44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 10, 2023 02:00PM
- May/10/23 2:32:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, every year, the federal government puts forward a three-year immigration plan. This plan takes account of economic challenges, the labour shortage and forecasts for positive growth nationally.
Of course, Quebec has tremendous control over its own immigration thresholds. When it comes to Canada, however, the federal government decides.
Not only are we putting forward a responsible plan for economic growth, we are doing more than any other federal government to protect the French language and promote francophone immigration.
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- May/10/23 2:40:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the only plan the Conservatives have on housing is to pick fights with municipalities and with provinces and ensure cuts to programs, which will prevent people from getting homes.
We have continued to step up on investing and repairing more homes, including supporting municipalities to fast-track the creation of 100,000 homes. We are tying access to infrastructure funding for provinces and territories to housing supply. We are converting surplus federal lands to affordable housing.
We will continue to step up to support Canadians with a broad plan, with plenty of different measures to make sure we are going at the housing challenge from all angles, contrary to the Conservatives, who have no plan.
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- May/10/23 2:41:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, well, we know we have a plan because he just, for the first time, plagiarized it on the floor of the House of Commons. He literally listed all the things I have been saying in the House of Commons. I only had to say it 40 times for him to get it, but this is progress.
Unfortunately, we know he will not bring it home, because he never actually gets these things done. In fact, speaking of homes, one realtor predicts that it is now going to cost $3,000 to rent a room in a boarding house, as the norm, by 2030. That is the track we are on right now.
Why will he not get out of the way so that we can bring homes that Canadians can afford?
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- May/10/23 2:42:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very flattered that he is pretending to agree with my plan. My plan has always been to incentivize municipalities to speed up building permits, to tie the amount of money for infrastructure to the number of houses built and to require more housing around public transit stations.
That is the plan I have been promoting for a year. Now, he is trying to copy it. I think he is incapable of implementing it because he never does the work. He is all talk and no action.
Will he finally let Canadians build houses that Canadians can afford?
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- May/10/23 2:44:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, even by the standards of this House these past days, this is getting to be a pretty ridiculous debate. The fact of the matter is, people are saying, “No, I have the best plan. This is the best plan. That is the best plan. No, I have the best plan.” Let us focus on delivering for Canadians every step of the way. Let us—
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- May/10/23 6:02:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague and friend for his guidance and leadership.
It is a very good example of where the real experience is lived in a diverse House of Commons. We are making the best policies and we are making progress.
That is an excellent example. On behalf of all the families in Milton living with a person with a disability, I thank the member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin.
I would like to stand up today and talk about how this motion really leverages a lot of our collective work on our disability inclusion action plan. It is fantastic that we can work together and find ways to improve the lives of Canadians and work across party lines, as I have with this particular member for as long as I have been here. He definitely represents the best of this place and, again, I want to commend him for that effort.
The first pillar of our disability inclusion action plan is our employment strategy. The motion would definitely leverage this and ensure that it is as effective as possible. Last year, we launched a $200-million employment strategy for people with a disability. Ensuring that more of these funding programs are directed to persons living with a disability is so important.
The second pillar, which this motion would leverage, is the Canada disability benefit. The member and I have spoken one-on-one before, and I have spoken with many members of my community as well, about people who are now children or are young people who will age out of care, as well as people who have a disability of any form whose support network will leave them one day. We need to ensure that there is support for those individuals and groups when their support network leaves them, and they do not have support they had relied on for so many of their lived years.
The third pillar is all about eliminating barriers in physical spaces. I know that many programs in my community have applied to the enabling accessibility fund. This is for building physical structures that eliminate barriers, such as ramps, elevators and various other devices that support disability inclusion.
However, I also want to acknowledge that the things that we can add to our society to correct for curbs, stairs and other barriers resulting in inaccessible physical space include far more than just physical things. I want to mention one of my neighbours, Carly, who is currently engaged with the town of Milton in building a new kind of playground for kids with various sensory differences. She is also raising a flag for Disability Awareness Month. I want to commend everybody in Milton who is working on that particular project. It will mean kids can go to the park and experience the fun, the laughter, the enjoyment and physical activity that they deserve. They will not have to make those accommodations themselves within their families, because there will be a park built for them. That is really fantastic.
The fourth pillar, last but certainly not least, is a modernized government. A modernized government in the context of a disability inclusion action plan is all about easier access to benefits. This would ensure that we are not creating an environment where applying for these programs or new resources is going to cost a lot of money or where business owners have to hire somebody new or special in order to do that. A good example of that is automatic tax filing, which was in budget 2023.
Once again, I want to thank and commend my hon. colleague from Edmonton—Wetaskiwin for this extraordinary work. I am glad that we are finding, at the end of today, a great way to work together and collaborate across party lines.
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