44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 1, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/1/24 11:50:45 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader is obsessed with the carbon tax. I would not dare to speculate on how many times a day he thinks about it. He even blames the carbon tax for inflation.
Now, it is true that studies have been done. The Parliamentary Budget Officer and the Bank of Canada have concluded that the carbon tax had very little effect.
There are other factors in Quebec that are driving up prices, such as the housing crisis. During question period yesterday, the Liberals were bragging about having paid Quebec so much money, saying that they had matched Quebec's investment. We had to fight for the money that Ottawa owed Quebec. No housing has been built for years. Negotiations dragged on. When it comes to housing, the Liberals refuse to give Quebec City any money. They would rather squabble and see the Liberal logo in front of construction sites. It has an impact.
I realize that the parliamentary secretary wants us to turn on the Conservatives and criticize them. Sooner or later, the Liberals will have to admit that they, too, have made mistakes and that they, too, often underestimate Quebeckers' intelligence by saying that they are building housing.
As far as immigration targets are concerned, Quebec wants to be consulted. The Minister of Immigration is literally telling us that Ottawa is not an ATM, as though Quebeckers are no more than freeloaders who are not paying their fair share into the federal treasury. The parliamentary secretary can criticize the Conservatives if he wants to, but I think that the Liberal government has lot to account for too. I think he should reflect carefully on that.
278 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/1/24 2:27:14 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the CMHC report confirms that the housing crisis is worse than ever. The vacancy rate is the lowest it has been in 20 years. Rents are up 8%, and finding a new home in Quebec is 17% more expensive.
Why is this happening? It is because the population is growing too quickly. To be clear, immigrants are not responsible for the housing crisis. The Liberals are to blame, thanks to their out-of-touch immigration policy. They got everyone into trouble, starting with immigrants.
Will they amend their immigration policy and bring it in line with our integration capacity?
101 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/1/24 2:42:02 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we can hear the members laughing, but yesterday in the House, the leader of the Bloc Québécois compared immigrants to heat pumps. Then, during my announcement of more than $300 million to help house refugees, he was talking about social housing. They are not taking this seriously. It is an issue that needs to be taken seriously.
We are not negotiating with the federal member for Beloeil—Chambly, the leader of the Bloc Québécois. We are negotiating with a serious government, the Quebec government.
95 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/1/24 2:50:13 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I sincerely thank my hon. colleague for her advocacy for vulnerable people who are struggling with the cost of finding a place to live. The fact that people are in dire need of housing is why we have significantly increased the pace of introducing policies to build more homes in this country. We have removed taxes from new apartment construction so more apartments will be built, committed an additional $1 billion through the affordable housing fund to get more affordable homes built for low-income families and put federal money on the table to incentivize cities to change their ways, to increase their ambition and to speed up the process of homebuilding. We are going to continue to do what it takes to end the national housing crisis.
130 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/1/24 2:50:54 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for that response, but it is just not good enough. Today, rent is due. A new report just came out telling Edmontonians what we already know: Rent is going up while the number of available affordable homes is going down. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister turns a blind eye as Danielle Smith sells off affordable housing just to make her rich CEO friends happy. When will the government stop catering to rich CEOs and put forward a plan to build non-market and co-op housing, so working people can afford a home?
98 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/1/24 2:51:32 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his advocacy. We are committed to building more homes, including affordable housing for low-income families. In fact, in the member's own community, a Métis-led project is going ahead that will provide affordable homes for community residents and support for women and children fleeing violence. We have increased funding for co-operative housing for the first time in decades, with a program to be launched soon that is backed by $1.5 billion. We have increased funding for affordable housing in the recent fall economic statement, with an additional $1 billion. We have constructed or renovated hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units. We care about the most vulnerable and know that they deserve to have a roof over their heads.
133 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/1/24 3:07:06 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, those are actually not the facts. Nearly 4,500 serving military members are currently awaiting housing, but the Liberals are building fewer than 20 homes per year for our troops. To add insult to injury, that Liberal minister just cut a billion dollars from the defence budget, and a leaked report confirmed that the minister is hiking the rents for our armed forces members.
Our military heroes know that those Liberals are just not worth the cost, so why does the Prime Minister always shovel money into the pockets of consultants and Liberal insiders, but cut spending on the backs of our troops?
105 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/1/24 3:07:44 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is an extraordinary question coming from the member, inasmuch as he voted against the pay raise we recently gave to Canadian Armed Forces members. He should also be aware that Canadian Armed Forces policy caps rents for all members using armed forces military housing at 25% of their gross income.
We will continue to make investments in Canadian Armed Forces housing and all of the supports that he keeps voting against.
74 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
