Mr. Speaker, I want to share my time with my colleague from Nunavut.
Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to speak to the Speech from the Throne delivered on Tuesday by His Majesty King Charles III. This speech will mark the beginning of a new parliamentary session. It charts a course to a fairer, more sustainable and more prosperous future for all Canadians.
Today, I would like to highlight certain aspects of this speech that resonate particularly well with the realities of the people of Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation. My primarily rural riding is home to a mosaic of small, vibrant, tight-knit communities surrounding two urban hubs. I am talking about the people of Lachute and part of Gatineau, including Buckingham and Masson-Angers. Throughout my riding, residents have the same aspiration: to live with dignity in affordable, well-serviced, accessible, sustainable communities. What we see in the throne speech is a renewed commitment to quality of life, security and affordability.
Building housing is a priority for us. Housing is not a luxury; it is an urgent need. Many families have moved to my riding in recent years, putting enormous pressure on the housing supply. Young people who want to set up house are knocking on the same doors as seniors who want to stay in their communities and newcomers who are searching for a home. We need to build, and we need to build fast, but we also need to build smart. Our government understands that. The government will undertake a series of measures to help double the rate of home building while creating an entirely new housing industry using Canadian technology, Canadian skilled workers and Canadian lumber.
The government will introduce measures to deliver affordable homes by creating "build Canada homes". This mission-driven organization will act to accelerate the development of new affordable housing. It will invest in the growth of the prefabricated and modular housing industry, and it will provide significant financing to affordable home builders. That also means supporting our municipalities, which typically do not have the infrastructure or the human resources to properly accommodate this growth, as noted in the throne speech. The government will make the housing market work better, including by cutting municipal development charges in half for all multi-unit housing. The government will drive supply up to bring housing costs down.
One sentence in particular from the Speech from the Throne stuck with me: “The Government is guided by its conviction that the economy is only truly strong when it serves everyone.” This is especially true for us in Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, as in other remote rural municipalities. These communities are the beating heart of our country. They feed our cities. They preserve our traditions. They often innovate behind the scenes, but they face unique challenges.
Our municipalities are vulnerable. Like many people across our country, certain Canadians, some younger, some older, are struggling to reach their full potential. Our government understands that. It is taking meaningful measures to make life more affordable for middle-class Canadians, including cutting taxes to save dual-earning families up to $840 a year and eliminating the GST for first-time home buyers on homes valued up to $1 million, which will save them up to $50,000.
Our government will protect the programs that will save young people and families thousands of dollars every year, including the Canadian dental care plan, which will soon be available to about eight million Canadians. Throughout the election campaign, one thing that kept coming up in our discussions on the ground was the importance of access to dental care. When I was out knocking on doors, visiting markets and seniors' residences, people, especially seniors, talked to me about the Canadian dental care plan. This is more than just one issue among many. It is a question of dignity, health and social justice. This makes me think of Gisèle and Bruno, a couple in my riding who stopped me this week with smiles on their faces. I can picture them now. They told me that they had begun the process of getting dental care under this new plan.
Gisèle told me that for the first time in years, she and her husband will be able to see a dentist without worrying about cutting out other expenses. It was only a two-minute conversation, but the message was loud and clear: This program is changing lives in my riding.
People like them are the reason we introduced this plan. People should not have to suffer in silence or avoid smiling just because they cannot afford dental care. This program was set up thanks to hard work, political will and openness to hearing what Canadians tell us day after day.
I also want to highlight the importance of working together as a nation to create one economy out of 13. This will allow labour mobility between provinces. I would like to share the story of a welder without borders and the story of a trade and a country that need to be harmonized. For 21 years, I put on my leather apron, adjusted my welding helmet and turned on my torch. I was a welder, but I was also a teacher at a vocational school specializing in the building trades. Every day, I shared my knowledge with students of all ages, all motivated by a desire to build the Canada of the future, one steel wall or one building at a time.
However, there was always one thing that neither the heat of a workshop nor the passion for a profession could overcome, and that was provincial boundaries. Living and working in a border region means living with a certain amount of nonsense. On one side of the road, students could hope to find a job as soon as they graduated. On the other side of the road, despite having the same skills, students faced an invisible obstacle: provincial credential recognition. Each province wants to define its own criteria and create its own certifications. At the heart of this administrative maze, the workforce remains stuck, immobilized, unable to meet pressing needs elsewhere. This paradox is all the more frustrating given that the country needs these skilled workers who are ready to weld, construct and build.
The housing crisis is raging and construction sites are waiting, but workers remain idle, not because of a lack of will, but because of a lack of standardization. What I have learned over the years is that expertise knows no borders. A quality weld is a quality weld, whether it is done in Quebec, Ontario or on pipelines in Alberta. It is time for our system to recognize this as well.
Prefabrication is a solid solution. I firmly believe that prefabrication is one of the ways of the future. The steel sector has been using this approach for a long time, manufacturing components in a factory and then installing them. By harmonizing skills across the country, we can set up regional prefabrication centres to produce housing and infrastructure modules that are ready to assemble wherever there is an urgent need.
I would like to talk about a strong Canada united by the trades. Yes, the building trades ecosystem is complex, but that is not an insurmountable obstacle. To build a more resilient and united Canada, we need to train more workers, harmonize certifications and open domestic borders. I know for sure that trades play a critical role because, at the end of the day, welders are not merely building things out of steel. They are building bridges between provinces, between generations, between needs and know-how.
In the Quebec riding of Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, the majestic Ottawa River is also the border with Ontario. Communities on both sides of the river are closely connected, as are our economies. Barriers to internal trade and labour mobility have impeded economic growth in my riding. I am sure my colleagues will understand why I am so pleased with our government's desire to eliminate all other federal obstacles.
To wrap up, the vision of the Prime Minister and our government to build a strong, united Canada that works closely with the provinces will finally lead to a real free trade system across the country. This will enable Canada to reach its full economic potential and, above all, create opportunities for economic development and prosperity across the country. I am determined to work with all my colleagues to ensure that the voices of the regions and the people of Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation continue to be heard, listened to and, above all, respected.