Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, grocery prices continue to soar, and gas prices are hitting a record high. That means parents cannot afford to pay their bills and feed their kids, and they are terrified where the next paycheque will come from. The Liberals' answer to this is “Just cancel your $13-a-month Disney+ subscription.” That is how out of touch the Prime Minister truly is. Will the Prime Minister stop his inf…
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Mr. Speaker, a new poll is out that suggests one in five Canadians are out of money, due to inflation. This means parents cannot afford to feed their kids and pay their bills, and they are terrified about where their next paycheque will come from. The Prime Minister just keeps making it worse. Canadians cannot afford this costly coalition. Will the Prime Minister stop his inflationary spending and…
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Mr. Speaker, I cannot repeat in the House what my constituents have said about that guy. These families are in their darkest hour, and now even future Liberal leader Mark Carney has stated, “[I]t's not all imported inflation. In fact, most of it is now domestically generated inflation.” That is how out of touch the Prime Minister is. Therefore, will he stop his inflationary spending and stop raisi…
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Mr. Speaker, the winter months are coming across the country and Canadians are hesitating to turn on the heat. Why? Because they are already paying more for gas. They are already paying more for groceries, Now, thanks to the Prime Minister, they are paying more for home heating, in fact, in some cases, 300% more. Will the Prime Minister cancel his plans to triple the taxes on gas, groceries and ho…
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Mr. Speaker, under the Prime Minister, people cannot afford to heat, eat and live. Does he not realize almost half of Canadians are $200 away from insolvency? A recent report now indicates that families spend more on income taxes, at 43%, than they do on basic commodities, at 35.7%. That means that the young couple that emailed me from my riding, James and Debbie, cannot afford to put their little…
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Mr. Speaker, the price of everything has gone up, and now almost half of Canadians are $200 away from insolvency. Jennifer and Kristen are two moms in my riding who recently reached out to me to stress that they cannot afford to pay one dollar more. Will the Prime Minister cancel his plans to triple the taxes on gas, groceries and home heating?
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Mr. Speaker, what Canadians want is more money in their pockets. Canadians are actually choosing between affording housing and food. They are people like Michelle and Steven in my riding, who are struggling to put food on the table for their three kids. They do not want more government hand outs. They simply want to be able to afford to pay their bills and buy their groceries. In fact, one in five…
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Mr. Speaker, the price of food, gas and housing continues to go up, yet the government wants to brag about a one-time $500 rent cheque, which will almost certainly be vaporized by inflation, and we now know that on January 1 next year, the Liberals will increase paycheque taxes on anyone making $60,000 by over $1,000. Will the government cancel its planned paycheque tax increases?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to fraud or attempted fraud being committed against the government by individuals or entities that are employed by or provide goods or services to the government, since 2017, broken down by year and department or agency, and excluding tax fraud: (a) how many instances of fraud or attempted fraud occurred; (b) what is the total financial value of the fraud; (c) what is the breakdown of …
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, in just a few days, we are going to gather here on Parliament Hill in person for our fifth annual Father’s Day on Parliament Hill event. Our event has raised awareness and helps stimulate a conversation with some of the most important men in our lives ahead of this Sunday’s Father’s Day. It also presents an opportunity to discuss a topic that often gets ignored: men’s mental health. M…
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Mr. Speaker, my office has been inundated with emails from constituents feeling frustrated by passport delays. Now we are hearing countless stories about missed trips, extra costs and hour-long wait times. Passport Canada’s website still says that it only takes two weeks to process an application, but we know countless numbers of people who applied back in March who are still being told not to boo…
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Mr. Speaker, two years ago, Iran show down flight PS752. Many Iranian Canadians in my community continue to grieve. In the midst of their grief, the Iranian football federation has been invited to a friendly match in Vancouver. It is no secret the Iranian football federation has heavy political connections to the Iranian revolutionary guard. They are the same people who shot down this plane and ki…
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Mr. Speaker, 20 years ago, if people worked hard and saved some money, they would probably be able to afford a single-family home, but today so many young Canadians are being squeezed out of the housing market, barely able to afford rent, let alone a down payment. Not everyone has access to the bank of mom and dad. The Minister of Housing is failing young Canadians. Should they just simply give up…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the government's Black Entrepreneurship Program: (a) how much of the $265 million allocated to the program has been distributed to date; and (b) what are the details of all projects which have been funded through the program, including, for each, the (i) recipient, (ii) amount of federal contribution, (iii) project description, (iv) date of the announcement, (v) date the recipient a…
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Madam Speaker, this obviously has nothing to do with the debate. From someone who is absolutely pro-choice, who has two daughters and would fight, always, for their ability to have the right to choose—
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Mr. Speaker, I have an email. Rachel and her partner have been renting their apartment, but are now expecting a baby. Like most Canadians, they want a home that has a bit more space. The problem is they cannot afford a home and have been outbid on every attempt. In the latest budget it says, “Don't worry, here's $500”. Five hundred dollars barely covers two weeks' rent in most places. The minister…
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Madam Speaker, I am happy to rise in the House to speak to Bill C-11, an almost carbon copy of Bill C-10, which the Minister of Canadian Heritage himself, to his credit, admitted was deeply flawed. Let me start by first acknowledging the creators, artists, musicians and all those who work so hard to bring Canada’s arts and culture to the world. They undoubtedly deserve to be highlighted and given …
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to be in the chamber with my friend and colleague on the other side. I would point him back to what we are hearing from a lot of those within the creative sector. Darcy Michael, comedian and digital content creator, who came to committee just a few weeks ago, said, “Bill C-11 will directly affect my ability to earn an income. That aside, I'm also an ACTRA mem…
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Madam Speaker, I offer full disclosure: my dad was a film producer. I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, which did not have a thriving film industry at the time. My dad struggled to make a go of it by doing side jobs working with the government and doing local commercials. At the end of the day, I have seen the struggles that local creators go through, whether actors, producers or filmmakers. For Canad…
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Madam Speaker, there was an interesting article written by Andrew Coyne in The Globe and Mail. He said this bill would assign wide latitude to regulate the Internet: not only the big audio and visual services such as Spotify and Netflix, but any member of other services, from podcasts to audio books to news channels, and not only those based in Canada, but anywhere in the world. For sure, this sho…
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Mr. Speaker, in the last three years, the government's first-time homebuyers program has only approved 13,000 applications and the shared equity mortgage program has approved nine applications. The housing co-investment fund has been so poorly executed, organizations have stopped applying altogether. However, we are not to worry, as the minister and the Prime Minister have repeatedly said they are…
Read full speech →Statements By Members
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the University of Alberta announced a dedicated place of quiet reflection in memory of friends and family lost in the downing of Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752. As we reflect on the tragedy of this event, we are reminded of the profound effect it has had on the Edmonton Iranian family. I met personally with families of the victims, who were integral members of o…
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have had six years to fix the housing market. Instead, under their policies, house prices have doubled under their watch. Let us go back and take a look at some of their programs. The first-time homebuyers program failed; the shared equity mortgage program failed; the housing co-investment fund failed. With new programs announced in the budget, Canadians are asking how th…
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Mr. Speaker, “crushing”, “stunning” and “frenzy” are words the Royal Bank is using to describe the housing crisis in Canada. The Bank of Montreal is calling it a full-scale attack. Housing experts are calling the minister's programs absolute failures. When will the minister listen to the experts and stop blaming others for his failures?
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Mr. Speaker, this minister continues to be obsessed by speeches given by my colleagues on this side of the House, so let me offer him another quote. Last week, Mortgage Professionals Canada said, “The government's well-intended...First-Time Home Buyers...program...is simply failing”. It does not get clearer than that. Canadians do not want to co-own their home with the government, so when will the…
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Mr. Speaker, the Bank of Montreal is now saying there is a full-scale attack on Canadian home prices. Banks are raising interest rates and housing inventory is at an all-time low. The budget is next week and the average Canadian home price is a staggering $868,000. To the minister, how much of this budget will Canadians actually be able to afford?
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Mr. Speaker, Conservatives have started a housing task force. Does anyone want to know why? It is because the government continues to fail Canadians when it comes to the price of homes. Here is one example. When it comes to the first-time homebuyer program, the Liberals have changed the criteria three times in the last two years. Does anyone want another example? On the shared equity mortgage prog…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the environment minister released a new greenhouse gas emissions reduction plan, which is being called “insane” by some in Alberta. This new plan is a direct attack on the energy sector, on Alberta and on Canada. Even the far left-leaning opposition party from Alberta has called the Liberal-NDP government's emissions goals a fantasy. The energy policies introduced by the gov…
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Mr. Speaker, a few weeks back I alerted the House that the average home price in Canada had hit $720,000. Do members know what it is today? It is $868,000. I want to remind members what a house's price was when the Prime Minister came into office: $434,000. The Liberals officially did it. It took them six years, but they have doubled the average home price here in Canada. How can the minister cont…
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Mr. Speaker, all the programs the minister just spoke of fall under the CMHC. The CMHC is a government agency that, according to its website, is driven by one goal, housing affordability for all, yet newly revealed documents show that CMHC employees received $48 million in bonuses in the last year. The average home price went up 21% in the last year. How can the minister award the CMHC bonuses, wh…
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I could probably use a few tips from the member as I embark on this. The member has become a good friend. In the Canada-U.K. committee, he glossed over it, but under his leadership as the chair, we have actually been able to do some pretty neat things and have been able to bring a lot of us together to push for certain initiatives. He should take credit for a lot of that work. To the …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Madam Speaker, I will not be ceding any time back to that member. It is an honour to stand in this place. I do not believe I have to split my time, but perhaps somebody could confirm that. I will continue on. It is an honour to speak to the Speech from the Throne and to also spend some time sharing the election, sharing the number of volunteer hours and taking that opportunity to thank so many. I …
Read full speech →Speech from the Throne
Mr. Speaker, I was hoping that the hon. member would be joining me once again. I am looking forward to getting other members to also address it in the House and I am glad he will be supporting our event again this year. The member is right. This is something he is incredibly passionate about, and it is an honour to be able to call him a friend. We have been able to bridge a lot of those conversati…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the sale of federal properties since January 1, 2020: what are the details of each federal property sold, including the (i) province or territory, (ii) city, (iii) street address, (iv) type of listing (residential, office, etc.), (v) asking price, (vi) sale price, if different than the asking price, (vii) buyer, (viii) future use of the property, if known?
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Mr. Speaker, CMHC is a federal agency funded by the housing minister using taxpayer dollars. Recently, CMHC funded a study that determined the best course of action was to tax Canadian homeowners more. Why should Canadians be concerned about this? It is because the government continues to float the idea of adding more taxes on Canadian homeowners. On this side of the House, we are 100% against thi…
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With regard to the government's National Housing Strategy: (a) what is the total number of housing units that have resulted from the strategy, broken down by program, funding envelope, and project; and (b) for each project in (a), what is the status of their progress, broken down by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's approach for tracking and reporting on a project through its four diff…
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With regard to the government's National Housing Co-Investment Fund (NHCIF): (a) what is the total number and dollar value of housing projects resulting from the NCFI; and (b) for each project resulting from the NHCIF, what is (i) the status of their progress, broken down by the Canada and Mortgage Corporation's four tracking and reporting phases (conditional commitment, financial commitment, cons…
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With regard to both funding streams of the Rapid Housing Initiative (the Projects Stream and the Major Cities Stream): (a) what was the (i) total number of approved projects, (ii) total number of approved housing units, (iii) total dollar value of each housing project, (iv) dollar value of the federal contribution of each housing project, (v) dollar value of any other contributor of each housing p…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it gives me pleasure to stand here on the last opposition day of the year. It also gives me great pleasure to split my time with the hon. member for Saskatoon West. There is a housing crisis facing Canadians. Across the country, there are places where a couple with a dual income can simply no longer afford to live, where seniors cannot afford their monthly payments, and where universi…
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moved: That, given that, (i) the government has failed to increase the housing supply in Canada, (ii) the government's $400 billion of new spending has produced a surge of inflationary pressure that has driven home prices more than 30% above pre-pandemic levels, the House call on the government to: (a) review and consolidate all federal real estate and properties in Canada in order to make at leas…
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Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, I did not catch the majority of the member's speech. It was on mute in the back, so I apologize to the member, but I can probably guess some of the things he said, so let me start from there. He has had better days in this chamber. First of all, he tied himself to the Kathleen Wynne Liberals right off the bat. He brought up his failed tenure as mayor of Kingston and has…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I am absolutely certain that if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for the following motion: “That the House condemn the failed Liberal housing strategy, including its elections promise, found on page 13 of the platform, to impose a capital gains tax on the sale of primary residences.”
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Madam Speaker, I often watch House proceedings on TV or come into the chamber and I feel sorry for the member for Kingston and the Islands. Today again he tied himself directly to the Kathleen Wynne government. I would ask the Prime Minister to please throw him a bone and help him. He is sitting on the backbenches and continues to heckle. What I want to address is something that the member for Win…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague raises a very important point that is missing from any sort of policy plan that the government has right now and that is the rent-to-own piece. We heard a lot in my community, and I suspect the member's community, about how we get that market in ensuring more young Canadians can have home ownership. That is what we are trying to address in the motion today.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for also offering the government solutions. At the end of the day, it has been such a failure on that side that we are seeing the opposition members using days like today to offer these solutions to the government. To the particular amendment, I was in the member's riding recently and toured a wonderful affordable housing opportunity that is right there off the ra…
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Madam Speaker, the answer is 41 million hectares of land. Not only did the member listen to my speech and recognize that is a huge amount of land that the government should explore and where we could possibly build more homes, but he also indicated he was part of the problem before he even came here, being on municipal council. I think the member should probably look back at some of the decisions …
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Madam Chair, let us go back to where we started. We need 1.8 million more homes built. That is what the experts are saying. The Liberals' plan is committing to 100,000 more homes in four years, so 1.7 million more homes need to be created in the next 12 months. How does the minister plan to do that?
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Madam Chair, does the minister know the average home price in Canada today?
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Madam Chair, 1.8 million new homes are needed in this country. The 100,000 and 30,000 numbers he is talking about solve a symptom, but they do not solve the real problem. Housing supply is the lowest in the G7 and housing prices are the highest in the G7. There is a 5.2% drop in home builds and a 20% rise in house prices. Does the minister not see that his plan is not working?
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