Debates of April 5th, 2022

Housing

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

Mr. Speaker, all Canadians deserve a safe and affordable place to call home.

If the Conservatives will not listen to me, perhaps they will listen to the former Conservative minister and current Mayor of London, Ed Holder. With regard to our investments through the rapid housing initiative, he said:

This funding...will save lives and ultimately improve the lives of those who come to occupy these desperately needed units.... We are exceptionally grateful that our commitment to this vital work is shared with equal enthusiasm by the Government of Canada.

The Conservatives voted against that, and they voted against every other affordable housing measure that we introduced.

Finance

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the minister and congratulate him on his first French sentence, which I very much appreciate, but I must nevertheless remind him about the facts.

The fact is, housing costs are up nearly 30% in Canada. That pushed inflation to 5.7%, which is why food costs more, gas costs more, and Canadians are paying more tax. Last week, this government had a chance to give Canadians a break by not raising the tax, but no, on Friday, the federal tax went up.

Can the government at least commit to not raising taxes in the budget it will be tabling two days from now?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the state of the economy and why it is good news for Canadians. We have had eight consecutive months of growth. Our GDP grew by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Our trade surplus, now $6.6 billion, is at its highest point since 2008. This fall, S&P and Moody's gave us a AAA credit rating.

That is what leadership means. That is what it means to focus on affordability. The other side does not like a growing economy, but we like it a lot.

The Environment

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Greenpeace, Équiterre, the David Suzuki Foundation and the Sierra Club are unanimous: We have to say no to the Bay du Nord project. It is not complicated. It is no.

Yesterday's IPCC report came to exactly the same conclusion. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels”.

That is exactly what the minister would do with Bay du Nord: increase oil production by one billion barrels.

Will the minister say no to Bay du Nord?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question and her advocacy.

Our government recognizes the importance of the decision on Equinor's Bay du Nord development project. We are following a legislated process based on the available scientific evidence. That is why we extended the legislated timeline in order to take the time to properly review the considerable amount of complex information and make an informed decision.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister is jeopardizing his credibility. He cannot introduce an emissions reduction plan and then, one week later, consider approving a project to produce one billion barrels of oil. This would negate all his efforts and put him on par with all the other environment ministers in Canada, which has introduced 11 plans since 1988 and has never even come close to reaching its targets.

The Bay du Nord decision is the first major test for the minister. For the sake of the plan that he himself just introduced, will he say no to Bay du Nord?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.

I would like to quote what some people had to say when we presented our plan last week. Équiterre's Marc‑André Viau stated, “We welcome the emissions reduction plan because this is the first time that we have such a detailed strategy to reach a target”.

I would like to remind my colleague that our plan is based on, among other things, data from the Canada Energy Regulator, which has forecast an increase in oil production in Canada. Despite everything, our plan sets out, in black and white, how we are going to tackle pollution and achieve our emissions reduction targets by 2030.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, many people are unsure whether the plan to extract another 1.1 billion barrels of oil with Bay du Nord will reduce emissions from the oil sector. Many do not think this makes sense, although some do, from what I gather.

That brings us to the UN. Yesterday, in response to the IPCC report, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said “Some government...leaders are saying one thing - but doing another." He added, “Simply put, they are lying”.

Those are harsh but necessary words. Will the minister say no to Bay du Nord?

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

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is right that there are some people, like the Conservatives, who talk about climate change. Others, like those on this side of the House, are taking action by putting a price on pollution, which is already one of the highest in the world.

We are on our way to cutting methane emissions by 40% to 45% by 2025. We have an objective of 75%, which is the most ambitious objective in the world. It is clear that Canada's federal government can tackle pollution. My colleague knows very well that production is a provincial jurisdiction.

Housing

[Matt Jeneroux, Conservative, Edmonton Riverbend, AB]

Mr. Speaker, “crushing”, “stunning” and “frenzy” are words the Royal Bank is using to describe the housing crisis in Canada. The Bank of Montreal is calling it a full-scale attack. Housing experts are calling the minister's programs absolute failures.

When will the minister listen to the experts and stop blaming others for his failures?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would urge the hon. member to look at what the national housing strategy is doing in his home province of Alberta. In Alberta, we are investing $444 million to support 35,000 households and pay rent. What does he have to say about that?

It is not only that. He should have a conversation with his colleagues from various parts of the country who continue to talk down federal investments in housing through the national housing strategy, and who have dismissed efforts we are making to enable more Canadians to have access to home ownership. They want us to pull back from the national housing strategy, and they want no federal leadership in this place.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has to keep reusing the same recycled talking points and twisting people's words because he is embarrassed, and rightfully so, of his record as minister.

He claims to have a plan that would help make housing more affordable, but under his watch, we have seen housing prices double and rent become more unaffordable than ever before. More and more people are looking at the situation and saying that they are giving up on ever buying a home. He should finally admit that his plan for first-time homebuyers is not working. It is only actually driving prices up.

Will the minister acknowledge his record of failure, change course and actually make housing more affordable for Canadians, and not just use the same talking points?

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

Mr. Speaker, I wish the hon. member would look at the federal housing investments through just one program in the national housing strategy in his home province of Ontario. Through the Canada housing benefit, we are investing $1.46 billion to support over 50,000 households to pay the rent. That is a record—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

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

Order. This is the fourth time I have to stand to allow the minister to answer so that I can hear what he is saying.

I will ask the minister to answer. He has the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, I guess the record of supporting 50,000 households to pay their rent through an investment of $1.46 billion is making the other side heckle.

Let me tell members what the hon. member who asked the question said about the national housing strategy. He said that we should “pull back” from federal leadership and investments in affordable housing. Do members know what he said about the first-time homebuyer incentive, a program to enable more young people to access their dream of home ownership? He said that we should get out of the business of helping Canadians buy their own home, and that is a shame.

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

Mr. Speaker, we really do not appreciate the arrogant tone coming from the housing minister day after day, especially since after six years of this government, housing prices have effectively doubled. Half of my generation will never be able to afford a home as a result of its failed policies. A little humility would be welcomed from the Minister of Housing.

When will the government abandon its failed housing strategy?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is what the mayor of Winnipeg, Brian Bowman, said about the rapid housing initiative: This program has been a huge success for Winnipeg. I would invite members on the other side to look at their record. They voted against the first-time homebuyer incentive. They voted against the rapid housing initiative. They voted against the Canada housing benefit. They voted against every single program we have brought to the House. They failed in government when it comes to housing and they are now failing in opposition.

The Economy

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this week's budget will prove to be a pivotal point in the lives of financially struggling seniors. They need relief from the record inflation, the record increase in the price of gas, the record increase in the price of food and the record increase in the price of medications that the government has overseen.

Will the government commit to measures for lowering the cost of living, to help all seniors in my riding and Canadians, in this week's budget?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, excuse me, but I will not take any lessons from a party whose plan was to prolong the age of retirement to 67. On this side of the House, one of the very first things we did was restore that. We enhanced the CPP. We increased the GIS, which has helped over 900,000 single seniors. We provided direct payments to seniors during the pandemic, and we are making high-speed Internet more affordable for seniors. On this side of the House, we are going to continue to ensure we support seniors now and into the future.

Indigenous Affairs

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Qujannamiik, Uqaqtittiji.

In Nunavut, people are feeling the impacts of the housing crisis every day. We need 3,000 more housing units so that people are not living in overcrowded housing that is in desperate need of repair. The government has only committed to building 100 units. The Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy shows a current housing gap requiring $22.7 billion for first nations.

Will the government deliver the affordable housing indigenous people need?

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Minister of Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I agree. In all my travels, virtual and real, housing has been the number one issue that comes up time and again. That is why we have signed 10-year housing agreements with all three national indigenous organizations, the Métis National Council, the ITK and Inuit rights holders. We invested $513 million in infrastructure, which includes housing, last August. We know this is a priority and we are going to get it done.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, this week marks two years since 16-year-old Eishia Hudson was killed by a Winnipeg police officer. Eishia's family is mourning and waiting for answers, like thousands of families across this country that have lost loved ones to this ongoing genocide against indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.

The Liberals must act now. Will the minister commit that the budget will include immediate, targeted and adequate funding to implement the 231 calls for justice?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is right. We are failing as a society as long as every woman, child and LGBTQ person is not safe in this country. The investments that we put in through prior budgets, like the $2 billion we invested in budget 2021, are designed specifically to address this ongoing tragedy.

Just last week, I had the honour and pleasure of announcing investments that respond directly to call for justice 2.3 on providing safe cultural spaces for indigenous communities across the country. That has to continue. It has to continue on a systematic basis until everyone is safe in this country.

Veterans Affairs

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian veterans have served our country with courage and sacrifice. They deserve our respect, our support and our gratitude. Accessing mental health services is absolutely vital to the well-being of many veterans.

Could the minister please update the House on our recent $140-million investment to ensure that veterans get the treatment they need and deserve as quickly as possible?