44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 19, 2023 10:00AM
- Oct/19/23 2:39:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for all the people from Mégantic—L'Érable watching us today, there is something their MP can do: convince all Conservative members to vote for the affordability bill. Why? We are going to overhaul competition. We are going to give the Competition Bureau more authority and put a stop to dangerous practices or practices that hurt consumers.
Will he do his job and convince his colleagues to vote for Canadians for once?
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- Oct/19/23 2:39:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the government voted against a simple request: a plan for an eventual return to a balanced budget. A plan is not too much to ask. We are not asking the government to cut services to balance the budget. We are just asking for a plan.
Everyone knows the first part of the quote from Émile de Girardin: “Governing means planning ahead”. However, he then adds, “and he who does not plan ahead is doomed”. The Liberals just might be doomed. All we want is a plan. Is that really too much to ask?
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- Oct/19/23 2:40:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from the Bloc Québécois, who is a member of the Standing Committee on Finance, for his very important work at that committee.
I would like him to know that our deficit is the lowest among all the G7 countries, but it is also 0.7% of our gross domestic product. That is extremely low. I would also invite him to wait for our fall economic update. The Minister of Finance will provide all Canadians with information on our revenues at that time.
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- Oct/19/23 2:41:10 p.m.
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plan Mr. Speaker, not only do the Liberals not have a plan for the country's finances, but the ministers do not even have a work plan.
The new ministers announced in July have still not received their mandate letters. Two and a half months after the cabinet shuffle, they still do not know what their priorities are. I am not making this up. The new President of the Treasury Board, who is supposed to control the purse strings, still does not have a mandate. That could go terribly wrong. The ministers of public services, defence, transport, justice, official languages, and several other departments are in the same boat.
When will the Prime Minister give these ministers a mandate?
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- Oct/19/23 2:41:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.
The mandate letters for the ministers have not changed since the last election. All of the ministers know exactly what they need to do, and the mandate letters are public.
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- Oct/19/23 2:42:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there is a human cost to governing on autopilot.
The Auditor General has confirmed that more than half of all applications for permanent residence from immigrants are still being processed late. For refugees, the wait is almost three years, and it can take up to four years for spousal sponsorships. Meanwhile, the federal government continues to recklessly increase its immigration thresholds, even though it is clearly incapable of serving the people it is already taking in. These are human beings.
When will the federal government stop treating immigrants like numbers?
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- Oct/19/23 2:42:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question.
I would like to emphasize the fact that the Auditor General also pointed out that a lot of progress has been made. Still, it is not enough. We expect excellence from our public service. That is what I expect. Some progress has been made between the report's release and today, but I do expect better.
With respect to refugees, it is clear that we need to do better, particularly in relation to digitization and the digital transition. Some announcements should be made in November.
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- Oct/19/23 2:43:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canadians are literally in housing hell. If a Canadian couple with a 6,300-square-foot mansion on 37 acres in France sold it, the couple could not afford to move back to Fergus, Ontario.
The NDP-Liberal government is not worth the cost, and yet every day members stand, puff up their chests and tell Canadians what a great job they have done.
Why do the Liberals not stop gaslighting Canadians and admit they have broken housing in Canada?
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- Oct/19/23 2:44:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if we are going to tackle the housing crisis, we have to work together and pursue agendas that are serious.
This government has put forward a number of measures, for example, lifting GST on purpose-built rentals, period. That side is proposing a tax on the building of rentals for middle-class individuals and families. That construction would be taxed by that side. The Conservatives also do not want to work with municipalities.
We put $4 billion on the table for that, and those members want to cut all of that. We need to build more. We will build more on this side, but not with that approach.
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- Oct/19/23 2:44:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' answer to the housing crisis is that we should support more of their failed policies. That is their answer. It is a special kind of incompetence. If people do not have a house, they cannot afford it. If they have a house, they cannot afford to keep it because interest rates are so high from the Liberals' inflationary deficits, yet they keep spending and spending, interest rates go up and up, and Canadians are at risk of losing their homes.
Will the Liberals get these inflationary deficits under control so Canadians actually do not lose their homes?
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- Oct/19/23 2:45:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member needs reminders, which is no problem.
When the Conservatives were in office and the opposition leader was the so-called minister of housing—
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- Oct/19/23 2:45:28 p.m.
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You could afford a house.
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- Oct/19/23 2:45:37 p.m.
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I would ask the member for Dufferin—Caledon, who just asked a question, to please let the parliamentary secretary respond to his question.
The hon. parliamentary secretary, from the top, please.
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- Oct/19/23 2:45:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, the Conservatives need reminders. The Harper government put $300 million toward housing. How many homes were built? There were less than 100.
At a time when it is clear that the lack of supply has created a vast increase in the cost of rent, this government is moving forward to build more and help the private sector to do exactly that.
Members on that side, as I just said, want to tax the construction of rentals for the middle class. On top of that, they do not want to work with municipalities to get the results we need. It is not a serious agenda; it is a reckless agenda on the other side.
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- Oct/19/23 2:46:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Liberal-NDP government blew $1.5 billion on bureaucracy and the homeless crisis has never been worse.
A quarter of the homeless are seniors and this is only an estimate. The real number is much higher. With ballooning interest rates, rising food costs and the housing crisis, the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.
When will the Prime Minister start caring about monetary policy so that the seniors who built our country are not left out on the streets?
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- Oct/19/23 2:47:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have made significant progress to help seniors since 2015 and these efforts have reduced poverty for seniors over 65. The facts are that the GIS increase helped lift 45,000 seniors out of poverty. Restoring the age of retirement back to 65 prevented 100,000 seniors from falling into severe poverty, against the wishes of the other side, I should say. These benefits are automatically adjusted to keep up with the cost of living and they will never go down.
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- Oct/19/23 2:47:57 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, first nations, for decades, have screamed about the deplorable conditions they live in. Statistics Canada now confirms that the Liberal government failed to make any progress since 2016.
Under the Liberals, indigenous peoples have no choice but to live in unsafe, overcrowded and mould-infested homes. The $4 billion over seven years toward urban, rural and northern housing is not enough.
When will the Liberals act so that indigenous peoples have safe homes to live in?
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- Oct/19/23 2:48:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since 2015, we have worked with first nations partners to address the shocking and appalling housing gap that exists on first nations. Indeed, over 33,000 units of housing have been built or renovated since that time. We continue to invest in affordable housing, not just for first nations people but for indigenous people in urban, rural and northern communities.
Let us compare that to the record of the Leader of the Opposition. For $350 million, 99 houses were built. We can do better as a country and that is what we are doing.
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- Oct/19/23 2:49:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Suncor is raking in billions of dollars in profits, yet its corporate rap sheet is a long list of disturbing allegations: environmental damage, workers killed on the job and price fixing at the pump. However, the blockbuster lawsuit in the state of Colorado is new. The Colorado indictment is clear. It states that Suncor knowingly and substantially contributed to the climate crisis through “intentional, reckless and negligent conduct.” This is the big tobacco moment for Suncor.
What will the minister do to hold this company to account and make sure it reduces emissions to protect our children's futures?
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- Oct/19/23 2:50:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I share the concerns of my hon. colleague. The leader of an important company like Suncor should be working with us to help fight climate change in a time where we are seeing record heat and record flooding all around the world, including in our country. We have record forest fires and hurricanes.
We need everyone to step up to the plate. We know it will not be the Conservative Party, but we are counting on all the leaders in our country, except the Conservative Party, to work with us to ensure that Canada does its fair share when it comes to fighting climate change.
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