Debates of May 10th, 2023

Housing

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition keeps talking about this, but he is not offering any solutions. The only solution we have heard from the Conservatives is to cut taxes for the owners of large buildings.

On our side, we are helping Canadians save for their first home, including through the first-time home buyer incentive and the tax-free first home savings account. We are investing in the construction and repair of more housing, including by helping municipalities accelerate the construction of 100,000 new homes, and the list goes on.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the sum total of the result is that the cost of an average mortgage has doubled. The cost of an average down payment has doubled. The average cost of rent in the 10 biggest cities has doubled: double trouble. What is the Prime Minister doing to the federal gatekeepers at the CMHC whose mandate it is to carry out his policies? He has given them $27 million of bonuses. Now homebuyers will have to pay high prices for the house and then fees to the CMHC so his executive gatekeepers can get more money.

Why does he not stop giving money to gatekeepers and start getting out of the way so we can build affordable homes?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the only plan the Conservatives put forward for housing is cuts to programs and cuts to investments, we are helping Canadians save up for their first home, including with the first-time homebuyer incentive and the tax-free first home savings account. We are investing in building and repairing more homes, including supporting municipalities to fast-track the creation of 100,000 new homes. We are ensuring that homes are used as homes, by curbing unfair practices that drive up prices, including banning foreign homebuyers and a federal anti-flipping rule, which, unfortunately, is being filibustered by Conservatives, who do not want to see the budget pass with measures to help Canadians right across the board.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, actually, we are blocking the disastrous inflationary budget, which would cost an extra $4,200 for every family in Canada.

He says he wants to accelerate home building. In fact, his own housing agency says that, this year, home construction will go down by 50,000 homes. That is a one-third reduction of the already pitiful numbers from last year. In other words, we are building fewer houses while bringing in more people.

This housing crisis is getting worse because of his gatekeeping. Why will he not get out of the way so that we can bring homes that workers can afford?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the only plan the Conservatives have on housing is to pick fights with municipalities and with provinces and ensure cuts to programs, which will prevent people from getting homes.

We have continued to step up on investing and repairing more homes, including supporting municipalities to fast-track the creation of 100,000 homes. We are tying access to infrastructure funding for provinces and territories to housing supply. We are converting surplus federal lands to affordable housing.

We will continue to step up to support Canadians with a broad plan, with plenty of different measures to make sure we are going at the housing challenge from all angles, contrary to the Conservatives, who have no plan.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, well, we know we have a plan because he just, for the first time, plagiarized it on the floor of the House of Commons. He literally listed all the things I have been saying in the House of Commons. I only had to say it 40 times for him to get it, but this is progress.

Unfortunately, we know he will not bring it home, because he never actually gets these things done. In fact, speaking of homes, one realtor predicts that it is now going to cost $3,000 to rent a room in a boarding house, as the norm, by 2030. That is the track we are on right now.

Why will he not get out of the way so that we can bring homes that Canadians can afford?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it goes back and forth a little bit, but I can assure the members opposite that we are actually, right now, signing agreements, and have been for quite a while, that include obligations around densification around public transit and tying infrastructure funding to building houses in places like Hamilton and elsewhere. They were glad to be able to take ideas from us and now blame us for taking ideas from them.

It is nice to hear some ideas from them, but what we always see from them is the choice of cuts, while we choose to invest. We choose to be there for Canadians, and we are buildings houses, homes and opportunities for Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I am very flattered that he is pretending to agree with my plan. My plan has always been to incentivize municipalities to speed up building permits, to tie the amount of money for infrastructure to the number of houses built and to require more housing around public transit stations.

That is the plan I have been promoting for a year. Now, he is trying to copy it. I think he is incapable of implementing it because he never does the work. He is all talk and no action.

Will he finally let Canadians build houses that Canadians can afford?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, since launching our national housing strategy in 2017, we have seen several million Canadians access new housing because of federal investments.

We realize that much more needs to be done, but what we are seeing from the Conservatives is that they are picking fights with municipalities. They believe that cuts to programs for Canadians will magically help. They have no plan for fighting the housing crisis.

We have a detailed plan that we are implementing with a budget that they are blocking.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, my plan has been, for over a year, that we should link the number of dollars big cities get for infrastructure to the number of houses they allow to get built, so that we speed up and lower the cost of building permits, that we should require every federally funded transit station to have high-density housing around and on top, and that we should sell off federal buildings to turn them into housing.

He has tried to plagiarize that today, which is flattering, but it is interesting to note that his own housing agency predicts a 32% reduction in the number of houses built, a 50,000-unit decline.

Why will the Prime Minister not put his action where his words now are, get out of the way and let—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, even by the standards of this House these past days, this is getting to be a pretty ridiculous debate. The fact of the matter is, people are saying, “No, I have the best plan. This is the best plan. That is the best plan. No, I have the best plan.” Let us focus on delivering for Canadians every step of the way. Let us—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am going to have to interrupt the right hon. Prime Minister. The noise level is starting to creep up again. I am going to ask everyone to calm down and take a deep breath. I want to remind everyone that one person asks the question and one person gives a response; multiple questions should not be asked while the person is answering.

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us look at the respective records here.

The Conservative Party campaigned in the last election on a single element of a housing plan, which was to give tax breaks to wealthy landlords in hopes of selling their buildings. That is not a plan to help Canadians.

Our plan, which we have been delivering on since 2017 with the national housing strategy, is about $70-billion worth of investments, while working in partnership with municipalities, working in partnership with provinces and territories, linking investments and infrastructure to densification, and moving forward on incentives to create better zoning so we can build more homes for more Canadians.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is rarely a good idea to go after the diligence, independence or integrity of a media outlet. It is rarely very democratic, especially when the head of said outlet is Pierre Karl Péladeau.

The next person I want to mention needs to be handled very carefully. Gérard Bouchard said that there is indeed cause for concern about the 500,000 immigrants the government wants to welcome annually. He is a highly respected sociologist. The Prime Minister has to weigh his words very carefully in his response.

What does he have to say to Gérard Bouchard?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to the experts, I spend a lot of time talking to entrepreneurs in Beauce, Abitibi and in the Quebec City area who are struggling to find labour to grow their business.

Farmers are concerned about the labour shortage. We are here to help, to work hand in hand with Quebec, which sets its own immigration targets.

We will be there to ensure that economic growth, the protection of French and francophone immigration continue to be on the agenda for our entrepreneurs across Quebec—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Belœil—Chambly.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is no doubt that the folks at McKinsey are great at preparing answers.

In Quebec, the CAQ, the PQ and the Liberals are against it, while Québec Solidaire is uneasy about it at best. In this Parliament, the Bloc Québécois is the only party that is against the target of 500,000 immigrants a year.

Who agrees with this target other than the 25 people who participated in the debate at the Liberal Party convention?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Department of Immigration consulted 3,000 different organizations and groups across Canada when setting our targets.

We understand there is a great need for economic growth and for workers across the country, including in Quebec. I have had conversations with business owners in Gatineau, in Montreal and on the North Shore who need workers. That is what I am hearing.

We will be there to ensure that there is francophone immigration. We will work hand in hand with the Government of Quebec and we will enable the economic growth that everyone needs.

Democratic Institutions

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's story continues to change when it comes to the threats made by a Beijing operative against a Canadian MP.

He said that no one outside the intelligence community knew about the situation. However, his national security adviser admitted that his office had been made aware.

Of all the Prime Minister's staff, both in the public service and in his office, which members of his team were aware of this threat two years ago?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, my three former intelligence and security advisers confirmed yesterday that the report did not land on their desk.

We will always take the concerns of Canadians about foreign interference seriously, which is why we have taken action. We will continue to act in a serious way.

While the Conservative Party tries to turn this into a partisan controversy, we will continue to take this seriously and protect Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's own national security adviser told the member for Wellington—Halton Hills that her office had received it when her predecessor was in charge. That predecessor would have been the direct adviser to the current Prime Minister. That is important because, if his office or his top officials were aware that a foreign operative was threatening a Canadian MP's family back in July and they did absolutely nothing about it, it demonstrates their unwillingness to protect our country. If the Prime Minister was not aware, it demonstrates his total incompetence in protecting Canada. Which is it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our intelligence agencies receive vast numbers of pieces of information and analyze threats to Canadians, to institutions and to our politics regularly. They make determinations about which pieces of information hit the threshold and need to be passed up the chain and what kind of priority they meet.

What I have done over the past week is ensure that any threat, no matter how low the threshold, no matter how unsavoury or unreliable the source, should be elevated if it talks about MPs and their families. Going forward, that will be the story, but this—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is basically saying that it just was not important enough for anyone to be informed that a Canadian MP had his family threatened by a foreign operative in order to punish him for a vote. No one believes the Prime Minister when he says that. Everybody knows that this is of the highest importance. If his government is operating in a way that it is not important, then he clearly cannot defend the national interests of this country.

Recently, we had testimony from the chair of the Trudeau Foundation, who said that he cannot tell us to whom the donation from Beijing was returned. Can the Prime Minister tell us?