44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 4, 2023 02:00PM
- Oct/4/23 2:25:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal government, housing costs have doubled. The average price of a house in Calgary is $548,000. That is up 20% just from 2020. The average home in Canada now costs nearly double one in the United States, even though they house 10 times as many people on less land. The average rent in Calgary for one bedroom is $1,718; for two bedrooms, it is $2,121. This is up 17% year over year. Monthly mortgage payments on a typical home in Canada are now $3,560. That is up by a gobsmacking 151% since the NDP-Liberal government took power.
Ash in my riding wrote, “it’s starting to look like the most affordable and realistic option for me and many others would be moving to the United States”. Inga says, “it pains me to see people, including immigrants...in such dire straits.”
Residents in my riding know this: The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.
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- Oct/4/23 2:30:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition really wanted to get assistance out to Canadians quicker to help them with groceries and housing, he would not have obstructed our affordable housing and groceries bill. He would rather play political games and obstruct the business of the House than work with us to get Canadians the help they need.
We will continue to focus on providing assistance to Canadians and we will continue to be there for people to help with the cost of living.
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- Oct/4/23 2:37:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's statement is clearly wishful thinking. To hear him tell it, being open to the world means welcoming newcomers because it is the nice thing to do. He seems to think it is okay if newcomers do not have a place to live or if housing prices are skyrocketing. He thinks it is okay if they do not integrate because they have not learned enough French. He does not seem to think it matters if they do not have access to basic services. Well, it does matter, and it is irresponsible on his part to think otherwise.
Will the Prime Minister review the immigration targets, taking into account our capacity to welcome newcomers?
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- Oct/4/23 2:37:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I disagree with my hon. colleague. I do not think that closing the door to newcomers is a solution.
We know we need more affordable housing. I agree. That is exactly why we announced measures like eliminating the GST on the construction of new rental apartments. We will continue to work with the provinces and municipalities to speed up approvals and build more housing faster to better accommodate people.
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- Oct/4/23 2:44:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the one hand, Conservatives continue to call for cuts to spending and cuts to supports for Canadians, while at the same time they say there is not enough access to housing. They put forward a plan, a private member's bill, to tackle the problem of housing affordability. The problem is that it will not build homes fast enough, it does not reach enough cities and it creates unnecessary bureaucracy, while cutting the accelerator fund and ripping up our agreements to build more homes with cities like London and others across the country.
On this side, we are actually linking public transit dollars to housing density, working with cities to ensure their housing proposals are ambitious and addressing the bureaucracies—
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- Oct/4/23 2:52:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, a group of 25 doctors from the Montérégie region and the Eastern Townships gave a clear diagnosis: The housing crisis is jeopardizing Quebeckers' health.
The Prime Minister continues to deny Quebec the $900 million allocated for housing construction even as the housing crisis turns into a public health crisis. The guiding principle of medicine is “first, do no harm”.
When will the Prime Minister stop obstructing housing construction and give the $900 million to Quebec?
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- Oct/4/23 2:52:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, over the past few years, we have always been there to invest with Quebec in housing.
We will continue to do so because the federal government has a role to play to ensure that affordable apartments and homes are built across the country, including in Quebec. I know that the Minister of Housing is currently working in collaboration with his counterpart in Quebec on a plan that works for Quebec, which will allow more housing to be built more quickly.
Housing is the responsibility of every level of government. We encourage them to address this issue urgently and in partnership.
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- Oct/4/23 2:53:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister does not seem to understand that the housing crisis is also about some people having no other choice but to live in unsanitary conditions.
Others simply do not have a roof over their heads. They do not have the luxury of waiting for federal jurisdiction disputes to be resolved. They see no valid excuse for withholding the $900 million earmarked for housing. They are right because there is truly no valid excuse.
When will the Prime Minister stop looking for excuses and finally give us our $900 million?
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- Oct/4/23 2:55:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know we need to build more rental constructions more quickly. That is why we put forward a bill that would remove the GST from new rental constructions across the country on the federal side, and that is spurring thousands of new units to be built across the country. It is a very exciting measure.
Unfortunately, Conservatives have chosen to obstruct debate on that particular measure. Why will they not line up with Canadians? Why do they not see that building housing supply is going to help Canadians right across the country? Why will they not line up with us and support Canadians across the country?
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- Oct/4/23 2:56:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, following a request from the Minister of Housing to scale up its ambition, Vaughan's city council passed a bold housing resolution to unlock even more affordable family-sized homes. That is a direct result of the housing accelerator fund.
This is a concrete example of how the federal government can lead and ensure more affordable housing options so our seniors, students and families can grow in their communities. We look forward to more municipalities joining us to ensure that all Canadians have a safe and affordable place to call home.
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- Oct/4/23 2:57:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the question was not how many resolutions have been passed. We cannot live in a resolution. We cannot live in a photo-op. We cannot live in a press release or a promise. The Prime Minister created this fund a year and a half ago, promising to accelerate housing.
How many houses have been completed? By completed, I mean houses with walls, roofs and doors, and with people living in them.
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- Oct/4/23 2:58:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition's housing plan consists of wagging a finger at municipalities and saying they better build more homes or else. We have a better approach than that. We actually work with municipalities to build more homes, and we are seeing the results of that housing plan.
Recently, alongside British Columbia and the City of Vancouver, the member for Vancouver Centre announced the groundbreaking of the construction of 154 new affordable housing units close to transit in the heart of Davie Village. This will also house QMUNITY, a non-profit organization providing safe and secure services for individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS.
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- Oct/4/23 2:58:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, again, we cannot live in an announcement. We cannot live in a press release. We cannot live in the Prime Minister's talking points, which he is having so much trouble reading.
The Prime Minister is now presiding over a massive decline in home building. In fact, last year, Canada built fewer homes than in 1972. This year, housing starts are down 32%. By the way, to end the suspense, the number of homes that have been built by the so-called housing accelerator is zero, nothing.
When will the Prime Minister stop the talk, end the bureaucracy and finally get something built?
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- Oct/4/23 2:59:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, over the past number of years, over two million families have gotten into homes because of our strategic investments in housing, and we just added to that with the housing accelerator fund that is moving forward to remove barriers and get more housing built faster.
That is exactly what we are doing with the city of London, for example, where Mayor Morgan said, “This is the most significant housing...investment in London's history”, and where over the next three years alone we will build over 2,000 additional housing units. We know this is a challenge that we need to solve together, and that is what we are going to do in partnership with municipalities.
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- Oct/4/23 3:01:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am not finished.
In Quebec, 25 doctors made a heartfelt plea: Their patients' health is getting worse because of the housing crisis. After eight years of the current government, the cost of rent has doubled. That is the Liberals' record.
Enough with the “could have, would have, should have”. When will the Prime Minister finally take this crisis seriously?
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- Oct/4/23 3:02:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have worked hand in hand with the Government of Quebec for years to invest in housing. We are currently working on rolling out our $900-million investment to help with the housing crisis in Quebec.
We know that a lot of people are worried. That is why we are working in partnership with the Government of Quebec and every government across the country, hand in hand with our municipal and provincial partners. That is what we will continue to do.
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- Oct/4/23 3:04:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, eight years ago, the Prime Minister promised in his 2015 platform that he would “[repurpose] all available federal lands and buildings...at low cost for affordable housing in communities where there is a pressing need”.
Can the Prime Minister tell us how many homes have resulted from repurposing these buildings and lands?
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- Oct/4/23 3:04:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in 2017, we moved forward with the national housing strategy, which was a direct response to the fact that, for 10 years, under the Conservatives, the federal government had removed itself from providing housing solutions for Canadians. Over the following years, around two million Canadians accessed new homes and new places to live because of the work of that national housing strategy, and we are continuing that work, working closely in partnership with municipalities and provinces, and doing things such as eliminating the GST on rental construction of new apartment buildings. These are things that would be accelerated if the Conservatives stopped blocking them in the House.
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- Oct/4/23 3:05:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, like I said, our national housing strategy has supported in the delivery of homes for close to two million Canadian families. We are going to continue to do the work necessary, working with partners in municipalities and provinces on delivering housing solutions.
One part of the solution is eliminating the GST on new rental construction, and that is something that the Conservatives could support right now if they were to stop obstructing and slowing down debate on the bill we put forward for Canadians.
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- Oct/4/23 3:06:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there seems to be a problem with the microphone. The Prime Minister did not hear the question.
There are 37,000 federal buildings, six million-plus square metres, that could be converted into housing, not to mention thousands of acres of federal land. The Prime Minister agreed that could be done because he promised it eight years ago. After eight years of doubling housing costs, can he tell us how many homes have been created by repurposing federal buildings and lands? I would like just the number, please.
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