44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 2, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/2/24 11:01:26 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, after eight years of the Liberals, my home province of British Columbia is facing a housing affordability crisis, and that is impacting economic development as workers are frozen out of the real estate market. The Liberals' housing announcements in the fall economic statement are nothing more than empty words.
Josh, who lives not too far from me, told me that his mortgage payment has doubled over a single year, from about $3,000 a month to $5,800 a month, because of the Liberals spending like drunken sailors. Another neighbour says that her family has to leave the province because they cannot find an affordable home.
Conservatives will build the homes, fix the budget, bring down inflation and mortgage rates, and bring home prosperity for all citizens. Let us bring it home.
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- Feb/2/24 11:10:28 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, the cost of rent has doubled and housing is simply not affordable, if someone can even find a house or apartment to rent. Canadians are being forced to choose between eating, heating and paying their rent, yet the Prime Minister does not think housing is a federal responsibility. His housing minister thinks people can live in a photo op. Meanwhile, the Liberals got fewer houses built last year than were built in 1972.
Only common-sense Conservatives have a plan to build more homes instead of more bureaucracy. We will reward municipalities that build more houses and remove the barriers that hinder construction. The choice is clear: a Prime Minister who is not worth the cost or common-sense Conservatives, who will axe the tax, build homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.
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- Feb/2/24 11:19:12 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do not see how, after eight years of Liberal inaction, the member for Gatineau can be proud that violent gun crime has gone up by 76% in Gatineau.
It is not just gun crime that is causing harm. The housing crisis is as well. Community organizations say that the situation is going to keep getting worse, because more people are going to be evicted from their homes. As the saying goes, everything is connected to everything else. After eight years of this Prime Minister, he is a disaster when it comes to housing.
The Bloc Québécois is certainly not a viable alternative, because it wants to keep the Prime Minister in power for another two years.
When will the Prime Minister start building homes, not bureaucracy?
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- Feb/2/24 11:19:55 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, yes, I agree that there is a housing crisis in our country. What is the best approach? The best approach is what our government is doing.
What have we done since certainly this fall but also throughout our tenure in government? We have let more homes be built in this country and put in place serious measures to work with municipalities. In fact, we have an agreement with the Province of Quebec that will lead to thousands more homes being built. This is the housing accelerator fund. Throughout the country we see that as well. It is an approach that incents more building, all types of building. The Conservatives want to tax building.
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- Feb/2/24 11:47:48 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have a good rapport with the colleague opposite. We work together on the HUMA committee, but it is hard to take him seriously in the House today when we know that recently he has voted against 99 units of housing for his own community. At 520 Isaac Street, and he can go down there as I am sure he knows where that is, 99 units of housing have been built as a result of the Liberal government's funding. That is what the national housing strategy is doing. Across the country, we have seen that 125,000 people who were very close to being homeless are off the streets, and 70,000 people who were homeless are off the streets with wraparound supports. We—
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- Feb/2/24 11:48:26 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is hard to take that parliamentary secretary seriously, because he knows full well that with regard to these big expensive photo ops in Mississauga and Toronto, for example, more housing than ever is getting blocked despite them.
Merely weeks after the Prime Minister's $471-million photo op in Toronto, the gatekeepers there said “no” to new housing right next door to a new transit station. Mississauga got a big $113-million cheque after having blocked 17,000 units in 2023. This photo-op Prime Minister is failing Canadians. He is not worth the cost.
When will this government stop buying housing photo ops and start—
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- Feb/2/24 11:49:07 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, if he wants to see the results of the national housing strategy, again, I would remind him to go down to 520 Isaac Street in his riding. He can see the results: 99 units of housing. As far as the other points raised, he is talking about the housing accelerator fund. Yes, we have concluded agreements with 30 communities that will incentivize zoning changes that lead to the construction of duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, mid-rise apartments, row houses and more.
That is how we get Canadians housed. That is how we bring down costs. They want to put taxes on the construction of apartments. In addition, they want to continue measures that will not go ahead with getting more housing built in this country.
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- Feb/2/24 11:49:45 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the housing crisis in the Lower St. Lawrence region continues.
After eight years of this government, the region has no available housing, so rents are skyrocketing. Housing costs are increasing by 7%, sometimes even 10% or more. These figures are very alarming.
They are far higher than inflation, and sometimes significantly higher than wages. That suggests renter households may be getting poorer. Why is the Prime Minister doing nothing to lower the cost of housing?
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- Feb/2/24 11:50:16 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, does anyone know what will not incentivize rental housing construction? The member knows. I am talking about their policy of putting the GST back on the construction of new rental apartment buildings. That is their policy. It is in their bill. That is their leader's proposal.
The people who build housing are telling me that removing the GST will incentivize the construction of thousands of housing units. Maybe the member should get his facts straight.
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- Feb/2/24 12:02:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the federal government can get more housing built by working with municipalities rather than insulting mayors like the leader of the official opposition does.
Through the housing accelerator fund, we are working with the District of Squamish to fast-track the construction of an additional 200 homes over the next three years and over 1,300 homes over the next decade, and these are not just any homes. These are affordable rental and missing middle homes that the municipality has determined are badly needed in the community.
Can the parliamentary secretary of housing, infrastructure and communities please tell residents of Squamish how we are working with local partners to get more housing built faster at prices they can afford?
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- Feb/2/24 12:03:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am happy to do exactly that, but let me first say that the member's tireless advocacy led to agreements like the one completed with Squamish. In fact, other MPs on this side have also worked to ensure outcomes through the housing accelerator fund.
I have talked about it before, but it bears repeating. This is a fund that ensures incentives on the municipality's part to change zoning, which will lead to more building in return for federal funding. What do we see as a result? We see duplexes, fourplexes, triplexes and mid-rise apartments. All of these will lead to 500,000 homes being built over the next decade and 78,000 homes built over the next four years. That is how we get housing going.
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