SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 280 - Feb/12/24

Feb/12/24 7:07:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is amazing in terms of the places around the world where we see a price on pollution actually being implemented, or a carbon tax. We could talk about Ukraine, which has a price on pollution, a carbon tax, as do countries like Poland, many European countries and, in fact, Mexico. People often say the United States does not have it. It does not have a national carbon tax, but many states have a carbon tax. The reason I say that is, at the end of the day, having a price on pollution, making the polluters pay, is sound public policy. Unfortunately, it is being distorted to the nth degree by the Conservative Party, all in an attempt to have a shiny bumper sticker of deceit for Canadians. I think that is sad. We are supposed to be here to develop and to encourage sound public policy.

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Mr. Kevin Vuong (Spadina—Fort York, Ind.)

Feb/12/24 7:08:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, every home bought by fraudsters is one less home that Canadians can buy. It is basic demand and supply. All else being the same, when demand increases, naturally prices go up. When there is less supply, prices also go up. In the GTA, and in many real estate markets across Canada, we see not only the increasing demand as our country continues to receive from immigration, but also the alarming allegations of mortgage fraud where fraudsters are buying up homes and, in turn, reducing supply. This double whammy of increased demand and decreased supply due to fraud has made home ownership so out of reach that, in Toronto, people will have to save, on average, for 26 years for a down payment. That is a quarter of a century. That is why I asked the Prime Minister on February 7 about the incidents of very significant alleged mortgage fraud being conducted at a major Canadian bank. I had mentioned unbelievable evidence of a person living in Canada, having no income or employment, somehow still able to obtain HSBC mortgages to purchase not one, not two, but at least four homes, simply based on a fake statement that the individual had equally fake high incomes from employment in China. That astounding information was lost on the Prime Minister, who either did not understand the question or simply did not care to address the issue of mortgage fraud. I then asked how the government could make more housing available and affordable to Canadians when fraudsters are out there buying multiple homes that, in turn, create housing scarcity and drive up house prices. I would like to have been told that the government is aware of the issue and is doing something to address the damage created by money laundering and mortgage fraud in Canada. Instead, the Prime Minister seemed more interesting in waxing poetically on the foreign ownership ban. Given housing unavailability, unaffordability and record-high interest rates, it is a little late in the game for the Prime Minister to be suggesting that the government is stepping up on housing and will continue to do so while the Conservatives have no plan. Quite frankly, Canadians, at this point, do not care which party has a plan as long as it works. Unfortunately, the Liberal plan has been failing. Home ownership is out of reach for so many Canadians that even if they found a home, they could not afford it. To top it off, we have money launderers and mortgage fraudsters adding fuel to real estate markets, especially those in urban markets. They are gobbling up multiple homes under false pretenses. In one case, a casino worker owned three homes, claiming to earn $345,000. In another, someone, somehow had $10,000 in student loans that they still owed, but claimed to earn $700,000 annually working remotely in China. The most incomprehensible one was the one that I cited to the Prime Minister of an individual with no income or employment who was somehow financed to own four homes. Just from these three examples, those are eight fewer homes for Canadians. That might not matter to the Prime Minister, but it sure does to Canadians struggling to find a home. Therefore, I have to ask, yet again, how can the Prime Minister make housing more available and more affordable, when he and his government are turning a blind eye to money laundering and mortgage fraud in Canada?

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Feb/12/24 7:12:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would disagree entirely with the impression that the member is trying to give, which is just not even remotely close to the reality of the situation. For example, I would challenge the member to cite a prime minister in the last 50 or 60 years who has done more in terms of investing in housing in all sorts of ways. That is not only in terms of financial commitments; we have seen other budgetary measures whereby we have attempted to deal with issues such as fraud and foreign ownership. We understand and very much appreciate the value and the importance of being able to own a home. That is why this government, like no other government in the last number of decades, made a decision years ago, not just in the last 24 hours. Shortly after being elected to government in 2015-16, we consciously said that as a national government we wanted to be proactive in dealing with housing going forward, and we brought forward the first-ever national housing strategy. It is important that we recognize that it is not just the national government's responsibility. We can lead, which we have done, both financially and legislatively, and we have reached out to the many different stakeholders. We need the stakeholders also to come to the table, and we are seeing that. We are seeing literally hundreds of millions of dollars of investment in working with mayors and other jurisdictions to ensure that we can increase the housing supply. I am a bit concerned that the member talked about the issue of immigration. I do not believe we should even attempt to blame the issue on immigrants. At the end of the day, whether it is provincial governments or the national government, we have recognized and believe in the power of immigrants and how they have lifted all of us higher. It is in good part something that we will continue to work on with other jurisdictions. I do not like the tie-in to immigrants on the issue of fraud. This is a government that has recognized the issue; we are working with others to resolve it. Most importantly, we are recognizing the national government's lead in ensuring that we have more housing and more affordable housing, because we understand the importance of it. Unlike the Conservatives, we will work with other jurisdictions. We are not going to go around saying that this or that person is a bad mayor. I have not heard the Conservatives say anything good about mayors. It is important that we recognize that we need to work with other jurisdictions, because often it is the councils and in some areas the provinces that actually have more tools than we would have, outside of financial supports.

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Mr. Kevin Vuong

Feb/12/24 7:15:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have to give it to the parliamentary secretary, to home in on one word, “immigrants”, and try to spin it as some kind of xenophobia. I am the son of immigrants. I am the son of refugees. It is simply stating a fact that as immigration increases and there is not the housing supply, there is more demand and there is pressure for housing prices to go up. The parliamentary secretary speaks about reality and says that no one has done more than this government. Let me tell him about the reality. Let us accept what he has said at face value. The reality is that it takes 26 years for a Torontonian to save up enough for a down payment for a home. Is that the best the Liberals have? Is that plan working for them? Is that success for the Liberal government? Give me a break. Therefore, I will ask it again: How are they actually going to address housing unaffordability and unavailability and record-high interest rates, so that the dream of home ownership can actually be possible?

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Feb/12/24 7:16:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government is very much concerned about the cost and affordability of housing. That is one of the reasons it is imperative that the Government of Canada continue to work with municipalities and provinces in particular, but also the non-profit organizations that are out there. I am a big fan, for example, of Habitat for Humanity. Without that organization, there are literally hundreds of people in the city of Winnipeg alone who would never have had the opportunity to own a home. The organization does a lot of good work. There are a number of advocates and organizations out there to give that helping hand. We need to work collectively to try to make things more affordable. All I can tell the member is that the Government of Canada is at the table, and we are going to do what we can.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Feb/12/24 7:17:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in follow up to my last session question period rhyme, we will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. Poverty, chaos, and gross food inflationHave become severe across this great nationLiberals they deny it, but these are just factsAnd that’s why the Tories will first axe the tax.You know costs are up if you know how to addSo many young adults must live with their dad While Liberals just think of their photos and combsA new Tory government will build the homes. Deficit spending kills jobs, drives up prices On things ranging from homes to cheap kitchen spices Liberals promise change, but at best they'll nudge itThe Tory party will soon fix the budget.Car thefts, extortion, drugs, deaths and disorder Under the misrule of PM wakeboarder It's getting dire, it is surely past time For some new leaders that will quickly stop crime. This session, these topics on which we'll opine Axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget, stop the crime The call will resound across this great nation As people prepare for bright transformation As we prosecute government trespasses Liberals do nothing and sit on their...hands.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Feb/12/24 7:19:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will withhold my comments on the poem itself. I wish I had been given it in advance because I would have taken it line by line and provided a few thoughts. The poem might not have rhymed as well, but it definitely could have been a little more factual. When we are in the House, facts are really important. For example, the member is concerned about inflation, as well member should be, and ties it to axing the tax, along with axing the rebate. I have to make sure we include both of them, which is only fair, because that is telling Canadians what Conservatives would really do, but it would only be for the provinces that both pay the tax and receive the rebate. I would add that qualifier, too. Therefore, B.C. and Quebec would not be included, which is a fairly high percentage of Canada in terms of population. We could ask farmers about inflation and how it is impacting food production into the future, but I believe the greater threat to food production in the future is climate, things like floods. Earlier today, in the first hour of debate, members on all sides of the House talked about floods and the impacts they are having. Floods, droughts, fires and other natural disasters, which are all on the increase, are all based on climate change, something the Conservative Party refuses to recognize. I can tell the member opposite that there is a very good chance they will have a much larger, more significant impact on inflation. When the Conservatives talk about axing the tax, it might sound nice, it might even look nice on a bumper sticker, as I referred to earlier, but, at the end of the day, it is not sound government policy, even if we try to tie it into inflation. The Governor of the Bank of Canada indicated that the percentage of the carbon tax increasing inflation was 0.15%, just a fraction. Let us compare Canada's inflation to countries that do not have a national price on pollution, like the United States. I pointed out some of the states do, but we would find that in many areas, their inflation rate is higher than Canada's inflation rate. This whole idea of cutting the carbon tax and the rebate would somehow drive the price of food down is quite misleading. In the poem, the member said the Conservatives are going to build homes. The leader of the Conservative Party was responsible for housing when he was minister. I need to remind my colleague across the way that he bombed on the issue. He did not even come close to dealing with the housing issue. I want to be nice, so I had best leave that one. On car theft, let us look at Manitoba. It was at its very worst when Stephen Harper was prime minister.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis

Feb/12/24 7:23:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, on this side of the House we want to axe the tax. It seems across the way their priorities are to distract and to axe the facts, so let us insert some facts back into this discussion. As we seek to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime, let us be clear that the NDP-Liberal carbon tax is a failed experiment. The government has spent eight years talking about it and about how raising taxes is going to save the planet. It has not worked. The government has not met any of its environmental targets. The environment minister might be planning on climbing on a roof somewhere again because the government has not achieved the results it promised. It was an experiment, one of trying to force people to pay more to see whether that would fix the environmental problems we have. Clearly, it has failed. Let us axe the tax instead of taking the government's approach of axing the facts.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Feb/12/24 7:24:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member across the way gets the gold star for the day for the number of times he said “axe the tax”. He does deserve a pat on the back for that. However, let us take a look at the reality of the situation. The Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc all support a price on pollution. Countries around the world support it; they actually have a price on pollution, or a carbon tax. The Conservatives are the only group that does not, even though in 2021 each member, including the member who just spoke, actually campaigned on a carbon tax. However, they flip-flopped on that; they made a change just because they got a leader with a nice idea for a bumper sticker. That does not make good public policy. I look to the Conservatives to ask them to tell us what their plan is for the environment. What would they do—

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The Speaker

Feb/12/24 7:25:26 p.m.
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The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1). (The House adjourned at 7:25 p.m.)

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