Denis Trudel

[Macadam Sud, October 25th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we are currently seeing a troubling rise in food insecurity and homelessness, a housing crisis that will likely be long and gruelling, and unbearable inflation rates that are primarily affecting the less fortunate, including the young people in our communities.

In my riding, Macadam Sud supports young people between the ages of 12 and 35 and gives them the tools they need to improve their living conditions with respect and human dignity, especially those who find themselves marginalized when it comes to education, family and the labour market.

I rise today to recognize the 40th anniversary of this organization, which has dedicated the last 40 years to supporting the community, helping young and marginalized people live decent lives, and making a real difference in the lives of all families in Longueuil.

Speaking for myself and on behalf of all Bloc Québécois members, I would like to thank Macadam Sud.

[Homelessness Awareness Night, October 20th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, today was the 34th Nuit des sans-abri, a homelessness awareness event that seeks to raise awareness about homelessness, poverty and social alienation. This year's theme is “no roof, no choice”. More than 60 municipalities across Quebec will host this event.

Tent parks in the four corners of Quebec; single mothers who sleep in their car with their children; seniors who, after living in a home and working their entire lives, end up on the street; young, pregnant women with no roof over their heads, including one who will end up giving birth in the streets, in the middle of downtown Gatineau: This happens in our communities, and it is in our communities that organizations have to help battered women who stay in relationships that are toxic to themselves and their children because they cannot find a place to live. It is in our communities that families have to cut back on how much food they buy and seniors have to limit their medication budget to keep a roof over their heads.

Quebec is on the brink of a major humanitarian crisis. The government has already recognized housing as a right. Now it has to ensure that this right becomes a reality for everyone.

[Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act, October 19th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, the Conservatives are still accusing the government of inflationary spending, so I have a quick question for my colleague. According to the IMF, Canada invested $50 billion in the oil industry in 2022. I would note that the oil industry made $200 billion in profit in 2022.

Does my colleague think that that expenditure counts as inflationary spending?

[Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act, October 19th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, what I am hearing from my Conservative friends is scary.

The fight against climate change is probably one of the biggest challenges of our time. Canada is already one of the world's worst performers on this issue according to pretty much any available indicator. We really are one of the worst countries in the world when it comes to climate change.

The Liberals are useless. They are not doing anything. For years, we have been fighting to get them to take action and stop investing in the oil industry. Now I am hearing from my Conservative friends that they want to do even less so we can be even worse than we already are. There were floods this summer and fires all over the place. This is an emergency. The planet is burning right now. My Conservative friends want to do even less.

Where I come from, we have groups like Mothers Step In and Ciel et Terre, which I talked to two weeks ago. We cleaned up the St. Lawrence shoreline. They all came to see me. They said they had seen the polls and were worried about the Conservatives taking power. They wanted me to tell them that will not happen. I could not tell them anything.

These people are worried. What do the Conservatives have to say to them?

[Committees of the House, October 18th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, it is almost Halloween. Our colleague is trying to scare us, putting on a shocked schoolgirl act. The Liberals cannot believe the Conservatives' approach. In fact, they are one and the same. When one side is not obstructing, they are moving closure. I cannot remember how many gag orders there have been in the last two years.

We should be talking about important things, including Bill C-50, which deals with sustainable jobs. We could talk about housing. We could talk about the cost of living. We could talk about seniors. We talked about that earlier; we voted on an important bill. There is so much we could be talking about.

With the Conservatives filibustering and the Liberals imposing gag orders, one wonders where Canadian democracy is headed.

[Business of Supply, October 17th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, to listen to the Conservatives, one would think that every bit of spending is inflationary spending.

Last week, the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec finally came to an agreement on a program to speed up the construction of housing, something that we voted on a year and a half ago and from which we are now finally starting to see some results. The federal government will provide $900 million.

I would like to remind the House that, at last count, there were 10,000 homeless people in Quebec alone. Does my colleague think that the $900 million that will be used to build housing to help those 10,000 homeless people constitutes inflationary spending?

[Business of Supply, October 17th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, what he just said is very interesting. He talked about the affordable housing we are losing in Canada. This brings me to a topic that does not come up very much when we talk about the housing crisis: the financialization of housing.

We are talking about affordable housing because large investment trusts, often international, investment companies, are buying up affordable housing. Often, they demolish the housing, or they renovate it and then double the price. That is important.

When the federal government withdrew from housing in 1993, this phenomenon did not really exist in Canada. Now, we see that between 20% and 30% of the housing stock is owned by these corporations. We do not see the government legislating against that. We will not be able to build the 3.5 million housing units. They will not appear out of thin air. We will have to protect affordability any way we can.

I would like my colleague to elaborate. Are there any measures that could be taken right now to counter this financialization that is hurting Canada's housing market so badly here?

[Business of Supply, October 17th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, has the government already thrown in the towel when it comes to the housing crisis? We know that Quebec needs 1.2 million new housing units by 2030. The government has announced GST breaks on new housing construction, which may enable a few thousand units to be built. After 18 months, the government finally signed an agreement with Quebec to release $900 million in the housing accelerator fund. Again, that represents a few thousand housing units. Unfortunately, to really address this crisis, we should be building 200,000 housing units a year from now until 2030.

What is the plan? Where are the meaningful measures to address this crisis? Has the government already abandoned people to their fate in this housing crisis?

[Housing, October 5th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, can anyone guess why Quebec is the only province that is matching the $900 million from Ottawa for housing? It is because Quebec is the only province in Canada that invests in housing. Quebeckers made the progressive choice to take care of housing themselves. Instead of holding Quebec up as an example, the federal government is withholding the $900 million Quebec is entitled to, in a classic dispute in which the federal government holds all the cards. Enough is enough.

The Front d'action populaire en réaménagement urbain, or FRAPRU, is in Ottawa today. The government has an opportunity to announce that the housing dispute is over. When will the government stop messing around and send us our $900 million?

[Housing, October 5th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we are not the only ones whining. There are 10,000 homeless people in Quebec who are whining to the federal government right now.

The Quebec finance minister met with the Deputy Prime Minister on Monday. Here is what he said this morning: “I reiterated how urgent it is that an agreement be reached...Ottawa is imposing conditions, and that is unacceptable to us”. The announcement that Quebec will match the funding is supposed to be good news. As long as Ottawa continues to quibble, it means that we are no longer talking about $900 million, but $1.8 billion that is just sitting around waiting for Ottawa to get moving.

Will the government announce that it is letting the money flow to Quebec so that we can finally get to work?