44th Parl. 1st Sess.
January 31, 2024 02:00PM
- Jan/31/24 2:30:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal member of Parliament for Davenport claims that there is no housing crisis in Toronto. The rest of the Liberal MPs for Toronto would rather fight the City of Toronto than actually deal with the crisis of housing. Frontline workers are saying, “On the ground, we've seen a man recently arrived from Africa die in [an] encampment while trying to stay warm.”
Will the Prime Minister listen to his out of touch Liberal MPs or to frontline workers trying to save people's lives?
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- Jan/31/24 2:31:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been there investing in housing across the country, including with hundreds of millions of dollars directly to the City of Toronto for investing in housing, housing affordability and fighting homelessness. We know there is lots to do, and we are going to keep doing it.
Whether it is signing housing accelerator agreements across the country, introducing a suite of new measures to unlock the construction of 600,000 new apartments, cracking down on short-term rentals to unlock even more apartments, or introducing a mortgage charter to protect homeowners from the stress of elevated interest rates, we are taking action.
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- Jan/31/24 2:31:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, an 83-year-old woman was evicted from the home she lived in for 30 years. Because of the Liberal-Conservative housing crisis, she does not know where she will end up. The Liberals have the resources, the power and the land to fix the housing crisis.
When will the Prime Minister stop putting real estate giants ahead of Ms. Bertrand?
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- Jan/31/24 2:32:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are taking concrete steps to get hundreds of thousands of new homes built across the country by signing agreements directly with municipalities, provinces and territories, Quebec and all of Nunavut. We are working to cut red tape, expedite permits, increase density and improve zoning. We have put $4 billion on the table to deliver results in terms of housing.
We will continue taking a serious and responsible approach to doing this work.
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- Jan/31/24 3:07:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing, which has doubled since he promised to lower it, but there is good news. Rent is down for the eighth consecutive month in the United States. Meanwhile, it has more than doubled under the Prime Minister. It is up 9% in the last year alone.
Can the Prime Minister explain why rent is going down in the States while it skyrockets under his leadership here at home?
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- Jan/31/24 3:08:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, once again, I did not hear an apology to Ukrainians. I encourage him to do that. People are waiting for it.
At the same time, I can remind this House that we have signed dozens of housing accelerator fund agreements across the country that are leading to the construction of hundreds of thousands of new homes in the coming years. We have eliminated GST from purpose-built rental apartments, and we are moving forward on an interest-free savings account for first-time homebuyers.
Again, I encourage the Leader of the Opposition to apologize for referring to Ukraine as some faraway foreign land.
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- Jan/31/24 3:09:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it just proves what I said earlier. He is not interested in Ukraine. When I asked about rental prices, he started spreading disinformation about Ukraine. He could not care less about the war effort over there. He only cares about distracting from his failures at home.
One of his failures is that rents have tripled in Montreal. The builders association says that this year will be one of the worst.
Why has the price of housing gone down in the United States while it is ballooning here in Canada?
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- Jan/31/24 3:10:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for well over 150 years, this House has been here to recognize the debates and follow what people have been doing. Hansard is the official record of this House. If the Leader of the Opposition is suggesting that Hansard, in which he said that Ukraine is a faraway foreign land, is somehow misinformation or disinformation, then he should come right out and say so.
As far as housing is concerned, we continue to invest across the country, including in Quebec. Quebec is matching the $900 million we proposed to help create housing—
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- Jan/31/24 3:12:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, austerity is something Canadians are already very familiar with because rent has doubled everywhere in Canada under this Prime Minister's eight-year tenure. He promised to reduce costs, but he increased bureaucracy.
Yesterday, the builders' association reported that record low builder sentiment foreshadows troubling housing starts, underscoring the need for housing policy changes.
The problem is getting worse by the year. Will the Prime Minister agree to our common-sense plan and cut red tape in order to increase housing starts?
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- Jan/31/24 3:13:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the question was about rent and instead he turned and made false attacks against me. Apparently, I am living rent-free in his head.
Here is the reality. Rent is going down in the States while it is coming up in Canada. Housing costs have risen 40% faster compared with the incomes of Canadians. Canada has the worst record in the G7 and the second worst in the OECD. If the Prime Minister's plan were really working, why is it that housing costs have doubled and our housing is becoming less affordable than that in almost any developed country in the world?
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- Jan/31/24 3:14:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am going to leave aside the question of where exactly he is living rent-free and focus on the supports we are giving to Canadians.
We are continuing to invest in meaningful ways in partnership with municipalities, with unions and building trades and with provinces across the country to solve this housing crisis that Canadians are feeling so acutely. Whether it is cutting the GST from purpose-built rentals, whether it is moving forward with the tax-free savings account for first-time homebuyers or whether it is putting $4 billion in the pockets of municipalities across the country to increase density and cut red tape, we are taking action on housing.
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- Jan/31/24 3:15:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yes, he is taking a lot of measures to drive up the cost of housing. The cost of rent has doubled, as has the cost of a mortgage. I saw a headline today that said, “CMHC report on the rental market: Rent continues to rise at a staggering rate in Quebec”.
Meanwhile, housing starts are in serious decline. Will the Prime Minister finally stop building bureaucracy so that we can start building housing?
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- Jan/31/24 3:15:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader's housing plan mainly consists of accusing Quebec's elected representatives of being incompetent. The reality is that we are going to work with provincial and municipal elected officials in Quebec to make investments.
I also want to point out that the Government of Quebec doubled the $900 million that we put toward accelerating the construction of housing in Quebec to ensure that municipalities can do even more to address this housing crisis. That is a real plan, not insults.
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- Jan/31/24 3:16:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, thanks in part to the advocacy of the member for Halifax West, we announced the housing accelerator agreement of nearly $80 million in Halifax to unlock 9,000 new homes.
While the Leader of the Opposition is picking fights with municipalities, we are working directly with them to reduce red tape and revolutionize the way homes get built in cities across the country. On this side, we are bringing forward real solutions to address housing affordability, while he spends his time attacking and insulting.
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- 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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- Jan/31/24 6:01:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague spent most of his speech talking about the fact that Canada should be a world leader in building a low-carbon economy.
Unfortunately, this economic statement's proposed approach to reducing Canada's carbon emissions is very weak. Canada is the laughingstock of the G7 due to its low environmental ambitions and, worse, poor environmental performance.
The question I have for my colleague deals with housing. In the economic statement there is an entire chapter on housing, and yet it contains nothing of substance, except for the part on cutting the GST, but we know that is not going to do much to solve the housing crisis.
What can this economic statement do? When will the government understand that there is an urgency to build affordable and social housing?
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- Jan/31/24 6:02:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, one of the reasons I entered politics is one of the three objectives.
The first objective was affordable housing. I am so glad that our government has not only made the commitment but has actually put dollars behind that commitment. Housing is not just a federal issue. Basically, housing comes from the supply that is controlled by the city. The provinces have a very major role in housing.
Where possible and where applicable, the federal government has stepped in, backed by the funding that is available. When somebody asks me about affordable housing, I ask them, “Where is the proposal?” There is money in the bank to fund affordable housing units to be built across Canada.
Also, the federal government is sending agreements directly to the municipalities across Canada. We are providing incentives through funding to make changes at the local level that would enable an increase in the housing supply.
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- Jan/31/24 6:31:12 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member across talked about the government's investments in housing, and I am proud of the NDP's work to fight for significant investments in housing and, in particular, a focus on urban and northern housing for indigenous peoples. However, we know that the current Liberal government is failing first nations when it comes to housing, and I am talking about on-reserve housing. Some of the most acute housing crises in our country are on first nations with what many in the communities I represent refer to as third world living conditions.
If we go beyond housing, we know there is an estimated$350-billion infrastructure gap in first nations, including the needs first nations have because of the disproportionate impacts they are facing with respect to climate change. Unfortunately, yet again, this fall economic statement is a missed opportunity for the Liberals to act on the priorities and the desperate needs of first nations on housing, on infrastructure and on climate change mitigation. I am wondering when the Liberals will finally act to make the investments on first nations that are desperately needed.
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- Jan/31/24 6:32:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that is an important question. The cost of housing is top of mind for the residents in Halifax West, for renters, mortgage holders, prospective first-time buyers and of course the first nations community. In fact, I was proud to be part of an announcement in Hammonds Plains to announce the building of the Acadia First Nation indigenous shelter for women, specifically in the Hammonds Plains area. That is something this government has brought about, and that is in construction mode right now. It is something we are focused on, and we are very much engaged in that.
Again, there are many solutions we need to work on. This is not a one-solution-fits-all, and it is not one solution that is only for government. It is for all parliamentarians from all political parties. It is for different levels of provincial, municipal and federal governments and also for other stakeholders.
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- Jan/31/24 6:33:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Liberals like to blow the horn about their announcements regarding housing. However, the fact is that we have the lowest number of housing starts since the 1970s. People are struggling. I live in the Vancouver area, and inaffordability is just skyrocketing with respect to being able to get a home or rent a place. I wonder if the member would just agree with Conservatives that the Liberals' policy and what they are accomplishing is an unmitigated disaster.
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