44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 15, 2024 10:00AM
- Feb/15/24 12:22:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his advocacy on this issue.
I have heard from constituents who have given up hope, who are struggling with the housing crisis and the high cost of living and feel like that they have been legislated into poverty. They are worried about the expansion of MAID and what that means for them and the people they love who are in the same situation.
I am wondering if the member can talk about the responsibility of successive Liberal and Conservative governments in putting people in this dire situation.
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- Feb/15/24 2:12:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this government, the cost of rent has doubled in Canada and tripled in Montreal, which means that Canada has the worst record in the G7. Meanwhile, we are the ones with the most land on which to build. This sad record shows that, in 2022, Canada built less housing than in 1972.
It is time to implement incentives to increase the construction of housing across Canada. With a view to doing just that, my leader was in Montreal this morning to announce his common-sense housing plan. He is proposing to give federal bonuses to cities, such as Saguenay, Victoriaville or Trois‑Rivières, that are successfully accelerating housing construction and to exempt small municipalities from penalties, while giving them the right to bonuses if they exceed the 15% target.
Things need to change. After eight years under this government, it is high time we put our common-sense plan into action.
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- Feb/15/24 2:23:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, speaking of partisanship, yesterday the Minister of Housing unleashed a vicious attack on himself. He said the Liberal government is presiding over what he called a “generational, moral failure”, because so many people cannot find a place to live. There are a record number of 30 different homeless encampments in Halifax alone, his home province, after his Prime Minister doubled housing costs.
Given that they admit they have caused this moral failure, will they reverse the policies that caused it and start building homes instead of bureaucracy?
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- Feb/15/24 2:24:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my hon. colleague that on this side of the House we do not insult the mayors of cities in Quebec. We work with the municipalities.
On this side of the House we actually get real deals done, unlike him, when he was housing minister. We build real housing. We are going to keep working with all Canadians to put a roof over their heads.
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- Feb/15/24 2:30:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Housing, who was warned that his policies would cause a massive housing shortage, finds himself in hot water once again.
At the Standing Committee on Finance, he admitted that his $4-billion program, the so-called housing accelerator, is not working. No houses have been built and no apartments have been completed. He says the program will not even lead to future construction.
Will he follow my common-sense plan that will encourage municipalities to allow more housing?
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- Feb/15/24 2:30:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think the housing crisis calls for a co-operative approach. What is the Leader of the Opposition's approach? He insults the mayors of Quebec City, Montreal and throughout Canada.
That is not how to engage in a serious housing policy. The accelerator fund that he points to is incenting change at the zoning level municipally. That is critical if we are going to see more supply. It is absolutely vital that we see more supply because that is what underpins the housing crisis in front of us. He is not serious.
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- Feb/15/24 2:31:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, they are working together with municipal politicians to block housing. In fact, the housing minister, when he was immigration minister, was warned his policies would lead to a massive shortage, yet he went ahead with them anyway. He made some incredible admissions yesterday at finance committee. He said, first, that his $4-billion accelerator fund has not completed any homes, and second, “It doesn't actually lead to the construction of specific homes.”
Why does he not instead follow my common-sense plan to link municipal funding to housing construction so we can build homes and not bureaucracy?
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- Feb/15/24 2:32:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is shame; he should follow the proceedings of the finance committee more closely because just a few months ago, officials there testified that his private member's bill, supposedly meant to build more housing, would do exactly the opposite.
He wants to tax home builders. He wants to cut infrastructure that communities require for housing purposes. His best idea, it would seem, to build more homes is to create some sort of 1-800 number where neighbours can rat on each other if they have concerns around NIMBY. It is not a serious approach. He has never been serious about housing. He is playing games.
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- Feb/15/24 3:08:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, $470 million is the amount the federal government has allocated through, among other things, the Canada housing benefit, which was recently topped up.
We will continue to support Canadians going through a difficult time and make sure that we are working with different orders of government to ensure that the outcome is a real, lasting and meaningful one for Canadians who are challenged right now.
I would also point to other measures that we are taking to ensure more homes are being built, for example, lifting the GST off purpose-built rentals and making sure low-interest loans are available to builders. That is how we get more supply in the market.
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- Feb/15/24 3:43:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest, and a lot of the member's speech was about housing. It is false to describe the housing crisis we are in now as starting only a year ago, eight years ago or the length of the government. I would argue that it has been caused by consecutive governments, both Liberal and Conservative, ignoring the investments that needed to be made into housing over the last 30 years. I would like to hear the member's explanation for that.
We are now at this arbitrary 30-day deadline, and there are other things that governments were apparently totally in support of but did not do. I think of my colleague from Timmins—James Bay bringing forward a national palliative care motion. Everybody supported it, but nothing was done. In 2019 in this place, we brought forward the national suicide prevention strategy. Everybody believed in it, but nothing has been done.
Now that we have these 30 days, we are again in a crisis. What does the member have to say about the other protections we need to bring forward that have been presented in this place?
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- Feb/15/24 3:45:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, about housing, I would point out that, under a Conservative government, housing was difficult, but it was not the crisis that it is today. That is the point that we have been making, and that the leader of the Conservative Party has been making, time and time again. The crisis has been brought on by the mismanagement of the Liberal government.
I would also say, about housing for the most vulnerable, that provincial governments around the country have cut back on psychiatric hospitals and put people into the community, which sounds like a great idea, except that the community supports are not there. That is what is fundamentally missing here. The man whom I gave as an example fits right into that. His concern was the lack of stable housing. If he had had housing, he would not have asked for MAID. That is the point I am trying to make.
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