Debates of Feb. 12th, 2026

Housing

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the dream of home ownership is now a fantasy for more and more young Canadians, of whom 93% are saying that they are concerned about the state of housing. Nearly half of them believe they will have to leave their own communities because they cannot afford to live there. The government's own housing agency says homebuilding will drop over the next three years and prices will go up even more, but I have good news for the Liberals.

We have a solution. A Conservative government would remove the GST on new homes under $1.3 million to make them more affordable. Why will the Liberals not do that?

[Jennifer McKelvie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, I have good news for the Conservatives. There are two bills before the House that they can support, which would improve affordability for young Canadians. The first is the budget implementation act, which would bring in the first-time home ownership GST rebate. It would also bring in housing infrastructure that would bring down the cost of housing. On top of that, the Conservatives can support the Build Canada Homes act, which would catalyze modern methods of construction and create jobs for young Canadians.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the only things the Liberals are building are false hope and bureaucracy. Liberal house flippers and penthouse dwellers profit while young Canadians pay the price.

On this side of the House, we listen to the experts. The London Home Builders' Association told me this week that builders have to spend tens of thousands of dollars per home just on red tape and regulations. Every dollar spent on bureaucracy pushes homes further out of reach for young Canadians. Ontario lost 10,000 homebuilding jobs last year, because no one is able to build.

When will the Liberals reverse course, cut the red tape and scrap the GST on homes for families?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I know the member's community. I know his riding very well. Its residents expect better than his hurling insults. That is not a way to get things done in the House of Commons.

The member talks about the London Home Builders' Association. That is good. We met this week as well. They talked about, among other things, the housing accelerator fund, which in St. Thomas alone is leading to duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, mid-rise apartments and row houses. We are going to continue in that vein, working with municipalities, because we are going to get things done for Canadians and not play games.

[Roman Baber, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, because of the Liberals, the dream of home ownership is fading for young Canadians. According to CMHC, new housing starts will drop every year for the next three years. Nearly half of Canadians say they have to move out of the community they grew up in, because they cannot afford a home. Instead of incentivizing new construction, the Liberals are building a fourth housing bureaucracy called Build Canada Homes. For what?

Why will the Liberals not adopt our Conservative plan, remove the GST on all new homes and get construction going in Canada?

[Jennifer McKelvie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, there is more good news. Build Canada Homes is delivering affordable housing for Canadians. In just 100 days, it has secured landmark agreements with provinces and cities, and advanced building on six federal lands. It is lining up thousands of affordable homes with shovels in the ground very soon. Over the past month alone, it has projects under way in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Ontario, and it is setting forth on delivering 7,500 new homes. This is how we catalyze a new homebuilding industry.

Keep the momentum going. Support the Build Canada Homes act.

[Roman Baber, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the only thing the Liberals are building is a fourth housing agency, more desk jobs for Liberal insiders and more Liberal waste. CMHC is telling the Liberals that their housing plan is dead on arrival. New housing starts will fall every year for the next three years. Builders are laying off workers. BILD is warning that 100,000 construction jobs are now at risk.

Instead of building a fourth government agency, why will the Liberals not adopt our Conservative plan and remove the GST on all new construction so that young people can afford to buy a home?

[Leslie Church, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretaries of State for Labour]

Mr. Speaker, I wish the Conservatives knew more about construction, but it seems what they know about is obstruction.

If these Conservatives cared about building homes for young Canadians, they would pass the two bills we have before the House right now. They would pass the budget implementation act and they would pass the Build Canada Homes act, because those are the tools that are getting shovels in the ground right across Canada for the next generation of young Canadians who need affordable homes.

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley Township—Fraser Heights, BC]

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberal government, the Canadian dream of home ownership is rapidly fading for young people. CMHC reports that housing construction is actually going to be down over the next three years by up to 18% compared to last year.

Why do the Liberals not just adopt the Conservative plan to eliminate GST on all new housing construction of up to $1.3 million and help restore the dream of home ownership for young Canadians?

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, my thoughts and prayers go out to the community of Tumbler Ridge.

The Conservative Party is not serious about housing. The leader called a middle-class house a “shack” and co-op housing “Soviet-style”. There are members on that side who mocked modular homes. To cap it all off, that leader told his members not to advocate for housing programs in their ridings, which would have helped their ridings. On this side of the House, we are serious about building housing. Budget 2025 is going to deliver housing like we have not seen built in generations.

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley Township—Fraser Heights, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that answer is completely unacceptable. The Canadian Home Builders' Association says that, five years ago, new housing starts in the ownership market stood at 69%, the rest being in the rental market. Last year, that number dropped down to 49%.

Despite all the nice talk, clearly the Liberal plans are not helpful for prospective new buyers. Again, why do they not just adopt our plans and help restore the dream of home ownership once again for Canadians?

[Yasir Naqvi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade and to the Secretary of State (International Development)]

Mr. Speaker, our big focus is to build as much housing as possible. We are going to build that housing through Build Canada Homes. We are going to build that housing on federal lands, just like in my community in Ottawa Centre where we are repurposing federal buildings. We are repurposing federal lands to build housing, and we will do that across the country.

Slogans are not going to be cut it, as we see from the opposition. Those members need to stop obstructing. They need to pass Bill C-20 so that we can start building housing across this land.

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian dream of home ownership is slipping away from young Canadians. The government's own housing agency says that housing starts will fall over the next three years, going down as much as 18% by 2028, while prices keep going up. After years of Liberal policies that drove up costs and slowed down construction, buyers cannot buy and builders cannot build. The only solution the Liberals can come up with is to build a fourth housing bureaucracy.

When will the government admit that Liberal rhetoric and bureaucracies do not build homes and finally scrap the GST on all new homes, incentivize building and restore the dream of home ownership?

[Jennifer McKelvie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, it is regrettable the member opposite is not supportive of Build Canada Homes. I was just in his riding, where we announced a project. I spoke with the residents living in affordable housing there, and they talked about how important it was.

We know that with budget 2025, we are working to accelerate construction. We are cutting delays, increasing permitting capacity and working with local governments to get more homes built. While we are doing that, they are voting against expanding mortgage rate criteria for young Canadians, they are voting against the first-time savings account and they are voting against the GST credit for first-time homebuyers. Why?

Canadian Identity and Culture

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, next Tuesday, Quebec will once again put pressure on UNESCO to protect the diversity of cultural expressions in the from the hegemony of the web giants. Quebec will join forces with European countries to ensure that the 2005 UNESCO convention, which protects different cultures from globalization, also applies to the digital world. However, this is not a done deal. Since Quebec is not yet a country, Canada votes on its behalf. Last June, Canada did not vote in favour of adopting a binding protocol.

Will Canada change its position this time?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, I think it goes without saying that my predecessor saved the day at the last meeting.

For now, I do not have anything to reveal publicly, but we are more or less on the same wavelength as the member across the way.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is music to my ears.

Canada is voting on Quebec's behalf at UNESCO. Last June, it did not vote in favour of a binding protocol that would protect our cultural sovereignty from the web giants. Worse still, it later scrapped the digital services tax, which would have forced web giants to pay a modest levy that could have been used to support our culture and media.

Next week, Canada can take a step in the right direction by supporting the protocol in principle. Quebec's entire cultural industry and its government strongly support it.

Will the minister vote to protect our culture? “Yes” would be better than his previous response.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite were serious about supporting Canada's artists and creators, he would vote “yes”, as he usually does, but for our budget.

Pensions

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

Mr. Speaker, this is the Phoenix fiasco all over again. As members will recall, that pay system deprived thousands of public servants of their salaries for months.

Now, with the Cúram software, the Liberals are creating a Phoenix for seniors, but on a larger scale, according to federal employees. The project was supposed to cost $1.7 billion, but the cost has skyrocketed, currently coming in at $6.6 billion. Some 93% of employees are giving it a failing grade.

Why do the Liberals insist on repeating the same IT mistakes, wasting billions and billions of dollars? Who is paying for these mistakes? In this case, it is our pensioners.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are modernizing a very old system. Doing nothing would have jeopardized payments for millions of seniors.

The outstanding cases are complex. They are being assessed, and retroactive payments are guaranteed.

Once again, I invite the member opposite to provide me with the names of those who are having problems, and we will assist them.

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

Mr. Speaker, that response was frankly embarrassing.

The government talks a good game, but there are retirees who have been waiting nine months for their cheques. That is shameful. Worse still, an internal report criticized a departmental procedure that orders civil servants to hide the truth from the public. They are formally prohibited from mentioning the name of the Cúram software to explain these unacceptable delays.

Why is the minister so determined to cover up her incompetence rather than ensuring that our seniors receive their pensions on time? They need the money.

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

Mr. Speaker, obviously, seniors need their pensions, and we are working hard to provide pensions to some 7.4 million people in Canada.

The two ministers repeat this every day to reassure the public, but the opposition comes back with the same lines every day. If members of Parliament have information, they have already been invited to provide it, and we will help these people. People can also contact Service Canada.

The minister has also offered to brief the members opposite. I invite them to attend the briefing and learn more about the Cúram system.

Housing

[Gabriel Hardy, Conservative, Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in Montmorency—Charlevoix, and everywhere else in Quebec, families are spending more than 30% of their income on housing. The vacancy rate is very low, and housing insecurity continues to rise. Not knowing whether there is enough money to pay rent at the end of the month is a source of stress, anxiety and pressure that weighs on mental health, especially for young families.

After a decade of Liberal policies that have caused housing costs to skyrocket, how much longer will families in our country have to live in uncertainty before the government takes real action to increase the supply of housing and bring down prices?

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, again, Canadians are not fools. Canadians know which party supports affordability, which party is there for them. On the Conservative side, there is no plan and no solution, just rhetoric.

On our side, we have signed agreements: one with Quebec, another with Nova Scotia, and we have announced one with Nunavut. More are in the works, specifically to accelerate the construction of affordable housing. That is the mission of Build Canada Homes. We will do it with Canadian materials and Canadian workers. We will be there for our industry. We will be there to build more housing.

Will the Conservatives really be there for their constituents?

[Gabriel Hardy, Conservative, Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals really like patting themselves on the back and telling everyone how good they are. However, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is predicting a nearly 20% drop in housing starts by 2028. That means fewer homes, less supply and considerable pressure on prices.

Meanwhile, 93% of our young people say they are worried about the housing situation, and 86% of builders fear for the future of their businesses. The industry itself is calling this a lost decade for home ownership.

If the Liberals are going to take inspiration from our measures every week, why will they not take up our plan and remove the GST on homes for the general public in order to boost construction and help young people purchase a home?