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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 272

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
January 31, 2024 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 272 - Jan/31/24
Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)
  • Jan/31/24 5:44:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise to present a petition on behalf of folks who note that housing unaffordability and homelessness are twin national crises. They also note that the financialization of housing inflates Canadian real estate prices. They go on to note that corporations, a number of companies, pension funds and real estate investment trusts are rapidly buying up existing units and flipping them to market rate, renovicting folks. They call on the government to act to address these crises. They have a number of recommendations. I will share just a few: prioritizing funding for non-profit and co-operative housing, redefining affordable housing using a formula that better reflects the economic reality of Canadians across the country, better regulating and controlling excess profiteering by corporate investors and REITs, and creating national standards to establish rent and vacancy controls.
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Context: House Hansard - 272 - Jan/31/24
Mr. Maxime Blanchette-Joncas (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, BQ)
  • Jan/31/24 6:35:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I listened to my colleague carefully, and I commend her for her work. There is something that she did not mention. We are going through one of the worst housing crises in 35 years. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, CMHC, told us today that Canada's vacancy rate is 1.5%. The rate has not been that low since 1988. The budget mentions housing, but not homelessness. I would like to draw my colleague's attention to the fact that homelessness has increased in Quebec by 44% in the past five years. The housing crisis is wreaking havoc everywhere. The Liberals' national housing strategy is not working. Today, CMHC gave us more proof of that. I would like my colleague to tell us what her government is going to do in the next budget. Despite what we had hoped, the last economic update did not say that any funds were set aside for housing.
157 words
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