Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is denying the fact that we are the party in office that brought in the Canada housing benefit, a plan to support renters across the country that is currently helping tens of thousands of vulnerable renters. In addition to that, we have legislated an annual 1% tax on vacant non-Canadian residential real estate as well as a two-year ban on foreign investments in Canadia…
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Mr. Speaker, I know that the NDP loves to bring up provincial jurisdiction issues. However, we do believe that the Government of Canada has a role to support renters. That is why we introduced the Canada housing benefit. As far as building more rentals is concerned, we are the government that introduced the rental construction financing initiative, which is about building more rental supply in Can…
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Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the hon. member. We have gone from just over $2 billion in funding for Reaching Home, Canada's homelessness strategy, to almost $4 billion. That is a doubling of the funding going to over 5,000 different projects to help divert tens of thousands of Canadians from homelessness to permanent housing solutions, as well as transitional homes. We have also introduced the rap…
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Mr. speaker, it is really hard to take the party opposite seriously on housing. In their previous election platform, Conservatives did not even have the words “affordable housing” in their platform. Now they have released a so-called plan that does not have the word “homelessness”. There is no plan for women's housing. There is no plan for northern housing. There is no plan for rapid housing. Ther…
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Mr. Chair, most of the numbers the leader quoted were wrong. For someone who has voted against supports for renters, supports for home buyers, supports for building supplies and supports for the most vulnerable people in Canada, it is very rich to see all these questions coming from him as if he cares about this issue.
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Mr. Chair, it is hard to take the party opposite seriously on rent, when it voted against the Canada housing benefit, which delivers rental supports to Canadians.
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Mr. Chair, I did not interrupt the party opposite. I would appreciate it if the members did not interrupt me. I have the right to respond, as I have been asked a question, and it is becoming routine now. The fact of the matter is that when it comes to housing supply, he has voted against measures to increase housing supply. When it comes to housing affordability and the measures to help homebuyers…
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Mr. Chair, that is a very good question, and it points to the fundamental difference between this side of the House, our government, and the official opposition. The Conservatives do not believe that Canadians have a human right to a dignified place to call home, but we do, and the evidence is there: Whenever we bring investments to the floor of the House to invest in Canadians, they vote against …
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Mr. Chair, our population is growing because we have a robust immigration policy, but we also have a growing economy. The issues that the leader points to are issues associated with growth, with low unemployment numbers, high economic growth and high immigration. Skilled people are coming to Canada to help us grow our communities and our economy. If he is against that, he should come out and say t…
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Mr. Chair, the leader can ask all the questions he wants, but these are the facts. He does not believe in helping homebuyers. He does not believe in building more supply. He does not have a real plan on housing. He has a half-baked plan built on our real plan that was already in progress from 2017. That is the fact. We can have this debate. I am happy to compare our record to his, which is non-exi…
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Mr. Chair, can the hon. member tell us how he votes against the housing accelerator fund, but expects more housing supply, including rental—
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Mr. Chair, at least he should explain to Canadians why he votes against measures to increase supply. He has been in this House saying that he cares about more supply and getting rid of gatekeepers, but he is the biggest gatekeeper when it comes to actually investing in measures and investments to create more supply for Canadians. He should—
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Mr. Chair, we are actually doing something about that. We are investing in measures to increase housing supply, but the member has voted against that, so he should come out and explain to Canadians why he keeps doing that. If he cares about supply, why does he block investment in more supply?
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Mr. Chair, the member opposite and his party believe in doing less and in investing less in housing, and that somehow that will magically result in more housing being built in Canada. We believe the federal government has a leadership role to play in housing. They do not. That is the fundamental difference.
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Mr. Chair, this is an example of what can be done at the local level through investments in the national housing strategy. We were able to partner with local Legions in a number of communities, including Sault Ste. Marie, and with local indigenous governments and organizations to build deeply affordable housing, housing that not only rejuvenates local Legions, some of whose buildings are falling i…
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Mr. Chair, the hon. member points to a really important aspect of our national housing strategy: We are investing throughout the spectrum of housing to meet the needs of Canadians wherever they are in the housing spectrum. We have the rapid housing initiative, Reaching Home for those who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of experiencing homelessness, the national housing co-investment f…
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Mr. Chair, why did the Conservatives vote against supports for homebuyers?
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Mr. Chair, we do have a plan. It is called the housing accelerator fund, which is about building more supply and doubling the number of new homes built in Canada. What did they do when they had the chance to actually do something to help build more supply in Canada? They voted against it.
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Mr. Chair, here are the facts. He spouts numbers and he talks about housing affordability, but when it comes to—
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Mr. Chair, I do not interrupt the other side. It is interfering with my right to reply to the questions from the leader.
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Madam Chair, we are the party in government that legislated the right to housing.
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Mr. Chair, on this side of the House we believe in the right to housing, and they do not. The leader is two years behind schedule. We introduced the concept of combining infrastructure investments for housing two years prior. We introduced the housing accelerator fund, a program to do exactly what he is claiming he will do in the future, which is to connect infrastructure and also make sure that l…
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Mr. Chair, it is a regional number depending on what part of the country one lives in.
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Madam Chair, York Region is facing a supply shortage. We are investing in the housing accelerator fund and the hon. member voted against it. I wonder why.
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Mr. Chair, we are witnessing the biggest gatekeeper in this House. He has voted against every measure to build more supply, to support homebuyers and to build affordable housing. He talks about the gatekeepers and red tape. Why did he vote against the housing accelerator fund, a $4-billion program to do precisely what the leader just mentioned, which is to help municipalities increase their capaci…
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Mr. Chair, I am thankful to be invited to rise in the committee of the whole to speak to the main estimates for the CMHC, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, and to discuss the Government of Canada's priorities for housing, ongoing activities and our plans for the future to give more people a place to call home. Housing affordability is one of the most important issues to Canadians. Every…
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Mr. Chair, everyone deserves a place where they can raise their family, plan for the future and belong to a community. Unfortunately, families across the country are struggling with the rising cost of living, especially the rising cost of housing, both for homeowners and for renters. Housing is a basic human need. It is also an economic necessity. Our economy is built by people, and people need ho…
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Mr. Chair, does the hon. member believe that every Canadian has a right to housing? We do. Do the Conservatives?
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Mr. Chair, we are committed to building more rentals in this country. They did not have a plan. We put together the rental construction financing initiative, which is about building more rental supply right across the country.
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Mr. Chair, I really appreciate this question, because it gives me an opportunity to talk about the divisiveness of the leader of the official opposition in calling the mayors, the elected officials in this country, “woke”, and denigrating them and calling them “incompetent”. We need to work with local governments, we need to work with mayors and we need to work with municipalities to increase hous…
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Mr. Chair, I would really like to understand how building more rentals by investing less money makes sense on that side of the House.
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Mr. Chair, we know, in Canada, that one of the challenges we face is the lack of an adequate supply of housing. We have the fastest-growing population in the G7, but we have comparatively less housing supply. One of the keys to unlocking additional housing supply of all types, including affordable housing, but also all the way to home ownership, is to work with local governments of municipalities …
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Mr. Chair, that is absolutely correct. I found the mayor of Surrey, as well as the members of Parliament from the region of Surrey, to be very open to working with our government to meet the needs of all types of housing advocates in Surrey. Surrey has benefited greatly from the rapid housing initiative. While I was there to announce the third round of the rapid housing initiative in Surrey, I was…
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Mr. Chair, this is pretty rich coming from a party that has no housing plan.
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Mr. Speaker, we understand the importance of being there for vulnerable renters. That is why this government introduced the Canada housing benefit, a revolutionary measure that puts money directly in the pockets of renters and moves with them when they move from one unit to another. We topped up that Canada housing benefit with a top-up to the Canada housing benefit. We will be there for renters. …
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Mr. Speaker, we can tell, when the personal attacks are increasing, that it is proportional to the lack of ideas that actually help Canadians. When we look at housing supply, we are the party that has enabled more Canadians to access affordable housing, as well as to access the dream of Canadian home ownership through the first-time homebuyer tax-free savings account, a 1% tax on vacant, non-Canad…
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Mr. Chair, this is coming from a party that believes we should do less on housing and not more, and believes that somehow the problem will take care of itself.
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Mr. Chair, I believe and our government believes that we need more housing supply. They do not. They want to spend less, and they somehow expect more housing will be built in this country.
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Do I have the floor or not? I did not interrupt you. If you do not interrupt me—
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Mr. Speaker, we understand that more Canadians are facing challenges with respect to rental payments. Although the regulation and rent control issues are under provincial jurisdiction, we on this side of the House believe that we should do everything we can to have the backs of renters. That means building a more affordable rental supply over the life of the national housing strategy, putting mone…
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Mr. Chair, it would be interesting to know how the Conservatives plan to build more rentals with less money and less investment in housing.
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Mr. Chair, this is a program that delivers deeply affordable housing every day, right across the country. We are committed to continuing to invest in this program. In fact, we have brought $2.9 billion forward, from future years to this year.
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Mr. Chair, the federal government is determined to help Quebeckers find safe and affordable housing. Since 2015, we have invested more than $6.5 billion in Quebec to help more than 45,000 families and individuals secure the housing they needed. The bilateral agreement between the governments of Canada and Quebec will result in a combined investment of an additional $3.7 billion over 10 years to im…
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Mr. Chair, we have a plan. It is called the national housing strategy. One of its programs is the housing accelerator fund, which is about making systemic changes at the local level to build more housing.
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Mr. Chair, I agree with the hon. member that speculative investments in real estate are contributing to pushing housing prices higher. That is why we have legislated a number of measures that can deal with this, including an annual 1% tax on the value of vacant residential real estate that is not owned by Canadians or Canadian residents, as well as a two-year ban on foreign investment in Canadian …
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Mr. Chair, our whole national housing strategy is geared towards helping non-profits and those who are dedicated to increasing affordable housing, as the member has spoken about. They can get help from the federal government so they can build more affordable housing units for Canadians.
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Mr. Chair, what we are witnessing is someone who does not have a plan for housing and someone who does not have a plan to support renters.
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Mr. Chair, the average down payment on a home, again, depends on the region. Those are the numbers I have. I am happy to provide them.
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Mr. Chair, it is very rich having these types of questions coming from that side, when they believe the federal government should do less on housing, not more.
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Madam Chair, the federal government is determined to help Quebeckers find safe and affordable housing. Since 2015, we have invested more than $6.5 billion in Quebec to help more than 45,000 families and individuals secure the housing they needed. The bilateral agreement between the governments of Canada and Quebec will result in a combined investment of an additional $3.7 billion over 10 years to …
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