Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here. I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Acadie—Bathurst.
I appreciate the opportunity to speak about the importance of the Build Canada Homes act, which is truly a holistic approach to housing. Access to safe, affordable housing is the cornerstone of healthy, growing communities and economic opportunity. It provides people with stability and a place to raise their families.
Housing costs continue to rise, which is something we heard about on all sides of the House. It is consistent with what we heard while knocking on doors.
At the same time, I think it was the member for Sackville—Bedford—Preston who got up and talked about his private member's bill and having a plan for housing, and he was mocked by members of the Conservative Party: How dare he have a plan? How dare he bring something forward? He was laughed at and mocked. It was his first time being elected as a member of Parliament, and he was right at the top of the private members' list, but all he got was mockery from the Conservatives. When the Conservatives get up for their speeches, they say, “Well, there is no plan. The Liberals have no plan,” and then they mock someone who is stepping forward to lower housing prices for young people in his riding.
The Conservatives do not have a plan. All they have is obstruction. The last Conservative speaker, the member for Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, said something to the effect that they're not obstructionists and this is freedom.
I cannot believe it. I do not know if they hear themselves. All they do is delay. They talk about the government's plans and say that what the Liberals put forward in their platform has not come forward. Well, it is not just in the bill before us, but in the budget, which was tabled in the fall and I understand has finally gone through committee. There are other bills that have been delayed, such as affordability measures. However, this bill is not the entirety of the plan.
It is great for the Conservatives to cherry-pick and say that they are on the side of freedom, but all they are doing is standing here in the House of Commons, preventing people from moving forward. They can shout and say, “This is democracy,” but there is a difference between being the opposition and just being obstructionists.