Debates of Sept. 16th, 2025

The Economy

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, on that side, what Conservatives want to do is cut the things that Canadians rely on, but on this side, we are cutting taxes. We have cut taxes for the middle class. There are 22 million Canadians who are benefiting. We cut the carbon tax, reducing the cost of gasoline and other oils for Canadians. We are investing in the creation of jobs and skills training, and ensuring Canadians and their children have the best chance at success. The Conservatives across the aisle voted against all of that work.

[Rosemarie Falk, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster—Meadow Lake, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I will remind members that the Liberals cut the carbon tax after we put pressure on them.

We know that the Prime Minister said Canadians should judge him by the cost at the grocery store. Parents across the country are trying to fill lunch kits with nutritious food, but prices keep climbing. According to the CEO of Canada's largest food banks, visits increased to two million under Trudeau and have now jumped to four million under the Prime Minister. It is another broken Liberal promise.

Will the Prime Minister admit to Canadians now that doubling the deficit would only make food inflation worse?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, finally, a place where I can agree with the member opposite.

In fact, Canadian families are relying on the government to ensure that their children get a nutritious school lunch. That is why, in partnership with provinces and territories, we have a brand new school food program. It is a program and an approach that the Conservatives voted against. These Conservatives, every time they have a chance to help Canadian families, vote against it.

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians gave the government a clear mandate to build an economy that stands up for our workers and industries and to make life more affordable. We reduced taxes for 22 million Canadians, eliminated GST for first-time homebuyers, removed the consumer carbon tax, fought for our steel and aluminum sectors, and created one strong economy instead of 13.

Could the Minister of Finance please update the House on the next steps to building the strongest economy in the G7?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Finance and National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, it is a great question indeed. We are going to present a great budget in the House on November 4. This is going to be a generational investment in our future. We are going to build this country. We are going to protect our communities. We are going to empower Canadians. We are going to build the strongest economy in the G7. We are going to build this country like never before. We are going to build the Canada of the 21st century. We are the true north strong and free.

Housing

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised he would double housing starts; he looked Canadians in the face and promised. Starts are down 16%. His plan is a $13- billion bureaucracy that might someday build 4,000 homes. Canada had 245,000 new home starts last year. Even if they hit 4,000 homes, it is a 1.6% increase.

Please, for the sake of Canadians trying to buy a house, can the minister tell me this is not the plan?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I know the math is difficult for the Conservatives, but we can help them with this.

We are looking at investing $13 billion in affordable housing across the country. The initial 4,000 homes will be on Canada Lands Company land in six cities across the country. That is getting a quick start on building affordable homes. We are going to see tens of thousands of homes built across Canada in all of our communities. We count on the support across the House.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, $13 billion for 4,000 homes is $3.2 million per home. That is not affordable.

It is all starting to make sense where this scheme was cooked up. The Liberals have a housing minister who oversaw the doubling of rent and the doubling of housing prices when he was mayor of Vancouver. The head of the new agency came from the City of Toronto, which increased the cost of building by 700%. It is almost like the interview process for these positions asked, “Are they incompetent? Were they fired from their last job?”

Once again, for the sake of Canadians begging to buy a home, can the minister please tell me this is not the plan?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada]

Mr. Speaker, while I know it is difficult for the Conservatives to evolve and focus on supporting us to build affordable housing across Canada, that is what we are focused on doing at an unprecedented level.

When I was mayor, I had no support from a Conservative government to build affordable housing in Vancouver. I know it was the same in Toronto. We are going to support our local governments. We are going to build in Montreal 20,000 homes on the Namur-Hippodrome site in the middle of the city. We are going to see remarkable progress on this front.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Clarke, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the dream of home ownership is becoming a nightmare in Canada. The Prime Minister promised to double the pace of home construction. Now the Liberals are spending $13 billion to build just 4,000 homes, and yes, the math is $3.2 million per home. This will blow up the deficit and not impact housing starts, which are actually down 16%.

Taxpayers cannot afford to build $3.2-million homes, but we know the minister can afford to live in one. Will the new homes be as luxurious as his condos?

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada]

Mr. Speaker, again, $13 billion will be invested across Canada, in communities across Canada. We are looking at partnerships with provinces, territories, communities of all shapes and sizes, and indigenous nations. We will empower the private sector to build tens of thousands of homes. We are looking forward to rolling out the most aggressive housing program in Canadian history. We look forward to the member's support.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised to double housing starts, but instead, they are actually down 16%.

This should come as no surprise. The Prime Minister's entourage includes the former mayor of Vancouver, who saw housing prices increase by 150%, and a former Toronto city councillor, who raised taxes on residential construction by 700%.

Does the Prime Minister realize that it is not surprising that construction is down and costs are up, considering the so-called leaders in his closest circle?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, what we need to do to address the housing crisis is co-operate with municipalities, provinces and people on the ground. That is the opposite of what the Conservative Party is proposing. The Leader of the Opposition has repeatedly criticized the mayors of cities like Quebec City, Montreal and others across the country.

Yesterday, my friend and colleague, the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, and I announced 20,000 homes, 10,000 of which will be non-market, in other words, social and community housing. That is how we are going to address this crisis. It is not by insulting our partners on the ground.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is further compounding the problem with a new Crown corporation that will make it even harder to build housing.

He is allocating $13 billion to build 4,000 homes, which works out to $3.2 million per home. That seems worthwhile, does it not? Everyone knows that. This is completely unacceptable. This is the same wasteful government, bogged down in bureaucracy and entangled in its own red tape.

Why does the Prime Minister refuse to change the formula that has been failing for 10 years?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the members opposite are saying, it is important to know what we are talking about. I am a founding member of a housing co-op. I know very well that in order to get these projects off the ground, we need to work together, not against each other, because that does not work. The Conservative approach, which is to cut, cut, cut, does not work. That is not the right way to build homes. Furthermore, expecting the private sector to step up and build affordable, social housing is certainly not how we will get this done.

That is why the federal government is working in partnership with provinces, municipalities and community groups to help all Canadians have access to housing.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the question is for the immigration minister. There are a staggering 300,000 people in Canada with pending asylum claims. Many of these will be bogus. New data we obtained today shows the profound cost of this failure.

Since 2016, the Liberals have increased the cost of the interim federal health program, which includes support for benefits for people who have likely made bogus claims, by nearly 1200%. This includes massive spending on benefits Canadians are not eligible for. Can the minister explain why?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we just ran a campaign on restoring sustainability to our immigration system to ease pressure on housing and social services, something the Conservatives also voted for. Our immigration levels plan reduced targets for permanent residents. That plan is working. New student and temporary worker admissions are down more than 60%, asylum claims are down one-third and new permanent residents will be down 20% at the end of the year. With Bill C-2 we can do even more. I urge parliamentarians to support it.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister just said that the Liberals' immigration plan is working. The Liberals are spending at least $800 million this year because they allowed the asylum backlog to mushroom to nearly 300,000 people, many of whom have bogus claims, and allowed them to stay in the country for years. That is why the Liberals had to increase the program to that level. This strains health care, strains housing and makes a mockery of our once-compassionate asylum system.

Is this really what the minister defines as an immigration system that is working?

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, one of the goals of the campaign we ran a few months ago was to restore the vitality of our immigration system in order to alleviate the housing and services crisis.

Our measures are working. Admissions of new students and temporary workers have decreased by more than 60%. Asylum applications have fallen by a third. The number of new residents will be reduced by 20%.

With Bill C‑2, we will continue that work. I invite all parliamentarians to join us.

[Sandra Cobena, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this summer I sat with agencies in Newmarket and learned of the urgent need for mental health counselling, yet the funds are never enough. However, today we obtained new data that shows that the Liberals have increased funding for services like mental health counselling for a group that includes bogus asylum claimants by nearly 1200%. There are many Canadians who have paid taxes their whole life and cannot afford counselling services.

Canadians are compassionate people, but why is the minister not stopping asylum system abuse?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that there is legislation before Parliament right now that would give the legal authority to my colleague, the Minister of Immigration and Citizenship, the ability to deal more efficiently with the issue of asylum seekers.

We know that migratory pressures are going to continue around the world. We know we want to have secure, meaningful borders. We know we want to have the legislative powers to be able to deal with the situation in an orderly way. The only thing we do not know is where the Conservatives are going to stand on this. Will they let the legislation through Parliament, pass it and help us fix it—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. member for Markham—Unionville has the floor.

[Michael Ma, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the question is for the immigration minister.

Seniors in the greater Toronto area are having to choose between heating and eating, but now we know that over the past decade, the Liberals spent more on providing benefits to a group that includes bogus asylum claimants than on their platform promise to spend on upgrading long-term care facilities.

Canadian seniors are suffering, so why did the Liberals allow Canada's once-compassionate asylum system to become an abused system that fails everyone?

[Stephanie McLean, Liberal, Secretary of State (Seniors)]

Mr. Speaker, our new government continues to build a strong system for Canada's seniors. We know that seniors deserve to retire with dignity, and we work closely with our provincial counterparts to ensure that they have access to long-term care beds, as well as other forms of housing, and are able to age in place. We are working really closely with the Minister of Housing to ensure that seniors are housed, but also we are ensuring that they retire with dignity, with access to old age security, which we increased by 10% in July 2022.

The Economy

[Tim Watchorn, Liberal, Les Pays-d'en-Haut, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada and Quebec are at a crossroads. International trade has been turned upside down. Supply chains have been disrupted, and new technologies such as artificial intelligence promise to radically transform the way we live and do business.

Canadians have given this government a strong mandate to tackle this crisis. The upcoming federal budget will outline the government's plan to build a strong Canadian economy, the strongest in the G7.

Can the Minister of Finance inform the House of the next steps in this crucial process?