Finance Committee on Feb. 13th, 2024

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

I have a point of order, Mr. Chair. I'm very sorry, but I'm going to keep interrupting as long as the minister doesn't have a chance to respond.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

That is not a valid point of order. That is crosstalk.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Absolutely this is a point of order. I'm not allowing a monologue.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Name the rule. There's no rule.

Mr. Chair, you better criticize her, just like you did me.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

MP Dzerowicz, what has been noted here is that the member can ask his question.

The minister will have ample opportunity to answer that question, MP Hallan, without crosstalk after.

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

I wasn't done my question. I was in the middle of it.

The bank is actually—

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

On a point of order, he's asked three questions and there have been no responses.

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

That's not a question. I haven't asked my question.

Let me continue, Chair.

The Bank of Canada is actually—

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

I have a point of order. I'm very sorry, but there's been no response. I'm waiting for a response from the minister, Mr. Chair.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

That is not a valid point of order. That is crosstalk.

Can you please respect the interpreters?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

MP Lawrence, you don't have the floor. I'm addressing a point of order here. There's a point of order going on.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

It's not a valid one.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

My point of order, Mr. Chair—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Members, as I said, time is valuable and time is ticking away. We want a question and then we want to allow time for an answer.

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

I haven't gotten to my question yet. I will give the minister time.

Once again, it's shameful that the minister would blame and falsely accuse an immigrant like me, saying that I would blame immigration. It's actually the Bank of Canada that has said this. Their current policy report said that population growth is directly fuelling rent inflation. It's driving up rent and housing prices. This is a direct result of you and your government ignoring the report by your own department.

Canadians are spending over 60% of their income on shelter costs now. RBC even says that Canada is a nation of renters, because people can't afford homes.

Tell us what your immediate reaction was when you got that report. Did you just throw it away, or are you covering up for somebody?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Chair, how much time do I have to answer this question?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

You have time to answer the question, Minister.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Thank you.

First of all, for the sake of clarity, Mr. Hallan was my critic while I was the immigration minister. I know him to be someone who supports immigration.

When I was referring, during my preamble, to blaming immigration as a cause of the housing crisis, it was a reflection of the words that he used in the question, not his personal view of what immigration—

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

It's sad that your government has turned people's sentiment on immigration.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Chair, do I have the floor?

I'm happy to sit here and have people talk back and forth—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Please let the minister answer the question—

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

—but I'd rather talk about solutions to the housing crisis.

With respect to the issue of immigration, when it comes to our permanent residency programs, I remain confident that we can continue to have high levels of immigration, but we need to build the houses to accommodate a growing population. We have challenges with our temporary programs in immigration, and the number of people who come is not set by the government. They are driven by the demand that employers have for the temporary foreign worker program—

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

That's not true.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

—or that institutions have when it comes to the international student program. We are implementing reforms now, which started, frankly, when I was immigration minister, including—

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

Minister, I only have a limited amount of time—