Mr. Speaker, I was preaching to the choir. Thank you.
We can see to what extent the Conservative Party is against this bill. The cat is out of the bag. We know the attitude and sensitivity of the Conservative Party toward the least fortunate in society. The purpose of this bill is to help the least fortunate in society to find better and affordable housing.
I would like to begin my speech by speaking to this new bill, Bill C-285, An Act to amend the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation Act (profits distributed to provinces).
To start I would like to provide some background on social housing in Quebec.
I would describe the attitude of the current Conservative government and the attitude of the Liberals, who formed the previous government, as insensitive and irresponsible when it comes to the situation experienced by more than 400,000 families in Quebec and by 1.7 million families in Canada. These families devote over 30% of their income to housing.
The former Liberal government always said that a billion dollars was allocated annually to social housing and that, every year, more money was invested in it. That is not our focus. Our focus is the additional billion dollars. Some two billion dollars are needed annually for social housing in order to develop new units.
The billion dollars allocated to social housing goes to paying mortgages and making very minor repairs—such as patching holes. The money is not used for major repairs. A number of the older housing inventories need serious repair to allow people to live in healthy, quality housing.
Bill C-285, a bill that I introduced as the member for Québec, is a bill for which our party's social housing critic, the hon. member for Brome—Missisquoi, is responsible. This bill is being reintroduced because we would like it to be passed here in the House of Commons and are confident that it will be.
My colleague from Brome—Missisquoi, the social housing critic, could very well have introduced this bill. Private members' bills are drawn in a lottery and my name came up before my colleague's did.
Given the urgency of adopting such a bill, a votable bill, we will be able to see and analyze how each member of this House feels about the government and the CMHC making a bigger contribution.
The CMHC—Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation—lends money to individuals who do not have enough for a down payment. It also offers, for an additional cost, mortgage loan insurance, which enables people to buy houses. Potential buyers who have only 5% of the capital needed to buy a house can receive a mortgage loan from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in addition to the mortgage loan they receive from a bank. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation has been accumulating a surplus.
This bill would require the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to return a certain percentage of its surplus to the provinces and territories so they can meet the needs of their populations.
While certain regions and neighbourhoods across Canada urgently need affordable housing—450,000 families in Quebec and 1.7 million families in Canada—the CMHC is squirrelling away surpluses exceeding $5.2 billion.
Apparently, if this keeps up, the surplus will reach $7 billion within the next three years.
Given that the CMHC's mission is to help both Canadians and Quebeckers find safe, healthy housing, it should make more of an effort. The CMHC is not a commercial institution that should be amassing surpluses, investing them and making a profit. Its mission is not commercial.
Over the years, the CMHC has strayed from its mission and has been making money rather than giving that money back to communities. We hope this bill will be passed so that the CMHC can return to its social roots and its original purpose, which is to enable people living below the poverty line and working for minimum wage to find better housing.
In some neighbourhoods, the cost of housing is rising at an alarming rate, especially in core urban neighbourhoods that have become gentrified over the years. There has been a lot of real estate speculation. Some segments of the population should be able to get help finding decent housing from the government through a Crown corporation known as the CMHC.
I criticized the Liberal Party earlier because this underfunding of affordable, social and community housing and accommodation has been a problem since 1993. In fact, not one new dollar has been invested in the development of new social housing units. Yet, $1 billion was spent each year to pay for the existing stock of social housing and the related mortgages. For now, we hope to change the minds of Conservative Party members and get them to look at the situation with a little more compassion. The Conservatives say they want to help Canadians. Well, this would be a good way to do it, while respecting provincial jurisdiction. This is an important vote that will reveal the true face of the Conservative Party.
As I was saying, we want to see the surplus reduced. We are not against the notion of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation generating a surplus, but $5.3 billion in 2006 and $7 billion in 2008 is a great deal of money and we could be much more proactive in creating more social housing units. It is crucial that we start investing in social, community and affordable housing programs.
There are three essential needs in life: shelter, food and clothing. But how can those basic needs be met when 50% to 80% of one's meagre salary or income must be handed over, forcing that individual to live below the poverty line? Although the economy is booming, particularly in the Quebec region, certain jobs are still not paid well enough.
We therefore hope to see renewed negotiations regarding the complete transfer of responsibilities and funding related to the housing sector.
Renovation costs should also be included, because that is where the problem lies. We know that the billion dollars that the government gives each year for social housing often does not take into account the extent of the deterioration of some buildings.
The government can boast that it is giving a billion dollars a year for social housing, but this is not enough to overcome all the challenges and provide better housing for people in financial need.
As I said, CMHC should go back to helping people have better housing. It should stop being a private insurance company that builds up a surplus. I will explain how the government could distribute this surplus directly to Quebec and the provinces.
We would like CMHC to keep a maximum of 5% of the $264 billion invested as equity. CMHC could therefore keep no more than $1.32 billion in equity. In addition, CMHC could keep no more than 10% of that $1.32 billion in its reserve fund. So there is equity and a reserve fund.
If the surplus totalled $5.3 billion, we could deduct $1.3 billion, which would leave $4 billion. The surplus reserves, that currently are not recognized, would go directly to Quebec or the provinces.
Thus, we can see that CMHC is withholding an excessive amount. It is acting as though it were a private company with assets. Consequently, it can make investments and accumulate more and more profits rather than limiting itself to its primary mission of truly assisting Canadians and meeting their needs.
Fifteen minutes is too short a time to talk about a matter that is dear to my heart. Since 1993 social housing has been one of my main responsibilities here in this House. I am pleased to join with the member for Brome—Missisquoi who has inherited this file and about which he is passionate. He is aware of the challenges.
We hope that all parliamentarians in this House will help the most vulnerable in our society who are paying 30%, 50% or 80% of their meagre income. I see a Conservative member shaking his head, but in disagreement with the suggestion of my affinity for the most disadvantaged in our society. I would say to the member that there are vulnerable individuals in our society and we must take care of them.