Mr. Speaker, it is budget week here in Parliament. I have been poring over the budget on the issue of housing. As members know, I have risen on this topic again and again, and I will continue to do so until I see movement from the Liberal government that will actually get homes to the next generation.
Unfortunately, however, this budget is an unmitigated disaster when it comes to housing and homes. Let us take stock of some of what experts are saying. The Canadian Home Builders Association says, “Federal budget fails to support home ownership for next generation” and “Despite urgent calls for action, the budget presented no new measures to address housing affordability for the average Canadian who still wants to become a homeowner.”
The Large Urban Centre Alliance says, “What was once a promise to deliver 500,000 new homes annually has now become a plan that will cost 100,000 jobs.” Last, the Building Industry and Land Development association says the budget “missed an opportunity to address the historic downturn [in] the housing industry” and that it “relies on backward-looking data that provides false reassurances that Canada’s housing sector is prospering and that affordability is improving.”
People do not have to take my word for it; these are the experts who can tell us how this budget will play out.
It is not a surprise, because the Liberals have already abandoned every promise they made just six months ago during the election. In their platform, they promised to cut municipal development charges in half. What does the budget say about them? Now it is a hope and a prayer to maybe reduce them, by frameworks for federal, provincial and territorial agreements. I do not know what those are. Maybe the parliamentary secretary can enlighten us.
The second promise was the multi-unit residential building incentive that was pitched as a fabulous idea to bring about thousands of new units. Where is it in the budget? I do not know, because it is not there. Last, the Liberals promised to publicly report on municipalities' progress to speed up permitting and approvals. Again, that is not in the budget.
The dream of home ownership is slipping away and being replaced with the lie that the next generation must settle for less. I want the next generation of Canadians to know that I reject this lie. They deserve the opportunity to have a home and start a family, just as their parents and grandparents did before them.
Will the parliamentary secretary agree with me that we need to build homes, not bureaucracy, and targets for municipalities, bringing down development targets, bringing down development charges and getting homes to the next generation?