House of Commons Hansard #9 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was housing.

Topics

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

12:55 p.m.

Bloc

Denis Trudel Bloc Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on his first speech. Despite the message his government is sending by appointing a Governor General who does not speak French, he made the effort to say a few words in French here in the House. I commend him for that. However, I do not entirely agree with him when he says that no one is being left behind by his government.

Take for example Pauline Gagnon, a woman in my riding. I am not sure how old she is exactly, but she is at least 75. She was appalled when she found out that the government had decided to send a $500 cheque to all seniors 75 and older, a cheque that arrived on the very day the election was called. Seniors' purchasing power has gone down, and drugs, housing and groceries are expensive. Ms. Gagnon has never understood why the government created two classes of seniors.

Does my colleague agree that it is time to commit to increasing old age security for all seniors starting at 65, as the Bloc Québécois has been calling for?

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

12:55 p.m.

Liberal

Yasir Naqvi Liberal Ottawa Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, yes, as an immigrant living in Ontario I had to first work on my English, but I am absolutely committed to learning French.

It is very important for me to learn and speak this language. I also work in French with my colleagues across the way.

Seniors were really impacted by this pandemic. We saw the unfortunate loss of life in long-term care homes, and that is unacceptable. We have to do some important work to make sure seniors continue to enjoy a great life in their golden years.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1 p.m.

Conservative

Dan Mazier Conservative Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB

Mr. Speaker, it is encouraging to hear the hon. member actually talking about homelessness in his riding and addressing it. Instead of words, I want to know if he has any idea of what the timelines are on it. When will homelessness end in his riding?

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1 p.m.

Liberal

Yasir Naqvi Liberal Ottawa Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, I wish it had ended yesterday, but we have a lot of work to do because we are trying to address a huge backlog that was left from some time ago when all three levels of governments did not work together to address this really important issue.

As I mentioned, I worked at the provincial level, and we were just working alone in Ontario with the municipality. The federal government was unfortunately, under his party, absent from that conversation. Finally we have a federal government with a national housing strategy, with a commitment to end chronic homelessness in this country, so there is great opportunity. Just in my riding, in the last six years 1,700 new units are being built. I want to double that in my riding and put an end to chronic homelessness.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1 p.m.

Liberal

Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON

Mr. Speaker, as this is my first time to rise in this House in the 44th Parliament, it is my honour to congratulate you on your re-election to that Chair and to congratulate all of my colleagues from every party for their election and re-election. I am excited to work with everybody here in this House to build a better country.

I would also like to take a moment to thank the great people of Milton for entrusting me once again to be their voice here in Ottawa. I would not be here without their continued support, and I will spend every day on this job standing up for them and their priorities, making sure their insights and perspectives are heard in this House and that their needs are met.

I also would not be standing here without the incredible work of my campaign team, our amazing volunteers, my friends and my family. I want to give a shout-out to my mom Beata, my dad Joe, my brother Luke, my amazing girlfriend and best friend Emilie, as well as my dog Cairo, because he does a lot of hard work on the campaign as well.

It is the privilege of my life to be able to work here on behalf of my neighbours. They can count on me.

They have sent me here to focus on the issues that matter most to them. In my community, particularly for the youth of Milton, that means standing up for the environment. We need to fight climate change to ensure that the health and safety of our planet for ourselves and for future generations is upheld. The terrible flooding in B.C. and other extreme weather events have given us a sharp reminder about the urgent need to prioritize a green, clean and sustainable future for all of us. We may not get another chance to get this right.

We must also continue walking the path of truth and reconciliation with indigenous peoples. As my work on the indigenous and northern affairs committee in the previous Parliament emphasized for me, we must ensure that while we work to address the wrongs of the past, we also must focus on building stronger, more collaborative bonds in the future.

Milton is one of the most diverse communities in Canada, but diversity is the fact and inclusion is the act that will ensure that no Canadian anywhere will be targeted by violence or hatred because of their race, religion, who they love or how they live. These are not small tasks. Achieving them will require a renewed focus, a strength of purpose and a spirit of collaboration. As yesterday’s unanimous passing of Bill C-4 showed, we do have the capacity to come together and improve the lives of our neighbours and Canadians.

If this pandemic has taught us anything, it is that there is nothing in this world more valuable than our collective health and well-being. The good news is we have all the tools necessary to defeat this pandemic and build a healthier Canada for this and future generations. The best tool to fight this pandemic has been vaccines. I want to take a moment to thank Halton’s Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Hamidah Meghani and her team for helping to make Halton region one of the most vaccinated communities in Canada. Now that seniors over 70 and kids five to 11 are eligible, I encourage everyone to continue making appointments. I also want to thank everybody who worked at a clinic, volunteered at a clinic, shared a vaccine selfie or chatted with or encouraged a hesitant neighbour or family member to get the shot. It has been a team effort.

The reverberating impacts of COVID-19 have gone well beyond the disease itself. We have work to do on finding solutions for delayed procedures, ensuring there are more ways and more services available for the mental health impacts of these last two years. They have had a devastating impact on families, kids in particular, and, of course, we must continue to build a more resilient long-term care system in this country.

It will not surprise too many of my colleagues to know that I would like to talk a bit about the role that physical activity and recreation must play in our “build back better” strategy. Canada was experiencing a crisis of inactivity before this pandemic and COVID-19 has made it much worse. I want to highlight the call to action led by Participaction to tackle the inactivity crisis and add my name to the long list of supporters who champion solutions to this issue.

The solutions are not as simple as just telling everybody to go outside, ride their bike and go for a walk. While those things are helpful, important and the right thing to do, not everyone has the ability to make those decisions. Vulnerable and under-resourced Canadians lack the infrastructure, the time and the freedom to simply take an hour to get a workout in. Improved access to programs that teach physical literacy to kids and families is an essential aspect of the solution to this complex challenge. Physical literacy is defined as “the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding that establishes purposeful physical pursuits as an integral part of our daily lifestyle.” Moving our bodies is essential for our physical health, our mental health and the health of our communities and relationships.

I am on my soapbox and I could talk for hours about how sport, physical activity and recreation can build more resilient communities. It is time to move on to talk about the current challenges that this country is facing with respect to the economy. The challenges that our neighbours are facing with respect to inaffordability are both real and complex. The labour shortages and challenges with regard to supply chains and inflation are easily worth a 10-minute speech of their own, so I would like to narrow my focus to two campaign commitments that also represent tangible solutions: child care and affordable housing.

In the previous Parliament, I met with dozens of child care stakeholders to discuss building a $10-a-day child care program to save Canadian families money and rebuild our economy in the most equitable way possible. That list included MCRC, the Milton Community Resource Centre. I want to acknowledge the hard work of Tina and Rebecca and their team at the MCRC for providing Milton families with care, resources, solutions and products that have contributed directly to the healthy development of kids and the ability for parents to go to work, earn a good income and pay their bills.

As an Ontario MP, I am also thrilled that the provincial government is in talks with our federal government to make $10-a-day child care a reality for families in my riding and across the province.

Moving on to housing, it is a complex ecosystem, so I am going to narrow my focus once again on non-market solutions for the housing crisis.

I am a proud co-op kid. I lived at Chautauqua Co-op with my mom and brother throughout my childhood and even after university. My mom still resides at Chautauqua. She is a co-op builder who works at Briarview Co-op in Mississauga. I know I am biased, but nobody in Canada knows more about co-op housing, its past and its place in our potential future in Canada than my mom. The last time we built meaningful co-ops in this country was 1994, and that needs to change today. When Canadians are paying their rent, they should not be paying off somebody else’s mortgage or contributing to huge profit margins and shareholder value.

Access to secure housing is a human right, and it should not be out of reach for anyone.

Co-ops create a pathway to home ownership for some by allowing young people, students, newcomers and families to live within their means, invest in their futures and, if they want, save up to buy a home one day. However, home ownership should not necessarily be the only ambition of the housing continuum. Secure housing should be, and those who want to live in non-profit housing for their entire lives should be able to. It allows for fuller participation in the economy. For my mom, it made sure that my brother and I had access to canoe clubs, guitar lessons, summer camp and everything we ever needed.

Social housing is not the only solution to this crisis, but it has to be part of our plan for the future.

Both of my parents are immigrants to this country. By increasing immigration levels and reducing wait times for new immigrants and citizens, while supporting family reunification and delivering a world-leading refugee resettlement program, we will continue supporting the growth and diversity of our nation. I met with members of Milton's Afghan community before the election and have done so since, and I am very confident that 40,000 Afghan refugees will feature prominently in the growth of our economy and future.

Milton is an environmentally forward-thinking community. We are a proud home to groups like Sustainable Milton, Halton Environmental Network and Fridays for Future Milton. Our local CA, Conservation Halton, provides our region with solutions for recreation, education and flood mitigation; support for species at risk; and so much more. It is also my best tree-planting partner, with over 50,000 trees planted locally last year.

I am confident in our ambitions to cap and cut oil and gas sector emissions while accelerating our path to a 100% net-zero electricity future. These are world-leading ambitions. I know that investments in public transit, electric vehicle infrastructure and subsidies will lead to greener communities and cleaner air.

I am also certain that our plan will create more good, green jobs, and that together we will build a more resilient, sustainable and competitive economy. By protecting more land, waterways and coastlines, and creating the Canada water agency, we will safeguard our most vital natural resource, clean fresh water, which will also protect our farmers. Milton has one of the best farmers' markets in the country, and we love to eat and shop local. We appreciate and rely heavily on our neighbours in agriculture, and they deserve to be acknowledged and supported in our transition to a greener future.

We know that climate change disproportionately impacts society's most vulnerable, and while we focus on the environment, our collective health and the resilience of our economy, we must also remain focused on ending violence and hate in our communities. I applaud this government for taking action on assault-style weapons and lifetime background checks, but we must go further. Handguns are so often used in gang and intimate partner violence. I join victims groups and the Canadian Doctors for Protection from Guns in advocating for more comprehensive gun control measures.

At the core of violence is fear and hatred. We must continue to fight racism, homophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and other forms of hate by taking swift action on anti-hate legislation.

I represent one the most diverse communities in the country. When the Afzal family was brutally murdered in London, Ontario, this past year, people in my riding were scared to go out for a walk at night. That is unacceptable. We have work to do, and I commit, on behalf of my friends and neighbours in Milton, to ensuring that Canada is safe, inclusive and compassionate. I would like to thank and acknowledge the hard work of Tabassum Wyne and the Muslim Advisory Council of Canada for their hard work on this.

We have to understand that teamwork is the only way to build a better future for Canada. Let us work together.

In closing, I will simply say that it is time for us to meet the moment, to make good on our promises to Canadians that we made at the doors and to take the incredible responsibility they have given us and turn it into positive, meaningful action that will lead to a brighter future for everyone.

I welcome questions from my colleagues.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:10 p.m.

Conservative

Jeremy Patzer Conservative Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK

Mr. Speaker, from 2014 to 2018, at the height of oil and gas production in Canada, we increased production by 38% but reduced emissions of flare gas by 22%. We are the only country to do that. If the world adopted the practices that we have here in Canada, emissions from the sector would drop worldwide by 22%.

The government is all about reducing emissions, so why are we not talking about the practices we have in Canada and taking that abroad to reduce emissions, if that is what the Liberals are so concerned about?

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:10 p.m.

Liberal

Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague's question is a good one, and indeed we are here talking about innovative solutions for fighting climate change.

I am very heartened that in the past week in particular, in the face of the horrible disasters that have occurred in British Columbia, I have heard more about climate change from the Conservatives than I think any of us ever have. I applaud the member for standing up for the energy industry in his riding and across Western Canada, because it is important. A just transition is very important too.

I heat my home with natural gas. I drive a vehicle, albeit a hybrid. I recognize the importance and value of the energy sector in Canada. I also recognize that as we move forward we should and will reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:10 p.m.

Bloc

Denis Trudel Bloc Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC

Mr. Speaker, we are currently seeing several crises in Canada. Not only is there the health crisis, the climate crisis, and, in Quebec, the language crisis, but there is also the housing crisis. My colleague spoke about that earlier.

In Montreal, for example, taking into account all of the federal programs to house the most vulnerable people in Canada, this creates housing that costs $2,200. I have no idea who can afford to spend $2,200 on housing.

That said, the government did one good thing in the last few years. It launched the rapid housing initiative, or RHI, a program to build social housing for the most vulnerable members of society.

It is a very good program, but the problem is that it is grossly underfunded. It was allocated $1 billion, but it received $4 billion worth of project applications. I know that Mr. Hussen, the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion, wanted to put money back into the program.

If my colleague is interested in housing, will he commit to lobbying the Liberal caucus to ensure that the RHI is better funded in the future?

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:10 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont

I want to remind the member not to refer to ministers by name.

The hon. member for Milton.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:10 p.m.

Liberal

Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I want him to know that I share his concerns about affordable housing in Canada.

I can assure the member that I have been pressuring our government to ensure we have co-op housing, non-profit housing and logement social, as another colleague from the Bloc corrected me earlier to inform me of the correct terminology used in Quebec. This is one of the reasons I got involved in politics.

As I said, I am a proud co-op kid, and I know that building endless single-family homes does not provide affordable housing for families. Co-op housing, non-profit housing, rent-to-own solutions and programs with rent geared to income will make sure that every Canadian can afford a safe and secure place to live.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:15 p.m.

NDP

Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member on his maiden speech. He talked a lot about co-op housing and calls himself a co-op housing kid. I am delighted to hear that.

The situation with housing is this. The CMHC used to deliver co-op and social housing and was really good at it, but this was gutted because in 1993 the federal Liberal government cancelled the national affordable housing program. As a result, we have not built housing the way we used to. In fact, Canada lost more than half a million units of affordable housing that otherwise might have been built had the program not been cancelled.

Will the member advocate for the Liberal government to restore in the budget the necessary money and capacity for the CMHC to build the housing it used to, both in the co-op sector and in the affordable housing sector, with subsidies and supportive services?

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:15 p.m.

Liberal

Adam van Koeverden Liberal Milton, ON

Mr. Speaker, I wish I had the time to get into this for even longer, because it is a passion of mine. I followed very closely the Vote Housing campaign during the election, and I will do my best to fulfill its six campaign requests.

I will tell members a quick story, as the member's statement today focused on the federal government. In 1993, when I was 11 years old and living in co-op housing, my mom came home from work and had lost her job. That was because the Mike Harris government of the day cancelled all provincial programs. It meant she was no longer a co-op builder and had to find a new job. Since then, she has been working as a community coordinator in the non-profit housing industry and is still the biggest expert, so I would welcome another—

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:15 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Lethbridge.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:15 p.m.

Conservative

Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB

Mr. Speaker, congratulations on your new role in the House. I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for South Shore—St. Margarets.

As this is the very first opportunity I have had to rise in the House, I would like to start off with some quick words of thanks. It is an incredibly humbling and exciting honour to stand here, to sit here and to be a representative for my constituents here. From the bottom of my heart, I wish to express just how grateful I am that my constituents have renewed their support in me.

My favourite thing about running a campaign is the amazing volunteers who come alongside to support me. I am talking about those who give their time, talent and money to invest in my success. To them I also wish to extend a very sincere thanks.

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Those are the words permanently etched into the stone over the west window of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill. The words are strong and they are true. Humans have this incredible ability to dream, cast vision and inspire. They should have the ability to pursue those things. The throne speech is usually the vehicle used by the prime minister to communicate and provide hope and optimism for the Canadian people. Sadly, this was not the case this time.

I was anticipating a detailed plan in four specific key areas that I believe every single federal prime minister, regardless of political stripe, should be prioritizing if they wish to lead well. Here they are: one, keep the country united; two, ensure Canadians are kept safe and secure; three, facilitate an environment of economic prosperity; and four, advance Canada's place on the world stage. To the detriment of Canadians, however, all four of these points were largely ignored in the document that was read in what I would call a monotone manner by the Governor General. Perhaps she simply read it in that tone in order to match the lackluster content that was within.

Before the budget was tabled, my constituents shared with me that they were hoping to see a real plan to reopen the economy and restore hope and confidence in our future as a great country. Those who are unemployed were hoping to see a plan that created new jobs and opportunities for wealth creation. Those in the oil and gas sector were hoping to see support for this world-class industry. Those in the agriculture sector were hoping to see a little something for them. A nod of appreciation would have gone a long way, but there was nothing. Local businesses that are on the verge of permanently closing their doors were hoping for a carefully thought-out plan, not for more handouts, to get back to normal. Sadly, they had no luck.

The government cannot replace a healthy economy. No matter how hard it tries, government spending will never outperform or do greater good—

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont

We have a point or order from the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:20 p.m.

Green

Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC

Mr. Speaker, I apologize to my hon. friend from Lethbridge, but I think she may be—

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:20 p.m.

An hon. member

Oh, oh!

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:20 p.m.

Green

Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC

Excuse me. I am being heckled while I try to read a standing order that she is violating.

Standing Order 18 says, “No member shall speak disrespectfully of the Sovereign, nor of any of the royal family, nor of the Governor General”. I think that is particularly the case when we have our first indigenous Governor General. I found the words offensive, but that does not really matter. It is a violation of Standing Order 18.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont

I will ask the member for Lethbridge to retract the comment and find a different line on it.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB

Mr. Speaker, I apologize that the Prime Minister provided her with such a horrendous speech to read.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:20 p.m.

Liberal

Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, you have ruled that the comment the member made was out of order. The member should unreservedly apologize without trying to provide some kind of caveat. Her remarks were offensive to the Crown and the Crown's representative in this place. She needs to apologize for that.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON

Mr. Speaker, the point of order that was brought up by the member from the Green Party indicated there was an attack on the sovereign. There was no apology requested and she did not have to make an apology. She changed her statement, indicating that it had no reflection on the person making the speech. It was a reflection on the speech that was provided. The words the member said were about the speech, not the person who presented it.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:20 p.m.

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB

Mr. Speaker, I rise on the same point of order. It is important that we recognize that you made a ruling. Your interpretation, after consulting with the Clerk, was that the member did in fact violate one of our Standing Orders, and it is fairly clear that what the member was reflecting on was the manner in which the Governor General delivered her speech.

Thousands of Canadians would disagree with, and be offended by, the member's remarks. We ask her to withdraw those remarks without any qualifications whatsoever, to apologize and then continue on. That would be my recommendation: that she listen to what the Speaker ruled. She was out of order.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont

I know we were going to make another attempt here to maybe retract those words and find a more appropriate version that was not taking an attack on, of course, our Sovereign's representative here in Canada, and to try to get on with the speech.

Resumption of Debate on Address in ReplySpeech from the Throne

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB

Mr. Speaker, my words were not an attack on the Sovereign. They were an attack on the tone that the speech was delivered in and its content, which was lacklustre in nature.

However, for the sake of the House and those across the floor who wish to control and manipulate in this place, I retract my words.