Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to be here tonight to stand before you and Canadians from coast to coast to coast, especially the members of my riding of Davenport, the men and women who elected me to this place a year ago tomorrow.
The very first day of this Parliament, I rose in the House and asked the government where its housing strategy was. In particular, I asked when it would introduce a national housing strategy and, in the absence of one, whether it would like to get on side with the one we subsequently tabled in the House.
Every time I stood in the House to ask this question on behalf of Canadians from coast to coast to coast, I never received an answer. In fact, I will read the answer I received from the Minister of Finance one of the last times I asked a question on this. He said:
Mr. Speaker, what is not to love in the mayor of Toronto ? He is 300 pounds of fun, self-described by the mayor. I did not make that up.
The mayor is doing a wonderful job in Toronto. He is leading the transit reform charge and is straightening out the finances of the City of Toronto. It will be the ultimate great service for the taxpayers of that city to have control of the fiscal future of the City of Toronto, which has been mishandled for a long time.
There was not a single mention of housing in that answer.
This is what happens time and time again, not just to me but to every member of the official opposition. Quite frankly, Canadians are getting very concerned about the lack of accountability and transparency of the government.
With respect to housing, the Canadian Federation of Municipalities has underlined the fact that housing is the number one issue facing municipalities, both big cities, small towns and rural municipalities. Access to affordable housing is becoming increasingly more difficult, not just for those in our society who struggle economically but also for those who were once called middle class. The government likes to say that it is on the side of working people, but the facts do not bear that out.
Approximately 1.5 million Canadians are in core housing need, of which 25% are single parent families. Time and time again we hear the government say that it is doing this or it is doing that. However, whatever it thinks it is doing, it is time for it to acknowledge and admit that its plan is not working.
We need a national housing strategy. We are the only G8 country that does not have one. How can that be good public management? How can that be a good social policy? It is certainly bad fiscal management, especially when we consider the multipliers that investments in housing bring into the economy.
The government's decisions are ideological. It is time it started working for Canadians.