Debates of May 13th, 2022

Housing

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, they are raising the cost of housing and the member has nothing to say about that. I guess the truth hurts.

Let me say that what is truly cruel, though, is when the Liberals propose a shiny, new first-time homebuyer savings account and young families with dreams of home ownership actually believe them. What they do not say is that it will take five years to max it out at $40,000, if they have the money to save. Even then, they must qualify under the Liberal stress test.

What will the Minister of Housing do when those few but earnest millennials open up the account, save $40,000 and then are bounced by the stress test? Will he at least send them a “we are sorry” card?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing)]

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

I myself have children who are millennials. I myself am having these discussions with my children about buying their first home.

The Conservatives only ever talk about buying a first property. Yes, that is important. However, they never talk about social housing. They never talk about affordability.

Ensuring that people can buy a house must not be our only focus. We also need to respect renters' rights to have a decent place to live. We need housing, not just home ownership.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we absolutely are talking about affordability, and I will tell the member that the average home price in the GTA reached $1.25 million last month. That means an average homebuyer needs to have an income of $223,000 just to afford one of those houses. Families do not make that kind of money.

Is the minister proud of creating a class of permanent renters because of the government’s lack of action on the housing affordability that the member is talking about?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing)]

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

That is precisely why we need to work not only on home ownership, but also on buyers' rights. Considering the issue of renovictions and units that are unaffordable, we need to ensure not only that people can buy a home, but also that people can rent affordably across the country.

That is exactly what we put in our budget: concrete measures to help every Canadian have a roof over their head.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is living in fantasyland. I will repeat this. An average house in the GTA is $1.25 million. The minimum required down payment for that house is $250,000. What is the average income for an average family in the GTA? It was almost $94,000 the last time we checked.

When will the minister join us in the real world instead of fantasyland and admit that under the government's leadership, we are in a housing crisis?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing)]

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

I live in Canada, not in fantasyland. What I can tell her is that we need to work not only on access to home ownership and increasing the number of housing units, but also on buyers' rights and unfair practices in the real estate market.

The national housing strategies operate on several levels. I hope the Conservative Party will vote with us for once.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Housing continues to insist that his programs are keeping up with rising home prices, but in Kelowna—Lake Country, in just the first two months of this year, the average price of a single-family home increased by $92,500. That is more than $10,000 a week. I was speaking to a 15-year-old from my riding who said the dream of home ownership is only a dream.

Will the minister finally admit that his failing housing policies are absolutely not working?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing)]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. Again, it gives me the opportunity to name a few of the measures in budget 2022, namely, the bill to implement an annual tax on the value of non-resident, non-Canadian-owned residential real estate. We also announced a two-year ban on on foreign investment in real estate.

We need to do something about access to home ownership. We need to make sure that every Canadian is able to buy a home, if they so desire, and more importantly, that every Canadian has a roof over their head.

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the cities in metro Vancouver need 25,000 new houses every year just to keep up with population growth projections, but we are building only 20,000 new homes. This supply and demand imbalance is hurting a lot of Canadian families that just want a safe home and financial security.

Clearly, the government's housing policies over the last six years have not been working. Why should Canadians have any confidence in its newest set of promises?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing)]

Mr. Speaker, we are well aware that there is a housing crisis across the country, in every riding of every member of Parliament.

There is no silver bullet.

However, we have taken concrete action in this budget, and the Conservatives have voted against it every time. It is all well and good to say one thing and then say something different, but there are concrete measures in this budget, such as doubling construction across the country and helping people buy their first home and get into housing.

Public Safety

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a shooting in Laval on Saturday left one person dead. On Tuesday, again in Laval, in broad daylight, in a residential neighbourhood, a man was shot in front of children. Wednesday, in Montreal, a man was shot and killed. He was connected to the Hells Angels, according to police authorities.

There is a gang war going on in Quebec. That is all we see on the news: shootings. Where are the images of weapons being seized? Where are the images of arrests being made and gang members appearing in court? Where is the federal government, considering that there have never been so many illegal weapons circulating in Montreal?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, it obviously is an issue, and that is why we have been taking action on it. I have had the pleasure of working with this colleague on the public safety committee to table a report on guns and gangs. It includes a comprehensive approach, which is what our government is taking.

We are investing in communities to reduce gun crime. We are working closely with municipalities, like Laval, to provide funding over five years to bolster gang prevention and intervention programming. We are also investing in CBSA to stop firearms from crossing at the border.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, by all means, let us talk about what the federal government is doing at the border. By mid-April of last year, there had been 21 shootings in Montreal. By mid-April of this year, there had already been 44. That is more than twice as many.

Where are the RCMP officers? They are at the border, not to stop illegal arms trafficking, not to crack down on organized crime, but to deal with the irregular migrant situation at Roxham Road.

Does the minister think the RCMP could be put to better use fighting arms trafficking than trying to make up for his government's incompetence and neglect?

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

Mr. Speaker, I agree 100% that gun violence has become a real crisis in Quebec and across Canada. I was with our Minister of Public Safety just this week for an announcement about gun control in Canada. We are taking concrete steps to move forward on this.

Mr. Speaker, I think there is a problem.

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

I think someone has their microphone on.

Let us make sure everybody has their microphone turned off. If we have learned anything over the last number of months, it is to keep our microphones and cameras off.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will close by simply saying that I hope that the Bloc Québécois will work with us on better gun control.

Service Canada

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my office is being overrun with correspondence from constituents suffering as a result of passport delays. I recently received a note from Jason, whose son Mason is hoping to travel with his hockey team. Jason asked if he could pay the extra fee to have his passport sooner and was told that he could not, as his date of travel was outside of the next 25 days. He was assured he would have it on time. When it did not arrive on time, he called the number but no one answered. He could not leave a message. He called over 150 times in three days and still has not gotten an answer.

To the minister, where is Mason's passport?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, after two long years, Canadians are travelling again and we are seeing unprecedented volumes across the country of Canadians who wish to have travel documents. We know that it is both difficult and stressful for them.

The minister has been travelling throughout the country visiting Service Canada passport centres and speaking to staff, who have been working through the weekends and doing overtime. We hired 500 new staff in December to prepare, in anticipation of this. All wickets are open.

We want to thank all those working so hard to serve Canadians.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, clearly 500 is not enough. If only there was a way to have a database to track when passports expire. This is why my community is furious. The passport process delays are predictable and unnecessary. To add insult to injury, we are forced to pay an extra $200 as a service charge and, incredibly, another $20 on top of that, not for delivery of the passport but to pick it up at the office. This means more fees, untold sleepless nights and angry Canadians.

When is the government going to assign someone other than the minister to fix the problem?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, not only were an additional 500 staff hired in December, but three processing centres were opened across the country in anticipation of this demand. In addition to that, over 303 Service Canada centres will accept passport applications. In addition to that, those who submitted within the appropriate processing times but were delayed do not have to pay for transfer fees or expedited fees and will receive their documents.

We are serving Canadians.

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my constituent Derek had an opportunity to go to the United States to attend a football camp, so he acted quickly to try to get a passport. When Service Canada called to confirm the information, he, as a high school student and part-time employee, unfortunately missed the call, and his attempts to call back over the course of several weeks were unsuccessful. After he was finally able to provide the required documents, the delays ultimately caused Derek to miss the camp. He still does not have his passport.

When will the Liberals fix this passport backlog?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, staff in Service Canada offices are working long hours over weekends and overtime to ensure that Canadians get the service they need during this unprecedented volume.

I would also like to mention that ESDC has leveraged additional staff to come in to support our passport service staff, in addition to the 500 new hires and the 564 counters open across the country at 100% service capacity.

Health

[Robert Gordon Kitchen, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian travellers returning to Canada are still required to use the ArriveCAN app and disclose their personal data to the government, whether they like it or not. The app asks where someone has been, where they are going and whether they have any health-related symptoms, answers that could easily be stated to an agent at customs.

We know the government has been using COVID as an excuse to track Canadian data, and the minister repeatedly claims that the app protects Canadians. My question is, how?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, we have gone to a question that included misinformation, and I really am concerned about that.

ArriveCAN is an essential and intuitive tool to protect Canadians. We have streamlined the reopening process.

As the hon. member knows, travel is up. It takes only a few minutes for vaccinated travellers to complete this. To conflate it with privacy issues is really troubling.

Indigenous Affairs

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, a report confirmed that the RCMP is an organization built on systemic discrimination, perpetuating violence against indigenous women and girls. The calls for justice provide a path forward to address the misogyny, racism and violence outlined in the report, but the government is failing to act. Words are not enough. It has been three years since the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

When will the government finally get serious about saving indigenous lives and implement the calls for justice?