Evidence of meeting #34 for Finance in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was inflation.
A video is available from Parliament.
12:15 p.m.
Liberal
Julie Dzerowicz Liberal Davenport, ON
Thank you so much.
Mr. Bourque, I've run out of time, but your third recommendation was around innovation and modern technologies to speed up the process. I'd be grateful if you could submit that to the committee to elaborate more specifically on what you mean by that, so we can incorporate that into our recommendations.
Thank you.
12:15 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
Thank you, Ms. Dzerowicz.
We'll move to the Bloc and Mr. Ste-Marie for two and a half minutes, please.
12:15 p.m.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Telles, you have reminded us that inflation is harder on young people, who are experiencing financial insecurity. During your presentation, you raised a concern about orphan clauses. Federally regulated businesses cannot adopt a new pay scale and decide that new hires will be paid less. However, a loophole for working conditions still exists, particularly with respect to pension funds, and it should be closed.
Please tell us about that for the next two minutes.
12:15 p.m.
President, Force Jeunesse
It will be my pleasure.
Fortunately, when it comes to salary, Canadian law does not allow discrimination against a person based on their date of hire. This is a legislative change that was made in 2018 in the Canada Labour Code.
However, it is still possible to grant less advantageous ancillary working conditions to some workers, simply because of their date of hire. We are therefore concerned that the current economic context will encourage the emergence of orphan clauses and that when young people enter the labour market, they will be offered less advantageous conditions than other colleagues doing exactly the same work. We fear that this is a kind of solution that employers will use to cope with the difficult economic situation.
We know that it is possible to legislate to address this issue. A good example is what was done in Quebec, where a bill was introduced and passed to prohibit orphan clauses that affect ancillary working conditions. It is therefore no longer possible to create these new clauses. We believe that the federal government should follow Quebec's lead in this regard. It has already done so for salaries, but there are still certain conditions that could be less attractive for young people, for example, pension plans, to which you alluded.
It is important to protect ourselves and to work upstream. We often talk about finding solutions, but the government must also act upstream, sometimes, to prevent this type of situation. Since the current economic context favours the use of such clauses, we must act upstream and close the gap.
12:20 p.m.
Bloc
Gabriel Ste-Marie Bloc Joliette, QC
That is very clear. Thank you for that.
You also pointed out, with regard to students, that it was important not to forget to index the grants. Could you say a few words about that?
12:20 p.m.
President, Force Jeunesse
It's really primordial. The way the grants work, some student expenses are allowed. We know that these expenses have increased, particularly in terms of food, transport and accommodation. Therefore, it is important that the Canadian scholarships granted to students take into account the increase in the cost of living and that the exceptional assistance granted in the context of the pandemic be renewed until further notice or, at the very least, as long as inflation remains this high.
12:20 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Peter Fonseca
Thank you, Mr. Ste-Marie. We'll now move to the NDP.
MP Blaikie, you have two and a half minutes, please.
12:20 p.m.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
I want to take a moment to zero in on the question of social housing, sometimes called deeply affordable housing, deep affordable housing, or, more explicitly, just rent geared to income, where rents are actually calculated as a function of the income of the tenants, usually in the range of 25%-30% of their income.
If the witnesses will indulge me, I want to go through the witness list and ask if they think, with a yes or no, there's any possible or meaningful market solution to the question of rent-geared-to-income housing, or whether they think it's an area that requires active government intervention.
Mr. MacBeth, I'll begin with you. Do you think there's a market for building rent-geared-to-income housing in Canada?
12:20 p.m.
Author and Investment Advisor, As an Individual
I do, for sure, and it requires government intervention. Absolutely.
12:20 p.m.
Member, New Brunswick Chapter, ACORN Canada
I don't know if I entirely understand the question. Do you mean the private market should be building affordable housing?
12:20 p.m.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
I am asking, do you think there's a business case for the private market to build rent-geared-to-income housing, and is it a sector that requires active government investment?
12:20 p.m.
Member, New Brunswick Chapter, ACORN Canada
Yes, it's definitely a sector that requires active government investment. It's currently just not working.
12:20 p.m.
Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Real Estate Association
For example, if land were made available by government, the private sector has already shown that it could do that. It's a bit like our approach to climate change, when we say, “Do we need nuclear, solar, and wind?” The fact is we need all of them. I think anything that we can bring, we should.
12:20 p.m.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
I'll be happy to maybe come back to you in a moment for examples of rent-geared-to-income housing delivered through the private sector.
Mr. Telles, do you think this is an area of public intervention or that there is a market for social housing construction?
12:20 p.m.
President, Force Jeunesse
I agree with the other speakers that there has to be both a private sector and a government solution. We believe that the government could create incentives for entrepreneurs to build more social housing. For example, it could be established as a condition that certain projects must include a certain percentage of social housing, or simply put in place financial measures that would help contractors build affordable housing.
12:20 p.m.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
Ms. Keesmaat, with respect to rent-geared-to-income housing, is this something that you think requires public investment, or is there a market solution?
12:20 p.m.
NDP
Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB
I'd be happy to have both you and Ms. Keesmaat answer in the time we have remaining with a simple yes or no.
12:20 p.m.
President, Maytree
Government is required, but there are opportunities for it to be what we have already in place, like privately owned rooming houses. RGI, by definition, is a subsidy provided by government, so there has to be involvement.
We also need to be mindful of protecting what is already in private hands, some of which is being gentrified. I think the proposal for an acquisition fund that has been tabled is one solution.
12:20 p.m.
Liberal