44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 13, 2023 02:00PM
- Dec/13/23 2:26:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is yet another example. The Prime Minister has had eight years to build that bypass, but has not even begun to do so. That is so typical of this Prime Minister, who makes announcements and spends loads of money but produces zero results. The same goes for affordability. He spent $87 billion on housing affordability, but that just doubled the cost. According to the Bank of Canada, the cost of housing is the worst it has been in 41 years.
Will the Prime Minister finally reverse his inflationary policies, which have doubled the cost of housing for Canadians?
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- Dec/13/23 2:35:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the number of forced evictions reported in Quebec continues to rise at an alarming rate. Where are these people going to live? Over two million affordable housing units have been lost because of the Liberals and the Conservatives.
Just last week, the Conservatives voted to scrap all funding for social and affordable housing. The government says it wants to draw inspiration from certain measures Canada took in wartime.
Where has this war effort to fight the housing crisis been over the past eight years?
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- Dec/13/23 2:35:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when we said that we would use every tool at our disposal to make housing more affordable, we meant it.
This week, Minister Fraser announced that we will be bringing back a concept established in wartime and holding consultations to create a home design catalogue that will speed up home construction.
This initiative is one of our bold, innovative ideas to modernize and accelerate home construction in Canada. It is another example of how the federal government can take the lead to ensure that all Canadians have a place to call home.
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- Dec/13/23 2:36:31 p.m.
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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?
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- Dec/13/23 2:37:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have shown a consistent willingness and desire to work with the provinces in areas of their jurisdiction, in co-operative ways, and we are going to continue to, including on the issue of rent control.
However, there is not just one way to approach the housing crisis; it is something we are doing on many fronts. It is not just the catalogue; indeed, we are building more apartments and co-ops by removing the GST on construction, and we are eliminating barriers to get more homes built faster by working directly with cities. We are helping Canadians save up for a home with the first home savings account.
I know there is more to do, and we are going to continue to work with all governments to take bold action to tackle housing affordability.
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- Dec/13/23 2:53:56 p.m.
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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?
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- Dec/13/23 2:54:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have demonstrated time and time again how committed we are to addressing housing gaps in indigenous communities swiftly, effectively and in equal partnership. Since 2016, we have supported the construction and renovation of over 30,000 homes in first nations communities. We launched the $4-billion urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy despite the Conservative Party voting to cut this essential funding.
We will continue working with partners to codevelop and implement community-based housing solutions.
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- Dec/13/23 3:06:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing. According to the Bank of Canada, housing is the least affordable it has been in 41 years. He has doubled the price of rent across the country.
Now, renting a single room in a shared apartment costs more than it did for the entire apartment when the Prime Minister first took office. Evictions in Quebec have increased by 132%. That is the main cause of homelessness.
Will the Prime Minister finally reverse the policies that create bloated bureaucracy and drive up inflation, both of which cause homelessness in Quebec?
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- Dec/13/23 3:07:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader has made his thinking clear by stating that the federal government should get out of the business of building affordable housing. However, we will not follow his irresponsible advice.
Perhaps that is why last week his party voted against funding to build 71,000 new apartments. It also voted against more than 15,000 new homes for our most vulnerable.
As the team showed last week, we will not allow the Conservatives' partisan games to undermine our efforts to provide housing for all.
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- Dec/13/23 3:07:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all those apartments have one thing in common: They do not exist. These are just more promises.
Eight years ago, the Prime Minister promised to spend $87 billion on affordable housing. As a result, rents and mortgage payments doubled. Now, evictions have increased by 132% in Quebec. The main cause of homelessness is evictions after eight years of this Prime Minister.
When will he recognize that creating bloated bureaucracy and driving up inflation do not help with housing?
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- Dec/13/23 3:08:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week, the Conservative Party voted against 71,000 new apartments. They voted against 15,000 affordable housing units. Now their excuse is to say that since the housing does not yet exist, they can vote against it. Come on. They clearly do not understand that it is a government's responsibility to invest for a better future, to solve problems.
He just wants to increase anxiety. He does not want to come up with solutions for Canadians. On this side of the House, we will stand up for Canadians despite the Conservatives, who oppose all these measures.
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- Dec/13/23 3:09:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, he is doing the same thing he has done for eight years. He spent $87 billion on housing affordability to double housing costs. We have fewer homes per capita than we did when he took office, the fewest homes of any country in the G7. He doubled the rent, doubled mortgage payments and doubled the needed down payment to the point where the Bank of Canada reports this week that Canada has the worst housing affordability in 41 years, and rentals.ca reveals that it is now more expensive to rent one room in a shared apartment than it was eight years ago to rent the entire apartment for oneself.
When will he realize that ballooning inflation and the bureaucracy does not build homes?
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- Dec/13/23 3:09:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when will the leader of the official opposition understand that voting against the construction of 71,000 new homes through the apartment construction loan program is not going to help anyone and that voting against the construction of 12,000 new affordable homes through the rapid housing initiative will not help Canadians.
He chose to play partisan games last week in trying to shut down this House through a MAGA-inspired approach while we continue to stand up for Canadians and deliver on the things they need. While they play partisan games, we will continue to fight for Canadians.
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- Dec/13/23 3:11:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Maclean's magazine reports, “Two jobs, no money: How mortgage rates have pushed one Toronto father to the brink”. Two years into their mortgage, their biweekly payments have reached $2,268, now paying more than $5,000 a month to live in a 900-square foot townhouse, and $3,500 of that goes to interest.
All of his spending programs have doubled the cost of housing and, according to the Bank of Nova Scotia, have boosted interest rates another 2%.
Will he realize the damage he is doing in causing Canadians unsupportable, unsustainable mortgage payments?
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- Dec/13/23 3:12:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we recognize the challenges Canadians are facing, and on this side of the House, we have chosen to invest to support them: to create new affordable housing, to create new apartments.
As much as the Leader of the Opposition loves to rise in this House to talk about Canadians' suffering, he will not rise in this House to support solutions to Canadians' challenges. He rose in the House to vote against 71,000 new rental homes through the apartment construction loan program. He rose in this House to vote against 12,000 new affordable homes through the rapid housing initiative. He likes to instrumentalize Canadians. He will not solve for them.
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- Dec/13/23 3:13:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I voted against an approach that has spent $87 billion on affordable housing, to double the cost of housing. He thinks that if he is expensive, he is excused for his failures. Failing is bad. Failing expensively is even worse.
Our common-sense plan would require cities to permit 15% more housing, as a condition of getting their financing. Give them bonuses if they beat the target, link the dollars they get for transit to requirements for apartments around them and sell off 6,000 federal buildings and thousands of acres of federal land to build.
Why can he not get behind that common-sense plan?
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