Debates of Oct. 28th, 2024

Housing

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, when he says to adopt their plan, their plan is to cut the supports for cities that are going to build homes and their plan is to cut the money that is actually going to build the infrastructure to make homebuilding possible. He talks about bureaucracy. He must not have read the line in his own plan that says that they want to hire new bureaucrats just to run a snitch line for those who do not like their neighbours' housing policies. The Conservatives came up with this stuff on the backside of a napkin after googling housing for five minutes.

When we actually talk to the people who have experience building homes, they will tell us how to get it done. We are going to follow the advice of the people who are building homes and talk to the people who have lived experience with housing needs.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, this is coming from the minister who admitted at committee that his housing plan does not actually build homes. Their plan funds bureaucracy and photo ops. The more the Liberals spend, the less they build and the more Canadians have to pay. Since this Prime Minister started giving hundreds of millions of dollars to city politicians, housing starts are down. They are down 10% in Ottawa, 15% in Winnipeg and down 20% in Vancouver and Toronto, so why will the government not adopt our common-sense plan to build the homes by axing the tax?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, here is a point of clarification. Housing starts this year are actually up year over year, but up tens of thousands over the last time the Conservatives were in office when their current leader had responsibility for the agency that manages housing in this country.

However, to drive home the point that is most essential here, when the Conservatives came up with a new idea on housing, they said they were going to pay for it by cutting programs that build middle-class and low-income housing for families right across this country. They want to cut housing; they want to cut health care; and they want to cut supports to families. That is completely unacceptable.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the “Liberal Bloc” is not worth the cost of housing. The “Liberal Bloc” has doubled the cost of rent, mortgage payments and down payments. The federal GST adds $50,000 to homes that cost $1 million.

The common-sense Conservatives will eliminate the GST on new homes sold. That means buyers will save $40,000 on an $800,000 home. They will save $2,200 a year in mortgage payments. Will the Bloc-backed Liberals scrap the GST on housing, or will they continue to fund a program that is purely meant to provide photo ops?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, at a rare press conference, the Conservative leader gave an honest answer about his cuts plan. He said, and I quote, “We're going to cut two programs for sure, and more beyond that.”

Under the Conservatives, Canadians would have fewer homes, and they would be built more slowly. Dental visits would be more expensive. People would retire later, and families would get less support. Cuts, cuts, cuts. It is completely unacceptable.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning, the Liberal housing adviser said that the fund for Liberal photo ops, the so-called housing accelerator fund, is useless and ineffective. Quebec has always assumed that the dream of home ownership would be within young people's reach. Unfortunately, after nine years of the “Liberal Bloc”, the CEO of Desjardins has confirmed that young people have to wait 10 to 15 years longer than their parents before they can become homeowners. They are not even young any more at that point. This is urgent. A generation is waiting.

When will the “Liberal Bloc” agree to our common-sense plan to scrap the GST on new housing?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, once again, today, the Conservative Party is giving us a clear example of how, for everything it wants to put in place, it is going to make a cut somewhere else. The Conservatives are going to make cuts to health and social programs, and today they are saying that they are going to scrap the housing accelerator.

How is this member from Quebec going to tell the Government of Quebec that he wants to eliminate 8,000 social and affordable housing units in Quebec? That is what he is telling Quebeckers today.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, everyone in Quebec is worried about our ability to keep taking in so many asylum seekers. Refugee applications are likely to increase because the U.S. is going to the ballot box in eight days. Candidate Trump is promising that, on his first day in office, he will launch the largest deportation program in the country's history. He said that again yesterday, in New York. He said he would deport up to 18 million people.

Many Americans are worried. The federal government should be worried, too. Does it have a plan in case migration from the U.S. to our shores skyrockets?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the answer is yes.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if people are afraid of being deported by Trump, they might want to leave the United States. Many may consider heading north rather than south. Let us not forget that the last time Trump threatened to deport lots of people, it triggered the problems at Roxham Road, the consequences of which are still being felt seven years later.

Governing means looking ahead. It is not enough to answer “yes”. Eight days away from the election, without presuming to know its outcome, can the government assure us that it has a plan to deal with a massive influx of asylum seekers, rather than simply replying “yes”?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, that is the first time I have said “yes”, and he is complaining about it.

The reality is that we have always managed the border with the United States effectively. I can say, with evidence to back it up, that this was the case during COVID‑19. This will continue to be the case after the presidential election.

Health

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, abortion care is under threat in Canada. Women do not want more Liberal talking points. They want protection. Women and gender-diverse people are seeing hateful anti-choice rhetoric creep into Parliament, spread by the Conservatives under their leader's watch. Clinic 554 closed in New Brunswick and abortion care across Canada has been chipped away at.

While the Liberals' words are nice, their lack of action is dangerous. Will the Liberals stop their grandstanding, and start making sure every person in Canada has equal access to abortion care?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, absolutely, that is exactly what we are doing in working with provinces and territories to make sure that the investments that we have in sexual health are there to make sure that women have access to an abortion. That is why we are advancing the work we are doing on pharmacare, to make sure that women have both the contraception and access that they need.

Regarding the member's point, and this is an extremely important point, when the Conservatives have such a huge number of people in their caucus who are anti-choice who are standing up against women's rights, we have to call that out. A woman has full autonomy and right over her body. There is no member of this legislature or anybody who should claim to have authority over a woman's body.

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is very hard to implement a right when the Liberals do not assure access. Women are scared. They are seeing Conservatives attack their right to choose. Meanwhile, the Liberals have allowed Conservative premiers to chip away at abortion care, making it nearly inaccessible, inaccessible in some provinces, when women and gender-diverse Canadians are sick of hearing these pretty words from the Liberals and they sure do not want their health care in the hands of the Conservatives. Canadians want their right to choose to be protected. Will the Liberals support the NDP in making sure abortion care is fully accessible for all?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, who puts women's right to abortion care at risk? It is a Conservative caucus over there, with a third of their members having been green-lit by anti-choice organizations across this country. Members across the aisle have voted consistently for backdoor anti-abortion legislation and the leader will not stand up for the rights of women in this country. That is what is putting the women's health at great jeopardy in this country, and we are not going to stand for it.

The Economy

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberals just are not worth the cost. Today, the hunger count revealed more than two million Canadians went to a food bank in March, up 6% from the previous year. Food bank use has doubled since 2019 and a third of those relying on food banks are children, meaning millions of Canadian families cannot feed their kids. The NDP-Liberals increased the carbon tax 23%, leading to record-breaking food bank use, and they are not done. They want to quadruple that tax.

Will the Prime Minister end the suffering he has caused and call a carbon tax election?

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that we have been living through expensive times, and that is exactly why we have made investments in Canadians and their families, investments like the Canada child benefit, introducing the Canada disability benefit and increased investments in housing.

The Leader of the Opposition has continued to oppose us at each and every step and now has announced his plans to cut even further. We will fight for Canadians.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad at least one Liberal minister understands Canadians are living in expensive times that their policies caused, but let me help her with her answer. Food insecurity in Canada is up 111%, two million Canadians went to a food bank in a single month and food inflation is a staggering 37% higher in Canada than it is in the United States. The Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed what Canadians already know: the carbon tax is all pain, no gain.

Will the Prime Minister stop his tax tricks and give Canadians the treat of a carbon tax election this Halloween?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have known for a very long time that the Conservatives are crying crocodile tears when it comes to the most vulnerable in Canada and, today, the Conservative leader actually admitted it. He said, “We're going to cut two programs for sure, and more beyond that.” Now we know. They are going to cut child care, they are going to cut the Canada child benefit, they are going to cut dental care, they are going to cut pharmacare, they are going to cut support for seniors. That is unacceptable. We will not let them do that.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the Liberal-NDP government, it is not worth the cost or hunger. Food Banks Canada came out with a report that more than two million Canadians visited a food bank in March, a 6% increase from last year. One in five of those food bank users is a worker, 70% are renters and, as Canadians' incomes declined, the government doubled housing costs and rent. Canadians' incomes are lower than they have ever been and for starving Canadians, the woke NDP Prime Minister will quadruple the carbon tax scam.

Why not just call a carbon tax election now and let Canadians decide?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that everywhere in the world, the cost of living has been incredibly difficult to deal with. The Conservatives' solution to cut the things that provide vulnerable people support will put them in a much worse position. Let me clarify it.

The earlier question referenced the United States. Do members know know that in the United States, life expectancy is five years lower? Do they know that in the United States, the average citizen has six more years of illness and disease? That is what their cuts would bring, that is the truth of what they are offering and that is why we oppose their agenda.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this is the health minister who brought scurvy back to Canada. Liberals do not want to talk about the two million Canadians they sent to a food bank in a single month, a third of whom are children. They do not want to talk about going down the path of their radical plan to quadruple the carbon tax when they know one in four Canadians is already skipping meals and one in five food bank users is a worker. They also do not want to talk about the fact that their plan was to always double housing costs.

Why do they not just do everyone a favour? Why do the economic arsonists not stop gaslighting Canadians and call a carbon tax election now?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, what else is back? We see tuberculosis, measles and syphilis. Why does this happen? It is because the slogan machines on the other side, diving deep into the threads on Reddit, are creating and spreading information that confuses the health landscape. It means that things we had long put behind us come back.

We cannot afford the kind of misinformation and nonsense they spin, not only because it is not true, but because it puts lives at risk.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberals are not worth the cost.

Today, Food Banks Canada released its 2024 hunger count, and the stats are heartbreaking and record-breaking. Over two million Canadians used a food bank in one month, and 700,000 of those users in one month in Canada were children. What is the Prime Minister's response? He will drive up the cost of food even more by quadrupling the carbon tax.

Canadians cannot afford him. His caucus does not want him. Why does he not let Canadians decide what they want and call a carbon tax election?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, when Canadians are facing tough times, what should a government do? It should provide programs that provide supports to them, like the Canada child benefit, like making child care more affordable and like dental care for seniors and vulnerable Canadians.

What is the Conservative plan? It is to cut those programs. It is to take away the very supports that Canadians rely on when times are tough.

We know the Conservative plan, and it is to balance the books on the backs of Canadians. We will not stand for that. We are going to stand for Canadians.