Debates of April 8th, 2024

Housing

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we are discussing and negotiating with the Quebec government.

The Bloc Québécois does not speak on behalf of Quebeckers. It campaigns against the current government on behalf of its little cousin, the Parti Québécois.

Meanwhile, what we are doing is signing agreements with Quebec. We have signed agreements on housing, on child care, on regional Internet access, on a whole range of measures. Why are we doing this? Because it is good for all Quebeckers.

What is good for Quebeckers is bad for the Bloc Québécois.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is shocking that the average Canadian family must now spend 63.5% of their total pre-tax household income in order to afford a mortgage for the typical home in Canada.

It is even worse in British Columbia, where that is 106%. One hundred per cent is someone's entire income. No wonder families are in a financial crisis, where they can barely afford to live or feed themselves. This is after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government.

Will the Prime Minister actually build the homes, not bureaucracy and photo ops, in his budget?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, I take the question with a heavy dose of irony, considering that we have invested $31.5 million in that member's constituency through the housing accelerator fund.

Moreover, this is a fund that not only she, but every Conservative member of Parliament, vows to take apart should the Conservatives form government. Where they will cut funds for housing, we will make the investment. Where we cut taxes, they will put them back on.

We are doing what it takes to make it easier to build homes faster, and we are going to put Canadians to work in the process.

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

Mr. Speaker, a heavy dose of reality is that, after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government and all its spending and photo ops, things are worse.

Just today, RBC confirmed that Canada's housing crisis is only going to get worse under Liberal policies. They said that only 26% of Canadian households can afford a single detached home today. A couple of decades ago, it was 49%. The CMHC forecasts that, in 2025-26, housing starts will be even lower than they were in 2020-21.

The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost or the corruption. Will the Prime Minister actually build the homes, not bureaucracy and photo ops, in his budget?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, we are putting forward policies that are going to help solve the national housing crisis.

We know that higher interest rate environments have made it difficult to build homes. That is why we are cutting taxes on new home construction, which the Conservatives oppose. It is why we are putting more money on the table to build new apartments, which they oppose. It is why we are putting money towards incentivizing changes for cities, which they oppose. Just this past week, the Conservative deputy leader held a press conference to proudly declare that they were siding with the NIMBYs when it came to municipal zoning reforms.

We need to do everything we can to make it easier to build homes more quickly and more cost effectively. It is a shame the Conservatives oppose it at every stage.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of deficits, people are no longer able to put a roof over their heads. There is still more red tape than common-sense solutions, like giving bonuses to cities that build more housing.

As we have said before, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost. The demand for housing is skyrocketing. A landlord in Saguenay received over 200 applications for his rental unit in just 24 hours. Apartments are increasingly scarce and increasingly expensive.

In the upcoming budget, will the Prime Minister finally build housing and stop adding red tape?

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

Mr. Speaker, the next budget is coming and the member already knows that it will contain additional housing measures.

What he should also know is that, just a few months ago, we signed a $1.8-billion agreement with the Government of Quebec that will provide, all at once, the largest number of new housing units in the history of Quebec. This is an extraordinary event resulting from an extraordinary collaboration.

Unlike the Conservatives, who keep spewing insults, picking fights and calling people, particularly municipal and provincial representatives, incompetent, we are working for Quebeckers to get hundreds and even thousands of housing units built in the coming months and years.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Shahzeb is a young dad in Toronto.

He feels stuck. He cannot afford to leave his parents' home. Like many Canadians, he is feeling hopeless. In Toronto alone, 85,000 people are waiting for social housing. It is because of 30 years of Liberals ignoring the problem while the gut-and-cut Conservatives lost over 800,000 affordable homes.

Are the Liberals going to keep throwing money at rich developers for luxury condos, or will they start to build the social and affordable housing Canadians desperately need?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, let me begin by congratulating my friend and colleague on his recent appointment; I look forward to working with him to defend the most vulnerable in the months ahead.

With respect, over the last number of years, we have put investments on the table that are building affordable housing for low-income families, and we are accelerating that work. The upcoming federal budget is going to include $1.5 billion to help non-profits acquire social housing so that it can be kept affordable forever. We have made, in the fall economic statement, an additional billion-dollar investment to build more affordable housing stock, and we are working with provinces and territories by putting federal money on the table and using federal leadership to help solve the housing crisis, including for the most vulnerable. I am looking forward to continuing this work alongside my colleague.

Northern Affairs

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, grocery prices in the north are still sky high. In the latest flyer from NorthMart in Iqaluit, a jar of pasta sauce is over $10. When I asked the Minister of Northern Affairs about the broken nutrition north program, he pointed to internal reviews and studies. Indigenous peoples and northerners do not need more studies. They need to put food on the table.

When will the Liberals stop the delays and fix the nutrition north program so people can put groceries on the table?

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Northern Affairs and to the Minister of National Defence (Northern Defence)]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her question. We know that affordability is an issue for all Canadian families; it is an even larger issue across the north. That is why, in our time in government, we have doubled our investment in programs such as nutrition north and added to programs such as the harvesters investment program, to allow people to have affordable foods that come from the land. We will continue to work with the territories and all communities to support them in achieving affordable and nutritious food for their communities.

Families, Children and Social Development

[Jean Yip, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, no child should go to school hungry, but we know that, for many families, that is the reality. For parents of young children, a national school food program would help them feed their children and reduce their food costs. By providing consistent access to nutritious meals, we can set kids up for success.

Can the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development update the House on the progress of building a national food program?

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I know my colleagues, fellow moms and dads, on this side of the House agree that no child should go to school hungry. That is why we announced, just last week, a $1-billion investment through budget 2024 for a national school food program. The program would ensure that children who arrive at school hungry have access to food, ensuring an additional 400,000 kids will be able to access this food. We will work with the provinces, territories and indigenous partners to roll this out. We know the Conservatives have voted against this, but we are doing the hard—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The hon. member for Elgin—Middlesex—London.

Housing

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canadians cannot achieve the goal of owning a home and continue to struggle amidst this crisis.

According to a recent report in The Globe and Mail, Canada needs to complete 320,000 housing units annually from now until 2030 to meet the demand. Canadians have had enough and must see this crisis managed properly. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost or the corruption.

Will the Prime Minister stop basing the budget on bureaucracy and photo ops and actually build the homes?

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite the contrary. I have had the opportunity to speak with many moms and dads across this country about the programs that we have been putting in place to support them.

I recently spoke to Chris, who lives in Peterborough. She is a Trent University student. She shared the impact of our waiving of the interest on student loans. She shared the impact of being able to access $10-a-day child care, as well as the Canada child benefit.

These programs have saved her tremendously and helped her and her daughter get ahead.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians need homes and Canada has built fewer homes than it did back in the 1970s, when the population was half of what it is today. We need 320,000 units built annually before 2030. This requires a record pace of construction, which will exhaust an already burnt-out workforce. Canadians need solutions. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost.

Will the Prime Minister stop making announcements and just get the houses built?

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, do members know what helps moms and dads across this country afford a home? It is being able to have access to $10-a-day child care and get back into the workforce. We are seeing record numbers of women, of moms, getting back into the workforce, giving them the opportunity to contribute to their family finances and afford a safe place to live.

In contrast to the Conservatives' continued fearmongering, on this side of the House we are doing the hard work to support families.

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

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Liberal government, finding housing in Canada is a nightmare. It was actually kind of funny and a bit ironic to see the ministers and the Prime Minister strutting around the country last week talking about how incompetent they have been when it comes to housing. The proof is that the CMHC confirmed last week that average home prices doubled between 2019 and 2022. That was all under the Liberals.

Is next week's budget going to build housing, not just create even more red tape?

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

Mr. Speaker, obviously, next week's budget is going to build even more housing. Consider these two numbers: six and 8,000. They are clear. During his reign as minister responsible for housing, the Conservative Leader created six affordable housing units in the entire country. In recent months, we signed an agreement with the Quebec government for a total of $1.8 billion that will build 8,000 affordable housing units, in Quebec alone, over the next few years.

Unfortunately, my Conservative colleagues from Quebec do not seem to be aware of the projects being carried out in their own ridings. If they would like more information, they can easily contact us.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister must know that when the member for Carleton was minister, all housing was affordable in Canada. Now, the Liberals have doubled the cost of housing for all Canadians. Young families are losing hope of becoming homeowners, and seniors can no longer afford to pay their rent and are forced to stay in substandard housing. Some 80% of people who are due to renew their mortgage fear that they will not be able to make their payments.

Again, will the Liberals show some common sense next week and announce that they are going to build housing, not just create more red tape?

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

Mr. Speaker, our colleague is right. The six affordable housing units built by the opposition leader were indeed affordable. Over the past few years, we have built hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units. The construction of another 750,000 units will be accelerated over the coming years. In Quebec alone, 8,000 affordable housing units will be built in the coming months under an historic agreement, the biggest investment in housing in the history of Quebec, that we signed with the Government of Quebec.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while the federal government spends its time interfering in Quebec's jurisdictions, the situation in its own jurisdictions is getting serious. The Prime Minister is in shock after finally discovering that immigration levels have exceeded our integration capacity.

Who was oblivious enough to have increased permanent and temporary immigration without thinking about housing, schools or health? Who was irresponsible enough to have branded everyone who talked about integration capacity a xenophobe? If only we knew. Who knows, it could well be the same person causing the debt to skyrocket. Does the Prime Minister know who this reckless person might be?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, what the member opposite refuses to acknowledge is that we have a good relationship with the Government of Quebec. I even visited Minister Fréchette two weeks ago to discuss our shared issues and find common ground. We have agreed to work together on reducing the number of people who are here temporarily, but we need to do it the right way.

I look forward to doing so, not only with Quebec, but with all the other provinces and territories across the country.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since the Prime Minister is responsible for the largest population increase since 1957, many are likening him to a pyromaniac firefighter in the housing crisis. It is true that he is setting fires, but is he really trying to put them out? Is he lowering permanent immigration targets? No, he is not.

Is he spreading out the intake of asylum seekers among the provinces, to give Quebec some relief? No, he is not.

Is he reducing temporary immigration? No, he wants to increase it to two million, the highest level in history other than in 2023-24.

Now that he recognizes the problem with integration capacity, will he fix it?