- Member of Parliament
- Deputy House leader of the official opposition
- Conservative
- Mégantic—L'Érable
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 69%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $94,201.00
- Government Page
- Oct/20/23 11:24:32 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that her government is fiscally responsible.
After eight years of Liberal inflationary spending, Quebec's inflation is the worst in Canada. Young people are forced to live with their parents permanently because everything is too expensive. Interest rates are so high that the Liberals have robbed young people of their home ownership dreams. Over the past two years, mortgage interest has shot up by 41%. After eight years under the Liberals, rent costs have doubled.
When will the Liberals stop mortgaging the future of young people and let them achieve their dreams of home ownership?
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- Dec/9/21 5:23:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can continue in the same vein. I was the mayor of a municipality. When a government starts throwing a lot of money at something, whether it is housing, construction, or infrastructure, what happens? Prices skyrocket, and then, eventually, nothing more can be done.
The solution of this government, the solution of the Prime Minister and of the Minister of Finance, is to spend more money. We hear the Liberals say that they have spent more money than ever before. The result is that, in this country’s history, the dream of home ownership for people under 30 has slipped out of reach, since this government has been acting this way, thinking that money is the answer to everything.
What is needed is something more well-thought-out, more substantial, more adapted to the reality of today’s young families.
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- Dec/9/21 5:11:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague on her great speech.
I think it is important to remember why we are here today. The opposition believes it is extremely important to address this cost-of-living crisis. Everything costs more, especially housing.
My colleague from Edmonton Riverbend would agree with me, since he is the one who moved this very important motion for all Canadians.
I would like to take a moment to read it.
That, given that, (i) the government has failed to increase the housing supply in Canada, (ii) the government's $400 billion of new spending has produced a surge of inflationary pressure that has driven home prices more than 30% above pre-pandemic levels, the House call on the government to: (a) review and consolidate all federal real estate and properties in Canada in order to make at least 15% available for residential development; (b) ban foreign investors from purchasing Canadian real estate; and (c) commit to never introducing a capital gains tax on the sale of primary residences.
The motion is that simple.
I just received a message from my colleague from Lévis—Lotbinière that is hot off the press. It is a press release that was just issued by one of my colleagues, the finance critic, the member for Carleton.
The press release reads as follows: “JustinFlation is coming to a grocery store near you. Families will pay an extra $1,000 to feed themselves in 2022 as inflation balloons. Inflation hurts Canadians, and 80% say that the cost-of-living crisis is making their lives less affordable. Sixty per cent of families with children under the age of 18 are afraid that they will not have enough money to buy food. The report released today only makes the situation worse. The Prime Minister's inflation tax is eating into the paychecks of middle-class Canadians while the Liberals plan to spend even more, pouring inflationary gas on the fire. Government spending increases the cost of living. Spending more money to buy fewer goods results in price increases. Enough is enough.”
That is exactly what we are talking about today. There is a report that tells us the cost of living is going up, not just for housing, but across society, particularly when it comes to groceries. That is worrisome.
The last line in the press release is also worth reading. It says, “It is clear that the Conservatives are the only party looking to lower prices, fight the rising cost of food, and bring an end to just inflation”.
I thank my colleague from Lévis—Lotbinière for sending me this press release. I thought that it was important to share it with all of my colleagues in the House, because this is exactly what we are talking about. We are talking about the cost of living. We are talking about young families who are struggling to make ends meet and are stretching their budgets so that they can have a decent standard of living. We are talking today about how more and more young families across Canada are having a tough time realizing their dream of owning their own home.
The member for Durham, the leader of the Conservative Party and the official opposition, said that a poll released yesterday shows that half of Canadians under the age of 30 have given up on the dream of home ownership. Canada is a country of wide open spaces, with room for everyone, and everyone should be able to realize that dream. When half of all young people under 30 give up on the dream of one day owning a home, we certainly have a problem as a society.
To make things worse, this dream will become even less attainable in the coming days, weeks and years, because real estate prices continue to rise. Some say that prices could rise by over 9% again next year. Add to that an expected rise in interest rates, and the dream of home ownership for young Canadian families is becoming increasingly out of reach.
I looked for information to find a way to keep the dream alive for young families and to give them hope.
I have done a lot of research and analysis, and I have talked to all kinds of banks and financial services, but I do not see good news on the horizon under the Liberal government.
The National Bank of Canada released a major report on housing affordability by Kyle Dahms and Alexandra Ducharme. Here is what it says:
Housing affordability in Canada worsened by 1.7 points in Q3’21, marking a third consecutive deterioration since the beginning of the year. Over the last 12 months, affordability has worsened the most in a decade.
It would now take 46.5% of income for a representative household [of the average population] to service the mortgage on a representative home in Canada.
That is not necessarily good news. I have more like that. I did my research, and I tried to find some way to give back hope to young families under 30.
A survey conducted by the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec found that the scarcity of housing has led to an explosion in costs, which the government's figures do not reflect at all. We see the numbers, but the reality is even worse than what the numbers suggest. According to this study, which was released in June 2021, there is a 49% gap between what the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation studies say and the reality.
The average cost of a rental unit is $1,302 in the metropolitan Montreal census area, which is up 8% over last year. In Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières and Granby, the situation is untenable because prices have increased there too. The situation is difficult because there has been a jump of about 12% compared to last year in what people have to pay for housing.
Other cities in Quebec are also affected. Rents in Granby have increased by 15% compared to last year. Prices have jumped by 10% in the cities of Drummondville, Joliette, Saint-Hyacinthe and Victoriaville. In short, it is never-ending.
A recent December 8 article in Le Devoir indicates that the price of houses spiked by 21%. According to the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers, residential property sales in the Montreal area are down and the number of new listings has dropped. There are fewer sales, but the prices have spiked by more than 20% compared to last year, not compared to six years ago, but compared to last year. It is incredible. These people know that to be true because they are the ones selling the homes and making the transactions. They have to know what they are talking about.
The median price of buildings with two to five units increased by 15%. The median price of a single family home rose by 21% to $525,000, and the median price of a condo rose by 18% to $374,000.
I will keep going. I have more examples. Unfortunately, I have pages full of bad examples that will discourage Canadians and young families from finding the means to buy and own a home.
The motion being debated is clear and simple. It calls on the government to do something after six years of inaction. In my view, if the government is sincere about wanting to ensure that young families under the age of 30 can realize their dream of buying a home, it will do the only logical thing it can in the House. It will support the motion moved by my colleague from Edmonton Riverbend and vote with the opposition and the Bloc Québécois in favour of the motion.
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