Mr. Speaker, I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in today's debate. I will be sharing my time with the member for Pickering—Brooklin.
My colleagues across the aisle and I share the same concern about the cost of living. This is something I hear about regularly in my riding of Compton—Stanstead. During the election campaign and over the summer, I visited all 36 municipalities in my riding. I covered 5,000 square kilometres. I met people who told me about their challenges and difficulties. I listened to several representatives of the organizations that support those folks. I can say that there are significant challenges. These encounters, the stories I heard and the hope of the people are why I got into politics in the first place and are what encourage me to continue the work begun by my predecessor.
I want our institutions to be there to support my constituents when they need it most, but also in the way they need it. As I travelled throughout my riding, I heard people there talk about how much they trust the Liberal Party's commitments and the leadership of the man who has become our Prime Minister. Last spring, my constituents clearly had two opposite choices: a serious party with responsible leadership and a solid plan to get through what we recognize and consider to be tough times, or a party that relies on division and partisan slogans. I want to sincerely thank the folks back home who gave me the largest majority ever seen in the riding of Compton—Stanstead. It is a vote of confidence on their part that I take very seriously, and I am committed to living up to their expectations.
Quite frankly, I think our government is giving Canadians the ambitious plan that they deserve and that will make life more affordable. We promised this plan during the election campaign, and we are following through. Our new government took office 151 days ago. Already, many concrete measures have been announced that will have a direct impact on my constituents and on all Canadians. We will continue to present new measures. For example, one of the major challenges we are facing is the cost of housing. We are clearly in the middle of a housing crisis. That is why we are implementing an ambitious new approach to increase the housing supply across the country, including outside major urban centres, in communities like the ones in my riding.
The Prime Minister recently announced a new federal agency with the mandate to build affordable housing at scale. That agency is called “build Canada homes”. With “build Canada homes”, we will fight against homelessness by building both supportive and transitional housing in partnership with the provinces, territories, municipalities and indigenous communities. Just last week, someone in Sherbrooke was telling me about how modular homes and modular housing could help unhoused individuals transition to other types of housing. That is the kind of project that “build Canada homes” could support. Meeting the needs of the people in our ridings is our goal.
This agency will also build community housing and very affordable housing for households with very low incomes and will partner with private developers to build affordable housing for the middle class. As I was saying, I am from a region that is located outside large urban centres. Something that we hear often is that programs do not reflect the reality of the regions. Sometimes too many units are built or the red tape is overwhelming for the municipalities. It is too much of a burden. Our new approach takes this reality into account. It considers the needs of smaller communities that have limited resources but that also need fewer units and that are just as important. There is no need to build hundreds of units or to complete endless paperwork. We have $13 billion that could be used to build housing both in Montreal and in Stanstead.
We also know that one of the key challenges in building more housing is having infrastructure that can support these homes. Municipalities have significant needs in terms of water and sewer systems. That is why we have committed an additional $1 billion to help them meet these challenges so that they can finally build housing for the people in our ridings.
I am confident that we will reach an agreement with the Government of Quebec so we can meet these commitments quickly and truly give our constituents some relief so that they can access affordable housing more quickly.
I would also like to mention that there are young people in our communities who dream of settling down and buying a new home, but who are having difficulty accessing these new properties. That is why we proposed eliminating the GST for first-time home buyers on new homes valued at less than $1 million. This applies to many homes in my region. We will also reduce the GST for first-time home buyers on new homes between $1 million and $1.5 million.
In addition, as requested by Canadians, we have put money back in their pockets by reducing taxes. Since July 1, all the people back home and across Canada who pay taxes have benefited from a 1% reduction on the lowest tax bracket. In concrete terms, this represents savings of up to $840 per year for a dual-income family. This tax relief benefits 22 million Canadians, who can now keep more of their paycheque and use it as they see fit.
One of the biggest concerns in my riding, which borders Vermont and New Hampshire, is trade tensions with the United States and the impact this may have on our local population. Businesses in my region are particularly concerned. They are afraid of losing contracts, having to cut shifts and experiencing the impact on jobs. It is therefore essential to continue to support these businesses in order to maintain jobs. We want exporters to be able to continue exporting and workers to be supported.
I have not heard about a lot of people losing their jobs since the dispute began. I find that reassuring. We rolled out a suite of economic support programs starting on day one. For example, we temporarily eliminated the one-week waiting period for EI benefits. We also temporarily suspended the rules governing severance pay so workers would not have to use up their severance pay before collecting their EI benefits.
We made it easier to access employment insurance by raising the regional unemployment rate for six months. We made it easier for employers and workers affected by tariffs to access the work-sharing program.
Our new government has also announced a series of targeted measures to support Canada's steel, aluminum and softwood lumber industries. For example, we are investing $70 million in labour market development agreements to provide training and income support to the nearly 10,000 steelworkers affected by the dispute.
The softwood lumber industry is very important in Quebec, and we are helping it transform and compete. We are providing up to $700 million in loan guarantees to address the immediate pressures facing the softwood lumber sector. We are building an economy that prioritizes the use of Canadian materials in construction. We changed the federal procurement process to require companies contracting with the federal government to source Canadian lumber. That is how our government is ensuring that Canadian workers benefit from our investments in these frankly turbulent times.
I hear my colleagues on the other side of the House denouncing the price of food. Yes, there is food inflation, but they seem to be forgetting that farmers are the first to be affected by climate challenges. Droughts and torrential rains take their toll on crops. When we want to help farmers become more resilient, the Conservatives are nowhere to be found.
When we table our ambitious budget on November 4, I hope that our colleagues on the other side of the House will support us in building the strongest economy in the G7, in keeping jobs in Canada, in helping this country become more independent and resilient, and in strengthening our economy.
