Debates of Oct. 28th, 2024

Housing

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's question is interesting because she represents a part of Kelowna. I was in Kelowna a year ago last week to announce that the housing accelerator fund would be contributing $31.5 million to her community. Her leader announced this morning that he would cut that fund. The member is now in the awkward position of defending an increase of taxes to her constituents of $31.5 million.

On this side of the House, we advocate for programs that get homes built, not for cuts to the communities that we represent, which is simply shameful.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' own housing adviser said this morning that the Liberals' photo op fund, the so-called housing accelerator fund, is either pointless or ineffective. The government has spent billions of dollars. In fact, housing starts are down in Canada's two largest cities. It is down 20% in both Vancouver and Toronto.

Under the NDP-Liberal government, housing costs have doubled. They are rising faster than any other G7 country. This is a made-in-Canada issue. In 2015, it took 39% of the average Canadian's income to cover home ownership costs, and now it is 60%. Conservatives would axe the federal tax on new homes over $1 million.

Will the government listen and stop—

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The hon. Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague is very proud to stand beside her leader, who is advocating to raise taxes by $31.5 million on ratepayers in Kelowna. One year ago last week, I personally announced that investment. I shared it with the council, including the former Conservative member of Parliament for Kelowna, and its members were grateful for this money to help them build homes more quickly.

In the House, it is unbelievable to me that any member of Parliament would listen to their constituents at home, come to Ottawa and demand that Ottawa take money from them. We are going to advance programs that build homes and support communities. It is unthinkable that a member would come here and oppose money for their own riding.

[Jamil Jivani, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am having a hard time listening to the Liberal housing minister defend policies from his government that have failed an entire generation of Canadians, who are the Canadians from our generation who dream of owning a home one day. The minister continues to talk about the housing accelerator fund, but the Liberals' own housing adviser describes this fund as nothing more than a heist of tax dollars flowing from the feds to the municipalities. We know the NDP-Liberals have turned their backs on a generation of Canadians.

When will the Liberals stop overtaxing housing so young Canadians can buy a home?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to me how often I see Canadian Conservatives borrowing their policy positions from the right-wing populous in the United States. That might be where this particular member learned to advocate for programs that would cut affordable housing.

Perhaps it was when he was chatting with his roommate at Yale Law School that he learned how to oppose programs that would provide birth control to Canadian women. Maybe it is his engagement in the United States that causes him to deal with policies to legalize assault-style firearms.

In the House, on this side of the House, we will advocate for policies that build more homes more quickly, not oppose them at every turn.

[Jamil Jivani, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is no surprise that the Liberal housing minister continues to turn his back on a generation of Canadians because he is clearly not focused on his job. He wants to talk about what is happening in other countries. Let us talk about what is happening in our country. The last time Conservatives were in power, houses cost half of what they cost right now. Today, under the Liberal government, nearly 39% of the total taxes on new homes in Ontario are going to politicians and bureaucrats in Ottawa.

When will the government agree with Conservatives and end the federal GST on housing so young Canadians can buy a home?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me tell members what we will never agree with. We will never agree to the Conservative agenda of cuts and austerity, cuts that would hit the most vulnerable the hardest.

The Conservatives have been trying to hide their true colours from Canadians. However, today, the Conservative leader made a mistake and admitted what he really intends to do. I am going to quote him. He said, “We're going to cut two programs for sure and more beyond that.”

The question today is this: What are they going to cut next? We know it is everything that Canadians—

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The hon. member for Rivière-du-Nord.

Public Safety

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, one of the most powerful and dangerous criminal organizations is a group called Arab Power, and both of its leaders are rotting in federal penitentiaries. However, the leader, Youness Aithaqi, and his right-hand man, Sylvain Kabbouchi, are still running the operation from behind bars.

Arson, protection rackets, murder—nothing is stopping these new criminal organizations, especially not the bars of a federal prison.

Can the minister explain to us how the gangs spreading fear and death in the streets of Montreal can be getting their orders from federal inmates?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I naturally share my colleague's concerns. These concerns are shared by everyone in the House.

I have met with representatives of the Correctional Service Canada union and administration to discuss next steps, as well as additional tools and technologies that we can add to the technologies we are already using to eliminate situations like the one described by my colleague.

We are also working with Minister Bonnardel and the correctional service of Quebec to give them these tools as well.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, according to crime boss Gregory Woolley, who himself was murdered in a health centre parking lot in front of his wife and child, the Arab Power group is out of control and the next gang war is going to be a bloodbath.

The bosses are incarcerated with nothing to lose. They run their criminal operations from federal prisons on illegal cellphones. We know it, the government knows it and the media keeps telling us so.

How is it that notorious criminals still have access to cellphones in prison? Why is the minister not doing anything?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, our colleague knows full well that the government is doing a lot about this. We have invested in technology. I saw the technology in action with my own eyes at a Correctional Service of Canada institution in Quebec. For example, I saw how drones can be intercepted before they get there. Obviously, we are not going to discuss the technology publicly so criminal gangs cannot find a way around it.

The good news is that we will continue to invest in that technology and do whatever it takes to protect people from—

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The hon. member for Lévis—Lotbinière.

Housing

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the “Liberal Bloc” proves to us every day that it is not worth the cost of housing.

The “Liberal Bloc” has doubled rents, mortgage payments and down payments. Only common-sense Conservatives will remove the GST from new homes. That is $40,000 in savings, or $2,200 a year, in mortgage payments on an $800,000 home.

Will the Liberals, backed by the Bloc Québécois, have the courage to scrap the GST on housing, or will they continue to fund programs that are purely meant to provide photo ops?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for my colleague on the other side of the House.

He says that, to provide access to home ownership, he is going to cut programs that provide social and affordable housing. How will he respond to Quebeckers when he tells them he is going to cut the 8,000 social housing units that are part of the housing accelerator program?

On this side of the House, not only do we provide access to ownership, but we also provide the most vulnerable with a roof over their heads.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under the previous Conservative government, our leader built 195,000 housing units. Back then, the average percentage of a family's income spent on housing was 39%. Today, it is 60%.

The Liberals' failed housing policies have ruined Canadians' purchasing power. In nine years, $8 billion in Liberal programs have doubled the cost of rent, mortgages, and down payments.

When will the Liberals and the Bloc Québécois call an election so that Canadians can finally get affordable housing?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is talking about affordable housing. Maybe he should take some time to look up the answer that was given barely a year ago to a question asked in the House. The Conservative leader, the member's own leader, built six affordable housing units across the entire country during his entire term in office.

I would encourage him to ask his leader how he got these six affordable housing units built, and where they are located. In the past few months, we have spent a lot of time looking, but we were unable to find them.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada indicated in various reports that there were only 113 privacy breaches within the Canada Revenue Agency between 2020 and 2024. However, now Radio-Canada is reporting that there were more than 31,000 security breaches that directly affected 62,000 Canadian taxpayers.

CRA is now saying that it issued payments totalling $190 million in connection with confirmed cases of fraud since 2020.

Will the outgoing national revenue minister hand over the file to the RCMP so that Canadians can recover the $190 million in stolen money?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, let me begin by saying that fraud is totally unacceptable and we are taking the necessary measures to address it.

It is true that the Canada Revenue Agency is a target of choice because we have a lot of personal information within the agency. Also, we administer very significant payments and tax returns. However, our systems are robust. The CRA has protection procedures for detecting and blocking fraud. Every time fraud is detected, the individual concerned is immediately notified.

I can assure the House that we are taking all necessary measures to deal with this situation.

Women and Gender Equality

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, over 30 years ago, the Supreme Court of Canada established women's right to safe abortion and reproductive health.

Still, I am worried today. I am worried because Conservative Party members continue to present petitions and introduce bills. Some have even gone to Florida to attend anti-choice rallies. It is none of their business.

Can the Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec reaffirm today that our government will always be there to defend women's rights?

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

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to women's right to choose, women across the country are worried.

I commend the courage of the member for Richmond—Arthabaska, who has revealed the Conservative Party's hidden agenda. He said, and I quote, “What I noticed was an increase in the number of pro-life MPs inside the organization”. He also said that powerful members are influencing the party's policies.

The Conservatives' hidden agenda is to elect anti-choice MPs, to pander to their base and then pass anti-choice legislation. On this side of the House, we protect women's rights, reject anti-choice candidates and provide free access to contraception. That is what it means to stand up for women's freedom.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the Liberal government, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.

In the latest scandal to hit the Canada Revenue Agency, over 60,000 taxpayers had their personal, private information hacked. Not only is the information of these individuals floating around on the Internet, but this also cost taxpayers money. Over $190 million has been improperly paid to scam artists because of privacy breaches at revenue Canada.

Will the minister get information and call in the RCMP about this privacy breach so that taxpayers can be repaid?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, fraud is completely unacceptable. We agree on that. I can assure the House that our government is taking appropriate action.

It is true that the Canada Revenue Agency is a prime target because we have a lot of personal information. We also administer a lot of benefits and tax refunds.

However, the CRA's systems are solid. We are able to deal with and block attempts at fraud, inform those affected and ensure the necessary follow-up.

Labour

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Unifor Local 1541 has been without a contract since March 2023, and it has been on strike for almost six months. The employer has called Canadian workers lazy, refused to negotiate a wage increase and refused to bargain. He is effectively trying to bust the union. The union met with the NDP-Liberal minister almost two months ago and took the unprecedented step of asking the minister to intervene. His response has been crickets.

Why is the NDP-Liberal minister abandoning Unifor Local 1541?