Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, there are two aspects to that question. One, of course, is that the Liberal government needs to take action and say no to wealthy investors, real estate investment trusts and corporate landlords continuing to sweep up affordable, low-cost apartments and then renovicting and displacing people. We need to say no to that and put a moratorium in place. The second piece in the member's que…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, then let me close with this. That is enough with the gamesmanship. Let us put people before partisan politics. Let us invest in people. Let us build the social housing. Let us stop the profiteering from housing and say no to investors who are renovicting people and then jacking up the rent. Let us have the government take responsibility. Housing is not an issue that can be passed off …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to enter into this debate around the issue of housing, housing affordability and, more to the point, the housing crisis that exists in Canada. From coast to coast to coast it does not matter what community someone is from, whether big or small, there is a housing crisis. Encampments are popping up pretty well everywhere. In my own riding we have the largest encampment i…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I, too, was at that committee and listened to both the representatives from CMHC, as well as various experts on the issue. One of the issues that shocked me was to hear the now former CEO of CMHC saying that the government's goal of ensuring that housing is a basic human right is aspirational. Of course, we also know that the government's own track record has been missing the mark in …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the member is not incorrect to say that the Conservatives' play is to disrupt this House. They do that all the time. I have been here for eight years, and I have seen them do this consistently. Nothing changes. This is the game they want to play. I want to ask the member about the housing crisis. The truth, of course, is that part of the problem with the housing crisis is that both Li…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is interesting. The Conservatives act as though they are the saviours of the housing crisis, but of course they are and were part of the problem that created the housing crisis. They cancelled the co-op housing program in 1992 and severely cut social housing funding. In fact, we just heard the leader of the Conservatives today talk about social housing and co-op housing as though i…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I was here for the speech by the Leader of the Opposition. He did not mention, at any point in time, that he was sharing his slot with anyone, so I seek—
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, Canada is faced with a housing crisis. The crisis did not happen overnight. In fact, it began 30 years ago. People cannot afford to buy or rent a home. Canadians are living in cars, and homeless encampments are popping up in communities big and small throughout the country. In Vancouver East, we have a permanent encampment. Earlier this month, the metro Vancouver homelessness count sh…
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Mr. Speaker, I will tell the leader of the Conservatives exactly what happened to those 800,000 units: The rent went up from $750 a month to over $2,000. That is what happened. That is where those 800,000 units went. That is how the Conservatives lost affordable rental apartments for people who needed them. In the bill the member put forward, there is zero mention of social housing or the need. Th…
Read full speech →Oral Question
Mr. Speaker, The Auditor General has reinforced findings from two Pollara reports of racist outcomes in Canada's immigration system. Regional disparities continue to create longer processing times for those in sub-Saharan Africa. Meanwhile, new AI tools discriminatingly double wait times for Haitian citizens. The Liberals said they would address regional disparities in 2016, but the Auditor Genera…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, humanity faces unprecedented danger from climate change and biodiversity loss, yet while the earth is on fire, government inaction is equivalent to pouring gasoline on the flames. This past summer, the CEO of Suncor made troubling remarks about the need to maximize profits in an industry that has seen record profits over the last two years. CEOs of big oil companies raked in billions …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the auditor issued a damning report about processing delays in immigration. The most vulnerable are made to wait the longest due to Liberal mismanagement. Offices in sub-Saharan Africa are chronically underfunded, and they have the highest volume. Applications are untouched for up to 20 months. The average wait time for refugees is now three years. People who are being persecuted do n…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the wisdom and knowledge she has brought to the House on this issue. Successive Liberal and Conservative governments have failed indigenous, Inuit and Métis people with their incremental approach to reconciliation. In fact, I still remember that the Conservatives under the Harper government said that the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls issue is…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, part of the legislation is a clause that justifies past discrimination and violations of human rights. It would allow for the government to have discriminated without impunity and underscores the sense of colonial entitlement. Does the member agree that the provisions of this legislation would prohibit first nations women from seeking compensation for historical harms? Is it justified…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, city of Toronto housing advocates have warned that unhoused people will die as the weather gets colder. Toronto's shelter system, the largest in Canada, is beyond capacity. Hundreds of people are being turned away every day, including refugees and asylum seekers. Successive Liberal and Conservative governments have walked away from housing and left the city scrambling to house people …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I have many constituents who are very worried about their loved ones. Some of them are Canadians who are in Gaza at the moment, and some of them have sponsored family members who have yet to make it to Canada. They are trying to find a way to get to safety. Many of them cannot access GAC services for evacuation. Others are simply looking for a pathway that could help them get to a corri…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, for the federal government to make available federal lands for the development of housing, first and foremost, we need to ensure there is a public return to the community. The Conservatives do not want to put any requirements in place, because they only want to line the pockets of their pals, the investors and developers. For the NDP, there has to be a return to the community. In th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there is no question that the urgency is real. This housing crisis is a chronic crisis. It has been more than 30 years since the government walked away from building social and co-op housing. To speak to the member's point, it can be done. We just need the political will to do so and for government to say that it will build social and co-op housing, with the models it used to use. W…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, where the NDP is at is this: Unlike the Conservatives, New Democrats are here to fight for the people and to get more for the people. We are not just here to talk about how great we are and then deliver nothing, having been part of a previous administration that cut housing programs for the people in need. We are creating affordability through different means, and that is why we fou…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise to enter into this debate. With respect to housing in Canada, as we all know, we are faced with an intense chronic housing crisis. In fact, I would argue that the Conservatives, when they were in government, were the ones who cancelled the co-op program, which is a proven model in Canada that provides safe, secure, affordable housing to community members. More t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are struggling to keep a roof over their heads, whether they are seniors being renovicted, people who are unhoused and in an encampment or young families dreaming of owning their own home. The Liberals claim that they want to see more affordable homes built faster, yet they have rejected offers of municipal land and provincial and territorial money from British Columbia and …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for calling out the Azerbaijani government on the outrageous humanitarian crisis happening right now. The Armenian National Committee of Canada has written to members of Parliament raising its concerns. Everyone is watching the situation very carefully. I am pleased that the member and my other colleague have written to the minister and brought this issu…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is interesting. The member actually mentioned the program for co-ops in budget 2022. As it stands right now, not one penny has rolled out of that budget measure. In fact, there is not even an agreement with the co-op sector to roll that money out. Aside from that, with respect to this bill, why did the government explicitly exclude co-ops from accessing the exemption for the GST in…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, what happened last Friday never should have happened. Turning now to another crisis, the last 30 years have demonstrated that successive Liberal and Conservative governments' market-driven approach to housing has failed Canadians. Housing serves as a social good. It should not just be treated as a commodity for greater profits. People need housing that they can afford, and waiving the…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, then the minister should commit to creating an acquisition fund. Let me say this: The Liberal plan is not working. The minister should know that relying on market forces will not solve the problem. That is what the Liberals and Conservatives have done for the last 30 years, and we can see where it got us. The average rent in Canada is now over $2,100 a month. In Vancouver, it is over …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Conservatives and Liberals caused the housing crisis by cancelling the national co-op and social housing program 30 years ago. Canada is now among the lowest of the G7 countries in social housing stock. Seniors, families and everyday Canadians need a home that they can afford. Under the Liberals' national housing strategy, it will take at least 125 years to build the community housing…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, as indicated by many in this House, we are faced with a climate crisis. In my community in British Columbia we are seeing forest fires. We are seeing catastrophe happening right before our eyes. We know that this has impacted the Atlantic provinces as well, so we are not spared, and this is the reality we are faced with. One of the questions I keep on wondering about is in terms of th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague, the member for Edmonton Griesbach, for his powerful speech. I think it was a difficult speech to make, but what we need in the House more than ever is for us to speak truth to power and to challenge each other to stand up, because what is at stake is Canadians' safety and Canada's sovereignty. To that end, my question is this. The Conservatives feel that …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, as we know, the issue of foreign interference is real and is happening here in Canada. Earlier it was exposed through CSIS that there has been significant foreign interference from China, even targeting members of this Parliament. The latest revelation from the Prime Minister about India is particularly disturbing. This situation is very serious. People in my community in Vancouver an…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, the minister is absolutely correct in indicating that multiculturalism and those of us who are immigrants helped build this country. We are equal partners in the sense that we make contributions while we also face challenges. We, of course, are living here on the lands of indigenous peoples, who have allowed us to be here as settlers. What is troubling me the most in this debate tonig…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I want to thank my leader, the leader of the NDP, for pointing out the work that needs to be done. I deeply appreciate the letter that has been sent to the commissioner to ensure the inquiry includes India. The Conservatives have been silent in this debate tonight. It is such a false pretense when they advance the notion that they believe in freedom and democracy everywhere, when they…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I want to thank my colleague for showing up at the one-year anniversary rally for the Iranian community. As we know, as parliamentarians, we use our words in this House to express our points of view, to bring forward the thoughts and visions of our communities and to advance the perspective of our communities in this Parliament. It is often said that words alone are not enough, and we…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to operating or subsidy agreements related to co-operative, social and community housing, broken down by year and province since 1993: (a) how many agreements have expired; and (b) how many units of co-operative, social and community housing have been lost as a result of the agreements expiring, broken down by type of unit, province and municipality?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC) insured mortgages, broken down by individual and corporate borrowers for each year since 2017, and by province: (a) how many mortgages have defaulted; (b) what was the value of the mortgages in (a); (c) how many times has CMHC had to repay a bank on behalf of the insured due to mortgage defaults; (d) how much have those defaults c…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's insured mortgages for multi-unit residential properties, broken down by year and by province since 2017: (a) how many mortgages have been insured for real estate investment trusts; and (b) how many mortgages have been insured for other corporate borrowers?
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, people fearing gender-based persecution are adversely affected by the safe third country agreement. Today, the Supreme Court of Canada stated that equality rights are just as important as every other human right. Even the government's lawyers argued that an urgent exemption for migrant women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ people in the safe third country agreement is needed. Will the Liberal…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, international students who were victims of unscrupulous immigration agents should not be punished. They have invested everything they have to study in Canada. They have contributed to the economic, cultural and social fabric of our community. Halting the deportation and removal orders is a good first step. The minister said that he is working on a long-term solution. However, what the…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I want to touch on the issue of fair wages and working conditions being essential. As we know, part of the challenge we face with child care is the inability to attract and retain child care workers, early childhood education workers, in the sector. What do we need to do, as government, to support early childhood education workers getting into the sector, and how do we retain them?
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, that is precisely it. Some parties in the House are filibustering debate. What we are talking about here is a motion to change the title, adding time to the debate so that we are taking away important time to deal with other issues. This is repeated ad nauseam, over and again, to the point where we have to move forward on things, for example, the budget bill, to ensure that people g…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, if I were the minister of housing, we would have taken action long ago. In fact, I would not have eliminated the national affordable housing program back in 1993, which caused the escalating problems of the housing crisis that we are faced with today. I cannot speak for the Liberals on why they would not take these measures. The only reason that I could guess at is that it is because …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that there is a housing crisis from coast to coast to coast. In my own riding, Vancouver East, we had one of the largest homeless encampments, and when the encampment came about, there was neither a plan nor housing available to put people in. Consequently we were just moving people from one homeless space to another homeless space, which does not solve the proble…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, people are struggling to pay their rent, buy groceries and afford their medication. I have met seniors who are taking their pills every other day or cutting them in half to make them last longer. Today, New Democrats introduced a plan to help Canadians afford their prescription drugs. The Liberals have been promising pharmacare for 25 years, without acting. People are counting on the …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I am happy to rise to enter into debate with respect to Bill S-8. People may ask what Bill S-8 would do. The bill would make changes to sanctions related to immigration enforcement by bringing the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act into line with the SEMA. It would make sanctioned individuals, including previously sanctioned individuals, inadmissible to Canada. Ukraine has also …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I thought the member's comment about the importance of treating housing as a basic human right was absolutely dead on. However, the government has allowed for the corporate sector especially to come in and treat housing as a commodity, renovicting people, kicking people out, jacking up rent to make a larger profit and displacing people. Should the federal government stop this practice…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as I mentioned, we need to actually get the proper sanction regime and one that is effective. Bill S-8 is a step in the right direction. Canada plays an important role, not just in the situation with Russia but for other countries as well, such as addressing, for example, Iran, the Iranian regime and the atrocious human rights violations. We need to bring those measures in place for…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to enter this debate about housing, although, like my Bloc colleagues, I got notice that this would be up about 10 minutes before I walked into the House. I am always happy to talk about housing. What are we talking about here today? We are talking about the accelerator fund as it relates to the national housing strategy. The Conservatives will have people believe that…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I am so glad the member asked the question. Dental care is absolutely essential, because it is part of our health care system. However, the NDP did not just ask for dental care; we absolutely asked for housing investments as well. The NDP is not in government, although I know people think we are. However, we are leveraging our power to push and to force the government to take action. …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, there is much work to be done. Of course, my colleague, the member for Edmonton Strathcona, is the foreign affairs critic. She has been doing this important work at committee. She intends to bring forward additional work through the committee. I hope that the motions she will be bringing forward, the ideas that she has proposed on the floor there, are followed up on and studies are …
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, there is no question that we need the federal government's leadership. The federal government used to develop social housing and co-op housing; it did so really well. We used to provide subsidies to ensure that rent was low. We would partner with the local governments, the provincial governments and the non-profit sector. That is what we need to get back to. Right now, the program tha…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, my phone is not near the microphone. On the issue around local governments making decisions with rezoning and the question around nimbyism, that is a real problem. I think local politicians just need to take a deep breath and say to those communities, as I did when I was a municipal councillor, we need this housing done. Any time we had social housing development come forward, I voted…
Read full speech →