $9.1 billion in new investments in our emissions reduction plan to build upon the investments we have already made with a road map for economy-wide measures to drive reductions while creating new job opportunities for Canadian workers and businesses as we work to achieve our climate goals.
In doing so, we will be working closely with indigenous communities, utilizing and applying their leadership, their deep understanding of the land and their traditional knowledge to help us move forward together. That is why part of our plan includes almost $30 million to co-develop an indigenous climate leadership agenda to support indigenous climate priorities.
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Madam Speaker, I often hear people in my riding talk about access to health care, mental health, their housing needs, and investments to fight climate change. Those are Yukon's priorities. I am very pleased to see investments in these areas in budget 2022.
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