Debates of May 15th, 2023

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation—Main Estimates, 2023-24

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am not sure if the minister understands how this works. I ask the questions.

Is Canada facing a housing crisis right now?

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

Mr. Chair, we believe every Canadian has a human right to housing. We have legislated that right. They do not believe Canadians have a right to housing.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Chair, how many rental units do we need in this country to make them more affordable again?

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

Mr. Chair, this is coming from a party that believes we should do less on housing and not more, and believes that somehow the problem will take care of itself.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am wondering if the minister is aware of the number of rental units we are required to build in this country to make them more affordable again?

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

Mr. Chair, this is pretty rich coming from a party that has no housing plan.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Chair, is the minister aware that the CMHC just recently raised insurance premiums on multi-unit residential construction? Can he tell us what the percentage increase was?

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

Mr. Chair, we are committed to building more rentals in this country. They did not have a plan. We put together the rental construction financing initiative, which is about building more rental supply right across the country.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Chair, does the minister believe that a massive increase in insurance premiums for multi-unit residential rental buildings is going to slow construction of those units?

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

Mr. Chair, I believe and our government believes that we need more housing supply. They do not. They want to spend less, and they somehow expect more housing will be built in this country.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Chair, is the minister aware that within a one-kilometre radius of all SkyTrain stations in Vancouver, there are about 28,000 properties? Of those properties, does he know how many are actually available for multi-unit residential housing?

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

Mr. Chair, the hon. member should understand that federal leadership means trusting local authorities to make the decisions necessary, but also empowering them to add more supply to housing in Canada. Their approach is to attack local mayors, calling them names, denigrating them and calling them incompetent, while somehow hoping that is going to create more housing.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Chair, of those 28,000 properties, only 20,000 are for single family or duplex units, so it is 71% of those properties within a one-kilometre radius.

The federal government has committed $1 billion to this project. I am curious to know if he thinks that is wise considering the fact that there is not enough multi-unit residential housing next to those stations.

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

Mr. Chair, we have been tying infrastructure to housing for the last two years. They just came around to that idea recently, and they announced their half-baked plan on the same day we launched the housing accelerator fund, which is about connecting community infrastructure and transit to more housing supply.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Chair, Covenant House Toronto says that one-third of its residents are students. Does that sound like a successful housing plan to the minister?

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

Mr. Chair, I know Covenant House; It does good work. The member opposite as well as his party voted against more funding for organizations serving the homeless community.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Chair, Covenant House Vancouver constructed a new facility. It cost $50 million. It received $12 million from the CMHC, but it cost $1 million in lobbyists and consultants. Does that sound like a wise housing plan to the minister?

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

Mr. Chair, if they had their way, that organization would not even get any federal funding, because when they were in office, they did not believe the federal government had any role in investing in affordable housing.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Chair, nine out of 10 young people in this country who do not own a home believe they never will. Does that sound like a successful housing plan to the minister?

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

Mr. Chair, voting against every measure we bring to this House to help young people access their dream of home ownership is not much of a plan either.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Chair, does the minister realize that voting against plans that do not work actually makes a lot more sense than just continuing on with plans that are not working and that are in fact making the situation worse?

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

Mr. Chair, the member opposite and his party believe in doing less and in investing less in housing, and that somehow that will magically result in more housing being built in Canada. We believe the federal government has a leadership role to play in housing. They do not. That is the fundamental difference.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Chair, the minister's own officials have predicted a 32% decrease in housing starts this year thanks to outrageous spending and high interest rates. Is that a good housing plan?

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

Mr. Chair, we do have a plan. It is called the housing accelerator fund, which is about building more supply and doubling the number of new homes built in Canada. What did they do when they had the chance to actually do something to help build more supply in Canada? They voted against it.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Chair, can the minister update the House and tell us what the average price of a home to rent or buy is in Mississauga?