Debates of Oct. 4th, 2023

Finance

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we see once again the Leader of the Opposition's tried and true tactic of attacking the facts when they do not suit his purposes.

The international bond rating agencies, like Moody's and S&P, have ranked the top economies as AAA economies: the United States, Germany and then Canada, some of the world's largest economies. They have said that our fiscal plan is sustainable, as we are there to support Canadians, as we demonstrate fiscal prudence and as we support Canadians through this difficult time.

He can rage war on experts and the facts and demonize them all he likes, but we will keep being there for Canadians, grounded in the facts.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he will not tell us the facts because he does not even know the facts.

This is a man who is going to borrow $421 billion this year. If the government bought 421 billion apples, the price of apples would go up. When it borrows $421 billion, the price of debt goes up in higher interest rates. That is why Canadians are paying 150% more on their mortgages.

How much will the government force Canadians to spend on national debt interest this year?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I know that Canadians will not be taking any condescending economics lessons from the Leader of the Opposition after he proposed to Canadians that a good way of avoiding inflation was to buy crypto. That was his economic counsel to Canadians. If they had followed it, they would have lost almost half of their life savings.

One can understand that we will not be taking any economics lessons from that guy.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister should be taking economics lessons from everyone.

This is a guy who said that budgets balance themselves, right before he doubled the debt. This is a guy who said he does not think about monetary policy, right before he led interest rates to rise faster than at any time in Canadian history. This is a guy who, until I told him, did not even know how much he was borrowing out of the Canadian economy. This is a guy who has doubled the rent, doubled mortgage payments and doubled the needed down payment.

It is about time he took some lessons. Why does he not go to the library and do a little bit of studying?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the Leader of the Opposition continues to play his partisan games and focus on me, we are going to remain focused on Canadians.

We moved forward with an affordable groceries and affordable housing act that they have continued to obstruct and debate on. We have continued to deliver things for Canadians like dental care for low-income Canadians, which they stood against. We continue to deliver $10-a-day child care in places across the country, which they campaigned against. They continue to campaign against the Canada child benefit.

We see that they are always there to make clever political arguments. They are never there to actually support Canadians like we are.

Housing

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, a group of 25 doctors from the Montérégie region and the Eastern Townships gave a clear diagnosis: The housing crisis is jeopardizing Quebeckers' health.

The Prime Minister continues to deny Quebec the $900 million allocated for housing construction even as the housing crisis turns into a public health crisis. The guiding principle of medicine is “first, do no harm”.

When will the Prime Minister stop obstructing housing construction and give the $900 million to Quebec?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, over the past few years, we have always been there to invest with Quebec in housing.

We will continue to do so because the federal government has a role to play to ensure that affordable apartments and homes are built across the country, including in Quebec. I know that the Minister of Housing is currently working in collaboration with his counterpart in Quebec on a plan that works for Quebec, which will allow more housing to be built more quickly.

Housing is the responsibility of every level of government. We encourage them to address this issue urgently and in partnership.

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister does not seem to understand that the housing crisis is also about some people having no other choice but to live in unsanitary conditions.

Others simply do not have a roof over their heads. They do not have the luxury of waiting for federal jurisdiction disputes to be resolved. They see no valid excuse for withholding the $900 million earmarked for housing. They are right because there is truly no valid excuse.

When will the Prime Minister stop looking for excuses and finally give us our $900 million?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is a shame that the Bloc Québécois continues to pick a fight when there is no fight to pick. We are working hand in hand with the Government of Quebec to address this housing crisis and to invest that $900 million, and more, in the province of Quebec in partnership with the Government of Quebec.

The fact that we are working so well with Mr. Legault's government is good news for Quebeckers. Unfortunately, the Bloc Québécois is trying to make mischief and stir up trouble. That is unfortunate for Quebeckers. We will continue to let Quebeckers' principles and concerns guide everything we do.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, there is one good-news headline: “Apartment rents are on the verge of declining due to massive new supply”. Unfortunately, that is a CNBC headline from the United States of America.

Here is a CBC headline from Canada: “Rent is going up more than $100 a month right now”. Another one, and the Prime Minister's favourite, is from the Toronto Star. It says that this year, we are having worse construction numbers than during the lockdown.

Why is construction up and rent down south of the border, when it is just the opposite here in Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we know we need to build more rental constructions more quickly. That is why we put forward a bill that would remove the GST from new rental constructions across the country on the federal side, and that is spurring thousands of new units to be built across the country. It is a very exciting measure.

Unfortunately, Conservatives have chosen to obstruct debate on that particular measure. Why will they not line up with Canadians? Why do they not see that building housing supply is going to help Canadians right across the country? Why will they not line up with us and support Canadians across the country?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is the one who has been obstructing that promise for the last eight years since he made it. During that eight-year period, the average rent has doubled, mortgage payments have doubled and even down payments have doubled. It has been double trouble. After doubling the cost, he created a $4-billion so-called accelerator to build homes.

How many homes have been completed?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, following a request from the Minister of Housing to scale up its ambition, Vaughan's city council passed a bold housing resolution to unlock even more affordable family-sized homes. That is a direct result of the housing accelerator fund.

This is a concrete example of how the federal government can lead and ensure more affordable housing options so our seniors, students and families can grow in their communities. We look forward to more municipalities joining us to ensure that all Canadians have a safe and affordable place to call home.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the question was not how many resolutions have been passed. We cannot live in a resolution. We cannot live in a photo-op. We cannot live in a press release or a promise. The Prime Minister created this fund a year and a half ago, promising to accelerate housing.

How many houses have been completed? By completed, I mean houses with walls, roofs and doors, and with people living in them.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition's housing plan consists of wagging a finger at municipalities and saying they better build more homes or else. We have a better approach than that. We actually work with municipalities to build more homes, and we are seeing the results of that housing plan.

Recently, alongside British Columbia and the City of Vancouver, the member for Vancouver Centre announced the groundbreaking of the construction of 154 new affordable housing units close to transit in the heart of Davie Village. This will also house QMUNITY, a non-profit organization providing safe and secure services for individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, again, we cannot live in an announcement. We cannot live in a press release. We cannot live in the Prime Minister's talking points, which he is having so much trouble reading.

The Prime Minister is now presiding over a massive decline in home building. In fact, last year, Canada built fewer homes than in 1972. This year, housing starts are down 32%. By the way, to end the suspense, the number of homes that have been built by the so-called housing accelerator is zero, nothing.

When will the Prime Minister stop the talk, end the bureaucracy and finally get something built?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, over the past number of years, over two million families have gotten into homes because of our strategic investments in housing, and we just added to that with the housing accelerator fund that is moving forward to remove barriers and get more housing built faster.

That is exactly what we are doing with the city of London, for example, where Mayor Morgan said, “This is the most significant housing...investment in London's history”, and where over the next three years alone we will build over 2,000 additional housing units. We know this is a challenge that we need to solve together, and that is what we are going to do in partnership with municipalities.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in 2021, the Prime Minister made election promises to stop renovictions and to deter unfair rent increases. Two years later, 500 renters in Toronto are on strike because of renovictions and high rent increases, as well as poor conditions. Now, the Prime Minister and Liberal MPs for Toronto are nowhere to be seen. Those promises are meaningless.

How can the Prime Minister justify the broken promises to Canadian renters?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have been there consistently to partner with municipalities and provinces where they have been willing to improve conditions for renters, to support the building of new apartment complexes and to ensure availability of more affordable housing.

There has been a lot of progress made, but there is more to do. That is why we were so pleased to see the Government of Ontario join in with us on eliminating the GST on the construction of new rental apartment buildings. These are things that are going to make a big difference, and we will continue to work with our partners, including the mayor of Toronto, to make sure we are protecting renters.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am not finished.

In Quebec, 25 doctors made a heartfelt plea: Their patients' health is getting worse because of the housing crisis. After eight years of the current government, the cost of rent has doubled. That is the Liberals' record.

Enough with the “could have, would have, should have”. When will the Prime Minister finally take this crisis seriously?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have worked hand in hand with the Government of Quebec for years to invest in housing. We are currently working on rolling out our $900-million investment to help with the housing crisis in Quebec.

We know that a lot of people are worried. That is why we are working in partnership with the Government of Quebec and every government across the country, hand in hand with our municipal and provincial partners. That is what we will continue to do.

Indigenous Affairs

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today is Sisters in Spirit National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ People. We honour the lives, memories and spirits of the too many indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people who are missing or have been murdered across Canada. As we see in Winnipeg with the Prairie Green landfill, where human remains of loved ones, victims of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, may lie, more work needs to be done.

Can the Prime Minister please explain what the Government of Canada is undertaking with Long Plain First Nation to address this heart-wrenching situation?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have heard first-hand the grief and pain of the families and community, and our hearts are heavy, knowing how difficult this has been for them. They are looking to find healing and closure right now, and it is important that we support them in this process. That is why today, we announced $740,000 in additional funding to explore in greater detail the next steps of a search. We will continue to work in partnership with indigenous leaders, families and survivors for a victim-centred, trauma-informed and indigenous-led approach to healing.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, eight years ago, the Prime Minister promised in his 2015 platform that he would “[repurpose] all available federal lands and buildings...at low cost for affordable housing in communities where there is a pressing need”.

Can the Prime Minister tell us how many homes have resulted from repurposing these buildings and lands?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in 2017, we moved forward with the national housing strategy, which was a direct response to the fact that, for 10 years, under the Conservatives, the federal government had removed itself from providing housing solutions for Canadians. Over the following years, around two million Canadians accessed new homes and new places to live because of the work of that national housing strategy, and we are continuing that work, working closely in partnership with municipalities and provinces, and doing things such as eliminating the GST on rental construction of new apartment buildings. These are things that would be accelerated if the Conservatives stopped blocking them in the House.