Bill C-56

Affordable Housing and Groceries Act

An Act to amend the Excise Tax Act and the Competition Act

Part 1 amends the Excise Tax Act in order to implement a temporary enhancement to the GST New Residential Rental Property Rebate in respect of new purpose-built rental housing.
Part 2 amends the Competition Act to, among other things,
(a) establish a framework for an inquiry to be conducted into the state of competition in a market or industry;
(b) permit the Competition Tribunal to make certain orders even if none of the parties to an agreement or arrangement — a significant purpose of which is to prevent or lessen competition in any market — are competitors; and
(c) repeal the exceptions in sections 90.1 and 96 of the Act involving efficiency gains.

Affordable Housing and Groceries Act

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Madam Speaker, before I start, I want to inform you that I will be splitting my time with my good friend, the very hard-working member for Simcoe North.

“It was all a dream", as the late Notorious B.I.G. put it. After eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, that is exactly what home ownership has turned into, just a dream. When we talk about the Canadian dream that many newcomers come here for, when they have sometimes left some of the hardest conditions in the countries they are from, that Canadian dream is much more broken now than it has ever been before after eight years of the incompetence of the Liberal-NDP government.

It took until now for the government to even admit there is a housing crisis. It was only months ago when the former housing minister would refuse to stand in this House and even admit there was a housing crisis. It was the current Prime Minister who just months ago refused to say that housing is even his responsibility. We are glad the Liberals finally moved out of that frame of mind and admitted there is a major housing crisis.

How did we get here? How is it possible that a place like Canada has such a bad housing crisis? After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, hundreds of billions of dollars have been flooded into the Canadian economy, which has resulted in too much money chasing too few goods, including homes. The CMHC warns that Canada will see a 20% decline in the number of new homes being built this year. The government's record is to do less, spend more, and put it on the backs of Canadians. That is exactly what is happening right now.

Toronto has the worst housing bubble in the world. Vancouver is the third most overpriced market globally. Canada has the fewest homes per capita in the G7, this despite having the most land to build on. It just does not make any sense.

We saw the finance minister just three years ago tell Canadians, along with the Prime Minister and the Governor of the Bank of Canada, to go out and borrow as much as they want because interest rates would stay low for a very long time. What these borrowers did not expect was for this out-of-touch, out-of-control Liberal-NDP government to throw hundreds of billions of dollars of fuel on the inflationary fire that it started. What did that do? It gave Canadians rapid interest rate hikes not seen in the last three decades.

It was just two months ago when the finance minister said that she solved inflation, she stopped it, she put the brakes on it. The problem was solved. She started to pray. It has gone up 43% since then to a whopping 4%, and now there is a risk of another interest rate hike. That is another interest rate hike that Canadians just cannot handle because, after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, housing costs have doubled, rents have doubled, mortgages have doubled. When it used to take 25 years to pay off a mortgage, that is what it takes today in Toronto just to save up for a down payment on a house. This is the housing record of the Liberal-NDP government, which by the way committed $89 billion, the most expensive housing budget ever in the history of Canada, to doubling housing. It does not make any sense.

Back in November, the finance minister said there were two things she would make sure were in her failed budget. The first was that she was going to be very careful not to add fuel to the inflationary fire. The second was that she was going to balance the budget by 2027-28. She blew right through those promises, just like every promise the government has made before that and has promised that she will balance the budget in the year never, and poured a $63-billion jerry can of fuel on that inflationary fire, putting a debt of $4,200 on the head of each and every Canadian household.

The Liberals also made the housing crisis and cost of living crisis worse with their failed carbon taxes. Both of these scams are going to cost each and every Canadian household an average of $2,000 a year extra, in gas, groceries and home heating. So, not only have they doubled all the costs of housing, but the things that go into a house, like gas, groceries and home heating, have gone up because of their failed carbon tax scams.

Now where are we at? According to the IMF, Canada is most at risk today for a mortgage default crisis. Those rapid interest rate hikes happened so fast, which had not been seen in the last three decades, and have made it impossible for people to keep up with their mortgage payments. When Canadians went with the advice of this finance minister and Prime Minister that they could borrow because interest rates would be low for a really long time, they did not expect this government to turn around and throw all of that fuel on the inflationary fire, increasing their monthly payments and reducing what they take home every month. On top of that, there are the other taxes, like the carbon tax, which take more and more out of their pockets.

Have members ever seen, in the history of Canada, international students and refugees living under bridges, in tents and not being able to meet their payments? Now, even reverse migration is happening in some cases. One in five newcomers are saying that they want to go back to where they came from and the number one reason is because of the high cost of living, and number two is because their credentials do not get recognized. This is eight years of this NDP-Liberal Prime Minister and his absolute failures on every single front.

What else are the Liberals doing? Even on their housing accelerator fund, CMHC says that Canada will still be over three million new homes short of building enough homes by the end of 2030.

Well, I have good news for Canadians. It was not like this before this NDP-Liberal Prime Minister and it will not be like this after this Liberal-NDP Prime Minister, because once the member for Carleton, the Conservative leader, becomes prime minister of Canada, we have a plan to get more homes built, bring home lower prices and bring home more powerful paycheques for our Canadians.

Unlike the Liberals, the Conservatives have a plan right now on the table that goes far beyond this limited bill. We have a clear plan where Conservatives would bring home more homes that Canadians can afford. Our leader's common-sense legislation, the building homes not bureaucracy act, would do just that.

We will incentivize municipalities to build. The more they build, the more they would get. The less they build, the less they would get. We need to incentivize these municipalities that this Prime Minister continues to fork over hundreds of billions of dollars to, with failed results.

Unlike the Liberals, the Conservative plan would fire the gatekeepers and get NIMBYism out of the way. We would sell off 15% of federal buildings and acceptable land so that homebuilders could turn it into homes people can actually afford and get more supply into this country, which is so needed. We would make the GST rebate for new rental housing make homes and apartments people can actually afford. The Liberals will just make it easier for developers to build more expensive homes for their ultra-rich friends and donors.

The Conservative plan would cut bonuses and salaries of the gatekeepers at CMHC who are slowing down new home construction and keeping Canadians out of affordable homes. We would rein in government spending to bring down inflation so that the Bank of Canada lowers interest rates and mortgages can come down.

It is just simple math that this NDP-Liberal government still does not understand. It was its out-of-control deficits that fuelled inflation, which made interest rates go up and put Canada most at risk in the G7 for a mortgage default crisis. It needs to reverse course. The Conservatives would rein in the spending so that the deficits will come down, inflation will come down, interest rates will come down and Canadians will be able to keep a roof over their head. We are going to bring it home.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Madam Speaker, I would note that this piece of legislation goes to amend, once again, the Competition Act.

A number of years ago, when Stephen Harper was the prime minister, we saw the merger of Shoppers and Loblaws. Now, Loblaws consumes a giant share of the market when it comes to groceries. Some of the measures that we see in the bill are looking to ensure that companies do not get into a position to be able to do that. I wonder if the member can comment as to whether or not he thinks that those measures in the bill are appropriate.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Madam Speaker, I hope the member is charging Stephen Harper rent for living so free, in his mind, for so many years.

After eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, everything has gotten worse. There has been less competition and less growth. Our Conservative plan, once the member for Carleton becomes prime minister, would actually lower costs. Today, under the Liberal-NDP government, Canada's GDP per capita is the worst in all developed nations.

Investors do not want to invest in Canada because of the high regulations made by the government and economic uncertainty that the Liberal-NDP government is responsible for. We need to ignite our economic power in this country so people want to invest, get more competition so we can bring prices down and axe the failed carbon tax.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Madam Speaker, I was very interested in my hon. colleague's comments and I want to point to one very crucial part of his speech where he talked about the government only being there to help its friends, its “very rich donors”. I think he is talking about the Conservatives of Ontario and Doug Ford.

What did Ford run on? He ran on promising people a buck a beer, but what did he deliver? He delivered $8 billion for his insider crony pals. Here is the thing. I know the Conservatives all get whiny whenever their record as a party is questioned, but the mysterious Mr. X, who has been named by the integrity commissioner for being involved in this, is also a friend of the Conservative leader, the member for Stornoway.

I would like to ask the member if he would have any of the discussions between Mr. X and the member for Stornoway made public so we could know what kind of backroom deals the party is already making.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

I would remind the hon. member that there is no such thing as the member for Stornoway, so it is not possible to answer that.

The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Madam Speaker, I would like to withdraw that comment. He is the member who lives in Stornoway. He is not the member for Stornoway. I thank the Speaker for that.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Madam Speaker, I do not know if the member is launching his bid for provincial politics. Once the good people of Timmins—James Bay fire him in the next election for his party supporting the corrupt and inept Liberal government, he is not going to have a job anymore. It is because he refuses to stand with the hard-working people of Timmins—James Bay and continues to prop up the inept, corrupt Liberal government. Not only does it want to create more bureaucracy and red tape, it wants to blow up the public service and give less and less service to Canadians.

What Conservatives want to do is fire the gatekeepers so we can actually get more built in this country for people who are in his riding and all across Canada. That is what Canadians deserve, not more of the tired Liberal-NDP government.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Madam Speaker, I know my colleague from Calgary has experience in the construction industry and the building industry. He worked from the ground level up in this industry when he came to this country. I think he would understand what it takes to build in this country.

From the member's own background, could you relate to us how you know that this needs to happen because of your past experience in the construction industry?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

I certainly do not, but I expect the member for Calgary Forest Lawn can answer.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Madam Speaker, I must acknowledge that I am still jealous of the member for Bow River's mustache.

He is absolutely right. I come from the construction industry where many people, including newcomers, get started. There is one consensus in that industry, which is that, just like any small business, people want less government in their businesses, not more. We have seen, after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, the problem is that it creates more government and more bureaucracy. The government wants to put its hand in the candy jar, leave it in there and take more and more from people.

Small business owners, newcomers, anyone who wants to open a business needs to have less government intervention. There are so many brilliant newcomers to this country, immigrants who come here, want to work hard and—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Simcoe North.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here with you today. I happen to rise one more time to talk about this important issue. I had an opportunity to get some questions in. It was nice to hear from the minister how much affection he has for me.

Perhaps I will save members the suspense. I can be persuaded to vote for this bill, not to fast track it all the way to the Senate, because maybe we have some amendments. As the member mentioned, there are a couple of ideas the government plagiarized from other parties in the House, both the Conservatives and, dare I say, even the NDP.

I have lots of questions and I want to focus on process for a minute. Typically, a government introduces significant money bills twice per year. It tables a budget in the spring, and then there are important measures included in a budget bill in the spring. Then it has a budget bill usually sometime in the late fall, and we typically pass it before everyone goes home for the winter break and Christmas holidays. Five ministers did a press conference last week at the national press gallery, where they all exclaimed that this bill is so important in order to address problems in the country. That is nice. They are finally waking up, but if these ideas were so amazingly brilliant and needed, why did the government omit them from the budget?

The government spends 12 months preparing a budget, and basically admitted a couple of months later that it did not get it all right and that it has a couple more ideas. Where did it get those ideas? It found out the leader of the official opposition was tabling a bill in the House to reduce the GST on purpose-built rentals, so the government rushed like heck to get a bill ready to do just that. Two bills were tabled before the House to get rid of the efficiencies defence, one by the NDP and one by the member for Bay of Quinte, a Conservative member. Last week, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry said about getting rid of the efficiencies defence that it is about time and we have to do it.

If the Liberals thought it was such an important idea, they could have fast-tracked any piece of legislation in June, before we left for the summer. What has changed? Why do they all of a sudden have these so-called solutions to problems that the government has not even been able to admit exist? The process matters because it highlights that this is a tired government that is out of ideas and is plagiarizing on its homework. It is now rushing and is likely to make mistakes by rushing and doing significant money bills on such short notice.

Frankly, with respect to the efficiencies defence, it was the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry who last year, in the last budget, introduced what he called sweeping changes to the Competition Act reform that had not been seen in at least a decade. If this were such an important change to make to the Competition Act, why did he not make the change last year? Why was he waiting until now?

I will tell members why he waited. It is because the leader of the NDP and a member from the Conservative Party made the suggestion. Liberals have actually run out of ideas, but we cannot blame them. It is human nature. How can we believe that we need solutions to problems when for months, members of the government were telling Canadians that no problems exist?

Let me read a few quotes, or let us go back to the tape as they say; we are now in football season.

The first quote states, “Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives continue to talk down the Canadian economy, but the reality is that Canada is the best country in the world...[when] coping...with the challenging global economic environment,” and says our economy grew faster than every other economy. It also says that the reality is that Canada is doing really well and inflation is way better here than it is elsewhere.

A Conservative member in the House stood up and asked the Minister of Finance what happens if inflation lasts just a little longer than we think and we hit a period of economic uncertainty. That question was asked in May 2022, and the answer from the Minister of Finance was, “I have to urge a bit of economic literacy among the members opposite. The reality is that in data released today, the Canadian economy grew by 3.1% on an annualized basis in the first quarter of this year.” This was an unwillingness to admit that there is trouble on the horizon. Now, last quarter, GDP contracted, and, guess what? Inflation is still around.

Now, we should not worry, because the government is here to solve the problems because it is just realizing that there is a problem and has all these solutions. However, they are not the government's solutions, they are solutions from others. Am I happy that the government took some ideas from opposition parties? Of course I am, but it goes to show that the government is actually just running out of ideas. The government told everybody that interest rates would remain low forever, and they have not. It said that because interest rates were low, it had to spend and that it would be unwise to not spend.

We are now going to spend as much in debt service costs this year as we send to provinces to deliver health care. It is only going to get worse for debt service costs, because when the budget was tabled, all economists, including the government's; the Governor of the Bank of Canada; and all the experts, said interest rates were going to go down by the end of the year. However, they have not; they have actually gone up, not down. That change is going to represent billions of dollars more in spending to service the debt, even just this year, but for at least the next five years as the government renegotiates, repapers and rolls over $421 billion of debt this year.

The reason the government has to roll over $421 billion is complete and utter negligence in the way it financed its COVID spending when COVID hit. The government told everyone that interest rates were going to remain low forever, and may have even believed it itself. When the government issued the debt, it issued only short-term debt. I cannot take credit for that. A very smart individual, Richard Dias, who is a well-known economist, showed that the government could have saved billions of dollars by issuing long bonds. However, the government chose to issue short-term bonds during the pandemic.

We cannot forget that Liberal tweet and the finance minister's starting the parade when in one month out of 28 months, inflation dropped below 3%. They said their job was done and government's plan to bring down inflation was working.

The Liberals really have not actually done that much. What they have ignored is the actual one thing, or maybe even two things, that would make a difference. One would be to reduce spending, and another would be that one does not have to be Einstein's cousin to realize that if taxes were reduced on the good that is causing inflation, it would reduce inflation. For some reason, that is pretty hard for the members on the other side of the chamber to figure out. However, Canadians are smarter than that. They know better than to trust a government to have solutions to the problems that it does not believe exist. I am glad that the Liberals are borrowing some ideas from the opposition parties.

I look forward to sending the bill to committee. I look forward to bringing some amendments, because I think the bill could actually be better. We could expand the GST rebate. Why are we not including triplexes, co-ops and duplexes? We could be driving more investment in this country, but the Liberals are determined to not have any other party in the chamber get a win.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, I listened to the member opposite very closely, and one might draw the conclusion that the government has not been aware of the issue of housing for Canadians. The government has been very much aware of the important role the federal government plays in housing. We have seen that virtually from 2015 and even this year, when Canadians are having a very difficult time with regard to housing. That is why we continue to provide programs like the rapid housing initiative and supports in different forms of infrastructure programs. The particular GST issue we are talking about today is something we have talked about in the past as one of those potential options. Today, and it does not matter who has the idea, the legislation would incorporate the idea, and Canadians would benefit from it.

I am glad to hear the Conservative Party giving the impression that it is going to vote in favour of the legislation. The question is when the member would like to see the legislation actually go to committee. Will he confirm he is voting in favour of its going to committee?

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary has been around a long time, and as a rookie member of Parliament, I am speaking only for myself. I cannot speak for my entire party. I am just saying I am encouraged to see it go to committee when it gets there.

Let us talk about rapid housing. Those funds have not been delivered at all rapidly. How about the shared equity mortgage plan that has barely given out a few per cent of its allocated money? It has been a few years. Yes, the member is right; the government has talked about this GST issue for eight years. Why is it making this proposal off cycle and out of budget? It is scrambling.

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to focus on the housing part of this and the proposal in the bill to take the GST off purpose-built rental housing, which is something we support. I want to ask the hon. member about the importance of non-market housing in providing security of housing for many people who are shut out of the market by their income. In my riding, there are 15 co-operatives that provide housing for more than 400 families and have done so for the last 20 years. With just a quick look, I found more than 10 co-op housing projects in Simcoe County providing housing for about 300 people.

Does the member support our proposal that the federal government get back into the building of co-operative housing?