Oh, oh!
House of Commons Hansard #361 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was cbc.
House of Commons Hansard #361 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was cbc.
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
I listened carefully to the question from the Leader of the Opposition. We have been through this before. At some point, the Chair is going to have to cut questions if we continue to have questions which do not deal with the administration of government.
The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the very angry housing minister has been up all night trying to dream up some snarky comment in response to the very popular announcement that common-sense Conservatives made yesterday to axe the federal sales tax on homes under a million dollars. This is something that his own adviser, Dr. Mike Moffatt, has said is the boldest announcement of any federal party for middle-class home ownership.
The minister took my idea on GST for rental housing. Will he accept this common-sense plan to axe the tax?
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
There is a lot of chatter, and I can only identify the member for New Westminster—Burnaby, but I would warn other members to please not take the floor unless recognized by the Chair.
The hon. Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.
Sean Fraser LiberalMinister of Housing
Mr. Speaker, with all the time and energy he spends on me, I am going to have to send him a cheque for the time I have been living rent-free in his head. I have to say, members should make no mistake: The Conservative leader announced yesterday that he would make multi-billion dollar cuts to programs that will get homes built in this country. Now, he knows that and we can agree on that piece. What he does not know is that his caucus colleagues have been going behind his back, writing me letters advocating for their communities to receive funding through the housing accelerator fund because they believe it will get more homes built.
Will the Conservative members of his caucus have the courage to stand up and tell him he is wrong?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, it is the only rent he has not doubled. Nobody else has to tell the member he is wrong, because he told himself. This is what he said about his own housing accelerator fund: “[T]he housing accelerator fund doesn't [actually] go toward the cost of building houses.... It doesn't actually lead to the construction of specific homes.” He also said, “The housing accelerator fund doesn't directly build homes.” He is right. Since he started forking over these big checks, construction has gone down in the major municipalities that have received it.
Will he cut the bureaucracy, axe the tax and build the homes?
Sean Fraser LiberalMinister of Housing
Mr. Speaker, there was a time not so long ago when the Conservative leader was actually advocating that the government do more to increase density near the services people need, where infrastructure already exists. There was a time when he was actually advocating for doing something to reduce development cost charges to make it cheaper to build homes in this country. There was a time when he was advocating that the government do something to actually speed up the process of permitting. Now that we have actually moved forward with billions of dollars of investments that are getting homes built and making changes, he has changed his view and says we should do nothing on any of these programs. He blames the government for making the investments he once thought were a good idea.
We are going to do what it takes to build homes. I wish he would join us.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, he has done precisely the opposite. Since he gave Toronto half a billion dollars, that city hall has jacked up development taxes by 40%. No wonder construction is down 20%. That is probably why Dr. Mike Moffatt, the minister's housing adviser, said it is hard to deny the view that “[t]he housing accelerator fund is turning out to be nothing more than a heist of tax dollars flowing from the feds to the municipalities.” It is enough with the heists.
Will he not cut the bureaucracy, axe the tax and build the homes?
Sean Fraser LiberalMinister of Housing
Mr. Speaker, I sometimes ask myself where they found this guy. He twists the facts to suit his narrative whenever he wants. It is almost as though the Conservative Party, when looking for a new leader, hopped on Temu and typed in “far-right Conservative”, so it spat this guy out. He opposes investments in affordable housing. He borrows lessons from his cousins south of the border when he opposes birth control for women. During the January 6 of Canada, the convoy, he was not only telling people to stand by, but he was also bringing them coffee in the streets.
It might be election season in America, but we do not need this far-right, right-wing populism here at home.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, speaking of leadership contestants, the member must be so uptight and angry because the polling shows that, though Canadians want to fire the Prime Minister, the housing minister ranks dead last in the polls to replace him. Why would he not? This is the guy who lost track of a million people when he was immigration minister. He ignored warnings from his own department that letting in 200% more people would cause a housing shortage, and his own government spent the last week trashing his entire immigration record.
How can arrogance and incompetence so comfortably reside in one man?
Sean Fraser LiberalMinister of Housing
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader asked how arrogance and incompetence can live so comfortably in one man. He manages to show us every single day. Let us actually look at the facts: While he is concerned about my polling numbers, I am concerned about helping people in need. We put billions of dollars on the table to build or repair hundreds of thousands of homes in this country so that vulnerable Canadians have a roof over their head. Let us look at his record: It shows the worst level of home building in the last 10 years; when he had the chance to help the most vulnerable, he got six units built across the entire country.
The only thing he has done to help vulnerable people is show up with a video camera to treat those living without a roof over their head as props, and it is unacceptable.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the sum total of the chaos in our immigration system that happened under the government happened while he was the minister. His own subsequent Liberal successor has now denounced him and blamed him and his policies for the housing shortfall we have today.
Now, as housing minister, since he took office, the number of young people who own a home has gone from 47% down to 26% as he builds bureaucracy to block homes.
Why does he not realize his failure and accept my common-sense plan to axe the tax and build the homes?
Marc Miller LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has said that there has been consensus on immigration for 150 years. That means he is okay with the Chinese head tax. That means he is okay with not letting Jews in after the Second World War. That means he is okay, and we know it already, he was in cabinet, with the barbaric practice of a snitch line.
How does the Leader of the Opposition want to fix things? He wants to use math. The last time he used math he was the housing minister, and he could barely count to six.
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
Mr. Speaker, with one day to go before Quebec allows advance requests for medical assistance in dying, the federal government is still refusing to amend the Criminal Code. This is what the joint committee called for a year ago. The Liberals have been dragging their feet for a year and a half and now have the nerve to say that they did not have enough time to hold consultations. It is not time they are lacking, it is courage. Today they are validating the concerns of doctors who are worried and might end up not providing care.
Do they realize that they are limiting access to end-of-life care?
Mark Holland LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I lost my grandmother to Alzheimer's. It is a sensitive topic that calls for a national conversation across the country and a conversation with my provincial and territorial counterparts.
I wonder if the member across the way can co-operate with me so we can take the time to have a national conversation and ensure that the system is ready and that there is a conversation in every family across the country. I think that is so important.
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals lack courage and are making it more complicated to access end-of-life care. As if that were not enough, they are passing the buck to the next government. So much the better if it means current ministers do not challenge Quebec's decision to accept advance requests. That said, can they make any guarantees that those who take their place after the next election will not challenge it? The answer is no.
Do they realize that they are giving the Conservatives the responsibility of deciding whether to legalize advance requests?
Mark Holland LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, it is not a question of courage, not at all. It is a question of logic and compassion. We need to take the time to ensure that the system is ready for such a significant change. It is about making sure that, when it comes to something as sensitive as this issue, every family across the country has the time to have a conversation. That is why we are now having a national conversation. It will not last long, only until next March. This is a good opportunity to talk and make sure our system is ready.
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
Mr. Speaker, this is not the time for conversations, this is the time for action. The Liberals are punting the decision about the legality of advance requests to the Conservatives, a party that has been against any form of medical assistance in dying from the very beginning, a party that is basically controlled by the religious right. This is a party that gets its funding from the collection plates of fanatical churches out west. This is the party that is going to decide whether they will or will not legally protect physicians who offer end-of-life care to Quebeckers.
How can the Liberals be so irresponsible?
Mark Holland LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, what is irresponsible is to implement measures without first ensuring that the system is ready. As far as I am concerned, this step is absolutely essential.
That is why we are engaged in a nationwide conversation. It will not take long, only a few months. Never before in Canada's history have there been advance requests. It only stands to reason that we should take a few months to make sure that the system is ready, to hold a conversation and to allow everyone in every family across Canada to participate.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, I was dismayed that earlier in question period, in response to the Leader of the Opposition's questions on housing, the Minister of Housing treated those questions like they were a joke.
Today, Scotiabank has said that nearly 25% fewer Canadians can own a home now than when the minister took office. This is on top of the fact that housing has doubled under the government. Housing should be for everyone.
Will the minister commit to axing the federal GST on new homes so that young Canadians can afford them?
Sean Fraser LiberalMinister of Housing
Mr. Speaker, to be clear, what the Conservative Party announced yesterday was billions of dollars worth of cuts to programs that would actually get homes built in the country. While the member has portrayed herself as having a moral high ground in her question, I would remind her that it is the Conservative leader who showed up in Niagara with a video crew so he could call a woman's home a shack. It is her leader who goes to encampments across the country, not to see what he can do to help people but to put them in the background of his social media videos for likes.
People who are unhoused are not political props. They are human beings who deserve to be treated with respect.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, the housing accelerator fund does not actually directly build homes. Who said that? The Minister of Housing. This is the same man who juiced temporary visas knowing that students were sleeping under bridges and were performing sex acts because they could not afford rent. That minister has been allowed to fail upward. Even his caucus members know that.
When will the Prime Minister stop letting the minister fail upward while Canadians are failing to pay their rent?
Sean Fraser LiberalMinister of Housing
Mr. Speaker, the attempt to link very challenging life circumstances to the government's housing accelerator fund is beyond disingenuous. The member wants to talk about what her colleague members know. They know that this fund is actually helping to get more housing built in the country. A number of them are writing me personally, asking that their communities be picked for funding, because they know that it is going to succeed in building more homes in their cities.
My question is whether they will have the courage to actually stand up and tell their leader that he is wrong to make billions of dollars of cuts to housing, like he was wrong when he did it when he was the minister.
Dominique Vien Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the “Liberal Bloc” government has shattered the dream of home ownership with rents and mortgage payments that have doubled. Today, 80% of Canadians believe that home ownership is only for the very wealthy. The Leader of the Opposition is proposing to eliminate the GST on new housing so that buyers can save $40,000 on a home worth $800,000, for example.
Will the government implement this proposal, or will it continue to burden Canadians with programs that are entirely ineffective?