44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 29, 2022 10:00AM
- Sep/29/22 10:33:09 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it really is Groundhog Day here in Parliament. It seems as if we are talking about the same issue we discussed last Tuesday.
It is true that prices are going up. Let us talk about housing, for example. This week, the Canadian Housing and Renewal Association came to the Hill to meet with us. They told us something pretty interesting that predates the pandemic and the recent increase in inflation.
Over the last 10 years in Canada, 600,000 affordable housing units have been lost. These are units the government had paid for, that we had all paid for, and that were relatively affordable. They were moved to the private market.
The government boasts about having a national housing strategy in which it is investing $72 billion, supposedly to create affordable housing, but that money has been lost. Private developers are buying up the units and flipping them at higher prices.
This is a major crisis that requires major investment. What do the Conservatives have to offer?
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- Sep/29/22 12:46:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I like to look at both sides of the coin to see the positive and the negative aspects of a situation. The government has invested and continues to invest a lot of money in many areas. We cannot be against a good thing. However, the other side of the coin is that the positive impact of some measures is temporary, while other measures are just making up for the lack of investment in previous years, not just by this Liberal Party, but also by the Conservatives. We have made up most of the lost ground in certain areas but we are just getting started in others. Let us stay positive.
The current motion seems like a good idea, because everyone would like to pay less taxes.
Let us now look at the other side of the coin.
Could my colleague explain the impact of a recession on services and debt if government coffers were emptied by a combination of more money going out to taxpayers and less revenue coming in because of the reduction, elimination or suspension of a tax?
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- Sep/29/22 2:50:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the hon. member. We are committed to a “for indigenous, by indigenous” urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy. That is why, in budget 2022, we invested more than $4 billion to close the gap that exists in indigenous communities. This includes a $300-million initial investment in an urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy.
Even in existing programs, we are seeing programs like the rapid housing initiative, in which 41% of the housing is being led by indigenous people and being delivered in indigenous communities. I look forward to working with our partners to get this right, by following the “for indigenous, by indigenous” principle.
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- Sep/29/22 3:11:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we understand the issue. That is why we have already implemented a 1% annual tax on the value of non-resident, non-Canadian residential real estate. We are introducing a two-year ban on foreign investment in Canadian residential real estate. We are committed to reviewing the tax treatment of real estate investment trusts. We are launching a federal review of housing as an asset class.
On this side of the House, we are committed to making housing more affordable by doing our part to tackle the financialization of housing.
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- Sep/29/22 5:12:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I still think there are better solutions. I would like to know what my colleague thinks about this. Right now, we know that rising prices are often driven by a lack of competition. We also know that the Competition Act encourages company mergers, which means more monopolies.
Does my colleague agree that the act should be amended?
Should the Investment Canada Act also be amended to counter the trend of foreign takeovers of our head offices?
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