44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 13, 2023 02:00PM
- Dec/13/23 2:36:31 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, people in Halifax are having to live in fishing tents this winter because of the lack of affordable homes.
Just last week, the cut-and-gut Conservatives voted no to funding community housing, and the out-of-touch Liberals keep delaying critical funding to build affordable homes. The housing minister says he wants to draw inspiration from what Canada did in wartime to fix the housing crisis. A catalogue is not going to cut it.
Part of the effort involves a national rent control initiative. Will the Prime Minister bring forward rent control to curb sky-high rent?
100 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 2:53:56 p.m.
- Watch
Uqaqtittiji, adequate housing for indigenous peoples has been neglected by Conservatives and Liberals. Thanks to the NDP, a for indigenous, by indigenous housing strategy will now help first nations, Métis and Inuit find adequate homes away from their home communities. However, there is still work do. Territorial governments like Nunavut are still waiting on the government to deliver funding for homes for their residents.
Why are the Liberals always delaying critical funding for housing in the territories?
79 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, on November 24, I reminded the government that access to clean drinking water is a human right. More specifically, to facilitate access to potable water by first nations, I asked when the government will provide appropriate funding and technical resources to train and certify first nations people to become water infrastructure operators in their home communities. In terms of that goal, I also asked if the Minister of Indigenous Services could confirm that indigenous operators will be paid at a level that eliminates the wage gaps with operators in non-indigenous communities.
It is 2023; Canada is a G7 country, and the government is still trying to claim that it deeply cares about first nations. First nations people must be empowered with the training, the skills and the jobs to provide their own communities with qualified personnel and clean water. Before the parliamentary secretary regurgitates their government talking points on the new bill, Bill C-61, let us take a few moments to examine this alleged legislative miracle.
In spite of the government's recent announcements, it is clear that it has been unable to provide access to potable water for all first nations. The CBC reported that Chief Chris Moonias of the Neskantaga First Nation, a community that has been under a 28-year boil water advisory, did not even get an opportunity to consult with respect to the bill. Given the bill's far-reaching goals, it is odd that a first nation under a boil water advisory for almost three decades had no prior knowledge of or input on Bill C-61.
I will save the parliamentary secretary some time in waxing poetic about Bill C-61. I will note that the bill touches on supporting first nations to be involved with developing and operating water infrastructure in their communities. Again, hopefully this would be at a salary that eliminates the wage gap with non-indigenous operators. Therefore, yes, Bill C-61 seeks relief for first nations water problems, one day. However, when it would occur is debatable.
Let us be clear: Bill C-61 is not the product of the government's concern for first nations. The government was compelled to introduce the bill because of an $8-billion drinking water class action settlement for first nations. Bill C-61 contains $1.5 billion to compensate first nations and their communities that were deprived of clean drinking water for at least one year between November 1995 and March 2024, along with $6 billion for construction and maintenance of water infrastructure. It is in this water infrastructure development that my initial question resides. I hope the new legislation will indeed provide more clean water access to first nations communities and that the salary gap between indigenous and non-indigenous operators will be finally resolved.
I recognize that the government lifted 143 first nations boil water advisories since 2015. However, there are still 28 advisories in 26 first nations communities. That too must end.
Therefore, I would like to ask the parliamentary secretary yet again: When will the government provide appropriate funding and technical resources to train and certify first nations people to become water infrastructure operators in their home communities? Will indigenous operators be paid at a level that eliminates the wage gap, yes or no?
551 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 7:00:11 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I am glad to be back again tonight, this time to raise the alarm on the need for the government, not only to replenish but also to expand the greener homes grant program.
I would like to start with where I expect the parliamentary secretary and I agree, which is that this is a critical program. Launched in May 2021, it provides up to $5,000 in grants to homeowners for specific upgrades, starting with a home energy evaluation, then completing a retrofit and then a post-retrofit evaluation. These evaluations are done by charities in the green communities Canada network, like REEP Green Solutions in the Waterloo region.
These incentives are kind of like the climate action no-brainer. They save homeowners money, they reduce emissions, they create good green jobs in completing the retrofits and they actually pay for themselves, returning $2 to $5 for every dollar invested through increased revenue from taxation. They have begun to work. In 2020, homeowners across the country completed almost 32,000 retrofits and once the program was launched that went up to almost 112,000.
This is where the issues begin. First of all, the program itself only planned to do 700,000 retrofits, far too slowly, over seven years. At this slow pace it would take more than a century to retrofit the more than 11 million homes in Canada that require retrofits. Worse still, in its current form, the program only saw greenhouse gas reduction increases from 22% before the program existed to 26% afterward.
Worse still, and the reason I asked about this in question period a few weeks ago, is that the CBC is reporting that the program is running out of money three years too early. Organizations like REEP have been here before, three times in the past, having to wind down popular energy efficiency incentive programs like the greener homes grant program.
Here is what we need and what I am going to continue to advocate for. First, we need sustained, predictable funding for retrofits, a clear continuation of the greener homes grant program, which the government could do by putting funds in place in budget 2024. Second, we need the program to keep up with inflation. The greener homes grant program is modelled after a similar program that was put in place by the Harper government called ecoENERGY back in 2007. It also provided $5,000 with, of course, huge differences between then and now when it comes to the cost of completing retrofits. Third, and most importantly, we need to see a boost to the program for deep retrofits to get at least 50% energy savings through insulation, thermal efficiencies of one's home through electrifying and I know there is an excellent program in place for heat pumps, for example, and then possibly adding solar on top.
In other jurisdictions, for example in Ireland and Germany, grants can be up to $50,000. The green budget coalition, lucky for us, has already priced it out. It would be $20 billion over five years to do it. Where could we possibly find that money? I put forward a motion that prices out what we could generate just by having a windfall profit tax on the oil and gas companies that are gouging us at the pumps. It is just over the exact same amount. It is $4 billion a year. $4.2 billion, in fact, just by applying the Canada recovery dividend to big oil.
My question to the parliamentary secretary is this. Will the government, first of all, commit to continuing the greener homes grant program? Will the government expand it to focus on deep energy—
617 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 7:07:09 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I am a bit concerned. The parliamentary secretary spent so much time talking about other programs this government has in place. It concerns me that I am not hearing a commitment to continue the bare minimum.
Home energy retrofits need to be incentivized by the federal government. Even the Conservatives were doing it about 20 years ago. We need to see this government commit to continue the greener homes grant program, so that homeowners can count on this funding, to continue to do really critical work to retrofit their homes.
If Liberals are looking to be climate leaders, they should recapitalize it at a rate that would actually allow for deep energy retrofits that return more back to our economy than folks would spend.
Are they going to do it?
132 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/13/23 7:08:02 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, we have already supported hundreds of thousands of Canadians across our country in their retrofits, through the greener home grants. It is supporting affordability. It is supporting these retrofits.
As with all government programs, there is an allotted investment to support Canadians. There has been significant interest in the program, which is amazing. I want to also highlight, as we have this program, that the program officials continue to welcome new applications. They will continue to do so while the funding is on the table. The program is still there. It is still accepting applications and we are very committed to all of the programs across the suite that support reducing emissions from our built environment.
118 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
