Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to stand up on behalf of British Columbians and, in fact, all Canadians, when tackling the important issue of housing. Right before I came into this chamber, as I prepared my notes for this speech, one of the interns in my office said the Liberal government's approach to housing sort of reminded them of a famous quote by former United States President Ronald Reagan: “I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.”
There is no other scenario in Canada where this quote makes total sense. We have a government that put forward nearly $100 billion and its record is that housing costs have doubled, rent has doubled and the ability for a young person to save up for a home, let alone afford rent, has gone beyond their reach. If we have ever seen a government mismanage a portfolio so badly, it is indeed the Liberal government's approach to housing.
Where I live in British Columbia, many Canadians mourn the fact that they will never have the opportunity to own a home. In fact, they feel helpless. The Canada they once knew is not the Canada of today, primarily because of how the government has attempted to tackle housing.
For example, in the Fraser Valley right now, the average cost of a townhouse is $750,000. A down payment for a townhouse, modestly, would be about $55,000 to cover the down payment, maybe some of the legal costs and real estate fees. If we took a very fortunate young Canadian who was making a salary of about $85,000, in British Columbia, that would give them take-home pay of about $5,300 a month and change.
However, let us look at what the cost of living is today. If someone is commuting to work and their gas bill is $100 a week, they are spending $400 on gas every single month. They have to pay ICBC insurance. That is about $125 if they are a good driver. For a phone bill and Internet bill, they are looking at about $160. For gas and hydro for a home, they are looking at about $120. For a single person, they are looking at around $750 a month for food; $150 a month for clothing, toiletries and maybe some basic household items; $500 for a car payment and maybe some miscellaneous costs; and $2,500 for the average rent.
Now, this is a modest understanding of what the average, young single person in Canada is facing. I did not even talk about the cost of student loans or other debt that they might be paying off on a monthly basis. If we tabulate all those numbers, on that salary of $5,300 and change, they are going to be left with about $650 at the end of the month to save up for a home. At that rate, it is going to take them about seven years and a month to save up for a down payment. That is actually a pretty accurate scenario. It is similar to what my wife and I had to do to get into our first home in that price range.
If we look at what youth are facing today, the unemployment rate for young Canadians between the ages of 15 and 24 is 13.5%. The Canadian Income Survey outlines that in 2022, the average income for a Canadian worker was only $55,000. The average young Canadian today is facing a whole host of impediments to get to where they thought they would be in life today. That is one of the biggest issues facing our country.
The NDP and the Liberals often say the Conservatives are going to cause extremism. No, it is the NDP-Liberal government that has taken away hope from an entire generation, who are going to push to the far left and the far right because of its disastrous policies and what it has done. I have lived under an NDP government in British Columbia for seven years and nine years under the Prime Minister.
Every night in Canada, there are about 25,000 to 35,000 Canadians who cannot afford a home or cannot access social housing. Unfortunately, that number is even higher for indigenous Canadians. About 30% of the Canadians who are homeless come from one of our first nations. That is not acceptable. About 22% of shelters are aimed at young homeless people in Canada, while 20% of the people experiencing homelessness are between the ages of 13 and 24.
Let us tie that to our unemployment rate. We have a hard scenario for young people in our country right now. I would be remiss if I did not outline that since the NDP-Liberal government came into power nine years ago, the budget at Indigenous Services Canada has increased 181%. I shared that with one of the chiefs in my riding recently and he said that if we took even a portion of that money and gave it directly to first nations to address childhood poverty and housing on reserve, we would be in a much better position than the increase of bureaucrats in Ottawa who are not accountable to the taxpayers of Canada and are not accountable to the indigenous people who rely on their services.
We could have done so much better to help indigenous people who face some of the biggest challenges for housing in this country, along with young Canadians. That brings me to the announcement that the hon. leader of the Conservative Party has made and that is a simple tax cut that will save the average purchaser of a new home between $40,000 and $50,000. That is not an insignificant amount of money. It will make a big difference in the time it takes to save up for a mortgage and to, indeed, afford a mortgage if one is successful in purchasing a home.
Of all the countries in the developed world, Canada has some of the highest occupancy rates. It is because we have not done enough to spur new homebuilding construction in Canada.
In fact, TD Economics just came out with a report on productivity in September of this year. They said that the biggest impediment to Canada's economy is our ability to build homes and fill the jobs in building construction for new homes in Canada. That report also stated that we have to create incentives and maintain incentives that will push people back into the industry to meet the very real challenges we face, no matter what area of the country we are in today.
Throughout this debate so far, Liberal and NDP members have been challenging Canadians on the money that was given to municipalities to speed up building permits. In fact, my community received $26.5 million under the accelerator fund, I believe it is called. Unfortunately, in that very time since they received $26 million, they put out a proposal to double the DCC and to levy a new tax on home builders of $7,500 per unit to fund our infrastructure deficit as it relates to parks and recreation. Young Canadians cannot afford those costs. The City of Abbotsford should not be putting its inability to approve new home builds onto the backs of young Canadians who are just trying to get by and have some hope of home ownership once again.
There are so many big challenges facing our country but the number one thing that I hear at the doorsteps, which people in my riding want me working on, is to restore the dream of home ownership. The Conservative Party is on the right path. Our proposals relate to densification, to incentivizing construction, to building more homes that Canadians need and that they can afford.