Debates of May 15th, 2023

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

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

Madam Chair, the Conservatives did not invest in housing in the north.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Chair, it is 13.1% in the Yukon.

What is the core housing need in Northwest Territories?

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

Madam Chair, the Conservatives released a housing plan with no mention of homelessness.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Chair, the minister does not know the answer. The answer is 13.2% in Northwest Territories.

What is the core housing need in Nunavut?

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

Madam Chair, why does the hon. member not believe there is a federal leadership role in housing?

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Chair, these are basic questions. We have 10 provinces and three territories, and the minister should know them. It is 32.9% in Nunavut. The need is over 3,000 homes and the shortage is very clear.

We have heard many announcements that the minister and the government have made. However, what makes matters worse is that millions of dollars are getting spent and houses are not necessarily getting built. We are seeing examples in the territories, where this is profound.

I asked the Minister of Northern Affairs about certain houses getting built in the territories, and he said he did not know. I then precisely asked the ministry and officials said they did not know because they do not track the information. It is pretty hard to hit a target that they do not even monitor.

How many mixed low-income units were promised according to this minister's own document, the “Northern Housing Report”?

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

Madam Chair, the hon. member has asked a number of questions about northern housing, but guess what. They do not have any plan for northern housing in their so-called housing plan.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Madam Chair, the answer is $248 million for 824 units in the territories. How many have been completed? According to my own numbers, because the minister could not answer, for Nunavut, 101 are listed as completed; in the Northwest Territories, 39 are listed as completed; in Yukon, zero were listed as completed, but we found that a triplex had been completed. Therefore, there are 143 listed as completed of 824 units, where thousands are needed.

Would you say you have done a great job getting the thousands of houses needed built in the territories?

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I would ask the member to direct his questions through the Chair, please.

The hon. minister.

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

Madam Chair, that number is inaccurate, but, worse than that, the Conservatives released a so-called housing plan with no mention of northern housing.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Madam Chair, does the minister know what the average rent is for a one-bedroom apartment in Niagara Falls?

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

Madam Chair, why did the Conservatives vote against the Canada housing benefit that is helping renters?

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Madam Chair, the minister refuses to answer questions. The answer to that is $1,495.

Does the minister know the estimated wait time for an adult in Niagara Falls who is waiting for an affordable one-bedroom unit?

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

Madam Chair, I do not understand why the Conservative members are opposed to getting real help to Canadian renters.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Madam Chair, again the minister refuses to answer, and it is a failure of the government. According to Niagara Regional Housing, the answer is a wait time of 21 years. That is unacceptable.

Does the minister know the estimated wait time for a senior in Niagara-on-the-Lake who is waiting for a new, affordable one-bedroom unit?

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

Madam Chair, I was proud to work with Niagara Region to deliver rapid housing units for the most vulnerable in that region. On top of that, we are proud to have delivered rental supplements to Canadians. Conservatives voted against it, and now they pretend to care.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Again, Madam Chair, he is not answering the question. Again, according to Niagara Regional Housing, the answer is 12 years.

Does the minister know the estimated wait time for a family in Fort Erie who is waiting for a new, affordable four-bedroom unit?

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

Madam Chair, the member and his party have opposed all our investments in affordable housing construction and repair, which are precisely to help families like the ones that he mentioned, but then he has the audacity to come to the House and pretend to care about this issue.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Madam Chair, the Liberals' programs are failing. Again, according to the Niagara Regional Housing, the answer is eight years.

Minister, under the first two streams of the government's rapid housing initiative—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member has to address his question through the Chair and not directly to the minister. The member is starting his question with “Minister”, so he needs to be careful how he phrases his question.

The hon. member.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Madam Chair, under the first two streams of the government's rapid housing initiative, the government committed $2.5 billion to projects. How much money was allocated to construction in the Niagara Region?

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

Madam Chair, the hon. member was denigrating the national housing strategy. We have delivered almost half a million newly built or repaired units for Canadians and we are supporting, through the national housing strategy, almost two millions households.

That party and the member can continue to denigrate those results, but we know that this program is working for Canadians, and we need to do more, of course.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Madam Chair, the program is not working. The answer is $10.5 million out of $2.5 billion.

Can the government answer how many new, affordable housing units have been built in the Niagara Region through this program?

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

Madam Chair, that is not only inaccurate, but misleading. The hon. member is taking one program among many programs and pretending that is the only investment we have made in Niagara Region. Nothing could be further from the truth, and he knows that.

[Tony Baldinelli, Conservative, Niagara Falls, ON]

Madam Chair, the minister fails to answer the questions. He does not even know the details of the rapid housing initiative and how many units were built in Niagara. The answer to that, out of the $2.5 billion, is only 42 units in Niagara.

Do the government and minister know how many households in Niagara Falls were on the centralized housing wait-list last summer?