SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Hon. Pierre Poilievre

  • Member of Parliament
  • Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada Leader of the Opposition
  • Conservative
  • Carleton
  • Ontario
  • Voting Attendance: 64%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $61,288.13

  • Government Page
  • May/29/24 2:42:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, housing costs have doubled since he became Prime Minister. They were half when I was housing minister. Housing costs have gone up 40% faster than wages, a bigger gap than in any other G7 country. Why is that? It is because the Prime Minister is building bureaucracy and not homes. Why will he not accept my common-sense plan to require municipalities to permit 15% more building, sell off 6,000 federal buildings to build homes and cut taxes so builders can build?
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  • May/22/24 3:06:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this Prime Minister and the Bloc Québécois, Canadians are exhausted. They are out of money, and some are going hungry. They need a vacation, but it costs too much. When the Prime Minister doubled the national debt, he inflated prices across the board. Interest rates also went up. That is why the common-sense Conservatives are suggesting that he suspend the taxes on gas and diesel to give Quebeckers a break. Will the Prime Minister have enough common sense to agree to this cost-cutting measure?
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  • May/22/24 2:48:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know that, after eight years, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing, which has doubled. Today, the Parliamentary Budget Officer released a damning report that showed that after the Prime Minister promised he would eliminate chronic homelessness, it has actually gone up 38%. The number of people living in unsheltered locations is up 88%. This is after he spent half a billion dollars on homelessness programs. If it costs half a billion dollars for him to drive up homelessness, how much would it cost to drive it down?
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  • May/8/24 2:52:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have already celebrated the fact that our programs would cost a lot less and accomplish a lot more. An apartment would cost $973 a month. Currently it costs nearly $2,000. Average monthly payments would be about 38% of the average paycheque. Currently they amount to nearly 64%. When will the Prime Minister realize that just because his programs are expensive it does not mean that they are good?
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  • May/8/24 2:51:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, now he is spending more to deliver fewer homes. It is certainly true that he is spending hundreds of millions of dollars, billions of dollars, tens of billions of dollars. He has a new number every year, a new program worth billions more. However, people do not live in the billions and millions of dollars. They live in apartments and houses that now cost twice as much as they did when he took office. Does the Prime Minister finally understand, after spending nine years creating the worst real estate crisis in the G7, that the more he spends, the more it costs?
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  • May/8/24 2:43:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have to do this all over again with him. The Parliamentary Budget Officer produced a report. I am going to read the title so he can google it right now. It is the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report on the distribution of costs and benefits under the carbon pricing program. He can look at page 3, where every single province that has the tax sees middle-class Canadians and 60% of families paying more in tax than they get back in benefits. Why will he not get to know the facts and axe the tax?
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  • May/8/24 2:29:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is more proof that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. He tells Canadians they have never had it so good. He doubled the debt, doubled housing costs and forced two million people to a food bank. He brags that he spent $87 billion on housing programs, and what did it get us? It got us the worst housing inflation of any country in the G7, the second worst out of nearly 40 OECD countries. Why does the Prime Minister always spend the most to achieve the worst?
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  • Apr/17/24 2:50:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, because of his centralizing ideology, this Prime Minister has declared that housing is a federal responsibility. That means the results are his responsibility. Montreal has seen a 200% increase in rental costs over the nine years this Prime Minister has been in power. He is not worth the cost. All his interfering in the jurisdictions of Quebec and the other provinces has only succeeded in inflating the cost of housing. Will he take personal responsibility and shoulder the blame for inflating the cost of housing?
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  • Apr/17/24 2:46:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it was solved when rent was $973 a month, until he came along, but this is more proof that he is not worth the cost after nine years. He is blaming the whole world. If the world were to blame for the housing problems in Canada, then why is it that housing here is 50% to 75% more expensive than in the United States? Why is it that housing costs have risen faster than in any other G7 country relative to incomes? Why is it that we have the fewest homes per capita, despite having the most land and the most lumber? Why is that? Is it him?
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  • Apr/16/24 2:20:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, his goal is to replace his boss. He is not the only one. He wants to fire this Prime Minister who is not worth the cost. After eight years, the results speak for themselves. He has doubled the cost of housing, inflated the price of food and has now doubled the national debt. The result: misery and exorbitant costs for Canadians. How would another $40 billion change the result now?
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  • Apr/15/24 2:25:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, more proof the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the cost is that he picked the most incompetent immigration minister in Canadian history and put him in charge of housing. This is the guy who lost track of a million people, who is blamed by his fellow cabinet colleagues for causing the housing crisis and who presides over the most expensive housing market in Canadian history. When I was minister, the average rent was $950, and we built hundreds of thousands of units at that affordable price, so why will he not learn from our smashing success in 2015 in keeping costs low, by axing the tax and building the homes?
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  • Apr/15/24 2:22:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we cannot see the value of homes and food that do not exist after eight years. The Liberals have a food program that, after eight years, has no food, and an affordable housing program that has doubled housing costs. They are not worth the cost, and now their deficits are driving up the interest obligations for the average family. For a family with a $500,000 mortgage, deficits are adding 10 grand in additional interest payments per year. When will they realize that, after eight years, this NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the cost?
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  • Mar/20/24 2:56:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost to our economy. Real per person GDP has grown more slowly in Canada than in all the rest of the G7. It is dead last. In fact, our per capita GDP is smaller than it was five years ago, which is the worst record since the Great Depression. The Parliamentary Budget Officer calculates that the carbon tax will blow an $18-billion hole in the size of our GDP, $1,000 in economic costs per family. If he really thinks that is worth the cost, why will we not have a carbon election to—
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  • Mar/20/24 2:39:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, he still will not answer the question. All the Liberal ministers came in with little cue cards a week ago with all these rebates on them. They were waving them around very proudly, and then we went to the Parliamentary Budget Officer and asked for the full price by province. We quoted that, for example, in Nova Scotia, it is $1,500 in costs to the average family according to the PBO. Again, that is $1,500 in costs. What is the rebate, the number?
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  • Mar/19/24 12:35:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, one can tell that Liberals are losing the carbon tax debate when they say that we all have to spend more time talking to the state-controlled media that covers for him. We know that one of the reasons why the Liberals helped Bell raise the cost of cellphone and other services is that Bell owns CTV, which reciprocates with wonderful Liberal propaganda. Our focus will be talking to real people, folks who are struggling to pay their bills after eight years of the Prime Minister, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, doubling housing costs and now quadrupling the carbon tax. Real Canadians know the cost. The Liberal media can do anything it wants to try to cover up the fact that this is a tax grab and it is a scam. We will go around the state-controlled media, directly to the Canadian people, and we will share our message that we will spike the hike and axe the tax.
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  • Feb/28/24 2:57:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister pretends he has not been in government for the last eight years. He acts like this is his first day on the job. The fact that he has to read off notes would suggest it is his first day on the job. The reality is that housing costs have doubled since he promised to lower them. Yes, he has created massive programs with wonderful new agreements and beautiful photo ops, where politicians pat each other on the backs and smile while they cut ribbons. The problem is that after eight years, nothing is getting built. Why will the Prime Minister not get out of the way and cut the bureaucracy so that we can build the homes?
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  • Feb/28/24 2:55:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our common-sense plan will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has doubled housing costs since he promised to bring them down. A National Bank report, out Thursday, revealed that in Victoria and Toronto, it now takes an astonishing 25 years for the average family to save for a down payment. In Vancouver, it would take 29 years. This is after he has created $80 billion of new housing spending that has been vaporized by bureaucracy. Will the Prime Minister finally follow our common-sense plan to cut the bureaucracy and build the homes?
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  • Feb/27/24 10:27:46 a.m.
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The NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the cost, the crime or the corruption. After eight years, his inflationary taxes and deficits have doubled the national debt, have driven inflation to 40-year highs and have driven two million people to food banks, a record-smashing number. After eight years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, work does not pay. People make it, and he takes it. After eight years of the Prime Minister, housing costs have doubled, mortgage payments have doubled, rent has doubled and down payments needed for an average home have doubled. After eight years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, we have crime, chaos, drugs and disorder. He is not worth the cost, the crime or the corruption. Nothing could be more emblematic of this waste than the arrive scam app, an app that was supposed to cost $80,000 but went up to at least $60 million. What did the NDP do when it found out that the Prime Minister needed more money for his app? It voted for that money. Even though it knew full well that the app was supposed to cost $80,000, it voted for at least $24 million additional dollars for an app that did not work. About 76% of the contractors did no actual work. The prime contractor got IT contracts even though it does no IT work, and it is headquartered in the basement of a cottage. That is part of a $21-billion boom in outsourcing by the government, a 100% increase in external consultants that costs $1,400 for every single Canadian family, which are federal taxes for consultants: $1,400. Today, we call for all the details on arrive scam to be released. The Auditor General says she does not know how much was spent. It was at least $60 million. That is why we want the government to be obliged by the House to release all the documents, all the costs and to tell the truth. We want to know everybody who got rich through this corruption and how much Canadians actually had to pay for. We are going to get rid of that app. We are going to cut back on outside consultants. We are going to cap spending, cut waste, and balance the budget to bring down inflation and interest rates, because our common-sense priorities are to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. It is common sense. Let us bring it home.
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  • Feb/27/24 10:20:27 a.m.
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moved: That, given that, (i) the Auditor General's ArriveCAN audit determined that the app cost taxpayers at least $60-million, but concluded it is "impossible to determine the actual cost of the application", (ii) the Procurement Ombud found that in 76% of ArriveCAN contracts, some or all of the contractors' proposed resources, such as subcontractors and employees, did not perform any work, (iii) GC Strategies, an IT company that does no actual IT work, was paid nearly $20-million in relation to the ArriveCAN app, the House: (a) call on the Prime Minister to table in the House of Commons, no later than Monday, March 18, 2024, a report which details the complete direct and associated costs concerning the ArriveCAN app incurred to date, including the total amounts paid to contractors and subcontractors, broken down by contractor or subcontractor, and the value of staff time represented by the salary, bonuses and other expenses paid to all public servants who worked on the app, in relation to all expenses respecting, (i) research and development of the app, (ii) management and storage of the data collected by the app, (iii) software development, testing and maintenance, (iv) training for government employees for using and troubleshooting the app, (v) call centres used for the app, (vi) ArriveCAN-related communications with travellers by e-mail or text message, (vii) market and opinion research, (viii) advertising, (ix) public relations, (x) merchandise, gifts and promotional material, (xi) processing of security clearances, (xii) travellers' expenses after being wrongfully directed by the ArriveCAN app to quarantine, (xiii) the services of legal counsel involved in contract negotiation, litigation arising from procurement or the use and implementation of the app, and the numerous investigations conducted related to the app, (xiv) any other costs related to the ArriveCAN app; and (b) call on the government to collect and recoup all funds paid to ArriveCAN contractors and subcontractors which did no work on the ArriveCAN app, within 100 days of this motion being adopted, and for the Prime Minister to table a report in the House demonstrating that taxpayer funds have been repaid. He said: Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles. After eight years, this Prime Minister and the costly coalition with the Bloc Québécois are not worth the cost or the corruption. After eight years, everything costs more. This government's inflationary taxes and deficits are driving up the price of essentials so much that two million people a month depend on food banks. That number is incredible; it is unprecedented. After eight years of this Prime Minister, work does not pay. People make it, he takes it. After eight years of this Prime Minister, housing costs have doubled. They have even tripled in Montreal, the city the Prime Minister represents in the House of Commons. When the federal government prints money, causing widespread inflation, and funds local bureaucracies to prevent construction, adding to demand while squeezing supply, that causes a crisis. For the first time in Canadian history, young people cannot even dream of being able to buy a home. It now takes 25 years to save up enough money for a down payment in Toronto. Before this Prime Minister, people could pay off their entire mortgage in 25 years. After eight years of this Prime Minister, with the Bloc's support, people are living in tents in almost every major city in this country. Homeless people are trying to survive in tent cities and on the streets. We have not seen this kind of thing since the Great Depression. What is the Bloc Québécois doing? Bloc members vote for every single one of this Prime Minister's economic policies. They voted to raise the tax on gas by 17¢ a litre over the next few years. They voted in favour of all the government's spending. The Bloc Québécois gave the green light to all of the estimates, where discretionary money is allocated by the House of Commons. It is also interesting to note that, generally speaking, those expenditures are centralized. The money is spent in Ottawa, by Ottawa, for Ottawa and is not part of the transfers to the provinces that are already established in legislation. We are not talking about health care spending or other transfers to the Quebec government. We are talking about operational and discretionary spending imposed by this out-of-control Prime Minister, which has led to a doubling of the national debt, the worst inflation in 40 years and massive waste. Consider the ArriveCAN app, or arrive scam, as we call it. It should have cost $80,000. When the Prime Minister came to the House of Commons asking for tens of millions of dollars, we wondered what was happening. We had been told it would cost $80,000. Now the Prime Minister wanted another $24 million. It was bizarre. Naturally, we voted against it. However, the Bloc Québécois said no problem, it was just another $24 million, and they voted in favour. When the scandal was exposed by the Auditor General of Canada following the Conservative motion I moved in the House over a year ago, the Bloc Québécois members suddenly announced that they were outraged by the waste they had voted for. A journalist asked them why they had voted in favour of spending an extra $24 million on an app that should have cost $80,000. I will quote the Bloc Québécois whip. What he said is truly astounding: “We're not going to scrutinize everything the government spends. We're just going to tell the government, ‘Go ahead, spend the money’.” What is the point of the Bloc? Its only purpose is to encourage the government to take Quebeckers' money, spend it as it sees fit and waste it, while single mothers in Chambly, Saguenay and Trois‑Rivières struggle just to feed their kids. They have to pay taxes for this waste because the Bloc supports the government's spending. That is why the common-sense Conservative Party is demanding all the details on this spending. The Auditor General said she could not even say how much was spent on arrive scam. She said it was at least $60 million, but there are documents missing. We must get hold of all these documents, which is why we are moving a motion in the House today demanding that the government produce all the documents associated with arrive scam, so we can see all the costs and the extent of the corruption. Seventy-six percent of contractors did no work at all. One company with four employees that is headquartered in the basement of a cottage received $250 million. It does no actual IT work, but it received IT contracts. We need to know the truth. The government is spending $21 billion on outside contractors. We are going to do away with that to save money and redistribute it to Canadians through lower taxes. Our priorities are as follows: We are going to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. These are the Conservative Party's common-sense priorities, and we intend to keep our promises to everyone.
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  • Feb/15/24 2:23:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, speaking of partisanship, yesterday the Minister of Housing unleashed a vicious attack on himself. He said the Liberal government is presiding over what he called a “generational, moral failure”, because so many people cannot find a place to live. There are a record number of 30 different homeless encampments in Halifax alone, his home province, after his Prime Minister doubled housing costs. Given that they admit they have caused this moral failure, will they reverse the policies that caused it and start building homes instead of bureaucracy?
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