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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the enormously difficult situation that families are going through in having trouble affording a place to live. However, I will not accept criticisms from that member or the Conservative Party of Canada when they stand up while the cameras are on to make hay of this for a political reason. When they had the opportunity to stand up to vote on whether we should support init…
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Mr. Speaker, I understand the situation. That is exactly why we are investing in affordable housing in Sherbrooke. That is why we are investing a total of $900 million with our partners in the province of Quebec. It is very important to keep making investments. I cannot believe that the member and the Leader of the Opposition are opposed to investments in affordable housing. We absolutely have to …
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Mr. Speaker, when it comes to getting gatekeepers out of the way and reducing red tape, I will point the hon. member to the fact that we recently signed an agreement with the City of Moncton so it can change the way it allows homes to be built in that city. We are going to see thousands of new homes in the city, and now we are working with other cities across New Brunswick and rural communities as…
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Mr. Speaker, I am beginning to question how many of those views are the opposition leader going home at night to watch himself in the evening. The reality is, when it comes to which party has a plan to build more homes, it is clear that it is the government. We have a plan to cut the costs of building. We have a plan to invest in cities. We have a plan to invest in affordable housing. We will get …
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Mr. Speaker, it is hard to accept a question about checking my ego at the door when the opposition leader uses his space on the floor of the House of Commons to invite people to watch a video. I am curious how many of those views are actually the opposition leader—
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the members of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations for its advocacy. I used to be a member when I was in the student government at StFX University. I should say that, when we compare the policies of the Conservative Party to the policies the government is putting forward, it is clear that its policies will do more harm than good and raise the cost of living. We are p…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's argument falls apart when we come to understand that he ignores the good work that has been done since the national housing strategy was adopted in 2017. There are hundreds of thousands of homes that exist today that have been built or retrofitted as a direct result of government supports that have put them in place. When we actually look at what the hon. member's po…
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Mr. Speaker, it is fascinating. For him, it is about how many people are going to watch his Twitter videos. For me, it is about how many people are going to have a roof over their head. The right path forward is going to have Canada make investments in home building, not cuts to home builders. The right investment will reduce taxes on the construction of homes, not put taxes on them. The right pat…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a shame that the hon. member does not put as much energy into generating housing policies as he does to generating housing videos. The reality is that when I actually look at the measures he is putting forward, including in the video, they will result in fewer homes being constructed than we are already on pace to build. He plans to put the GST back on some home construction. He…
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Mr. Speaker, I am fond of the hon. member's soliloquies on biblical passages. I read scripture in church growing up, and if there is one lesson I took, it is that we all have a responsibility to help the vulnerable members of our community. The reality is that we have been investing since 2017 to put money in place for supporting people who do not have a roof over their head and for building more …
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Mr. Speaker, the irony, when I take criticism about photo ops from that member, is shocking, because he continues to use his opportunities to travel around the country on the government's dime to take pictures in front of projects that our government funded. The reality is that the fund he is talking about has secured agreements that will change the way cities are built, not just in Halifax but in…
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Mr. Speaker, I do not think any member of the House, of any party, takes any pleasure in seeing anyone in this country live on the street. It would be a shame if the hon. member were suggesting that is the case. When it comes to the supports that we are actually putting in place in the city of St. John's, which the member referenced in his question, I would point him to the recent exchange we had …
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Mr. Speaker, it is essential that we continue to make the investments and work with partners to keep our trade corridors open, including making the necessary investments to improve our country's national infrastructure that helps drive our local economy. With respect to the hon. member's very specific local concerns about the bridge he raised in his question, I would be happy to speak with him aft…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for joining me this morning to discuss the need to build more affordable housing with community housing providers, who are in Ottawa today. With respect, the crisis we are dealing with nationally is a result of 30 years of failure to invest in affordable housing. We changed that with the adoption of the national housing strategy in 2017 and continue to advance …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her concern and her continued support for people in need of housing urgently. I am pleased to share with her that there are existing programs that have money that continue to support the construction of new homes both in the market and for affordable housing for low-income families. What we have done in the fall economic statement is demonstrate our long-…
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Mr. Speaker, it is fascinating and clear that the hon. member has not read the document. He seems to have missed $15 billion in low-cost loans, which is going to get Canada building. He missed a $1-billion investment to keep affordable housing going. He missed the fact that we are cracking down on short-term rentals to release tens of thousands of homes to increase supply. When I look at their pla…
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Mr. Speaker, I disagree with my hon. colleague, and I would encourage him to read the entirety of the fall economic statement. There are a number of measures that take effect very quickly, some in the next number of weeks and some in the next number of months. He must be referring to our recapitalization, though, of certain programs that are actually helping get homes built now. We continue to hav…
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Mr. Speaker, I am sincerely thankful for the NDP's concern for the well-being of indigenous people across Canada and for the recognition of the need to continue to make the investments necessary to improve the housing situation impacting communities in every part of this country. The reality, though, is that we are making historic investments in affordable housing for Canadians generally, and spec…
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Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows, it is a pleasure to work with Quebec. I recently signed an agreement with Minister Duranceau, my counterpart in the Government of Quebec, that provides for funding of $900 million from the federal government and the same amount from the Quebec government. The agreement aims to build an additional 23,000 housing units. It is an opportunity for us to work toget…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member. Investments are necessary to address the housing crisis. On top of the new measures included in yesterday's document are other investments that our government has already announced. For example, we signed an agreement with the Province of Quebec to the tune of $1.8 billion just to support investments in affordable housing. We will continue making the investmen…
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Mr. Speaker, in order to address the national housing crisis, we are making the investments necessary to get Canada building again. I have good news for my colleague: It is working. When we look at the Statistics Canada report from yesterday, we see significant increases in the investments in residential construction. In fact, the heading of the section from the report is “Strong gains in resident…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it fascinating that there are accusations of using photo ops for political gain when the leader of the Conservative Party, when he was the minister, actually violated the election rules for a photo op when he showed up wearing a Conservative party logo when he was there on behalf of the government at that time. With respect to my hon. colleague, he has the facts wrong. Stats Ca…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect to my hon. colleague, she just does not have her numbers right. She is entitled to her own opinion but certainly not to her own facts. I will tell colleagues specifically what Stats Canada indicated. It is not some Liberal organization; it operates independently. It indicated this month that investment and residential building went up 7.3%, single-family home investment i…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect, we have a plan that is going to build more homes. It is going to restore a level of affordability in the market. Where we are cutting taxes on home builders, he wants to raise them. Where we are funding cities to increase their ambition on home building, he wants to cut. It is hard to accept criticism from a member of the House of Commons who, when he had the opportunity…
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Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to listen to this version of revisionist history of the hon. member's time as the minister responsible for housing. If we actually go back and look at the numbers, we would see that he actually had housing starts of fewer than 200,000 a year. This morning, we are seeing data that shows we are on pace to build more than 256,000 homes this year. If we want to compare a…
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Mr. Speaker, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Leader of the Opposition opposed spending that was supporting families. Now, during a national housing crisis, he opposes government investments that would actually get more homes built. When we have the opportunity to make generational investments that would gain a toehold in a new industry, he opposes it without vision for what the future economy co…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows that he and I will both wait for tomorrow to see the details of the fall economic statement. However, I want to signal my intent to continue to the pattern of investment in affordable housing in particular that is going to make sure that everyone in this country has a safe and affordable place to call home. Over the 30 years that preceded our time in government, …
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Mr. Speaker, it is an excellent question, if only it were based in fact. The member has claimed that in fact investment in housing has gone down. I read from the Stats Canada report issued just this morning that multi-unit construction rose 8.2% to $6.6 billion in September with all provinces reporting gains. Residential builds are up 7.3% to $12.9 billion. With respect to the housing accelerator …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the urgency with which she intends to address the housing crisis in Winnipeg. I am pleased to share that I most recently met with the mayor of Winnipeg just this morning. I have been engaging with the City of Winnipeg over the course of the last number of weeks and months in order to help facilitate the very reforms the council will be debating. We have p…
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Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member wants to do something to help with the housing crisis right now, he can talk to his leader and tell him to stop blocking the cut to the GST that is going to unlock hundreds of thousands of homes across this country. We are cutting taxes for home building. The Conservatives plan to raise them. We are putting money on the table to get more cities to change the way the…
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Mr. Speaker, I hate to delight in such a moment where the hon. member, in good faith, tries to pose a question but just does not have the facts. She has claimed that investment has plummeted literally on the day that Stats Canada has indicated that it has increased by 7.3%. When it comes to the strategy we are going to use to build more homes, we are going to change the math to make it work for bu…
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Mr. Speaker, with respect to the hon. member, she is saying that investments are down. In her province, Stats Canada indicated this morning that they are up 10.6%. The reality is that the numbers are continuing to increase because of the measures we are putting on the table. When we decided to eliminate GST, we saw announcements that are going to lead to 300,000 homes over the next decade. With re…
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Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member has concerns about the use of photo ops, I would suggest she discuss with her leader why he shows up at projects he had nothing to do with to take a photo and then uses homelessness as a political prop for his social media. The reality is that the member knows we have a plan to build more homes. It is to cut taxes and to put money on the table for homebuilding. Thos…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree wholeheartedly with my colleague about the Conservative leader's rhetoric about “Soviet-style” housing to describe co-operatives. It mirrors the same approach he took over the course of the summer when he labelled a Niagara woman's home a “shack”. Dismissing the living quarters of ordinary Canadians is entirely inappropriate. I further agree with the NDP member that we need to…
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Mr. Speaker, what I find fascinating is that I am unable to discern from the Conservative Party's rhetoric on this issue whether or not it supports our decision to invest in measures that are going to reduce pollution across Canada and put more money into the pockets of households by getting heat pumps to them. For awareness, this is the kind of measure that would save my neighbours thousands of d…
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Mr. Speaker, it is hard to imagine a political party more opposed to the interests of my region of Atlantic Canada than the federal Conservative Party. It is painting a measure that has a national application as only benefiting one region just weeks after it signalled that it will not support the development of offshore renewable energy in my region. We are moving forward with a policy that is goi…
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Mr. Speaker, when it comes to affordable housing, the Conservative Party could not be more out of touch. Referring to co-ops as “Soviet-style” housing is a slap in the face to the quarter-million Canadians who live in homes like that. This is not the first time I have heard the Conservative leader criticize middle-class Canadians' living arrangements. Just this past summer, on a live video, he lab…
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Mr. Speaker, we know that carbon pricing works. It both reduces emissions and puts more money in the pockets of middle-class families. We made a decision to attack a highly polluting source of fuel, home heating oil, in a different way so we could get rid of it faster. We are doing this by making a record investment in heat pump technology, which is not only going to reduce emissions at a househol…
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Mr. Speaker, the hon. member asked us to cure the problem. The problem we are trying to cure is pollution from home heating oil. By making the investments necessary, we can replace home heating oil furnaces with heat pumps. They are cleaner, they create jobs in our communities and they save thousands of dollars every year for families that live in my community and his. The member has described bef…
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Mr. Speaker, with great respect to my hon. colleague, I think he has missed the point of this program entirely. He is concerned that people will pay a higher price after the pause has ended and the price comes back into effect. If people install a heat pump, they will not pay it at all and that is the point. We are making the investments necessary so people can replace a more polluting system with…
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Mr. Speaker, it is possible to welcome newcomers and build housing at the same time. I have good news for my colleagues: We have reached an agreement with Quebec to build housing in Quebec. It is essential that we continue to embrace newcomers, as they are key to our economic growth. They are key to our health care system. We can build homes for Canadians at the same time, and that is precisely wh…
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Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely clear that when it comes to supporting the people in our home province of Nova Scotia, the solutions lie on this side of the House. I remember attending a ceremony in the member's riding when we shared details of a $300-million project that would be creating jobs at the Michelin plant in his riding. From the time I arrived in the House, we have been advancing measures…
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Mr. Speaker, one of the reasons we are dealing with such extraordinary housing challenges, including those that are impacting the country's most vulnerable, is that successive governments for decades made no effort to invest in affordable housing. For the entire decade the hon. member's party was in power, it did nothing to build housing for low-income Canadians. We have changed that over the last…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to share with the hon. member that as a result of the measures we put in place directly to support some of Canada's most vulnerable, we have prevented more than 120,000 Canadians from becoming homeless, and we have found permanent housing for almost 70,000 more who were experiencing homelessness. We know there is more to do. That is why we continue to make investments thr…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her concern for some of Canada's most vulnerable. I am happy to inform her that we have been working for a number of years to build more homes to support them. In fact, we have doubled funding to the Reaching Home program to support some of Canada's most vulnerable. We recently removed the GST on new apartments. We have seen thousands of new homes come onli…
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Mr. Speaker, while I am impressed that the Conservatives are finally talking about supporting some of Canada's most vulnerable, it is unfortunate that their record does not stand up to the scrutiny. I was in Kelowna yesterday to announce $31.5 million to build more homes in that community. The Conservatives plan to cut the fund that is actually putting that money into Kelowna. During the pandemic,…
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Mr. Speaker, when we have debates in this chamber around housing policy, it is really important. I thank the hon. member for her focus on continuing to support some of society's most vulnerable. We work with different populations who are struggling, including vulnerable newcomers, including women fleeing domestic violence, including other people who simply cannot find a place to stay. We have doub…
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Mr. Speaker, it seems the Conservatives understand the cost of everything, but the value of nothing. We continue to make the investments necessary to build homes for Canadians, which the Conservatives decry as inflationary spending. They oppose spending on affordable housing. They oppose investments that are going to change the way that cities build homes. When we cut taxes to make it cheaper to b…
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Mr. Speaker, it is hard to know where to start with the various pieces of misinformation baked into my colleague's question. With respect, she suggested that seniors need to have more homes, but her housing plan literally includes zero mention of seniors. She suggested that the housing accelerator fund has no money left in it. I would invite her to tune into an announcement that we will be making …
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Mr. Speaker, it has been fascinating to watch the Conservatives make misguided criticisms about the housing accelerator fund. They fear that it is actually going to create more homes for Canadians. They are rooting against homebuilding in this country for their political interests, rather than supporting policies that will put a roof over their neighbours' heads. Where the Conservatives promise to…
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