- Member of Parliament
- Prime Minister
Leader of the Liberal Party
- Liberal
- Papineau
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 55%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $79,187.97
- Government Page
- May/29/24 2:38:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are leading efforts to address the housing crisis with an ambitious and achievable plan.
Let us talk about how housing experts have characterized his housing bill. They said it was an exceptionally weak response to the housing crisis and that it was full of loopholes. Perhaps that is why the Conservative leader has postponed the debate on his non-plan for several weeks.
The reality is that he does not want to have that debate, because when he was housing minister he lost 800,000 apartments and built only six.
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- May/8/24 3:14:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge that more needs to be done for renters. That is why we are unlocking well over 600,000 new rental homes across the country for the middle class, investing $1.5 billion to keep affordable apartments affordable and introducing a new renters' bill of rights to protect renters.
The Leader of the Opposition does not seem to worry about renters. He was housing minister in a government that pulled out of housing. Now, he wants to raise the taxes on apartment construction, and he continues to delay debate on his own housing proposal because he knows it does not measure up.
We will not rest until we level the playing field for renters.
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- Apr/17/24 3:17:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Calgary Skyview for his continued advocacy and hard work.
We have put forward the most ambitious housing plan in generations. Our plan will help build more student housing on or by campus, link infrastructure dollars to housing conditions to ensure new apartments are built near public transit, make it easier to save up for a down payment and qualify for a mortgage.
While the leader opposite has no real plan, we are delivering for Canadians.
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- Feb/28/24 2:57:45 p.m.
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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.
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- Feb/14/24 3:08:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that cuts from the Conservative leader would not get more homes built. If he were really concerned about rents, he would line up behind us and support the removal of the GST on new apartment construction. That is something they actually voted against. We know that unlocking a greater supply of housing, including with purpose-built apartment buildings across the country, is a way of bringing down rents for people. That is a concrete solution we put forward that the Conservatives chose to vote against for political gain and for political reasons.
We are going to continue to be there to do the hard work of delivering for Canadians, while he relies on catchy slogans and misunderstanding of what it is he is choosing to cut.
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- Feb/13/24 2:30:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we will continue to listen to community organizations and municipal and provincial partners. We will continue to work hand in hand.
We have signed agreements to speed up housing construction with Quebec, Nunavut and cities across the country to make it possible to build over 500,000 houses. We have taken a series of measures to build over 600,000 apartments. We have taken measures to crack down on short-term rentals.
We are investing to fight homelessness and to help people in vulnerable positions. We still have work to do.
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- Feb/13/24 2:29:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I very much welcome the interest and the efforts of the New Democratic Party to support us in everything we are doing in delivering on housing.
We recently signed housing accelerator agreements with Quebec, Nunavut and cities across the country to unlock over 500,000 new homes. We introduced a suite of new measures to unlock the construction of over 600,000 new apartments. We cracked down on short-term rentals to unlock up to 30,000 more apartments. We introduced a mortgage charter.
We are continuing to step up on measures that counter homelessness, which is something that far too many Canadians are experiencing during these difficult times. We will keep being there for people.
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- Jan/31/24 2:31:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been there investing in housing across the country, including with hundreds of millions of dollars directly to the City of Toronto for investing in housing, housing affordability and fighting homelessness. We know there is lots to do, and we are going to keep doing it.
Whether it is signing housing accelerator agreements across the country, introducing a suite of new measures to unlock the construction of 600,000 new apartments, cracking down on short-term rentals to unlock even more apartments, or introducing a mortgage charter to protect homeowners from the stress of elevated interest rates, we are taking action.
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- Dec/13/23 3:12:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we recognize the challenges Canadians are facing, and on this side of the House, we have chosen to invest to support them: to create new affordable housing, to create new apartments.
As much as the Leader of the Opposition loves to rise in this House to talk about Canadians' suffering, he will not rise in this House to support solutions to Canadians' challenges. He rose in the House to vote against 71,000 new rental homes through the apartment construction loan program. He rose in this House to vote against 12,000 new affordable homes through the rapid housing initiative. He likes to instrumentalize Canadians. He will not solve for them.
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- Dec/13/23 3:07:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader has made his thinking clear by stating that the federal government should get out of the business of building affordable housing. However, we will not follow his irresponsible advice.
Perhaps that is why last week his party voted against funding to build 71,000 new apartments. It also voted against more than 15,000 new homes for our most vulnerable.
As the team showed last week, we will not allow the Conservatives' partisan games to undermine our efforts to provide housing for all.
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- Dec/13/23 2:37:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have shown a consistent willingness and desire to work with the provinces in areas of their jurisdiction, in co-operative ways, and we are going to continue to, including on the issue of rent control.
However, there is not just one way to approach the housing crisis; it is something we are doing on many fronts. It is not just the catalogue; indeed, we are building more apartments and co-ops by removing the GST on construction, and we are eliminating barriers to get more homes built faster by working directly with cities. We are helping Canadians save up for a home with the first home savings account.
I know there is more to do, and we are going to continue to work with all governments to take bold action to tackle housing affordability.
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- Nov/8/23 3:01:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. We know Canadians are worried about paying their rent, finding an apartment or buying a home. That is why we are working on housing affordability right across the country.
It is why we put forward the affordable housing and groceries act, which would help build more affordable apartments by cutting the GST on construction. Housing advocates and developers have described this move as a game-changer that will get more affordable housing built. It is why it is essential that all members work with us to move these important measures forward.
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- Oct/4/23 3:04:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in 2017, we moved forward with the national housing strategy, which was a direct response to the fact that, for 10 years, under the Conservatives, the federal government had removed itself from providing housing solutions for Canadians. Over the following years, around two million Canadians accessed new homes and new places to live because of the work of that national housing strategy, and we are continuing that work, working closely in partnership with municipalities and provinces, and doing things such as eliminating the GST on rental construction of new apartment buildings. These are things that would be accelerated if the Conservatives stopped blocking them in the House.
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- Oct/4/23 3:00:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have been there consistently to partner with municipalities and provinces where they have been willing to improve conditions for renters, to support the building of new apartment complexes and to ensure availability of more affordable housing.
There has been a lot of progress made, but there is more to do. That is why we were so pleased to see the Government of Ontario join in with us on eliminating the GST on the construction of new rental apartment buildings. These are things that are going to make a big difference, and we will continue to work with our partners, including the mayor of Toronto, to make sure we are protecting renters.
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- Oct/4/23 2:52:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, over the past few years, we have always been there to invest with Quebec in housing.
We will continue to do so because the federal government has a role to play to ensure that affordable apartments and homes are built across the country, including in Quebec. I know that the Minister of Housing is currently working in collaboration with his counterpart in Quebec on a plan that works for Quebec, which will allow more housing to be built more quickly.
Housing is the responsibility of every level of government. We encourage them to address this issue urgently and in partnership.
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- Sep/18/23 2:32:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the opposition leader's bickering will not help get houses built. Our plan does. The Minister of Housing wrote to the mayor of Calgary, offering to partner with the city if it made necessary changes for more affordable housing. Just this Saturday, the City of Calgary approved a plan for reducing zoning red tape and building housing by public transit. This is a step in the right direction. We know that together we can build more apartments for students to rent and more homes for families to grow in.
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