Debates of Dec. 6th, 2021

Housing

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

That is unreal, Mr. Speaker. Does the member not realize that in downtown Toronto, the average price of a single detached family home is $1.8 million?

Let us compare Canada with the rest of the G7. Housing supply is the highest. It is the lowest, but housing inflation is the highest. New builds are up. They are down 5.2%, and house prices are up 20%. Under what metric in the world is this plan working?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, it is hard to figure out what metric the member is pointing to when we are confused about which is higher and which is lower.

With great respect, what has not wavered is our commitment to ensuring that we are investing in building supply and investing in programs. There is a new rent-to-own program so people who are renting can afford a place to call home, which will have generational impacts. These are investments that are going to make homes more affordable for first-time buyers.

Whether it is housing affordability or building more affordable housing, our government has been committed, like no other government in the history of Canada from the moment we first formed government, and that is not going to cease. We know it is a problem and we are going to continue to address it.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, despite the fact that Canada has the second-biggest housing bubble in the world, according to Bloomberg, and Vancouver and Toronto are the second and fifth most unaffordable housing markets on earth, according to Demographia, the Liberal media and the Liberal government want me to stop talking about housing inflation. Who does not want me to stop talking about it? Raj, who is an IT worker from Brampton. He has had to drive Uber in order to save up over 15 years to make a down payment on the average house in his community.

Will the minister tell Raj and other Canadians whether we have a housing bubble, yes or no?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we have to acknowledge that there has been a rapid and serious rise in the cost of housing across Canada, but we were wise to this fact long before the pandemic. That is why we advanced the national housing strategy beginning six years ago, which did not seem to get the support of the opposition parties at the time. We are going to continue to make the kinds of investments that have already seen 100,000 new units constructed and 300,000 units retrofitted.

We are going to continue to make the kinds of investments that will increase supply and reduce costs so more Canadians like Raj can enter the housing market in Canada.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is no surprise that the finance minister is running away from her record on housing inflation. After all, since she took the job, prices are up by 20%. Since this government took office, they are up 58%, almost $300,000. They really started to rise when the government started to flood financial and mortgage markets with $400 billion of easy money, which has raised not only house prices but also land prices.

Now that we have the second-biggest housing bubble in the world, will the finance minister finally recognize that Canada has a housing bubble, yes or no?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, once upon a time, the Conservatives liked to cast themselves as the party of sound economic management, but now they have a finance critic who, as one columnist recently put it, “has breezily bent facts past the breaking point, notably by asserting that Canada has run the largest budget deficit in the Group of 20, and that Canada's inflation rate is far higher than all its peers except the United States.”

Neither assertion is true, of course, so why should we listen to anything the member for Carleton has to say?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member loves to quote the Liberal, state-funded media to defend herself. Well, let us do that. Let me quote The Globe and Mail, which wrote, “The Liberal government is asking Parliament to approve billions of new spending during a brief four-hour sitting in Ottawa but is facing questions because it has not released a full accounting of how it spent more than $600 billion last year”.

We do not know how this deficit ranks because the Liberals will not release the public account. All we know is that they have flooded the economy with over a half trillion of deficit spending, driving up housing prices to be the second highest in the world.

I will go back to the same question: Does Canada have a housing bubble, yes or no?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, maybe the Conservatives' truth problem starts at the top. After all, a recent press conference by the Leader of the Opposition was littered with misleading statements about the economy. I will not get through all of them, but I will start.

He said that Canada has the lowest growth. The truth is that Q3 GDP numbers show our economy is growing faster than those of the U.S., U.K., Japan and Australia.

He said that Canada has the worst record on employment. The truth is that we have recovered over 106% of jobs lost since the pandemic, compared to just 83% in the U.S.

I could go on, but I have run out of time.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish she would go on because she loves to quote Liberal media commentators. One of the articles she quoted earlier actually talked about how she put manipulative media on Twitter, making history as the first minister in Canadian history to be sanctioned by a social media company for sharing misinformation online, so enough with the misinformation.

The question was about housing prices. According to Bloomberg, we have the second largest housing bubble in the world.

Will the minister acknowledge that there is a housing bubble in Canada, yes or no?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it turns out it is not just the member for Carleton or the Leader of the Opposition who have a truth problem. Last week, the member for Kootenay—Columbia claimed that we are experiencing hyperinflation, but hyperinflation happens when inflation gets to 50% a month. The member for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex claimed that we are experiencing stagnation, but in the third quarter, our economy grew by 5.4% a month.

The Conservatives are yet again showing Canadians that they just cannot be taken seriously.

Public Safety

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning, La Presse published some disturbing stories from anonymous people, including a mother who wants to get a firearm to defend herself. This mother said, “Guns have become so commonplace in my community, that I'm wondering whether I should learn about them and get one to stay safe at home”. Even mothers are now wondering whether the only way to protect their children is to get a gun.

Does the minister understand how urgent it is to do something about firearms trafficking?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question, especially on this solemn anniversary. We must work extra hard to address this issue, which is why our government has already taken meaningful action, such as banning assault-style weapons, adding resources at the border and working closely with the Government of Quebec to create spaces that are safe for everyone.

That is our government's commitment, and we will continue with this approach.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are at a crossroads. When members of the public come to believe that the solution to gun violence is to arm themselves, we have reached the limit. In this area, the federal government has failed miserably.

The minister consults, discusses, and sits back, while American gun culture takes hold in Canada. We are finally seeing our society sliding toward the ugliest aspect of our neighbour to the south because of the federal government’s inaction.

What will it take for the government to wake up?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I share my colleague’s concerns. That is why, last week, I had two virtual meetings with my Quebec counterpart and the leaders of PolyRemembers. Especially today, when we must acknowledge all the challenges we face in this area, we must work even harder and keep searching for concrete solutions.

Our government is committed to working with all members of the House on this issue.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is urgent. Many assault weapons are prohibited, but everyone who owns one can keep it. This is urgent, but the government has not made a mandatory buyback one of its first priorities. This is urgent, but the government has not made banning handguns a priority either. The government wants to offload that responsibility onto the provinces.

Today, 32 years to the day after what happened at the Polytechnique, does the minister realize that the women who survived are sick and tired of commemorations and pious words that are not backed up by action?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure my colleague that mandatory buyback is one of the government's priorities. That was one of our promises during the election campaign. We will keep looking for other solutions, adding resources at the border, and finding and creating safe spaces for everyone. On this solemn anniversary day, in particular, that is our government's promise.

Health

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government seems to have learned nothing during the 20-month pandemic. It is not enough just to announce border restrictions to protect Canadians. We need to make sure they work.

Let us talk about the ArriveCAN app that is supposed to protect Canadians but is actually making things worse at the border. People are being misinformed. No one is answering the telephone to help them. Seniors without smartphones cannot travel. We are hearing stories of mandatory quarantines for triple-vaccinated people.

Can the Prime Minister come back down to Earth and get his border guidelines in order?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I want to reassure my colleague. The government is taking the necessary steps at the border to protect all Canadians. That is why we have put restrictions in place for travellers. That is also why we need more testing at the border to protect everyone.

With respect to ArriveCAN, over the past week, I have been talking with the CBSA about providing further instructions and more options for workers arriving at the border.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, in order for Canadians to cross the land border from the U.S. into Canada, they have to upload their proof of vaccination to the government's official app ArriveCAN, but this requirement has been poorly communicated, to say the least. Now, Canadians are finding out at the border upon returning home that, if someone fails to do this, they will be punished by their government with a mandatory two-week quarantine, and there is absolutely no recourse for them. MPs have received hundreds of complaints about this.

Canadians deserve reasonable accommodation at their own land border. When will they get it?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my colleague and all members in this chamber that this government will never hesitate to put in place the public health care measures required at the border to protect all Canadians, particularly now, as we continue to learn more about the variant of concern, omicron. It is absolutely necessary that we exercise an abundance of caution at the borders to protect everyone so we can protect the progress we have made thus far.

With regard to ArriveCAN, I want to assure my colleague that I have spoken with CBSA, so there has been additional guidance to provide the opportunity for travellers to provide the information that is necessary on ArriveCAN in person at the borders.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, if a person has received mandatory quarantine for spending, say, 30 minutes at the grocery store in the U.S., there is the government's response. It has no plan to help and is, by all accounts, pleased with its punishments of Canadians.

We need to look at the facts. The ArriveCAN app has crashed for some users. Many cannot access it because of poor cell service. Many seniors do not have smart phones, and for others, costly data plans are out of reach. I ask members to keep in mind that all of these people are double vaccinated Canadians, yet there is no recourse for them. They were forced into quarantine because of poor communication from the government.

Something needs to be done about this, and something needs to be done about it now. Again, Canadians deserve reasonable accommodation. When will the Liberals start treating Canadians with respect?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure you the best way to treat Canadians with respect is to protect them and to ensure that we are producing the necessary public health care measures at the border in the wake of the variant of concern, omicron.

Perhaps my colleague will just simply discard evidence and science. On this side of the House, we use that as the North Star to ensure we are protecting the health and safety of Canadians. We have done that throughout the pandemic, and we will continue to do so going forward.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I would like to remind hon. members, as it was going so well, but suddenly I am trying to hear the question and answer. I do not want to tax the hon. minister and ask him to repeat himself so that I can hear it, so I am going to ask everyone to be quiet, both when the questions are being posed and when the answers are being put forward.

The hon. member for Edmonton Strathcona.

Seniors

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the guaranteed income supplement is designed to help seniors living below the poverty line pay for rent, groceries and medications. Losing the GIS because they received the CERB they were entitled to means that the most vulnerable, the poorest seniors in every riding in this country, can no longer afford to get by.

While Canadian seniors are losing their homes, the Liberal government continues to drag its feet rather than fix this problem. Will the minister immediately exempt CERB income from the GIS calculations so Canadian seniors can stop suffering?