Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I also noticed that you are not giving me the same amount of time as the questioner to answer.
Read full speech →Government Orders
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—
Read full speech →Government Orders
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.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I just want to correct a few things that have been asserted by the hon. member. The Auditor General looked at the Reaching Home strategy and she looked at the performance of the Reaching Home strategy mainly during the pandemic. The Auditor General did not look at the entire national housing strategy program. I just want to clear that misconception. Secondly, the hon. member seems to do…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, we have. We have shown leadership and here is the proof. We have invested over half a billion dollars to continue doubling the annual funding for Reaching Home, which is Canada's homelessness strategy. We have gone from just over $2 billion to almost $4 billion in response to the urgent need on the ground. Our investments are paying off. We have prevented over 62,000 people from experie…
Read full speech →Government Orders
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.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I am proud to stand behind the national housing co-investment fund. It is a great program that supports non-profits, as well as municipalities, to invest in deeply affordable housing. We are committed to this program for years to come.
Read full speech →Government Orders
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.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Do I have the floor or not? I did not interrupt you. If you do not interrupt me—
Read full speech →Government Orders
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?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, it would be interesting to know how the Conservatives plan to build more rentals with less money and less investment in housing.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, we know that rents have gone up. We are doing everything we can to support renters. In terms the average rental rates, again, there is a regional breakdown. I am happy to provide those numbers.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, it is pretty rich seeing the leader of the official opposition ask me these questions when he has voted against measures to help Canadians access their dream of home ownership.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, we know there is a challenge with the rising costs of housing. That is why we have implemented a number of policies to enable Canadians to access their dream of home ownership.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I am happy to provide numbers. If the Leader of the Opposition wants to keep doing this for the next five hours, I am happy to do it.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I can give him the numbers. In Halifax, in 2022, the average was $541,790.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I have provided that information.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, it is an honour to stand here to debate my colleagues. We know that Canadians are facing challenges in accessing their dream of home ownership. We are doing everything we can to help them get there.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, average down payments are also regional in nature. That is my answer.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I am really perplexed by the logic of the hon. member. She says that our national housing strategy is not really doing anything on the ground. Contrary to that, I can report back to the hon. member that we have invested in either repairing or building 500,000 units; this has supported almost two million Canadian households. That is the impact the national housing strategy has had on thi…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, the average price of a home in Canada in 2022 was $703,000.
Read full speech →Government Orders
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.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, different prices can be seen in different parts of the country, so I would like the leader of the official opposition to recognize that fact.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I am proud of the fact that our government has issued new guidelines to help those who already have mortgages so they are not threatened with high interest rates and higher payments. We are doing what we can to help those who already hold mortgages, while, at the same time, helping first-time homebuyers by setting up the first- time homebuyers' savings account, which the hon. member vot…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, as I said, a number of factors lead to making housing more expensive and contribute to the challenges facing Canadians. One of them is financialization, but a second one is supply, and we are taking measures to deal with both.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, doubling Reaching Home from $2 billion to $4 billion is real money. Putting $1.5 billion in new money in co-ops is real housing money. Putting $4 billion on top of the $300 million for the dedicated urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy is real money. Bringing forward $2.9 billion in the national housing co-investment fund, so that we can deliver more deeply affordable h…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, why did the Conservatives vote against supports for homebuyers?
Read full speech →Government Orders
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.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I will take the party opposite's rhetoric on housing seriously when it actually produces a real plan on housing.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, we on this side of the House believe in the right to housing. They do not.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, we know that one of the solutions to higher housing prices is more supply. We brought in measures to create more supply. The Conservatives voted against it.
Read full speech →Government Orders
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 …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, one of the hon. members is heckling me about gatekeeping. His leader is the biggest gatekeeper in this Parliament. He has voted against every measure to help Canadian homeowners, to help the most vulnerable and to help build more supply. That is a fact.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, if they care about housing affordability, why did the Conservatives vote against the first-time homebuyer incentive?
Read full speech →Government Orders
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…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, does the hon. member believe that every Canadian has a right to housing? We do. Do the Conservatives?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, the hon. member should talk to members of her caucus, who believe we should do less on housing.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, can the hon. member tell us how he votes against the housing accelerator fund, but expects more housing supply, including rental—
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, we believe every Canadian has a human right to housing. We have legislated that right. They do not believe Canadians have a right to housing.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, if they had their way, that organization would not even get any federal funding, because when they were in office, they did not believe the federal government had any role in investing in affordable housing.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, it is a regional number depending on what part of the country one lives in.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, the hon. member should understand that federal leadership means trusting local authorities to make the decisions necessary, but also empowering them to add more supply to housing in Canada. Their approach is to attack local mayors, calling them names, denigrating them and calling them incompetent, while somehow hoping that is going to create more housing.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, we have been tying infrastructure to housing for the last two years. They just came around to that idea recently, and they announced their half-baked plan on the same day we launched the housing accelerator fund, which is about connecting community infrastructure and transit to more housing supply.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, voting against every measure we bring to this House to help young people access their dream of home ownership is not much of a plan either.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, if the Conservatives are serious about rental supports, why did they vote against the Canada housing benefit, which is delivering real supports to Canadian renters?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, that is the party that believes in cuts. We believe in federal leadership on housing.
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, the Conservatives have all the questions tonight, but they have no plan on housing, and they have no help for Canadians who actually need help with housing.
Read full speech →