Debates of June 8th, 2021

Housing

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, we know that every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. We have a long-term plan to make sure that every Canadian has stable housing, which is critical for the growth of communities and a strong middle class. That is why budget 2021, the fifth consecutive budget with more investments in affordable housing, to the tune of $2.5 billion, is set to repair and support 35,000 more affordable housing units.

We have also introduced Canada's first national tax on vacant or underused residential properties owned by foreign non-residents. This will help families, young people, low-income Canadians and people experiencing homelessness.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government's current policy is not doing enough to make more housing available. The first-time home buyer incentive is a failure, and foreign buyers are investing heavily in our real estate, driving prices up senselessly.

The current approach is not working. When will the government start working on a new plan to solve these problems?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, it is very rich for the party opposite to talk about affordable housing. When Conservatives were in government, they spent only $250 million per year for affordable housing. Meanwhile, we have invested over $27 billion since coming into office, and we have committed a further $72.5 billion under the national housing strategy. Now they are opposing our budget, which includes even more investments in housing. This is a party that has absolutely no credibility when it comes to affordable housing.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are dealing with a number of challenges that lead to housing problems. We have to bring in fiscal incentives to increase the number of rental units on the market. Money laundering laws have to be strengthened, and the housing policy in general needs to be rewritten to increase the number of units available.

Canadians need solutions. Why is the government not acting on any of these options?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, as the numbers show in the national housing strategy report tabled recently, we have helped over 200,000 families get the housing they need through building new homes, repairing existing ones and providing affordability support. Since 2015, our government has supported the creation of nearly 100,000 new affordable housing units, and we have repaired over 300,000 more across different housing programs, representing over $27.4 billion of investments. We have absolutely no lessons to take from a party that completely ignored affordable housing in all its years in power.

We are not stopping there. Budget 2021 plans to invest an additional $2.5 billion and reallocate further investments to repair—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the member who just spoke is misleading the House. In budget 2006, the Conservatives actually invested $800 million in affordable housing, $450 million for housing on reserve and $300 million for urban indigenous Canadians, so he should stop misleading the House.

To my question, today the parliamentary secretary said the national housing strategy addresses the entire housing continuum. If this is truly the case, was it the intention of the government to drive home prices out of reach for the average middle-class Canadian?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is entitled to his opinions, but he is not entitled to his own facts. The fact of the matter is that the former Harper government spent only $250 million per year on affordable housing. Meanwhile, we have invested over $27 billion in affordable housing solutions since coming into office, and we have committed to spend a further $70 billion under the national housing strategy.

Conservatives ignored this problem. They did not invest in reaching home. They did not have a plan to invest in more rental stock in the market. They did not support people through the Canada housing benefit, which we introduced. We have no lessons to take from the Conservatives on this issue.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, a generation of young Canadians are being cut out of the housing market. Housing has become unaffordable. There is not enough supply, money laundering goes unprosecuted, offshore speculators inflate prices and the Liberals continue to fail first-time home buyers.

Will the government take concrete action to address the supply problem challenging first-time home buyers and those seeking to own their own home in Canada?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, we introduced the first-time home buyer incentive to help first-time home buyers in Canada achieve their dream of home ownership. Do members know what the Conservative Party's record is for helping first-time home buyers? It is virtually non-existent. During its time in office, the only policy that side of the House could come up with was to provide a $750 tax credit for first-time home buyers.

Meanwhile, we are expanding the first-time home buyer incentive to enhance eligibility in the greater Toronto area, the greater Vancouver area and Victoria by raising the qualifying income threshold to $150,000. We are making sure that more Canadians have—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the member is misleading the House. For the first-time home buyer program, the government said it was going to help 200,000 Canadians. It has helped 10,600 in two years. It is a joke.

The Aboriginal Housing Management Association’s CEO, Margaret Pfoh, stated that in over 25 years in the indigenous housing sector, she has never been as shocked or as disappointed as she was upon reading the recent budget. With the tabling of HUMA’s report, “Indigenous Housing: The Direction Home”, will the minister fulfill his promise, or will the Liberals continue to ignore the 87% of Canada’s indigenous people living in urban areas?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, no relationship is more important to our government than the one with indigenous peoples. Just recently, we announced that almost 40% of all the units created under the rapid housing initiative will be targeted to support indigenous peoples, including those in urban areas, something that the hon. member fails to mention.

In addition to that, $638 million has been allocated specifically to housing that benefits indigenous peoples living in urban, rural and northern communities. Once again, if we look closely, and if we scratch beneath the surface, the Conservatives did absolutely nothing to provide affordable housing solutions for indigenous peoples in urban, rural and northern communities.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, on April 22, Ottawa announced its new target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 40% to 50% by 2030. The same day, the government promised me in the House that it would include this new target in Bill C-12, but it did not. The government did not include this new target in Bill C-12. Worse still, the NDP agrees and is joining forces with the government to fight the Bloc Québécois and keep us from amending the bill.

The government chose the target. I would hope it believes it is capable of reaching it. Why then is it refusing to include it in the bill?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I will remind my colleague that, in committee, our government put forward an amendment to include Canada's target in the legal text of the bill.

I will also remind her that she voted with the Conservative Party to try to defeat this important amendment. It is clear that the Bloc Québécois says one thing on this issue in the House, but something quite different in committee.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary told me yesterday that he was open to amendments and was pleased to be able to count on members of the Bloc. The minister's discourse today is not quite the same. Once again, what he is saying is false. The Bloc Québécois is trying to amend Bill C-12 to include the government's 2030 climate change targets, and the government is fighting tooth and nail, with the NDP's support, to stop us. That is not openness; it is obstruction.

I repeat, it was the government itself that set the targets. Why, then, is it so afraid to include those targets in the bill, if it has any intention at all of meeting them?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we put forward an amendment in committee to include Canada's target in the legal text of the bill.

It saddens me that the Bloc Québécois tried so hard to prevent the committee from moving forward. If we want Bill C-12 to pass to contribute to the fight against climate change, we hope the Bloc Québécois will support us on that.

Health

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, at the Standing Committee on Health, we heard devastating testimony about hotel owners who are under contract for the federal hotel quarantine program and are using the pandemic to lay off their workers. It should be noted that 70% of these workers are women, people of colour and new Canadians. The Prime Minister funded this quarantine program without thinking about the details and the men and women who would be affected.

What will the government do for the less fortunate people who lost their jobs?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, at every step of the way we have been there for Canadians, to protect them from the risk of international travel and to work with partners across the country to ensure that the measures and layers of protection are doing their job. We will continue to do that. We know that reducing mobility is a way to protect from the importation of virus, and we will continue to use science and evidence to guide our way.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, it is clear that the minister did not listen to the question at all. I have another one for her.

After spending weeks ignoring a report she had received from a group of experts describing how to ease federal restrictions at the border, last week, the Minister of Finance scoffed at the idea of relaxing the rules for people who are vaccinated. Today, the Prime Minister, under pressure from the media on this issue, said that the restrictions could be eased for people who are fully vaccinated.

Is the Prime Minister going to jump the queue and get his second dose to try to avoid the mandatory quarantine?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, at every step of the way we have been informed by science and evidence as we have added layers of protection at the border. We thank the testing and screening panel for the road map forward on how to manage international travel and also protect Canadians from the importation of the virus. We will continue to be guided by science and evidence to ensure that, as Canada opens up, and the international community opens up, we do so in a way that is safe and protects Canada from further waves of COVID-19.

Labour

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the health committee heard that the Prime Minister is using his unscientific and unsafe hotel quarantine program to discriminate against women and persons of colour. An overwhelming number of Pacific Gateway's long-term workers are women and persons of colour, but they were laid off under the auspices of this program in order to hire lower-paid workers. They have now filed a human rights complaint.

Will the minister immediately stop using hotel companies that discriminate against women and persons of colour, and that union busts, to run these unsafe programs?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, we are aware of the ongoing dispute between the Pacific Gateway hotel and UNITE HERE Local 40. Our government believes and has faith in the collective bargaining process. We encourage both parties to work together to resolve issues to reach an agreement. However, this is a provincial matter and falls under provincial jurisdiction.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is the federal government that is paying Pacific Gateway to run an unsafe, unscientific hotel program that is allowing for these abuses. At these hotels, there has been worker abuse, COVID-19 outbreaks and sexual assaults, yet the government persists in propping it up. However, the Prime Minister himself will not stay at one of these facilities, and to me, that says it all.

There is no evidence to keep these programs going, and workers are being abused. Will the minister commit to immediately scrapping the hotel quarantine program?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, this matter falls under provincial jurisdiction, but let me share with members what we have done as a government in order to support unions and workers from the time we were elected.

In 2015, one of the first measures we implemented was Bill C-4, which repealed Bill C-525 and Bill C-377, which were actually anti-union pieces of legislation. We have been there for workers. Members can look at the enhancements we have made under the Labour Code, such as increasing leaves and creating new leaves. We have been there, and we will continue to be there for workers every step of the way.