44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 18, 2023 11:00AM
- Sep/18/23 2:28:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after the summer the Liberals have had, even the Prime Minister must admit that he is not worth the cost.
Eight years after he promised to make housing more affordable, he doubled the cost. Then he said that housing was not his job, panicked when he plummeted in the polls, and recycled promises that he had broken more than six years earlier.
It took the Prime Minister eight years to cause this housing hell. How long will it take him to fix it?
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- Sep/18/23 2:29:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know that Canadians across the country are feeling the effects of increased prices, particularly for groceries and housing.
That is why we are taking immediate action to build more apartment buildings by removing the GST on construction work, to support small businesses by extending their loan repayment deadlines and to invite the sector CEOs to a meeting today to make sure that they lower grocery prices.
Our priority is to build an economy that is focused on the well-being of all Canadians. That is what we are going to do every day in the House and in the government.
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- Sep/18/23 2:31:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after the summer the Liberals have had, even the Prime Minister must admit that he is not worth the cost. Eight years after he promised to make housing more affordable, he doubled the cost: doubled the rent, doubled mortgage payments and doubled the needed down payment. Then he said that housing is not his job. Then he panicked when he plummeted in the polls, and he recycled promises he had broken six years earlier.
It took him eight years to cause this housing hell. How long will it take to fix it?
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- Sep/18/23 2:31:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we said we would work with municipalities to get housing built faster. That is exactly what we are doing right across the country, including, for example, with the city of London, where we have gotten a deal done that fast-tracks the creation of over 2,000 additional housing units over the next three years and builds thousands more in the years to come. We are doing this by cutting red tape, fixing outdated zoning policies and building more homes faster. This is our first deal but, I promise, not the last.
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- Sep/18/23 2:32:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the opposition leader's bickering will not help get houses built. Our plan does. The Minister of Housing wrote to the mayor of Calgary, offering to partner with the city if it made necessary changes for more affordable housing. Just this Saturday, the City of Calgary approved a plan for reducing zoning red tape and building housing by public transit. This is a step in the right direction. We know that together we can build more apartments for students to rent and more homes for families to grow in.
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- Sep/18/23 2:34:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will focus on delivering real results while the leader opposite is focused on empty slogans and picking fights. In fact, when he was in charge of housing, he bungled projects like the Toronto Line 1 extension, which to this day has no housing near a number of its stations. In contrast, we are actually linking public transit dollars to apartments and housing density, and we are doing so without the Conservative plan to restrict access to abortion, to deny the impact of climate change and to put more assault weapons on our streets.
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- Sep/18/23 2:36:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are here to build more housing, in partnership with the provinces and municipalities.
That is why we implemented a $4‑billion plan to speed up densification, improve zoning and help municipalities build more housing more quickly. We also eliminated the GST on the construction of new housing buildings because we know that we need to increase supply.
We will continue to be there to work hand in hand with the provinces and municipalities. We will fight this housing crisis by working together.
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- Sep/18/23 2:36:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if housing is a priority for the Liberals, they should free up the $900 million that is rightfully ours to build housing. It cannot get much simpler than that.
However, the Liberals are doing the opposite. They are withholding the $900 million for housing. What message does that send to Quebeckers who are struggling to find decent housing? It says that they not the government's priority. They come second to jurisdictional squabbles. It is irresponsible. It is not what Quebeckers expect from the federal government.
When is the government going to pay out the $900 million for housing?
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- Sep/18/23 2:37:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we know very well that the Bloc Québécois is here to squabble. We are here to work hand in hand with the provinces and municipalities.
That is why we have set up a $4-billion plan to work directly with municipalities to increase the housing supply, increase densification and improve zoning to speed up the construction of new housing. We have also eliminated the GST on the construction costs of new housing because we know how important it is to increase supply.
It is just one part of what we have been doing for a long time, and will continue to do, to help people across the country.
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- Sep/18/23 2:39:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada has lost one million affordable housing units under the Liberals and Conservatives, and housing construction has been declining for the past five months. Removing the GST on affordable housing construction is important, but eight years too late. A lot more needs to be done.
When will the Prime Minister put a stop to the delay and announce that the federal government is going to start building affordable housing again?
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- Sep/18/23 2:51:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what Canadians across the country and in Atlantic Canada need right now is for more homes to be built faster. That is why, last week, the Prime Minister announced that we are removing the GST on purpose-built rental.
Do members know what the Conservative leader said about our housing plan? He said that we do not need more spending. I guess he thinks homes are going to get built by magic.
We know we need home builders to invest more and to build faster. That is what our government is going to do in Atlantic Canada and across the country.
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- Sep/18/23 2:56:36 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, too many northern communities saw little to no housing projects or repairs this summer. Too many Nunavummiut are being denied their right to a home. When I visited Baker Lake this summer, I saw housing conditions well below acceptable standards. Last year, the Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated submitted a joint budget request to build more homes. They are still waiting.
When will the government invest properly in housing that will make a difference in people's lives?
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- Sep/18/23 2:57:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the member knows, housing is the number one priority in the north and in the Arctic.
In budget 2022, we moved $4 billion for distinctions-based housing, including $800 million for Inuit Nunangat. In budget 2023, we have $4 billion for northern, rural and urban housing.
We know that we are making progress, but there is a lot of work to do. We will get it done.
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- Sep/18/23 2:57:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I spoke with many residents in Brampton this summer, and I heard a lot about the need to build more homes faster in Canada. We know that increasing supply is just one of the major solutions to the housing crisis.
Can the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities tell us how removing the GST on rental construction can help drive down the cost of housing?
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- Sep/18/23 2:58:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague, the member of Parliament for Brampton South, for her advocacy for her community. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the city of Brampton, where we worked directly with the mayor and members of council in the city to uncover some of the plans that they might advance to help grow the supply of housing in their community.
One of the things we have been hearing about over the course of this summer is that we need to change the financial equation for builders to build. They are dealing with higher costs as a result of increased costs of supplies and materials, and they are operating in a higher interest rate environment. That is why I was thrilled when we were able to advance last week that we will be getting rid of the GST on apartment construction in Canada to build more homes for Canadians.
What is more, we have seen provincial governments follow suit and—
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- Sep/18/23 2:59:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Mike Moffatt said that the housing plan announced by the Prime Minister last week is “hugely important.... This will make the numbers work.”
The governments of Ontario, B.C. and Newfoundland have already followed suit, but what do the Conservatives say about this practical plan to get more homes built? They say that we do not need more spending. How do they think we are going to get homes built in Canada? Is it by magic?
We need home builders to invest more and build faster. That is what our government is making possible. That is what is going to fix the housing challenge.
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- Sep/18/23 3:00:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us play back the tape. In 2015, the Liberal Prime Minister said that Canada needs “real change” and “affordable housing.” Eight years after he created this housing hell, he says that he is not responsible for housing.
Housing prices have doubled. Rents have doubled. Higher taxes and more government spending equals higher inflation and higher interest rates.
Canadians can see it. Why is it that the NDP-Liberal government is the only one that cannot?
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- Sep/18/23 3:01:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I find it fascinating to watch the Conservatives' line of questioning. They certainly seem to think they have the solutions to Canada's housing crisis, but when we actually look at what they are proposing, they are just tinkering around the edges with half measures that would not make a meaningful difference.
We are getting rid of the GST on apartment construction in this country, and provincial governments are following suit. We are advancing measures to change the way that cities build houses, so they build them next to transit stations, colleges and universities. We are going to require that they build them more densely.
We have much more to come over the course of the fall, but if we put our plan against theirs, it will win seven days a week.
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- Sep/18/23 3:03:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if we want to add housing units in Canada, then we have to invest in building homes.
The reality is that the Conservative Party likes to point out the problem. It likes to assign blame, but when it comes time to advance solutions, it is nowhere to be seen. The Conservatives are advancing half measures that would not make a meaningful lick of difference on the need to build housing at a rate that we have never built at before. We have removed taxes on home construction. We are changing the way cities build homes, and we have made years' worth of investments in affordable housing.
We are going to continue to advance policies that make a difference. It is what Canadians deserve.
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- Sep/18/23 3:06:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada has some of the most unaffordable housing in the world, and that is after eight years of this Liberal Prime Minister. Mortgages are up over 151% with payments of over $3,500 a month.
With eight years of inflationary Liberal deficits driving up interest rates, homes have become completely unaffordable in Canada. When will the Liberals end their reckless inflationary deficits so that Canadians can once again afford a place to live?
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