44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 28, 2024 02:00PM
- Feb/28/24 2:03:50 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is another day and another renoviction in my community. This time it is folks at 250 Frederick Street in Kitchener who are being made to fear that they will be on the street if they do not vacate their unit by May 31. Folks who pay around $1,000 a month in rent can go online and see fake pictures of units in their own building being posted for rents starting at $1,800, while others are being pressured into signing new leases at the higher amounts. Bad faith landlords are taking advantage of people across the country because there is no where else for them to go.
After three decades of underinvestment, social housing stock is down to 3%. The federal government must show that it is prepared to at least double social housing across the country.
In the meantime, I send my thanks to ACORN Canada and the Social Development Centre Waterloo Region for organizing folks at 250 Frederick Street. By sticking together, they can stand up to their landlord and fight to keep their housing. Local organizations are doing their part. It is past the time for the federal government to do its part.
200 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 2:30:14 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is choosing to fling mud at a question that I have said is unacceptable. The authorities are looking into it.
He does not want to talk about the housing investments that we are making across the country. He does not want to talk about the fact that he voted against dental care that seniors are going to be benefiting from as of May. He does not want to talk about child care. He does not want to talk about Ukraine. He does not want to talk about all the things where Conservatives are out of line with Canadians.
We are going to continue focusing on the things that matter to Canadians, every single day.
121 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 2:45:55 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, since 2015, we have increased benefits, we have increased the guaranteed income supplement and we have recognized that, yes, seniors are facing difficult times, especially older seniors. Vulnerable seniors over the age of 75 have more expenses.
That is why we are in the process of giving more targeted help to those seniors while also helping all seniors through investments in housing, dental care, the new horizons for seniors programs and so on. We are investing across the country to help seniors. That said, we are always going to recognize those who are the most vulnerable.
98 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 2:52:07 p.m.
- Watch
Uqaqtittiji, northerners continue to experience the worst housing crisis in the country. Overcrowding is so bad that families sleep in shifts. One home was cracking in half from the melting permafrost and was only held together by duct tape. This cannot continue. For years, the government has ignored the territories' calls for investments to housing. They need the housing funding now.
Will the Prime Minister respect the territorial governments and deliver the funding they need to build homes?
78 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 2:52:44 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, my thanks to the hon. member for her work as she speaks up for the people in the north. We are always going to be there to invest in housing, to work hand in hand with Premier Akeeagok and others, to make sure we are delivering for people in a situation that is extremely difficult for them.
We recognize these challenges, which is why we have sent millions and millions of dollars to the territories for the building of new housing. We will continue to be there with even more.
92 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 2:55:47 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, our common-sense plan will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has doubled housing costs since he promised to bring them down. A National Bank report, out Thursday, revealed that in Victoria and Toronto, it now takes an astonishing 25 years for the average family to save for a down payment. In Vancouver, it would take 29 years. This is after he has created $80 billion of new housing spending that has been vaporized by bureaucracy.
Will the Prime Minister finally follow our common-sense plan to cut the bureaucracy and build the homes?
107 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 2:56:29 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we just announced two more housing accelerator agreements today in Whitehorse and in Saskatoon, adding to the dozens of agreements we have signed across the country to fast-track the construction of housing, over 600,000 homes. The Conservative Party's plan, which he is talking about, is to insult mayors and to cut critical infrastructure funding. It will not get any more homes built.
Cities understand that we need to change the rules to get more homes built faster. Indeed, the only one gatekeeping this progress is the Conservative leader himself.
94 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 2:57:05 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister pretends he has not been in government for the last eight years. He acts like this is his first day on the job. The fact that he has to read off notes would suggest it is his first day on the job.
The reality is that housing costs have doubled since he promised to lower them. Yes, he has created massive programs with wonderful new agreements and beautiful photo ops, where politicians pat each other on the backs and smile while they cut ribbons. The problem is that after eight years, nothing is getting built.
Why will the Prime Minister not get out of the way and cut the bureaucracy so that we can build the homes?
122 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 2:57:45 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, 19 years as a politician is the Leader of the Opposition, including some time as the housing minister, and his plan to fix housing is anything but a plan. It will not build homes fast enough. It does not reach enough cities, and it creates unnecessary bureaucracy. He would also, get this, rip up the housing accelerator agreements, which are unlocking over 600,000 new homes, and he would put the GST back on apartment construction.
Housing experts like Mike Moffatt say that the Conservative leader's plan is exceptionally weak, and it is a sign that the Conservatives do not understand the urgency or the scale of the housing crisis.
113 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 2:58:25 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister brags that there is a housing crisis after he has been in power for eight long years. He quotes the same failed Liberal academics who gave him the advice that helped him double the price in the first place.
The Conservatives' common-sense plan will incentivize cities to speed up and to lower the cost of building by requiring that they permit 15% more homes as a condition of getting the money. The more they build, they more they get; the less they build, the less they get. We pay builders based on the number of homes they build and realtors for the number that they sell. We should pay municipalities based on the number they permit.
Is that not common sense?
127 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 2:59:05 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, slogans and buzzwords do not get housing built; constructive deals with municipalities and provinces do. We see time and time again that Conservatives have nothing to propose but cuts, conditions and fights with municipalities, fights with community organizations, crossing their arms and tossing insults at people, instead of actually proposing a real plan.
We are busy working on delivering hundreds of thousands of new homes over the coming years. This is the work that needs to get done. The Conservative leader just needs to get out of the way.
91 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 2:59:45 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, this just goes to show once again that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing. He says that housing will be built over the coming years. He has been the Prime Minister for eight years. What has happened? He has doubled the cost of housing. Housing prices in Montreal have actually tripled in eight years.
My common-sense plan will incentivize municipalities to build more housing by giving them bonuses if they build more and penalties if they build less. That is just common sense.
Will the Prime Minister finally follow through on a plan for more housing and less red tape?
107 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/28/24 3:00:26 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader is offering budget cuts, austerity and disputes with municipalities and non-profit organizations, or NPOs, across the country. We are choosing to work hand in hand with the municipalities, the provinces and NPOs to build more housing, lower rents and create more opportunities for families and young people to purchase a home.
We have a concrete plan that we are implementing. He has nothing to offer but insults, attacks, budget cuts and austerity.
78 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
