Debates of April 26th, 2022

Housing

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, rather than tackling the supply issues driving the housing and affordability crisis, the NDP-Liberal government has doubled down on its failed approach. The NDP-Liberal budget promises the same failed programs that will not see any additional houses built this year or help a Canadian family afford a home who otherwise could not. The average home price in Canada is now $868,000, up nearly 30% in the last year alone. Canadians need help now. When will the Liberal government take this housing crisis seriously?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, what Canadians do not need is a mishmash of conflicting policies from the official opposition. The leader of the official opposition believes that we should download the costs of housing to municipalities. The member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon believes that we should download the costs to provinces. The member for Calgary Centre believes that we should not ban foreign owners. The member for Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry believes that we should pull back from federal investments in housing. The member for Calgary Centre does not believe in building multi-unit buildings for affordable housing. That party does not get its story straight on housing.

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in Canada, as we just heard, the average price of a home is $868,000, but in South Surrey—White Rock the average price is $1.2 million, and that is not even for a detached home. Rather than dealing with a supply shortage, the government is doubling down on its failed policies and programs. Canadians do not want to co-own their homes with this tax-and-spend government. They do not trust the government. When is the government going to get serious, abandon its failed policies, increase supply and cut red tape?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, the best way to deal with housing affordability is to increase housing supply and to do it faster. Unfortunately, if the member opposite is so concerned about housing supply, she should talk to her leader, who opposes our collaboration with municipalities to increase housing supply. She should talk to her colleague from Calgary Centre, who opposes a ban on foreign ownership. She should talk to her colleague from Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, who believes we should just download the costs to provinces. She should talk to her colleague from Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, who believes we should just get out of the whole national housing strategy.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Zack has a job offer in my riding of Peterborough—Kawartha, but he cannot find affordable housing. This is a common theme across the country. There are a lot of job vacancies, but no housing. How can we fix the employment crisis when we have a housing crisis?

People need a place to live. It is a basic human need. How is Zack supposed to pay off his student debt if he cannot accept job offers? Will the housing minister continue to roll out one failed program after another, and is Zack the latest victim of his housing policy failures?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member talks about housing as a basic right. When we brought forward the National Housing Strategy Act to recognize housing as a human right, that party voted against it. That is not—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Order. Are we ready to continue?

I will allow the Minister of Housing to restart his answer.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the solution to housing affordability is housing supply. We are collaborating with municipalities through the housing accelerator fund to build 100,000 new homes in the next two years and double the number of new homes built in the next 10 years. We are also extending supports through the first-time homebuyer incentive and the tax-free savings account to first-time homebuyers. We are also tackling speculation by banning foreign ownership of Canadian residential real estate in the next two years, and we are building more affordable housing.

Climate Change

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today the environment commissioner released another series of scathing reports on the Liberals' climate failures. He showed that they are failing on carbon pricing, letting big polluters off the hook while indigenous communities pay the price, failing to reduce emissions, relying on non-existent policies that undermine their credibility, and failing on climate infrastructure. They cannot even keep track of the impacts of their projects. On a just transition, they are leaving workers and communities behind.

How can Canadians trust the government's promises when we see failure after failure after failure?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, as I said earlier, we welcome the commissioner's latest report and thank him for his findings. I do not know what is so controversial about that.

Over the last six years, we have made major progress on everything from putting a price on pollution to protecting historic amounts of our lands and water. As we have planned in budget 2022 and the emissions reduction plan, we are transitioning to a clean economy. We are putting a cap on emissions from Canada's oil and gas sector, and we are putting a price on pollution through to 2030.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, God help our little planet with a minister like that in charge, because if he read the environment commissioner's report, he would point out that energy workers are facing a potential economic upheaval as devastating as the collapse of the cod fishery in the 1990s.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I know the member for Timmins—James Bay has a big voice, but I am having trouble hearing it all the way up here.

This is what I am going to do. A lot of times I am getting ministers to repeat their answers. I am going to ask the member for Timmins—James Bay to repeat his question and start from the beginning.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, God help our planet with answers like that from the minister, because the environment commissioner today warned that energy workers are facing a potential economic upheaval as devastating as the collapse of the cod fisheries in the 1990s. Slogans and promises about a so-called “just transition” just will not cut it. The commissioner reminds us that the government has broken every environmental promise it has made, and now it is breaking faith with energy workers and their families.

It is simple. The climate crisis is here. How can the minister stand in the House and continue to show such a dismal record of failure?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the commissioner for the report, notwithstanding some concerns with the findings. Consultations on legislation were launched while I was minister of natural resources, and I am proud to say I am continuing that work as the Minister of Labour alongside my successor and my colleagues. Recently we had a ministerial round table on sustainable jobs. We have had the relaunch of consultations on the legislation and the sustainable jobs training centre, which demonstrate our government's ongoing commitment to achieving a transition that will lower emissions, build up renewables and make sure that our workers are at the centre of it.

Health

[James Maloney, Liberal, Etobicoke—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, distress centres are life-saving resources in our communities, which have seen a surge in demand for their services since the onset of the pandemic. In my riding of Etobicoke—Lakeshore, the assaulted women's helpline recently received a much-needed infusion of $250,000 of federal support. This organization operates two crisis lines. One is for women who are experiencing domestic and gender-based violence, and the other, the seniors safety line, is specifically for seniors who are experiencing all forms of abuse.

Could the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions update the House on how our government is supporting these types of critical supports in Canada?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore for his ongoing, impressive leadership and all—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Hold on. I was just making sure that the minister did not use up all of her time.

The hon. Minister of Mental Health.

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will just thank him for his advocacy now.

All people in Canada deserve access to critical mental health resources. Yesterday, I was able to announce $2 million for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to help develop resources to assist distress centres in meeting the diverse needs of disproportionately affected people, as well as almost $1.8 million for 13 distress centres across Canada to help them better connect to appropriate supports. This funding is part of a $50-million federal commitment to distress centres and to building a network to ensure that people get what they need when they need it.

The Economy

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Governor of the Bank of Canada admitted that inflation is much higher than expected. When asked to explain how to protect Canada's finances, he said, “don't spend too much”.

We know that the Prime Minister does not think about monetary policy, but Conservatives do and Canadians do, and Canadians are the ones paying the price for the Prime Minister's monetary illiteracy: higher grocery bills, gas bills and interest rates. Will the Prime Minister recognize that his reckless borrowing and spending is making things worse for Canadians?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is ironic that this question comes from a Conservative colleague when, in their electoral platform, the Conservatives committed to spending $168 billion.

The IMF has just confirmed that our economy is going to see the highest growth among G7 countries, both this year and next year. Canadians have created over 3.5 million jobs. These are well-paying jobs that will help Canadians meet the cost of living that we see increasing all over the world due to the war in Ukraine. We have been excellent stewards of the economy, and the Conservatives know it.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, inflation hit 6.7% last month, a 31-year high and well above the Bank of Canada's predictions. Canadians are already struggling to pay their bills, fill up at the pump and put food on the table. Unfortunately, budget 2022 failed to provide any credible solutions, and with the extensive, unfocused spending, it is only going to get worse. The simple fact is that Canadians cannot afford this Liberal-NDP government.

When will the minister acknowledge this cost of living crisis we are living in and work on real solutions?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are seeing inflation rise right around the world, and we know that this is due to the war in Ukraine, among other things.

However, I would like to remind the Conservatives that in our budget we have put forward a plethora of measures in order to ensure that housing would be more affordable and to ensure that child care would be more affordable. Prior to that, we lowered taxes for the middle class on two occasions, and the Conservatives voted against it. We have helped raise 300,000 children out of poverty, thanks to the Canada child benefit, and we are supporting vulnerable seniors with an increase in our supports for them. We are there for Canadians.