44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 4, 2023 02:00PM
- Oct/4/23 3:00:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in 2021, the Prime Minister made election promises to stop renovictions and to deter unfair rent increases. Two years later, 500 renters in Toronto are on strike because of renovictions and high rent increases, as well as poor conditions. Now, the Prime Minister and Liberal MPs for Toronto are nowhere to be seen. Those promises are meaningless.
How can the Prime Minister justify the broken promises to Canadian renters?
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- Oct/4/23 3:00:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been there consistently to partner with municipalities and provinces where they have been willing to improve conditions for renters, to support the building of new apartment complexes and to ensure availability of more affordable housing.
There has been a lot of progress made, but there is more to do. That is why we were so pleased to see the Government of Ontario join in with us on eliminating the GST on the construction of new rental apartment buildings. These are things that are going to make a big difference, and we will continue to work with our partners, including the mayor of Toronto, to make sure we are protecting renters.
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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 3:02:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today is Sisters in Spirit National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People. We honour the lives, memories and spirits of the too many indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people who are missing or have been murdered across Canada. As we see in Winnipeg with the Prairie Green landfill, where human remains of loved ones, victims of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, may lie, more work needs to be done.
Can the Prime Minister please explain what the Government of Canada is undertaking with Long Plain First Nation to address this heart-wrenching situation?
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- Oct/4/23 3:03:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have heard first-hand the grief and pain of the families and community, and our hearts are heavy, knowing how difficult this has been for them. They are looking to find healing and closure right now, and it is important that we support them in this process. That is why today, we announced $740,000 in additional funding to explore in greater detail the next steps of a search. We will continue to work in partnership with indigenous leaders, families and survivors for a victim-centred, trauma-informed and indigenous-led approach to healing.
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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 3:05:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are happy to co-operate, but we are just looking for one little detail. There are 37,000 federal buildings representing 6.2 million square metres of space. The Prime Minister promised, eight years ago, that he would repurpose some of that space to create homes. How many have been created?
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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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- Oct/4/23 3:07:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, over the past years, we have invested close to $40 billion to build and renovate close to half a million homes. That is 500,000 homes.
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- Oct/4/23 3:07:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister does not need to answer because my deputy leader did an Order Paper question and asked the government to tell us how many homes have resulted from repurposing land and buildings of the federal government. The number is 13. It is not 1,300, or 13,000, but 13 homes. That is two homes per year. How many millennia would it take then to build the 3.5 million homes we need for Canadians?
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- Oct/4/23 3:08:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while the Leader of the Opposition continues to play rhetorical games, we are focused on building the range of solutions we are going to need to actually solve this housing crisis, which involves things such as removing GST from purpose-built rental construction; moving forward with the rental construction financing initiative, which we have been working on for a number of years now and delivering on; moving forward with the housing accelerator fund, with $4 billion for municipalities like Vaughan, London and the Lower Mainland to build new homes; and continuing to work on making the rental market safer for all Canadians. These are things we will continue to do because Canadians are counting on all of us.
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- Oct/4/23 3:08:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the RCMP is hiring unilingual anglophone executives to fill high-ranking bilingual positions. Not only do these people not speak French, but they are also not taking French lessons. The RCMP is blatantly violating the Official Languages Act. When even the police break the law, there is a problem high up in the ranks.
Despite the reform of the Official Languages Act, there is still a culture of contempt for French within the federal government.
Will the Prime Minister remind the RCMP that it has to obey the law?
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- Oct/4/23 3:09:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. The principle of bilingualism is fundamental for this government, and we modernized the Official Languages Act with the coming into force of Bill C-13 this year.
We expect the RCMP to respect this principle and to hire bilingual staff to fill bilingual positions. I know that the Minister of Public Safety will be speaking with the RCMP commissioner directly this afternoon.
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- Oct/4/23 3:10:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is not very convincing.
This situation with the RCMP is a perfect example of the federal government's culture of contempt for French. The RCMP hiring unilingual anglophones is one thing. That these people are not taking French classes is another thing. The worst part is that no one even thought about requiring them to take classes. No one even thought about the optics and making an effort to enforce the legislation, not even after the fact, and not even to save face. That is a culture of contempt.
Does the Prime Minister get it now and will he intervene?
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- Oct/4/23 3:10:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I just said, the Minister of Public Safety will speak directly with the commissioner of the RCMP this afternoon.
We share this concern. We expect federal institutions like the RCMP to follow the Official Languages Act. That is what we will all expect.
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- Oct/4/23 3:11:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight long miserable years of the Prime Minister, he is not worth the cost of energy.
In Nova Scotia, 2,800 people have had their power cut off, and today, the Nova Scotia government reported that 37% of Nova Scotians now live in energy poverty because of the Prime Minister's carbon tax, which he now wants to quadruple, up to 61¢ a litre.
Will the Prime Minister at least let his Atlantic caucus have a free vote on our motion to axe the tax and bring home lower prices?
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- Oct/4/23 3:12:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party refuses to understand that our plan to fight climate change is, above everything else, a plan on affordability.
Eight out 10 Canadians are better off with this price on pollution in the jurisdictions where it has been brought in. This means that, even as we fight climate change, which is something Atlantic Canadians know all too well is important with hurricanes such as Fiona and the wildfires we saw this summer, we are putting more money back in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians.
This is how we fight climate change and support Canadians at the same time, while Conservatives want to take away cheques, such as the climate action incentive.
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