Debates of June 18th, 2026

Housing

[John Zerucelli, Liberal, Secretary of State (Labour)]

Mr. Speaker, I have a news flash for the hon. member. Who builds houses? The building trades build houses. Who is supporting the building trades? It is the current government, with $6 billion in skilled trades to build right across this country. We are building bridges, roads and hospitals right across this country. We are going to stand up for our workers every single day. When will the Conservatives get on board?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, at least the Liberals listened for once. I explained to them that houses are built by plumbers, electricians and carpenters, and the members stood up and said that the building trades build homes.

We know who builds homes, but do we know who blocks homes? The Liberals block homes. They have been blocking homes so badly for so long that now we have the most expensive real estate in the G7, and under the Prime Minister, homebuilding has actually dropped while he has increased the spending on bureaucracy.

Will the Prime Minister get out of the way of home builders, stand in the House and take accountability for his homebuilding failures?

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

Mr. Speaker, there is some good news. I would like to point out that housing starts are 3% higher than in the same period last year. Completions have increased by 10%, meaning more homes are being finished. We are seeing growth in places like B.C., Ontario and Montreal. New construction is up by about 18%.

We also know that sales are up as well and that the measures we put in place, such as the first-time homebuyers GST reductions and the HST reductions that are happening in Ontario, are working.

The Economy

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, do people know why the Prime Minister cannot stand to answer a question in the House of Commons? It is because he has been wrong about every single economic issue of the last decade. He was wrong to push bigger and broader carbon taxes. He was wrong to say that we should keep half our oil in the ground. He was wrong to say that COVID would lead to deflation or dropping prices. He was wrong to say that governments should print hundreds of billions of dollars, the reason we have the inflation. Now he is wrong again, as the only G20 leader out of 20 countries to lead his country in a recession.

Does the Prime Minister realize that when he gets it wrong, Canadians pay the price?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have been having an interesting conversation this week in this very forum. The Conservatives pretend to stand up for and care for vulnerable people in this country, yet every time we propose a program, a tax reduction or a hand-up to people, they vote against it. When we talk about the unjustified trade war being perpetrated on this country, what do they do? They say that we are having a hissy fit. When we try to build this country up, build housing, build major projects like high-speed rail, build critical minerals, what do they do? They criticize that. What, for the love of all that is good, is the leader for?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the member what we are for. We are for an affordable Canada, a Canada with growing paycheques and safer streets, which is the exact opposite of what the Prime Minister has delivered. This is his record: Count them; there have been five consecutive quarters of declining investment. In three of the last four quarters, the economy has declined. In fact, the GDP of Canada today is smaller than when he became Prime Minister. In fact, the GDP was bigger on the last day of Justin Trudeau in office. We now have the most expensive real estate, the highest household debt and the second-highest unemployment in the G7.

Is that why the Prime Minister is afraid to stand in the House and answer a question?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me remind the leader that we will take no lessons from the Conservatives. He needs to be reminded.

We have the second-fastest growing economy in the G7. We have made record investments in infrastructure, generational investments in housing, generational investments in productivity and innovation and generational investments in our defences. We are going to build Canada strong. We are going to support our workers and our industries. We are going to build Canada like never before.

Get on board, man.

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Is the minister inviting the Chair to take the train?

The hon. member for Repentigny.

The Environment

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the event of the year is the Liberals' climate betrayal. Their record includes the pipeline agreement with Alberta. It includes ending environmental impact assessments. It includes pipelines and offshore drilling with no regard for protected areas or endangered species. It includes the member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie's resignation. It includes three young Canadians and two groups of ecologists suing the federal government for giving up any hope of achieving net zero. That is their record.

How can the Liberals keep defending the Prime Minister?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, our record includes a nature strategy that is going to protect lands and waters across the country. It also includes an electricity strategy that fulfills Hydro‑Québec's requests and that will support electrical grid development, which is so critical for implementing measures to fight climate change. It includes a tax credit and rebates to help Canadians buy electric cars.

Our record attests to the work we are doing to fight climate change.

Official Languages

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister's answer is embarrassing.

The Liberals continue to veer off course. The consultation documents for Quebeckers on the decommissioning of the Gentilly-1 nuclear reactor are in English only. If Quebeckers want to get information from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, they have to read 600 pages in English only. That is so disrespectful. In fact, I filed a complaint today with Canada's Commissioner of Official Languages.

Will the government ask the CNSC to extend the consultation deadline until the consultation process is complete and conducted in French?

[Claude Guay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for raising that point. It is unacceptable that these documents were not provided in French. We agree that Quebeckers must be able to understand and participate in discussions on projects that could affect their communities. We have made it clear to Canadian Nuclear Laboratories that it must support engagement, discussion and consultation in both official languages.

Housing

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, where are the results? The Prime Minister promised to double the pace of housing construction to almost 500,000 new homes a year, but his own budget watchdog said his new $13-billion housing agency will build only about 5,000 homes. The CMHC's chief economist pointed this week to “weaker momentum for future supply”. Meanwhile, Canada's home prices are up 28% since 2015.

Canada has the worst housing affordability in all of the G7. My question is simple. Will the Prime Minister stand and defend his record?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to share the good news that the build Canada homes act, Bill C-20, has just passed the Senate. This is another great initiative we have under way to bring down the cost of housing and, in particular, rent.

I would like to share that rents have fallen for 20 consecutive month and are down nearly 8% from their peak last year. We are seeing them decline in a number of provinces, including decreases of 1.8% in Quebec, 3.9% in Alberta, 5.7% in British Columbia and 6% in Ontario, where the member is from.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member just described what happens in a recession.

The fact is that Canadians need results. This Prime Minister promised results. In fact, he promised to build at a speed not seen in a generation, but all he has delivered in his first year is a third federal housing bureaucracy with no targets, no timelines and no results. He has given Canadians higher costs, higher debt and fewer homes. His regular news conferences in front of that housing construction project in the south end of Ottawa every Monday are not going to fool Canadians much longer.

Home construction is slowing. The crisis is getting worse. Where are the results?

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

Mr. Speaker, that is from a party whose leader actually called middle-class housing shacks and co-op housing Soviet-style. He has members who mocked modular housing, and that leader actually had the audacity to tell his members not to advocate for housing accelerator funds that would have helped housing construction in their ridings.

That leader and that party have no credibility when it comes to housing. On this side, we are going to build, baby, build.

The Economy

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Prime Minister has been running the country for over a year now. My question is very simple: Where are the actual results for Canadians?

Canada is the only G7 country that is in a recession. The GDP has contracted in three of the last four quarters. Business capital investment has fallen for five consecutive quarters, and Canada has the second-highest unemployment rate in the G7.

With a track record like that, it is no wonder the Prime Minister is having a hard time explaining himself, but I would like him to stand up and defend his miserable record to Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not know where my colleague is getting his information, but I would encourage him to refresh his search skills, because then he would see that we added 88,000 new jobs to the economy, that the cost of rent is starting to drop and that wages are on the rise.

However, we know that too many Canadians are still unable to cope with the high cost of living. We cut taxes for 22 million Canadians. We implemented a national school food program. We have the Canada groceries and essentials benefit for 12 million Canadians.

I really hope that, while the Conservatives are in their ridings this summer, they will take some time to think about all of the times that they voted against Canadians during this parliamentary session.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I hope this government will take the data from Statistics Canada and the budget into account. This past year, the deficit was twice as high as expected. The cost of living went up. Housing starts have declined since May. Unfortunately—and this may be the worst part of this government's record—2.2 million Canadians, one-third of them children, have to rely on food banks for food. That is the Liberal record.

Can the Prime Minister stand up and defend his record?

[Carlos Leitão, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, this government's record is that it has created a very resilient economy. Despite headwinds from the south, our economy continues to grow.

In fact, last week I encouraged my opposition colleagues to check out the C.D. Howe Institute's Business Cycle Council. I would again encourage them to do so. They should read its report. They might find it very enlightening, and it might change the Conservatives' message, which is out of sync with reality.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, really, this Prime Minister is nothing but an illusion. A banker is supposed to be good with numbers, yet here is the Prime Minister's track record: every family will be spending an extra $1,000 on groceries in 2026, business capital investment has fallen for five consecutive quarters, and Canada has the second-highest unemployment rate in the G7. This record makes us the only G20 country in recession.

The Prime Minister is not being accountable to Canadians. Will he take responsibility for his recession?

[Claude Guay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, our colleagues have short memories, and I am not convinced they read the news. They seem to have forgotten that we announced the Contrecoeur expansion of the port of Montreal, which will create 8,000 direct and indirect jobs and attract $1.2 billion in investment. The Nouveau Monde Graphite mine in Matawinie will create 1,000 new jobs and attract $1.2 billion in investment.

Did they also miss the news about the new Indonesian aircraft that are to be built at Bombardier in Quebec, creating thousands of additional jobs in the aerospace sector? We are going to—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. member for Hamilton Centre.

Justice

[Aslam Rana, Liberal, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, constituents in my riding of Hamilton Centre elected this government to act quickly to strengthen Canada's justice system, which is why we brought forward several pieces of criminal justice legislation in the first four months of this newly elected government.

Can the Minister of Justice tell the House what reforms the government is introducing to help the justice system work efficiently in our communities?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague not only for his hard work, but also for his relentless pursuit of a stronger Canada and a safer Hamilton. As a result of his advocacy, this House has adopted laws to completely renovate the bail system and to lead to stiffer sentences for violent repeat offenders. He has also lent his support to new laws to combat hate crimes and to attack the scourge of intimate partner violence in this country.

We are the party that is going to work with law enforcement to advance a law and order agenda, and most importantly, to keep Canadians safe.