Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague knows very well that the program he is referring to puts a price on pollution and puts more money in the pockets of Canadian families. He is now proposing to take it away so he can make pollution free again. On the issue of affordability for seniors, I agree that seniors need help. That is why we raised old age security for people over 75. That is why we restored the…
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Mr. Speaker, it is fascinating that the hon. member would ask a question about seniors trying to find a place that they can afford, when her party put forward a housing plan that mentions seniors precisely zero times. Over the course of my time in the chamber, I have seen the Conservatives oppose taking the age of retirement from 67 back to 65. I have seen them oppose increases to the guaranteed i…
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Mr. Speaker, part of the reason it is difficult to find affordable housing in the country is because, for 30 years, federal governments failed to make the investments necessary, including the previous Conservative government. When the Conservatives were last in power, the country lost 800,000 homes that were on the market at affordable prices. We are going to continue to make the investments neces…
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Mr. Speaker, when I hear the Conservatives make arguments that we should be spending less in the context of housing, I would point out to them that it takes investments to build the housing necessary to put a roof over the heads of the same Canadians whom she seems concerned about. In this regard, we are cutting the tax on new apartment construction in the country. The Conservatives want to put it…
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Mr. Speaker, if the member wants to talk about housing program delivery, when he was the minister, he had $300 million go toward building only 99 homes over years. We are continuing to roll out programs that are literally changing the ways that cities build homes. We have helped build or repair nearly half a million homes through the national housing strategy, which his party voted against. He is …
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Mr. Speaker, it is important that people understand that the hon. member's plan to have more homes built seems to be to cut funding to build homes. I was in Brampton last week, where we announced $114 million to help Brampton build more than 24,000 homes over the next decade. He plans to cut that. When it comes to getting more homes built, we are removing the GST on new apartments in this country.…
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Mr. Speaker, I sincerely thank my hon. colleague for her concern regarding the need to invest in affordable housing and homelessness prevention. I would remind her that we had the opportunity not only to make an initial multi-billion dollar investment to address homelessness in Canada, but also to then double it. Shamefully, certain parties in this chamber voted against that measure. This builds o…
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Mr. Speaker, it is fascinating. I was with the head of the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia just a couple of weeks ago when we were announcing a $79-million investment in Halifax that is going to build more homes in that city. It happened to be on the location of an affordable housing project that only exists because it was funded through the federal government's national housing stra…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for hosting me and the Prime Minister last week, when we announced an investment of $114 million, alongside Mayor Patrick Brown, for the city of Brampton. This investment is importantly going to fast-track the construction of more than 3,100 homes over the next three years and more than 24,000 homes over the next decade. By working with municipal coun…
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Mr. Speaker, I assure members that I am not making this up. The member is talking about a lack of affordable housing in her community. We are literally discussing an affordable housing project funded by our government in Peterborough, and she voted against that particular policy. She says she is going to continue to vote against these kinds of policies, which are literally putting a roof over the …
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Mr. Speaker, let me take this opportunity to thank my hon. colleague for his advocacy as the chair of our housing caucus for policies that will help change the way cities in this country build homes. What is more, my hon. colleague made an announcement last week on behalf of the federal government that we will be announcing more than $93 million in his city. That is going to lead, over the next th…
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to share with my hon. colleague that I recently had a chance to sit down with the mayor of the township of Langley to discuss their application to the housing accelerator fund, which that member and her party are promising to get rid of. We want to be there for the cities to help the very kind of people she is asking about in her question, who she promises to cut the supp…
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Mr. Speaker, it is fair to ask a question of the Conservatives. When they talk about inflationary spending, are they talking about the programs they are actually going to cut, which are supporting people right now? Let us look at the measures that they are going to cut, that they have already voted against. The question was about homelessness. When we put $1.3 billion on the table, the Conservativ…
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Mr. Speaker, it is confusing to me that the hon. member would pose such a question when he has a plan that is actually going to increase the cost of building homes and increase the cost to Canadians for living in them. His plan literally is to add taxes to home building and to cut funding that will build more homes for Canadians. Over the course of our time in the House over the last number of yea…
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Mr. Speaker, I would point out that over the course of the past week, the member attended the opening of a new affordable housing project that we funded in her own community, taking credit for a program that she in fact voted against. The reality is that when it comes to housing, we have a plan to change the math so that it works for builders. We have a plan to change the way cities build homes. W…
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Mr. Speaker, before I begin, I would like to inform the House that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Sydney—Victoria. It is a pleasure to rise to speak in the debate on Bill C-49. This is an important issue for my region. It is an important issue for me. Two of the main reasons that I decided to seek public office in the first instance was that I care deeply about creating jobs in…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her concern for people living with disabilities. One of the things that we know well is that when we invest in public transit, it helps people move throughout their communities, disproportionately benefiting low-income families, people living with disabilities and seniors. That is why we made historic investments through the investing in Canada infrastruc…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be the first to acknowledge that we need to do more to continue to support low-income families who are struggling with the rising cost of living. However, if the hon. member is asking questions about families who are having challenges trying to heat their homes, why did he describe our program that is helping cover the cost of heat pumps to get people off home-heating oil as so…
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Mr. Speaker, the people of Central Nova are benefiting from a middle-class tax cut we put in place back in 2015. They are benefiting from a Canada child benefit, which delivers thousands of dollars every year to families who are struggling with the cost of raising kids. They are benefiting from a new Canada dental benefit. They are benefiting from new measures that are going to build more houses. …
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Mr. Speaker, over the course of the past eight years, we have had a number of opportunities to see where the Conservative Party stands when it comes to supporting measures that are actually going to fight climate change and create good jobs in our region. Time after time, they oppose reasonable measures that are going to reduce pollution and prevent the kinds of severe weather events that my commu…
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Mr. Speaker, I respect the hon. member and very much appreciate her question, because I think it is important. I sometimes experience some frustration when I hear members of this House speak publicly to school children and say that carbon pollution is just food for plants. When I hear them dismiss once-in-a-century severe weather events, which now seem to happen on an annual basis, as things that …
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Mr. Speaker, it is very important to implement measures that will lead to more housing in every province. Thankfully, I was able to engage with the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, both in my capacity as immigration minister and now in my capacity as the Minister of Housing, to help them reverse the population decline they were experiencing up until just last year. We helped them do that by …
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Mr. Speaker, while the hon. member resorts to personal attacks against me, I am going to remain focused on creating jobs for the people who live in our communities. With respect, we have supported a number of projects that are pushing tidal energy in our province. As he starts to wave a kleenex because he is so upset about the answer I am providing to him, I will point out that while he claims to …
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Mr. Speaker, I congratulate sincerely the hon. member on his election to the House. When I listened to his description of the Conservatives' housing plan, it was clear that he has been reading a different document than I have. When I reviewed their plan, it was the most bizarre series of suggestions. It would literally raise taxes on home builders and cut funding for homebuilding. If the member is…
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Mr. Speaker, as the member is well aware, I am in discussion with Minister Duranceau. I am working with the Province of Quebec to reach an agreement to ensure that federal funds are used to build housing. We agree with the Province of Quebec that this is a priority, and I will continue my work. It is important that, when we are entrusted with the responsibility of investing hundreds of millions of…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree entirely with the need my hon. colleague has flagged, which is to build more affordable housing. I agree that we should be using federally owned land to achieve that outcome. I agree that we should continue to make the investments under the national housing strategy, which is now responsible for the construction or repair of nearly half a million homes across this country. I w…
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Mr. Speaker, I find it curious that my hon. colleague is standing up only now to defend the interests of low-income families that might need the services that food banks provide, when his party, over the course of my time in the chamber, has consistently voted against the measures that would make life more affordable for them. I look back to when we first formed government. We raised taxes on the …
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in this House to debate Bill C-56. Perhaps I will start with my conclusion: I intend to support the bill, and I encourage all members in this House to do the same. Bill C-56 is about making life more affordable. It is the affordable housing and groceries act, and of course, given the nature of my position as the Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Commun…
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Madam Speaker, before I begin, I would like to thank my colleague for giving me the opportunity to discuss this very important issue and to practise my French. When I started my work on the Standing Committee on Finance, I did not speak French, but the member was supportive of my efforts. I do not know the details of the situation in Joliette, but I will make an effort for my colleague. We can alw…
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Madam Speaker, regarding the concern around students who have inadequate or no housing options, I think we have to recognize that everyone should be advocating for more support for people who have inadequate housing options, students or otherwise. I am very proud that the government has doubled the investments in the Reaching Home program to address homelessness, and that we are going to continue …
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Mr. Speaker, I have 75,000 masters who live in northern Nova Scotia. They are telling me that they want the government to come up with a plan that is going to reduce emissions, so we can protect the environment for future generations. They are telling me that they want me to stand up and support Bill C-49, which is actually going to establish an offshore energy industry in the province where we ha…
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Mr. Speaker, let me begin by offering my congratulations and all the success in your new role. With respect to the hon. member's question, I will not diminish the very serious challenges that families are facing across this country. In order to address Canada's national housing crisis, we are taking a number of different measures. We are investing in affordable housing in a way that no government …
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Mr. Speaker, it is telling in the member's question that no ideas on how we can build more homes have been introduced by the Conservatives. With respect, we are moving forward with a plan that is cutting taxes for home builders. We are moving forward to increase the amount of money that we are going to contribute to help cities change the way that they build homes.
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Mr. Speaker, with great respect, my hon. colleague deeply mischaracterizes both the nature of the plan and the impact that it is going to have. He is clearly only reading one sub-bullet when he is looking to the measures that will build 5,000 homes. I would point him to the estimates that the cut on GST for apartment construction in this country would have, showing that we expect to see up to 300,…
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Mr. Speaker, as I hear members opposite yell, “We put a bill forward”, let us dig in on what it actually includes: A plan to raise taxes on home builders and cut funding for homebuilding. That will not lead to more homes getting built. We have a plan to address the housing crisis. I hope the Conservatives join us.
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Mr. Speaker, with respect, the hon. member began his question by talking about some of the housing challenges, which are very real. Why is he supporting a plan that is going to raise taxes on home builders and cut funding for homebuilding? When it comes to the environment, I am curious about why he has yet to put forward a plan that will actually do anything meaningful to reduce emissions. I am cu…
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Mr. Speaker, it is fascinating that, when we make a point that stings, all the Conservatives have left to do is yell. The reality is that the plan they have put forward is not worth the paper it is written on. Their plan is to cut the funding to build homes and raise taxes on the people who will build them. It will not work. We are going to put forward measures that would change the financial equa…
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Mr. Speaker, I find the hon. member's newfound interest in building more homes for Canadians fascinating when he has a history of voting against measures that would build more homes for Canadians. I would point out to the hon. member that officials at the finance committee yesterday confirmed the Conservative proposal would build fewer homes than the measures we have introduced already. Why is his…
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Mr. Speaker, in typical Conservative fashion, the member is ignoring the homes that we have built over the last number of years for low-income people. The reality is that, when I look at the plans the—
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Mr. Speaker, I have to point out that it is unacceptable that the member repeats talking points from a recent $45,000 junket he joined, where he enjoyed porterhouse steaks and chateaubriand, and where they ordered 10 bottles of $600 wine and champagne. We are going to put forward measures that would protect the environment and put more money in the pockets of families. What the Conservatives are p…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague wants to take money from his constituents so he can make it free to pollute. This should come as no surprise because the Conservatives, over the course of my time in this chamber, have wanted to cut or vote against programs that support ordinary people all the time. They want to take dental benefits away from children. They want to cancel investments in child care. T…
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague has asked when the Liberal government is going to start investing in housing for low-income families. “Right after we formed government in 2015” is the answer to her question. We have been putting forward a national housing strategy, backed by $82 billion in investment, that is providing thousands upon thousands of homes for low-income families. However, I would poin…
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Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member is concerned about making sure Canadians have a roof over their heads, I find it curious that he seems to be supporting a plan that has been described as being so unaware of the scale or urgency of the housing crisis that it has come up with measures such as a snitch line to rat out neighbours. He has put forward measures that are actually going to result in raising…
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Mr. Speaker, as members well know, we are in discussions with Quebec to reach a new agreement, to support their efforts to build housing throughout the province. My counterpart and I are having conversations to establish our shared priority. In fact, the member can rest assured that I am the minister who intends to reach an agreement between Canada and Quebec. It is good for Quebec and it is good …
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague on the need to continue to invest in affordable housing, including in the city of Halifax, including in my home province of Nova Scotia. I would point out to the hon. member that right now, as we speak, the city council in Halifax is actually debating a motion to change the way that they permit homes to be built. As a result of the housing accelerator fu…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her advocacy for non-market housing. We need to continue to do more. We know that although the recent measure to remove the GST from apartment construction is going to have an enormous impact, it is not enough on its own. We are going to continue to make investments in low-cost financing to build more homes that ordinary people can actually afford. We hav…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member opposite that building market housing is not enough, but we must also increase the supply of market housing in the market. We need to encourage the construction of homes for low-income Canadians and for middle-class Canadians. As we move forward with a measure that is going to allow people to build more market-based homes, we are also advancing measures that ar…
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Mr. Speaker, I would point out that there is actually quite a bit that my hon. colleague and I may agree on. We are going to continue to make the kinds of investments that are going to support low-income families, including in his city of Edmonton and across the country. It is important that we also advance measures that are going to help increase the supply for middle-class households in this cou…
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Mr. Speaker, I share my hon. colleague's concern about the real, serious pain that families are feeling across this country, but let us not ignore the sources of some of these challenges: global inflation as a result of the war in Ukraine, as a result of climate change and other global factors. We are going to support Canadians through these times, including by helping them with the cost of housin…
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Mr. Speaker, as I am sure the hon. member knows by now, we had the opportunity to visit her community in the city of London, where I met with non-profit housing providers who are doing extraordinary work on the ground to support people and prevent them from falling into homelessness. She may have also seen that we worked closely with the city and council under Mayor Josh Morgan's leadership to inv…
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