44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 11, 2024 10:00AM
- Apr/11/24 2:23:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during his entire tenure, six affordable housing units were built for the entire country when the opposition leader was the minister responsible for housing.
With the collaboration of the Government of Quebec and the leadership of Quebec's municipalities, 8,000 affordable housing units will be built over the next few months. I would like to invite my colleague, the member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, to join me for a visit to the Boisé des Fillion project being carried out by Lévis' municipal housing office. This project alone involves 23 affordable housing units, three times more than were built when her leader was the minister responsible for housing.
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- Apr/11/24 2:25:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the housing issue proves that we must prevent the federal government from meddling in Quebec's areas of jurisdiction. When the federal level decides where the money goes, Quebeckers get ripped off, and the numbers from CMHC prove that without a doubt. Since the national housing strategy was created in 2019, what share of the funding has Quebec received when the federal government is choosing the projects? Do members know? The answer is 6.7%. That is not even a third of our fair share.
Will the government stop shortchanging Quebeckers and transfer housing money to Quebec, no strings attached?
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- Apr/11/24 2:26:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have already talked about the Conservative leader's six housing units. Now I want to talk about the 8,000 housing units that will be built with the leadership and partnership of the Quebec government and Quebec municipalities.
The member for Salaberry—Suroît is surely already familiar with the Maison Péladeau project in her riding, with 48 affordable, accessible housing units that are also adapted to climate change. Those units will greatly improve the lives of dozens of people in her riding.
I would love to go visit this housing project with her and highlight how important our collaboration with the Quebec government is for these people in her riding.
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- Apr/11/24 2:26:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, although Quebeckers make up 22% of the population, we received 6.7% of federal housing investments when the projects were chosen by Ottawa. It does not take a math genius to realize that we are getting ripped off.
Since 2019, the money has gone mostly to funding projects outside Quebec. We are in the midst of a full-on housing crisis and our tax dollars are being spent to house Ontarians, when we can no longer even pay rent here at home.
Is it clear now why we need to keep Ottawa as far away as possible from our exclusive jurisdiction over housing?
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- Apr/11/24 2:27:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Bloc Québécois may not like the idea of co-operating with the Quebec government. However, a scant few weeks ago we signed an agreement to build 8,000 affordable housing units, which represents the largest investment in affordable housing ever seen in the history of Quebec.
That is because the Quebec and federal governments are working together to invest two times $900 million to give Quebeckers and all other Canadians the affordable housing they need.
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- Apr/11/24 2:28:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Montreal has experienced its largest rent increase in 30 years. This is a true crisis, and it is making it difficult for Montrealers to put a roof over their heads. What is the Liberal government’s solution? It is to set aside a mere 35% of the Wellington Basin project’s units for affordable public housing, meaning that two-thirds of the housing units built will be unaffordable.
Here is a simple question: Why use public land to build housing units that Quebeckers cannot afford?
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- Apr/11/24 2:28:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear my colleague’s question, which once again shows the contrast between this government and the previous one.
In 2017, we put in place the first national housing strategy in this country’s history, which stands in stark contrast with what the Conservative leader did when he was housing minister. During his entire mandate, he built six affordable housing units for the entire country.
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- Apr/11/24 2:29:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the women and men in the Canadian Armed Forces have faced a military housing shortage for decades. Under both the Liberals and Conservatives, military housing has not been built; existing units are falling into disrepair. Now the Liberals want our armed forces to wait another two years before they even start building homes. This delay is unacceptable.
Why is the minister delaying building urgently needed homes for the men and women who serve our country?
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- Apr/11/24 2:29:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, making sure that we provide adequate supports, particularly for housing and child care, is absolutely essential for us to support the men and women who serve in the Canadian Armed Forces.
That is why, in our recently released defence policy, we have included a substantial investment of over $300 million to build housing. That work has begun and will continue apace.
I look forward to working with all members of the defence committee as we bring forward important new initiatives to support the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces.
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- Apr/11/24 2:50:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have no lessons to learn from the Conservatives.
We have a plan to create more housing in the country. We have a plan to create more jobs in the country. We have a plan to create prosperity in the country. What they have across the way are slogans. People at home know that slogans do not create housing. Slogans do not create jobs. Slogans do not create prosperity.
On this side of the House, we are going to focus on issues that matter to Canadians and we will leave the Conservatives to come up with more slogans. Canadians know which side we are on. We are with them.
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- Apr/11/24 2:54:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government is not helping solve the housing crisis; it is simply stretching it out over time.
Ottawa could just transfer the housing money to Quebec. That would be simple enough. Instead, the Liberals have chosen to attach conditions to the infrastructure program, supposedly to force the provinces to build housing faster. As a result, not only is housing construction slowing down, Ottawa is paralyzing the construction of infrastructure such as water systems. It wants to see doorknobs first, running water later.
Does the minister realize that his plan is putting the cart before the horse?
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- Apr/11/24 2:55:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member is correct to raise the importance of investing in drinking water infrastructure, waste water treatment and many other things. That is why, just a few days ago, we announced an investment of an additional $6 billion to support municipalities in building the infrastructure that will help us in Quebec, for one, to build the 8,000 housing units that we have already planned with the Quebec government. Its partnership and leadership are absolutely essential.
This is obviously a contrast to the six housing units the Conservative leader created when he was minister responsible for housing.
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- Apr/11/24 2:56:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member is quite right to refer to the Conservative leader as an insulting leader. It is true that he insulted all Quebec municipalities, including the people of Quebec City.
It is also true that just a few weeks ago, with the leadership of Quebec City, we announced the construction of 324 affordable housing units. That number of 324 units is 54 times more than all the affordable housing created by the Conservative leader when he was housing minister.
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- Apr/11/24 3:09:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it has been two years since the government committed $1.5 billion to build co-op housing across the country, yet two years later, instead of returning to annual predictable investments in deeply affordable co-op housing, this one-time program has not even launched. Instead, last week we heard more announcements while thousands of shovel-ready co-op projects are still waiting.
What is the point of making announcements, if they are not going spend the money, and when will the minister commit to these much-needed co-op homes being built?
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- Apr/11/24 3:10:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, whether it is co-op housing, missing middle housing, duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes or mid-rise apartments, the focus of the government is building more and dealing with that crisis in supply. This is what the government is seized with.
In fact, I recently met with the federation responsible for co-op housing and its advocacy in this country. They remarked how happy they were with the progress that has been made. Of course, there is more to do, but lifting the GST off that type of construction is something that I point out to the member as well. There is a larger context here, as well, to pay attention to. We are getting it done. We are getting that work done. We are going to see more building.
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