44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 20, 2023 11:00AM
- Mar/20/23 6:21:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my friend and hon. colleague for her compliments on the success of COP15, and I will certainly pass those on to the minister. This was a success for Canada and, indeed, the world. I think the hon. member will agree that the hard work begins now in implementing that framework.
As was correctly noted, China retained the presidency of COP15, while Canada provided the host location. Canada stepped up as the host location, doing in five months what normally takes two years to do, and sent a strong signal that we understand the urgency of mobilizing the world on this issue.
China, with the COP15 presidency, was responsible for working with the United Nations secretariat for the Convention on Biological Diversity to issue invitations to the high-level segment. This was a UN conference, as the hon. member referenced. It was Canada's conference, in terms of home field, and formally it was China that invited heads of state and governments to COP15 at its discretion. As a United Nations meeting, COP15 was open to all UN member states. All parties were formally invited to choose their representatives following an official notification from the CBD secretariat.
As the hon. member will know, the Prime Minister delivered remarks at the opening ceremony of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties, COP15, and he highlighted the importance of protecting nature and biodiversity. He was engaged with key stakeholders. His participation on the ground sent a strong message that Canada is engaged and is leading by example in order to push for a clear, ambitious and transformative post-2020 global biodiversity framework.
The high-level segment, which was always planned as a ministerial event, engaged ministers to help conclude negotiations and secure an ambitious outcome, and that is exactly what happened. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change served as the head of the Canadian delegation and had a very active role in the negotiations and at COP15 generally. In addition, several other cabinet ministers attended COP15 throughout the two weeks of negotiations, lending a strong message of Canadian political engagement and leadership.
To wrap up, I will highlight that the Prime Minister was active at COP15 and that Canada's expectations for an ambitious outcome were indeed realized at this landmark event. We are confident there is now clear recognition that nature is as important as climate and that the two crises must be tackled together.
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- Mar/20/23 6:25:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, once again, I find myself in violent agreement with the hon. member, which is often unusual in the chamber.
I will just re-emphasize that the Government of Canada signalled commitment and resolve in the lead-up to COP15 through a series of statements and announcements centred around our progress toward conserving 30% of our land and waters by 2030, the protection and recovery of species at risk and partnerships with indigenous peoples and provincial and territorial governments.
At the international level, leaders from Canada and many other countries underlined the importance of COP15 and the post-2020 global biodiversity framework in recent months, including at G7, G20 and the UN General Assembly.
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- Mar/20/23 6:30:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the question by my colleague from Vancouver East shows that we share a concern that people across this country still face challenges when it comes to housing affordability and homelessness.
Our government always welcomes input from across the way, across the housing sector and across the country on how to solve this complex problem. I would say it can only be solved through deep collaboration, and that is the approach we are taking. Our $82-billion national housing strategy, the first of its kind in Canadian history, is built around partnership. We are not talking a good game. This is real action, and even more fundamentally, it is built on a rights-based approach to housing and an acknowledgement that everyone in Canada deserves a suitable home they can afford.
With this in mind, it prioritizes people made most vulnerable to housing need, and it is yielding real results. For example, the rapid housing initiative, one of the strategy's programs, specifically targets those most in need through the rapid creation of housing units. More than 2,500 homes for people experiencing homelessness or at risk of it have been built or are being built with funds from this initiative. These are 2,500 homes for people who need them when they need them most, and many of them are being built in my home community of Winnipeg.
People like those who will stay in the new 20-unit building operated by Lookout Housing and Health Society in my colleague's riding of Vancouver East are benefiting. This is being built now with funding from the rapid housing initiative. Then there is the 24-unit facility, also in my colleague's riding, operated by Lu'ma Native Housing Society, which is providing supportive housing for indigenous residents. These are just a couple of examples from one program. They are repeated across the country and across the range of programs being delivered under the strategy.
These are concrete results we are proud of, and they serve to reveal the size of the problem and the fact that we still need to do more, as the hon. member has suggested. We are doing more. Our current budget includes a combination of new ideas and expansions of past successes, all supported by significant investments. We are approaching the issue of housing affordability from every angle that will have an impact, and in collaborating with partners across the housing system, we are finding new angles every day.
I thank my colleague for continuing to share our concern for housing affordability in this country.
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- Mar/20/23 6:34:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our government has prioritized housing affordability throughout our mandate. It is why we launched the historic national housing strategy and why, in subsequent legislation, we enshrined housing as a human right. We continue to make housing a priority. We have enacted programs to help people from across the spectrum of housing need, always prioritizing those who are most vulnerable.
I would be very happy to visit the hon. member's riding. I have been to Vancouver East before, and I know there is great housing need there. We need to work together on all sides of the House to address that need.
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