44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 9, 2022 10:00AM
- Jun/9/22 2:28:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when we talk about the rising cost of living, the Liberals keep making comparisons rather than presenting solutions to help people. They say that things are better here than they are elsewhere. Basically, they are telling us to suck it up and stop whining.
Here is the reality, however. Workers are having to turn to food banks. Under the Liberals, the cost of housing rose faster in Canada than in any other G7 country. Meanwhile, investors are getting richer while families are struggling. People want solutions, not excuses.
When will the Liberals do something to make life more affordable for families?
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- Jun/9/22 2:28:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we agree that affordability is very important for Canadian families. That is why we have implemented practical, targeted solutions that have already put money back in Canadians' pockets.
For example, we increased the Canada workers benefit so that a family of three will receive $2,300 more this year. We are also making a one-time payment of $500 to people facing housing challenges. We are doing a lot more, but I see that I am out of time.
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- Jun/9/22 2:29:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while families struggle to afford groceries, rent and gas for their cars, the Liberals shrug and say that things are better here than elsewhere. Since they like comparisons so much, I have one for them. Under the Liberals, the cost of a home in Canada has increased faster than it has in any other country in the G7. Canadians cannot find a home they can afford, and they want solutions, not excuses. The government must act now.
Will the Liberals stop with the excuses and build 500,000 units of social housing and co-op housing to help families struggling to make ends meet?
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- Jun/9/22 2:30:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when it comes to co-op housing, and I did grow up in a co-op, our government, in the recent budget, put forward the biggest investment in co-op housing in a generation. That is something I am very proud of. I want to thank the MP for Milton for his hard work on that.
When it comes to other solutions to help Canadians with affordability, let me point to a very important program, the Canada workers benefit, which we have increased by $9 billion over five years. A family of three, this year, is getting $2,300 more.
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- Jun/9/22 3:07:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are facing a housing crisis in this country, and my community is reeling. There are 53 people who have resorted to pitching tents on publicly owned land in downtown Kitchener, but they are being evicted at the end of the month. They are among the 412 people who we know are unsheltered in Waterloo region. Municipal leaders have been sounding the alarm for years, asking for more targeted housing funding and urgent mental health and addictions support.
If the Minister of Housing were to visit this encampment, what would he say to those living in tents, who have been left behind by decades of unjust housing policies?
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- Jun/9/22 3:08:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, whenever Canadians find themselves on the street, it diminishes us all. We have invested over $562 million in the federal Reaching Home program, which targets the most vulnerable Canadians on the street.
In addition to that, during the pandemic we invested another $400 million. We are giving stability and certainly to frontline organizations serving the most vulnerable. Through the rapid housing initiative, as well as the co-op housing program, we are providing permanent housing solutions to house the most vulnerable people in our community.
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- Jun/9/22 6:59:10 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-5
Mr. Speaker, that was a very good question. My office is adjacent to a shelter in Mission, British Columbia, and I speak to a lot of people who are both suffering from opioids and who live on the streets. A lot of them do not have access to care. A lot of them do not have access to wraparound services. A lot of them do not have access to housing. In British Columbia, before the agreement between B.C. and the federal government, we already had de facto decriminalization.
What we need to see are real and concrete investments. I know investment would cost a lot of money. In fact, it was one of the big platform commitments of the Conservatives. We need a national approach to addressing the mental health and addictions crisis in the country, and we need to put real dollars into communities to give people the recovery beds and options for recovery that they are looking for.
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