House of Commons Hansard #385 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was indigenous.
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8)(a), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to nine petitions. These returns will be tabled in an electronic format.
Marc Serré LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources and to the Minister of Official Languages
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1), I have the honour to present to the House, in both official languages, a report of the Canadian Section of ParlAmericas respecting its participation at the sixth Gathering of ParlAmericas' Parliamentary Network on Climate Change, held virtually on June 23 and July 5, 2022.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, I move that the third report of the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs, presented on Monday, June 13, 2022, be concurred in.
I will be sharing my time.
Christmas is approaching, and I want to wish colleagues a merry Christmas as they begin their preparations. As I have been reflecting on the Christmas story, it seems closer to home than ever. We have a distant, unfeeling Emperor Caesar Augustus who is bent on raising taxes, and this poor young couple who travels to Bethlehem. There is a housing shortage, so they have to give birth in a barn. If only Caesar Augustus had axed the tax and built the homes, it would have been a more comfortable first Christmas. However, it does show that God can come to us in the midst of challenging circumstances, so I do wish colleagues a merry Christmas.
Conservative priorities are clear. They are to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. Today, we are focusing on the need to build the homes. Indeed, Conservatives are ready for a carbon tax election. If the Liberal government does not want a carbon tax election, how about a housing election? We are ready to contrast our constructive proposals to build the homes in this country with the demonstrable record of failure that we have seen from the Liberal government.
The Liberals put forward something called the housing accelerator fund. They think that people will believe that it is accelerating homes just because it is in the name. However, they admit that this program they have put forward does not build homes. It gives extra money to already inflated bureaucracies, and it feeds those bureaucracies instead of actually contributing to the construction of homes.
The Conservative opposition has put forward a meaningful and constructive proposal that is being debated today. It is about providing real relief to homeowners. In order to save Canadian homebuyers up to $50,000, or $2,500 per year, in mortgage payments, our motion is to call on the Liberal government to immediately eliminate the federal sales tax on new homes sold under $1 million and to call on the provincial premiers to match this proposal.
Particularly this afternoon, we are debating the concurrence of the third report of the indigenous affairs committee, which deals specifically with indigenous peoples and the need for housing policies that allow indigenous Canadians, all Canadians, to be able to access the homes that they need. This is why we have put forward proposals that do actually build homes.
In this debate about housing policy, we can see the old story of New Democrats and Liberals wanting to be judged by their intentions instead of by results. Conservatives believe that the effectiveness of a political party and of their policies should be judged not by the intentions or by how much money is being spent, but by the actual results in terms of the affordability of homes.
What Canadians care about when it comes to housing is not fundamentally how much the government is spending on housing. It is how much Canadians who are renting or buying have to spend on housing. That is really the acid test of a housing policy. It is not how much money the government is spending, but how much money the individual who is buying or renting has to spend in order to make that purchase.
In fact, under the Liberal government, the record of failure is very clear. Housing prices have doubled, rent has doubled and costs are way up as a result of the policies of the government. There are many different reasons why these policies they are proposing are not working. It does not take much of an analysis to know that they are not working. One simply has to look at the results. Canadians of all backgrounds are paying more for housing than they ever have. They are paying more for housing in a country that has an abundance of land.
Liberals have blamed inflation on supply chains, yet they have not reckoned with the fact that the land we use is right here. We have more land than almost any country around the world, yet our housing prices are higher than almost anywhere else.
If we compare where we were nine years ago, in 2015, and where we are now after nine years of the Prime Minister, the record is clear that Liberal policies are failing. Under the leadership of the member for Carleton, we have sharply put the spotlight on the problem of housing affordability and the centrality of building new homes, so we have put forward a constructive proposal for how to do this. We have been very specific in our proposals around housing. We have been very specific in what we have put before the House and what we have put before Canadians.
We have proposed a framework, and the member for Carleton, our leader, has put forward a private member's bill on it, whereby municipalities would be expected to meet certain targets in terms of new home construction. They would have flexibility in terms of how they do it. It would not be up to the federal government to decide precisely what to build or where to build it, but there would be an expectation, as there has to be an expectation, that every level of government would work together to ensure sufficient construction of new homes. If municipalities fail to meet those targets, they would face clawbacks in terms of federal funding, and if they meet or exceed those targets, they would receive a bonus.
The policy would tie federal spending to the requirement of results when it comes to housing. This would bring the kind of results orientation that Canadians expect from their government. I heard a member opposite say that this is common sense, and I agree. He is coming around. It is common sense to measure one's housing policy by the results. We would hold ourselves to that standard—
Indigenous and Northern AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
An hon. member
Oh, oh!
The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes
I am just going to interrupt, because someone else was actually interrupting. I would just ask members to please wait for questions and comments before they try to indulge themselves in the conversation.
The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan has the floor. I would also ask him to speak directly through the Chair and not to individual members.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, that reminds me that I want to recognize the very good work being done by Mr. Guglielmin, who I know is a strong advocate for responsible housing policy in the area of Vaughan—Woodbridge.
The focus of Conservatives is on delivering results for Canadians, and our housing policy would hold us to that standard of delivering results. It would also hold our municipal partners to the expectation of meeting the requirements around new home construction. We have also put forward a motion today that, on top of the existing plan, would build on it by providing tax relief directly to facilitate the construction of new homes and to make it easier for Canadians to purchase new homes.
The third report of INAN deals specifically with housing for indigenous people, and the failure of the government to build homes has ripple effects across all dimensions, all communities and all parts of Canadian society. The government has made many promises with respect to indigenous reconciliation, yet right now we are seeing its scandalous failure to follow through on those promises.
It is a scandalous failure because Liberals have actually allowed a whole industry of non-indigenous elite insiders and pretenders to take advantage of programs and policies that were promised to indigenous Canadians. There are people inside the government, like the member for Edmonton Centre, who have pretended to be indigenous in order to advance their own commercial interests as well as their own political interests. Moreover, there is a turning of a blind eye to the whole industry of fake, non-indigenous pretenders.
It was reported in today's Globe and Mail that an auditor was trying to draw attention to the problem of abuse of programs that are supposed to benefit indigenous people, yet that auditor had continuous roadblocks put in the way. The government actually imposed new rules to constrain and limit the work of auditors at the same time as those auditors were coming forward to identify the rampant issue of pretenders taking advantage of the policies. The government, it seems, wanted to allow the abuse to go on so it could make it look like it was doing better and could say, “Look at all this money we are giving to indigenous people,” when, actually, fraudsters and non-indigenous elites were taking advantage of the programs.
Therefore we need to build the homes in this country and restore the promise of reconciliation, and that is exactly what a Conservative government would do.
Emmanuel Dubourg Liberal Bourassa, QC
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
I would like to seek the unanimous consent of the House to table the report of the Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, please.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes
Yes, there seems to have been some difficulty earlier.
Is it agreed?
Indigenous and Northern AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
Some hon. members
No.
Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC
Madam Speaker, I have a question for the hon. member. The Conservatives appear to want to leave everything up to developers in a private sector context to build homes, yet the affordability crisis means that we need to build more social housing. Why are the hon. member and his party seemingly against the use of public funds for social housing the way the national housing strategy requires or promotes?
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, quite obviously, anyone listening will note the way the member created a question by creating a premise and then asking why that premise was true, rather than asking whether the premise was true.
Let us go back to what we are actually talking about today, which is the proposals we have put forward for strong action by the government around the construction of new homes. I talked about two key areas: One is the position we would take with municipalities, requiring them to meet certain targets in terms of the construction of new homes, and the other is around tax relief associated with the construction of new homes, a tax relief that would save people purchasing their first home significantly in terms of the cost they will pay. These are substantive and real measures that would deliver results.
I put it back to the member. Why is his government failing? Why has his government done so badly in terms of achieving the results that clearly are required: the construction of new homes so that housing can become affordable in this country again?
Indigenous and Northern AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
December 9th, 2024 / 4:15 p.m.
Conservative
Alex Ruff Conservative Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON
Madam Speaker, I want to give my honourable colleague the opportunity to elaborate even further on why policies and legislation, anything that comes out of the House, should be metrics-based, should be built on results not on virtue signalling and not on putting more money into the government bureaucracy but on actually achieving things. Specifically, in this case, we are discussing the incredible affordability crisis, the shortage of housing right across this country and even how it is impacting our indigenous communities.
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. This is just a friendly reminder to members to not use possessive terms when talking about indigenous people, like “their indigenous people” or “our indigenous people”.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes
The hon. member recognizes the issue that was raised.
The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan has the floor.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, why is it important to look at the results? The last nine years provide us with some good evidence of what happens when there is a government that is focused on trying to signal concern about certain issues but is not actually concerned about the results.
As I mentioned, I have been doing a lot of work on the issue of abuses in the area of indigenous procurement. It is a situation where the government wants to look like it is achieving a certain target in terms of procurement from indigenous businesses. It has achieved that target by padding the numbers with a lot of joint venture arrangements or companies that are not actually indigenous-owned and indigenous-controlled. This allows it to say it has reached its target. The AFN is saying it is more like 1% of contracts, even though the government says it has met its 5% target.
When there is a government that is not interested in the results but is interested only in looking like it cares, people are trying to find workarounds to say they have achieved the target, they have checked the box, rather than being concerned about the results. On housing, again, it is very clear that the conversation with the government is all about how much it is spending and not about how much Canadians have to spend. The acid test of a housing policy is how much Canadians have to spend.
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
Madam Speaker, when it comes to housing for indigenous communities, the important thing, the thing they are really looking for, is to for the power to finally be given back to them. They already have projects in place. I recently met people at my office who have projects in their community that are working.
It is important to not impose anything on them, but to truly engage in dialogue and collaborate with the communities to ensure that the existing projects work and that they have the funding they need to complete them.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, I think we should be committed to the idea of actually working with and listening to indigenous leaders. It has been clear in some of the work we have been doing at the government operations committee and elsewhere that too often the Liberal government claims to be concerned about reconciliation but is not actually listening to what indigenous leaders and indigenous people are saying their priorities are. I think that has been a big problem with the government, and it is something that needs to change.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker NDP Carol Hughes
The hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader is rising on a point of order.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Madam Speaker, I understand that there have been discussions to allow me to ask for unanimous consent to go to Questions on the Order Paper.
Indigenous and Northern AffairsCommittees of the HouseRoutine Proceedings
Some hon. members
Agreed.
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Madam Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 3101 to 3104, 3108 and 3112 to 3117.
Richard Cannings NDP South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC
With regard to bicycles on VIA Rail trains: (a) what is the rationale behind the decision to not allow non-folding bicycles on VIA Rail trains as carry-on luggage when golf bags, hockey bags, skis, snowboards and paddleboards are allowed as carry-on luggage; (b) what is the rationale behind the decision to allow bicycles as checked baggage only on trains running on the Toronto–Vancouver, Montreal–Halifax, Sudbury–White River, Senneterre, Jonquière, Winnipeg–Churchill and Jasper–Prince Rupert routes, and only on those with a baggage car; (c) what is the rationale behind the decision to charge a $25 fee for checking as baggage a bicycle, electric bicycle, folding bicycle, child bicycle trailer, recumbent bicycle or a tandem bicycle when golf bags, snowboards, skis, skateboards, surfboards and paddleboards are free; (d) how do VIA Rail’s bicycle handling policies compare to those of railroads in France, the United States, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand; and (e) when will VIA Rail change its current policy on bicycles?
Question No.3101—Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
Niagara Centre Ontario
Liberal
Vance Badawey LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), Via Rail only authorizes sports and recreational equipment with a linear dimension of 158 linear cm (61 linear inches). Linear dimensions are obtained by adding length, width and height.
With regard to part (b), Via Rail is continuing to replace its Québec City-Windsor corridor fleet with new and modern trains. As such, travel with bicycles as checked baggage will be progressively reintroduced as of spring 2025, and cyclists will be able to reserve and pay for their bicycle transport on trains where the service is available when they book their ticket on Via Rail's reservation system.
In the case of routes outside the Québec City-Windsor corridor, such as Toronto-Vancouver, Montreal-Halifax, Sudbury-White River, Senneterre, Jonquière, Winnipeg-Churchill and Jasper-Prince Rupert, for safety reasons, bicycles must be stored in our baggage cars, which can accommodate larger items and are equipped with bike racks. This is why a baggage car is required to authorize their transport.
With regard to part (c), this long-standing distinction in Via Rail's baggage policy is currently being re-evaluated and the policy will be adjusted to charge uniformly for sports and recreational equipment of comparable size and requiring the same handling effort.
With regard to part (d), rolling equipment and train sets, as well as passenger's needs, differ from country to country. As a result, passenger train operators’ baggage policies may vary. Via Rail cannot speak on behalf of other companies.
With regard to part (e), travel with bicycles will be progressively reintroduced in the Québec City-Windsor corridor as of spring 2025. By then, cyclists will be able to reserve and pay for their bicycle transport on trains where the service is available when they book their ticket on Via Rail's reservation system.
Melissa Lantsman Conservative Thornhill, ON
With regard to the government's listing of certain organizations as terrorist entities under the Criminal Code: (a) why hasn't the government listed the Houthis as a terrorist entity; (b) what specific criteria are not met or what other reason is the government using to justify their decision to not list the Houthis as a terrorist entity; and (c) does the government plan on listing the Houthis as a terrorist entity in the future, and, if so, when?