SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Member of Parliament

Maxime Blanchette-Joncas

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • Bloc Québécois
  • Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques
  • Quebec
  • Voting Attendance: 68%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $115,154.34

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 119 - Oct/27/22
Mr. Maxime Blanchette-Joncas
  • Oct/27/22 1:30:33 p.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-31 
Mr. Speaker, back home in Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, the housing situation is serious. Rimouski is one of the towns in Quebec that has been hit especially hard by the housing crisis. The vacancy rate is 0.2%. People are being pushed into homelessness. They no longer have a roof over their head. It is extremely serious and I am very worried about it. I would say to my colleague that, back in the 1990s, the federal government disengaged from social or affordable housing, whatever he wants to call it. We know that the government even invents new words sometimes. It reinvents them or gets rid of them, but that is another story. The Bloc Québécois is calling for an investment of 1% of the total budget, which corresponds to $3 billion of the federal budget, to massively reinvest in social housing. What we are asking for above all is for the federal government to transfer the money to Quebec City to stop wasting time. This is going to take housing starts and new housing. Stop putting national standards—
190 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 107 - Oct/4/22
Mr. Maxime Blanchette-Joncas
  • Oct/4/22 11:54:49 a.m.
  • Watch
  • Re: Bill C-30 
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for her very good question. In my riding of Rimouski, the vacancy rate is 0.2%. It is unprecedented. It is historic, and it is serious. We are awaiting federal government programs, and I could name one, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s rapid housing initiative. The federal government announced $4 billion in the last budget, but so far no programs have been implemented. I completely agree with my colleague that the federal government started disinvesting in the 1990s and that we are feeling the consequences of that disinvestment today. As I said before, the vacancy rate is 0.2%. It is unbelievable, and it hinders regional development. We need to attract both new workers and students to the region. I hope that the government will release the funding and transfer the money to Quebec so that it can build new social housing units.
155 words
All Topics
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border