SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 179 - Apr/18/23

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Apr/18/23 11:02:46 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, one thing we have heard loud and clear from many anti-poverty advocates in our country is that there is a need for a national school lunch food program. Lush Valley, an organization in my riding that supports local food growers to get food to people who have low incomes and challenges getting food, has been pushing for this program. In 2018, the World Health Organization cited that one in five children in Canada is at risk of going to school hungry. That is not acceptable. We have been calling for the federal government to step in and fund a national school food program. We need federal funding, and school lunches could help take the pressure off of families right now. Will my colleague speak to this important need? When will the government answer the call to action so children are not living in poverty, and so they get the best start in life?

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Mr. Fayçal El-Khoury

Apr/18/23 11:03:41 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, financial assistance from the Government of Canada is available across the country. Budget 2023 proposes new investments to ensure Canadians can count on fast measures and tangible services from the federal government and receive the benefits to which they are entitled. The Government of Canada will always ensure that Canadians have that right.

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Ms. Leah Taylor Roy (Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, Lib.)

Apr/18/23 11:04:47 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, there is much I want to say and it really is my honour to rise as the representative of the people of the great riding of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill to address budget 2023, a budget that will benefit those living in my riding and all Canadians. It is a budget that defines the middle way. We have heard a lot this morning already from people who want more in the budget, things we have missed, and people who would like us to spend less. Many members have criticized what we have, and it is easy to do that. It is easy to point out things that could be there. I listened to the member for Courtenay—Alberni and agree that a school lunch program is very important. However, we find ourselves in a time when we are facing serious challenges. We are still in the postpandemic economy, as is the rest of the world. We are facing high inflation, we are facing high interest rates and we are trying to address serious issues that have been made clearer through the pandemic. We can maybe talk about new bells and whistles on a car, how perhaps we would like to have Apple play or a better sound system. I think perhaps that is what defines the difference between the Conservatives and Liberals: we are more concerned with every Canadian having a way to get to work than having bells and whistles on a car. This budget addresses the very important needs that are facing us today, while at the same time trying to contain spending and being aware of the fact that our deficit has been large throughout COVID and we have to bring it down. As I said, we are in a postpandemic economy. The shutdowns prompted by the pandemic have led to a reduction in production and imposed significant stresses on the global supply chain, as we all know. Although the opposition likes to blame actions taken by our government for this worldwide inflation, I know as well as they do that, as the middle power, Canada does not have the ability to create inflation worldwide. In fact, if we had that kind of economic power, we would be using it for the good of Canada and would probably be putting in place a lunch program and others that we would like, including employment insurance. However, that is not the case. It is also not the case that the price on pollution has caused inflation. The price on pollution did not increase between April 2022 and April 2023, yet inflation was rampant. In fact, with the most recent increase, we have seen inflation declining. Even on a simple basis of correlation, it does not stand, never mind causality. Rather than talking about opting out of inflation through cryptocurrency and other things or cutting programs, we are investing in Canada. We are trying to build the economy, to continue on a program that has been in place since 2015 to make sure that our economy is green, that it is inclusive and includes all Canadians. Speaking of crypto, just in the last two weeks, I have received emails in my riding from people who have lost their life savings after investing and using crypto as the way to do it. There is no redress, there is no way to follow it and they are out their life savings. In one case, it is almost $1 million and in another case $8 million. We cannot just opt out of programs like that. We have to be serious, not reckless, and follow this path. We are not only dealing with global inflation. The COVID-19 pandemic also underscores fault lines in our society, in particular, around health care. We know the problems that were there before were exacerbated through the pandemic, so this budget focuses on health care. It is the largest part of the budget and is much needed. The provinces have been asking for increases in the Canada health transfer, so we have included bilateral negotiations with provinces to respond to their needs. There is $25 million for mental health in those bilateral negotiations and the provinces can spend the money where they see it is most needed. Health care was one of the very important things that we had to address. Given that, the affordability crisis is ongoing. As I said, we are in a postpandemic economy, so we needed continued supports, such as the new grocery rebate. However, that is in addition to ongoing programs that have been instituted since 2015, programs like the Canada child benefit and the dental plan, which is expanded in budget 2023 to people living with disabilities and seniors. There are programs in place like the Canada child benefit, which this government put in place and has been helping to bring people out of poverty. When comparing a 2018 model to a 2023 model, Canada is much better in that we have decreased poverty among children significantly and among seniors. To me, that is far more important than the bells and whistles on a new car. Those basic things that we have done are making a difference to Canadians across this country. In my riding of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, almost 2,000 children have been able to get the dental care that they were unable to get prior to having this dental plan in place. That is significant. It is clear to us that the health care system was in need of more transfers. We put that money in place and are working co-operatively with the provinces on that. The other area we knew we had to continue with was the greening of the economy. We have programs in place to ensure that we do our part as a country to move Canada forward. Countries around the world are recognizing that things have changed and we have to change with them. We cannot be left behind. We know the price on pollution is the most efficient market mechanism to try and make some of these changes. We are investing in clean tech. This budget has significant investments in clean technology to encourage businesses to invest. Through the Canada growth fund, we are working with the Public Sector Pension Investment Board to attract additional private capital to Canada to green and clean our economy. We are laying the foundations for a made-in-Canada solution to tackle climate change. This is a federal responsibility. Members can say that we should leave these things to the provinces. I was in an environment committee meeting yesterday listening to first nations in the region around the Kearl Lake tailings pond spill. It was heartbreaking to listen to them. We heard witness after witness talk about the provincial regulator that had not done its job and had not protected these communities from these spills from these tailings ponds, and this continues. As a federal government, we have an obligation to protect Canadians, their health and safety, and I am not okay with leaving it to the provinces when it is, in fact, a federal responsibility. Cutting back our spending by exempting ourselves from our responsibilities and stepping back is not okay with me, and neither is slashing programs. We have to live up to our responsibilities, and we are doing that in this budget. We know we cannot afford to maintain the status quo when the world around us is changing due to the climate crisis and the response of most advanced economies to it. We are making significant investments to ensure that Canada does not fall behind. We know that the Canadian economy will be stronger when all Canadians are able to fully participate in it and benefit from it. We are continuing to ensure that indigenous communities, women, people living with disabilities, the 2SLGBTQA+ community and other under-represented minority groups are participating fully in the process of shaping policy priorities that support them. Budget 2023 continues to implement the plan that was set out in 2015 by this government. We need steady progress on these goals, not knee-jerk reactions that slash programs and go to alternative methods. We must continue to do this and it is only by continuing on this path that Canada will reach its full potential, achieve greater prosperity and fairer responsible economic growth. We are well positioned, as a country, to capitalize on the many advantages we have, and they are numerous. If we continue to support one another and work together, we will build an economy and society that will be second to none, one that will be shared by all Canadians. At a challenging time, in a challenging world, there is no better place to be than in Canada.

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Mr. John Brassard (Barrie—Innisfil, CPC)

Apr/18/23 11:14:14 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, one of the areas I want to focus on in the budget is specifically with respect to Lake Simcoe. I know the government has allocated a multi-million dollar fund for freshwater lakes and watersheds across the country. One of the things that we are focused on locally, and I would consider the member to be part of that in central Ontario, is specific funding for Lake Simcoe and the reinstatement of the Lake Simcoe clean-up fund. As we know, a previous Conservative government invested close to $60 million and saw measurable improvements in phosphorus and fish habitats were coming back. There were numerous councils around the Lake Simcoe watershed that passed motions asking for direct funding for Lake Simcoe. Why would that not have been specifically indicated in the budget as a direct funding mechanism for Lake Simcoe?

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Ms. Leah Taylor Roy

Apr/18/23 11:15:11 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, in fact the Lake Simcoe watershed is in my backyard. I do live in that area and I am very concerned about it. Like I said, there were many things that were not included in this budget, but we have funded a clean water agency for the first time in the history of Canada and have put significant money into clean water. It is up to that agency to determine how that money is spent. There are many individual requests that were not met. I would like to add, however, that the provincial government's decision to build on farmlands, wetlands and greenbelts, and to continue to build highways across farmlands that specifically affect Lake Simcoe is adding to this problem, not helping. We have to work together. The Bradford Bypass was a disastrous decision and Highway 413 is going to follow in its steps.

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Ms. Monique Pauzé (Repentigny, BQ)

Apr/18/23 11:16:04 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague with whom I work on the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development. I really enjoy the work that we are able to do together, but when it comes to the budget, we have differences of opinion on the matter of the environment. How does the government not see that carbon capture and storage is just a greenwashing campaign dreamed up by the oil and gas industry in an attempt to appear willing to work towards net zero? Over 400 experts and academics have criticized this technique and have urged the Minister of Finance not to fund it. Other countries around the world are gradually abandoning this technique. Even the United States is doing away with the financial incentives for it. Why is Canada rushing headlong into a mirage?

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Ms. Leah Taylor Roy

Apr/18/23 11:16:59 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member opposite for her work. We share a passion for the environment. I would say what we are trying to accomplish is to meet our carbon targets, the reduction in C02. We are using many different ways to do that. We have been working together on a study to end fossil fuel subsidies. I am not a great fan of the fossil fuel industry, but I also recognize that we are going to continue to need fossil fuels in the transition. Putting in place carbon capture, utilization and storage that will help make that cleaner is a step toward meeting our international goals.

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Ms. Niki Ashton (Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, NDP)

Apr/18/23 11:17:44 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, as many of us in the NDP have indicated, we are very proud that certain key commitments are made in this budget around dental care and other key areas. However, one area that requires much more support and certainly with greater urgency is investment in indigenous housing. I represent many first nations that are facing a housing crisis. There is a housing crisis that particularly impacts indigenous peoples in urban centres. While this budget commits funding, much of that funding is flowing in the back end of the commitment, so not on an urgent basis as is required. Does the member agree that urgent investments are needed to deal with the housing crisis in indigenous communities?

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Ms. Leah Taylor Roy

Apr/18/23 11:18:39 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, yes, there is a dire need for housing in indigenous communities. I would say that in addition to what is in the budget and has been allocated for indigenous housing, there are also ongoing programs. Again, this is the first time we have had a national housing strategy in Canada and much has been accomplished through it. We have continued programs such as the rapid housing initiative and the housing accelerator program. All of these have funding for indigenous housing as well. As I said, there are many things that I wish we could have funded in the budget, but the fiscal constraints led to a more limited scope. I thank the member for that question and I agree.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Apr/18/23 11:19:25 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a huge honour and privilege to be here on behalf of the residents of Courtenay—Alberni and to bring forward their concerns and thoughts around the budget. Some things in the budget are important to help relieve the pressure on Canadians and the people in my riding, in particular. There is the largest expansion of health care in our country in over 50 years with the expansion of dental care. There is the importance of continuing the $10-a-day affordable, accessible and quality child care, which will ensure that every child has the best start in life. It is certainly very important to the small business community, because it helps with the labour market challenges that many people face. The GST rebate will help support people right now, as we see inflation skyrocket, especially at the grocery store. There is the promise of a reduction in merchant fees, and I look forward to more details on that issue. I have worked really hard on this for the last seven years, as well as my NDP colleagues. I hope we see that come to fruition, because it has been a long journey. Also, there are investments in clean energy and a clean job centre, something my colleague from Timmins—James Bay has worked tirelessly around. The budget would remove the interest on student loans and increase grants of up to 40% for students. These are things New Democrats have prioritized, and we were able to secure them for Canadians in this budget. An area where we were able to get some success was getting $4 billion for rural and urban indigenous housing over seven years, but it is so far from what is needed. We need that per year over the next 10 years just to make any headway. Obviously, many things are missing. I will not get into the long details around those. However, one thing I will say is that the Liberals really missed out on an opportunity to go after an excess profit tax on the oil and gas sector, on increasing the tax they put on the financial sector, and on grocery stores and big chains that have had excess profits. This is where there is not a lot of difference between the Liberals and the Conservatives. They continue this pathway of corporate welfare. We have seen Conservatives in Britain step forward with an excess profit tax on oil and gas, but we cannot get the Liberals to do that here. I hear colleagues say that they cannot do everything and that there are too many bells and whistles. However, on a school food program, sending one in five kids to school hungry is not acceptable in a country where we have excess profits and record profits in an oil and gas sector. That is unacceptable. This could have been dealt with in the budget. However, I am going to focus on two things that are absolutely critical, that are missing in the budget and that are impacting every colleague in my House, their constituents and all Canadians. Those are affordable housing and mental health. I am going to tell a quick story about where I grew up. I grew up in a co-op housing complex in Victoria. My dad was a transmission mechanic. My mom worked for the federal government as a clerk. They were lower middle class, but they were higher income earners in the co-op, where 30% of one's income went to rent. Rent was geared to income, but there were many people in the co-op: single parents, seniors, people living with disabilities and other families. One thing we all had in common was that we had safe, secure and affordable housing. I cannot describe what that did for everybody, including for their mental health, but it gave everybody a fighting chance. I can go back to that co-op in Victoria, British Columbia, and see the other kids with whom I grew up. I also see their children and grandchildren. I know the importance of investments in non-market social housing. Back in the seventies and eighties, and in a minority government, the federal NDP under David Lewis was able to secure co-op housing, and it ranged from 18,000 to 25,000 units a year. That went on for two decades, and it made a significant impact on the distribution of housing in Canada. In fact, about 10% of our housing in the early nineties was non-market housing. I want to point out that Europe has around 30% non-market housing. People there do not see the homelessness. Nor do they see people living the way we do. They understand housing is a human right and it is not a commodity. They allow the free market and the non-market to coexist so they can have some balance in their economy and in their country. We do not do that. In fact, we have less than 4% non-market housing. One just has to go outside to see what it looks like in any community in the country. I want to remind the House, Madam Speaker, that I will be splitting my time with the member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith. I am really grateful for her work. We live side by side. She has seen this crisis in affordable housing in her riding just like everybody else, but it has been exacerbated by many people moving to Vancouver Island. We are seeing an increase of our population and the pressure is forcing people out on the streets. We are hearing so many stories about that, but there are many solutions. I was just at the Canadian Mental Health Association, which had its advocacy week. I actually frequent it very often on many different occasions. Katrina Kiefer, the president-CEO of the local CMHA branch in Port Alberni, took me on a tour of some of its non-market housing units. It has low-to-medium barrier housing. The changes in the lives of the people who were in their housing was transformational. It gave them all a fighting chance. Many had come out of really difficult circumstances. Some were there for reprieve from situations at home or fleeing abuse. Some were in recovery from substance abuse issues. Ensuring that they had housing gave them the ability to connect with the important supports they needed, the mental health supports, the physicians and the support from the health sector as they were on their journey. We know this works. What does not work is the free market. It will not solve an affordable housing crisis. I cannot find anywhere in the world where an affordable housing crisis has been fixed by the free market. It will not happen. In this budget, the Liberals completely miss the mark, as the Conservatives did before them. They keep pushing this problem down the road. I very much support immigration. I know there are goals to expand immigration to 500,000 people a year for the next three years. I support that wholeheartedly, but we need to ensure there is housing for them to come here and find a place to live. We need to ensure that they can get to work, that we improve our transportation services and that we ensure they can get access to a doctor, but there is no cohesive plan. The rapid housing initiative that the Liberals have rolled out is so small in scale. The 6,500 units they put on the table, when it comes to co-op housing, does not even make a dent in the lost 500,000 units that they did not build, Conservative and Liberal governments alike, over the last 30 years. There is the continued corporatization of housing in our country. They are allowing these REITs to get a tax benefit that normal Canadians do not get and they are increasing their share of the overall ownership of housing. The Liberals need to put a stop to this. We cannot commodify everything in our country. Moms Stop the Harm hosted an event for the thousands of people who had died from the toxic drug crisis in Parksville, and I was able to join them. I really appreciated Jane McCormick, the brave mother of Jeffrey, who lost her loved one, for her courage in organizing that event and all the moms who showed up, and the fathers and family members who bolstered the courage. I also met some young folks from Risebridge. They are trying to address the homeless issue on the ground level. What they are seeing is that the federal government downloads to provinces, the provinces download to local governments and some local governments do not have the aptitude or they do not feel it is their priority to address the homelessness issue. They are left with not enough resources. We have people who are on the front line. Some of them are even traumatized by their own loss and they are driven by trying to ensure another family member does not get lost because of this. I am calling on the federal government to scale up its investments in housing, in non-market housing specifically. This is critical to the mental health of all Canadians. Everyone deserves a place to live in our country, a safe and secure place.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Apr/18/23 11:29:25 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, there has been no lack of leadership coming from Ottawa with respect to housing in Canada, whether it is the hundreds of millions of dollars, a national housing strategy or a multitude of different programs. The key to dealing with housing costs and shortages is to deal with them in a joint fashion. Municipalities need to play a strong and more important role. The issue is that city councillors need to recognize and facilitate, for example, individuals being able to purchase their own lots or zoning issues. I wonder if the member could provide his thoughts on the following. Yes, Ottawa does play a role, but without municipal and provincial support, we will not be able to deal with the issue.

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Mr. Gord Johns

Apr/18/23 11:30:16 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I sat in local government. I was a municipal councillor in Tofino, and the federal government continued to throw bread crumbs and trinkets and it did not work. In fact, if the Liberal government put money on the table, municipalities would access it and they would build non-market housing. They are waiting for a federal partner, and so are the provinces. B.C. is building half the non-market housing in our country, but provinces need a true, real federal partner that is willing to invest. For my colleague, we need the government to step to the plate. It is absent. All we need to do is step outside and look around. Maybe if my colleague met with municipal government officials, he would get a real glimpse of what is going on.

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Mr. Martin Champoux (Drummond, BQ)

Apr/18/23 11:31:06 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we heard the NDP boasting about some of the measures in this budget. However, I did not really hear them talking about what the budget does for culture, even though the cultural industry has made it clear to the government that it urgently needs help in getting through the pandemic. The cultural industry is having a hard time recovering from the pandemic, but there is nothing in the budget to really help. I would like my colleague to comment on that.

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Mr. Gord Johns

Apr/18/23 11:31:43 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I really appreciate my colleague, who is always fighting for those important artists and cultural curators in our country. The government absolutely failed. This is the most impacted sector in our economy from COVID, which was left hung out to dry. We have even been asking for the CEBA loan to be extended for many of them, but many did not even qualify for it, so the government failed. We know Bill C-11 will bring forward some important funds and resources to support those artists, but it is not quick enough. In this budget, the Liberals should have been bridging the gap with some resources for that. I am disappointed to not get a question from the Conservatives on housing, because their free market approach has failed Canadians. It has left them hung out to dry.

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Mr. Arnold Viersen (Peace River—Westlock, CPC)

Apr/18/23 11:32:39 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will let that go by, saying a free market approach would not work. In Vancouver, just the red tape to build a house costs $630,000. It is not the free market that is the problem. It is the government standing in the way of building the houses. I want to go back to the deficit spending that the government is doing and the inflation that is driving up the cost of anything, more dollars chasing fewer goods. What does the member have to say about the $43-billion deficit and that the government continues to spend after it promised back in 2015 it would only have four modest deficits of $10 billion and then return to a balance? Does the member think the government will ever be capable of meeting a balanced budget?

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Mr. Gord Johns

Apr/18/23 11:33:26 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, first, all my colleague needs to do is go out and get a development application in Vancouver and it will not cost $630,000 in red tape. It is again more false information. When he talks about the deficit, absolutely we have a solution to that. We have been calling for an excess profit tax on oil and gas, grocery store chains and the big banks that are having record profits. They are left untouched by Liberals and always supported by the Conservatives, who are their gatekeepers. Again, Britain is charging an excess profit tax on oil and gas even though it also has petroleum based companies. We have a huge problem when it comes to the Conservatives and Liberals propping up the super wealthy in our country. They are putting it on the backs of everyday Canadians and not allowing them to get services and important supports like affordable housing. Instead, they support the corporatization of housing.

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Ms. Lisa Marie Barron (Nanaimo—Ladysmith, NDP)

Apr/18/23 11:34:30 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am happy to rise today to discuss this important topic and to talk about some of the ways in which we are seeing not only successes in the budget but also, of course, some serious gaps. I would like to reiterate some of the wins in the budget that were just now mentioned by my colleague for Courtenay—Alberni. We have seen the largest expansion of health care in decades, and because of this expansion, we will see dental care for children under 18, seniors and people living with a disability. They are all getting access to vital dental care. This is something that has been missing for so long, and people are in real need. We are seeing an increase of funding being allocated to child care. As a single parent, and after speaking to so many others in our community, I completely understand the essential need for increased child care across the country. We also saw another doubling of the GST rebate, which is now labelled as a grocery rebate. This is the second time that we are seeing money going back into the pockets of those who need it most as a result of the work of the NDP, which applied pressure on the Liberals, and the result is this rebate. This is good news. We have also seen that this budget includes the permanent 1.5% increase in tax for banks and insurance. However, this is nowhere near enough. We need to see a wealth tax, which is something we have talked about many times in the House, with the top 1%, who are making over $10 million, paying more on their taxes as an excess profit tax. We also need to see those tax loopholes being closed. These are all mechanisms where we could see the profits, which are earned off the backs of everyday people who are working so hard, being reinvested back into people. This is not the budget that an NDP government would have put forward, but there are some wins, as I have said, and some serious gaps. My hope is that all members of Parliament can agree on one thing, and that is that people are struggling. We need to see a budget that prioritizes building an equitable and healthy community all across Canada, which does not leave people behind. We are also in a climate crisis. We need to see timely actions being implemented today for the generations of both today and tomorrow. It is vital that all in the House make decisions today that benefit people and our environment, and it is time for the Liberals to start putting people before profits within the budget. An area I want to take a moment to talk about is housing. Specifically, we did see in this budget $4 billion for a co-developed urban, rural and northern indigenous strategy, and there is an importance in us seeing housing that is for indigenous, by indigenous. There is no question that this $4 billion is insufficient to meet the actual need, but it is a step in the right direction. Members of the Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Friendship Centre in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith recently reached out with some updated stats. They shared that, in 2021, one in five indigenous people in Canada, which is 18.8%, was living in low-income housing. The indigenous population living in large urban centres has grown, from 2016 to 2021, by 12.5%. Organizations such as this incredible friendship centre provide essential services and a space for so many indigenous people, Inuit, first nations and Métis to come together to access the supports they need. I am always happy to hear from the executive director of the Tillicum Lelum Aboriginal Friendship Centre, Grace Elliott Nielsen, to hear more about the needs, and it is clear that housing for those both on and off reserve is essential and needs to be prioritized. This need is great, and it is due to the impacts of colonialism and continued racism of indigenous people. Funding for affordable housing for indigenous people who are increasingly living in urban centres is essential. The funding that we see in the budget is a start, but realistically, it is a drop in the bucket to begin addressing this crisis and the current status of housing for indigenous people. It is clear, based on this budget, that the Liberals are not taking the action required to address the housing crisis being experienced by constituents in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith and across the country. In the last budget, we did see a move in the right direction, as a result of the pressure applied by the NDP, with 150 affordable housing units. However, in this budget, there is barely a mention of how we are going to move forward to address this crisis. We are seeing the impacts of this on seniors in my riding, who have worked tirelessly their whole lives to contribute to the community and who are now unsure where they are going to live. They talk to me about the stress and uncertainty of not knowing where they are going to lay their head at night. This is a time where they should be comfortable and enjoying their lives. It is heartbreaking. Families are unable to afford housing. I was talking with frontline service providers last week about children being taken from their families for the sole reason that their parents or caregivers could not find a safe, affordable place to live. I also heard from service providers about women who were fleeing or attempting to flee domestic abuse, and who were forced to stay in that situation because they had nowhere to go. This is a dire situation, and it needs to be addressed. Last summer, I hosted a round table, along with the MP for Vancouver East and the NDP critic for housing. We had first nations chiefs, Métis leaders, leaders of local indigenous friendship centres, those from non-profits and community housing advocates. They all came together to discuss the impacts of the financialization of housing in our community. As a result of this gathering, we had 15 signatures on a letter that went to the Liberal Minister of Housing. It was sent last October, and we have yet to receive a response. There has not even been a response to the constituents in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith about what actions would be taken to address the financialization of housing and to address this crisis, which so many are experiencing. I am unsure how that is justified. For too long consecutive Conservative and Liberal governments have allowed large corporations and rich investors to use our housing as a stock market, even incentivizing such behaviour through tax loopholes that continue today. This is why the NDP housing critic was in Nanaimo just a few days ago, and we were talking about this issue again. I want to move on because my time is passing by quickly, and there are many other areas I would like to speak to. On mental health and toxic substances, despite it being evident that so many of our loved ones are dying in a toxic substance crisis. There is a dire need for mental health supports, but there have been no further announcements on mental health in this budget, despite the grand promise of the Canada mental health transfer in the 2021 campaign. People in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith are asking where the funds are that were promised by the Liberal government, and why they are not seeing these funds being transferred, funds that could make real changes in our communities to support people at a time when we need it most. The toxic substance crisis has killed 80 people in Nanaimo in the last year alone. These individuals are somebody's brother, sister, neighbour or friend. All were tragic losses that could have been avoided if we had implemented the recommendations being put forward by public health experts, including on-demand treatment, access to safer supply, housing and mental health transfers. All of these things are tangible items that would help begin saving lives in this toxic substance crisis. On the Canada disability benefit, I had another constituent come by my community office last week asking about the status of this promised national disability benefit. I had to, again, share with him that, unfortunately, we are not seeing the funds in this budget that would go directly to those living with disabilities. We are seeing funds being allocated for continued consultation around this issue. I have a really hard time wrapping my head around why it took just four days for the Liberals to bail out big banks at a time when they needed it, and how long has it taken for us to understand how to best provide for the basic human needs of those living with disabilities. If the Liberals are going to be dragging their heels on this much-needed funding, I hope that we would see some funds going to those with disabilities to support them in the interim while it is sorted out. There are also gaps in addressing the environment. I will stop now, but I am happy to answer any questions.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Apr/18/23 11:44:42 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, back in the 1990s, I had a town hall debate with NDP member Bill Blaikie. At that debate, he argued that the federal government had no role to play in housing. In the 1990s, every political party in the chamber argued that the federal government had no role. I say that because we need to put it in perspective. Today, we have a Prime Minister and a government that are more committed to national housing. We even brought in a national housing strategy. We have invested billions of dollars in housing. We have vested interests in rapid housing initiatives, housing co-ops and a multitude of housing supports in every region of the country. Would the member not acknowledge that it is not just the federal government's responsibility? In fact, municipalities and provinces have to play a critical role. The national government's role is that of leadership, and we have demonstrated that hands down over the last number of years.

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Ms. Lisa Marie Barron

Apr/18/23 11:45:44 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am quite envious that the member was able to host a town hall with Bill Blaikie. I, of course, was not present for what transpired during that town hall, but I am certain he had many important things to say on housing as a basic human right and not a stock market for large corporations and the ultrarich. Prior to 1995, the CMHC, in partnership with provincial governments, built 15,000 to 20,000 units of affordable and social housing every year, but this stopped in 1995. We are looking at a deficit right now in housing as a result of the Liberal and Conservative governments not prioritizing non-market housing. That is where our priority needs to be, so people of all incomes are able to access a safe place to call home.

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Mrs. Rachael Thomas (Lethbridge, CPC)

Apr/18/23 11:46:47 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member is in the NDP, and there is a little coalition that has taken place between the NDP and the Liberals. I find it interesting that the member stands in the House today speaking out against components of the budget that she disagrees with, quite emphatically, and is able to rag against the government. However, in a few days from now, she will stand in the House to vote for that same budget, those same things she just railed against. That is a confidence vote, so her vote would mean that she has full confidence in the government to continue to rule. That means that her party must not want to form government, but rather, just substantiate this one. I am curious as to how she can speak out of both sides of her face.

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