Mr. Speaker, my first questions tie into my colleague's and will be about renewing social housing agreements. There could be negative outcomes for 365,000 social housing units. This is not just about the housing units; it is about the people who live in those homes: the men, women and children who could be in jeopardy if the agreements are not renewed. We are talking about a $1.7-billion budget.
Some dollar amounts were specified in the budget. The minister has talked about them too. For example, we have heard about $15 million per year for two years, but that is just for certain agreements that involve the federal government directly. Agreements handled by the provinces seem to be funded by the agreement on affordable housing, which is how the Conservatives did it in recent years. I think there are some problems with that and some things that need clarifying. That is why I am asking the parliamentary secretary for some clarification this evening.
For instance, the $15 million a year over two years is only a short-term measure. Two years is not very long. Unfortunately, this creates uncertainty and can have a negative effect. Let me explain. Consider the example of a co-operative that must choose between two renters but does not know whether, at the end of those two years, the rent subsidies will be renewed. If it has the choice between two tenants, one who can afford to pay the market price and the other who needs a long-term subsidy because he cannot work, it may give priority to the tenant who can pay.
This means that social housing is at risk of disappearing because of that. In addition, it could also make some already difficult, precarious situations even worse for certain people and certain households. As we know, waiting lists are already quite long. A lot of people are living in this kind of uncertainty.
I would also like to know if that is an indication that the Liberal government intends to continue the federal government's withdrawal from social housing that has occurred over the past 20 years. Ever since the government stopped building social housing 20 years ago, there have been some very negative repercussions. There has been no new construction since the 1990s, and ever since then the housing situation has deteriorated. Many people are even talking about a housing crisis.
Something else is missing from the budget. There is absolutely no mention of the lapsed agreements. What will happen to those people? Some people have lost their rent subsidies, and they have very difficult decisions to make: will they pay for food or will they pay the rent? It is therefore not surprising that there is a lot of child poverty.
The provinces and territories must cost-match most of the investment in affordable housing. What will happen if the province or territory does not have the money for that? According to the member for Spadina—Fort York, this money will be put into the federal gas tax fund. However, this fund goes to infrastructure, not housing. Thus, we would lose the money for housing.
Furthermore, developers could use the incentives to build affordable housing for a few years and then jack up the rent, which is another risk. We need long-term agreements to prevent that.