- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- NDP
- Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $148,586.11
- Government Page
- Oct/6/23 11:17:23 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, in the face of increased global conflict and natural disasters, it is now more important than ever to ensure that the Canadian Armed Forces have the support they need to do the difficult and dangerous work we ask them to do on our behalf every day.
With this Liberal government now talking austerity and cuts, we need to make sure that serving members, their families and DND employees do not pay the price of pursuing cutbacks instead of fair taxes. Under the guise of updating Canada's military housing support, the government has already announced it will be taking $30 million out of the pockets of military families. This cut will hit particularly hard in communities like mine where rental prices continue to soar and there is a serious lack of on-base housing.
Cuts like this do not just damage the well-being of serving families, they compromise Canada's military operations. We already have a staffing crisis in the Canadian Forces with at least 10,000 vacant positions, and thus our military readiness is compromised. One thing Canada cannot afford is to make life harder for those who serve and for their families.
197 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to the member's speech. What I did not hear was any discussion of co-operative housing. I know that the member has co-ops in his riding, and they have made a great contribution to providing affordable housing for families. Does the member support a reinvestment in and reinvigoration of the co-operative housing movement in this country?
65 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/23 1:06:32 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, now I have heard the second Conservative speaker calling for some kind of capital gains exemption for real estate investors as a way of solving the housing problem. In the 1990s, we understood that the most vulnerable in Canada, such as young families, seniors and low-income people, needed alternatives to ownership to get secure housing.
I am going to ask the hon. member this again: Do any of the Conservatives support returning to a strong co-op movement in this country that provides people with security of housing, which they pay for themselves but which requires some public subsidy to get going?
105 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/23 12:51:29 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, my question to the hon. member has to do with the elephants in the room I talked about earlier.
We have some members of the House who tend to blame immigrants for the shortage of housing, when we know that we need workers and that the immigrants themselves suffer from the lack of housing. We also have people who are blaming councils. As a former councillor, I know most councils have worked hard to try to get new housing built.
Does the hon. member really believe that the private market will actually solve the affordable housing crisis in this country, when it has demonstrated that it would not?
110 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/13/23 11:25:13 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, in listening to this debate today, it seems like there is not just one elephant in the room, but a whole herd of elephants in the room.
Nobody really wants to talk about the fact that the private market will not produce affordable housing and affordable rental units. What we actually need, as I think everybody in this room is aware, is for alternatives for people that provide secure housing, through co-operative housing or other forms of non-profit housing. I wonder if the member would agree with me that this is the real elephant in the room that we are not talking about, which is the failure of the market system to produce affordable housing.
119 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/2/23 1:53:32 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I respect the compassion and understanding the hon. member for Chicoutimi—Le Fjord has shown for those constituents who are facing a housing crisis because of the affordability question.
What I do not really understand is when I look at the Conservative motion, it looks like a bonanza for developers. It talks about upzoning, where developers will benefit, and about selling off federal properties so developers can redevelop them. Where is the mention of affordable housing, which he talked about so eloquently in his speech? Where is that in this Conservative motion?
95 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/2/23 12:02:07 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we could pass all the laws we want in the world, here in the House of Commons. However, if we fail to address the crisis in addictions in this country, the mental health crisis and the housing crisis, then all those laws would make no difference at all in what happens at the community level. It would make no difference in how safe members of our communities actually are or how safe they feel. Therefore, the member is quite right that we do need to spend at least part of our time in this House making sure we are addressing those serious social, mental health and other housing problems. This is fundamental to getting society back on track and to having safe communities.
125 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/7/22 12:22:16 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Winnipeg North for his question on co-operatives. I am a big fan of co-operatives, and there are lots in my riding.
One thing I would like to see Canada Mortgage and Housing do right now is invest in the redevelopment and rebuilding of co-ops. Many of the co-ops in my riding are quite old, are quite low density and have only relatively large family-style units. People who want to stay in those co-operatives need that redevelopment. If we build some new one-bedroom units, they can stay in their communities. People have learned that co-ops provide housing security in the long term.
116 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
