Paul Manly

[Business of Supply, February 18th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I am going to support this motion, because I agree that we need to call out China for its human rights abuses, as this is a genocide and we need to do something about it. I am seriously concerned about our trade integration with China and the Canada-China FIPA that we have. We have heard several times different members say that the old China is not the same as the new China. When we had the team Canada trade missions to China after Tiananmen Square, I would have said that was a bit of a naive move, and I think that having the Canada-China FIPA as a locked-in agreement for 31 years is seriously problematic.

How are we going to deal with China in terms of that investment treaty and the integration of our supply chain with, and our dependence on, China?

[Request for Emergency Debate, February 17th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to request an emergency debate on the growing crisis of housing affordability across Canada.

An estimated 1.8 million Canadian households spend more than the affordability threshold of 30% of their income on rent, and 80% of those households spend more than 50%. An estimated 2.4 million Canadian households experienced core housing needs in 2020. Hundreds of thousands are on the verge of becoming homeless and joining the hundreds of thousands of Canadians who are already homeless.

The affordable housing crisis in Canada is a result of structural problems that cannot be fixed by spending taxpayers' dollars alone. It requires regulation and an all-of-government approach.

Canadian real estate was identified as a major vehicle for money laundering and as a tax haven for the world's ultra-wealthy. This has driven up the price of real estate in major cities, and the ripple effect is part of the cause of an affordability crisis across the country. At the same time, real estate investment trusts, which receive a massive tax exemption, and other big investors are using predatory practices, raising rents by huge amounts with little notice or using “renovictions” to empty buildings and jack up rents. Some investors even leave units empty, because empty units increase demand and rental prices, and real estate values continue to rise regardless.

Low-wage workers, people who lost work due to COVID-19 restrictions and people living on fixed incomes are finding themselves in a precarious situation in communities across Canada. Those evicted are facing substantial rent increases, have serious problems finding reasonable rents and face potential homelessness.

Last week, Vancouver City Council passed a motion to communicate to the federal government its concerns about the impact that real estate investment trusts and big investors are having on the human right to housing, the commodification of housing, housing security and affordability for Vancouver residents. It intends to ask the government to protect and invest in existing rental stock for acquisition by non-profits and co-operatives. Like many communities, Vancouver is in the midst of an affordable housing emergency.

Existing government programs are oversubscribed and insufficient to meet demands. Investment companies are flipping rental units and removing them from affordable housing stock faster than new subsidized units can be built.

This Parliament needs to address housing affordability and homelessness as twin emergency national crises. Holding an emergency debate will allow members of the House to discuss the crisis in their communities and assist in identifying options for lasting solutions to the housing affordability crisis. Those solutions might include such things as ensuring that the loopholes that allow residential real estate to be used for money laundering and tax evasion are properly closed, creating national standards for rental and vacancy controls, instituting empty-home taxes on buildings and units left vacant by foreign and corporate residential property owners, regulation of foreign investment in residential real estate and removing tax exemptions for real estate investment trusts.

It is unreasonable to ask Canadians to pour billions of tax dollars into affordable housing while foreign investors and corporate interests are able to continue using predatory practices to destroy the Canadian housing market. The housing policy of the Government of Canada recognizes that housing is a fundamental human right as defined by international human rights law. This Parliament must do more to protect these rights.

[Petitions, February 17th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table this petition, initiated and signed by my constituents in Nanaimo—Ladysmith.

The petitioners note that natural time-tested immune system essentials and holistic health practices do not receive enough attention for their role in preventive health care.

The petitioners request that the Government of Canada educate and empower Canadians on holistic approaches to optimize and maintain their natural immunity and well-being; cover practices for health sustainability and wellness care under the Canada Health Act, including chiropractic care, massage therapy, acupuncture and naturopathic medicines; and support, promote and enhance Canadians' access to holistic health services and natural products.

[Health, February 16th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, uncoordinated provincial and territorial responses to COVID-19 failed to halt the spread of the virus in Canada. Small and medium-sized businesses are struggling to survive. Millions of Canadians are experiencing financial hardship. Mental health challenges, drug overdoses and domestic violence have increased.

Will the government work with the provinces and territories to create an intergovernmental COVID task force to coordinate a national response to the pandemic so Canada can get to zero and end the lockdowns?

[Petitions, February 5th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present this petition, which was initiated and signed by my constituents in Nanaimo—Ladysmith.

The petitioners note that almost all community drinking watersheds on the east coast of Vancouver Island are privately owned because of the E&N land grant, which was part of the agreement to bring B.C. into confederation 150 years ago this year. They point out that the E&N land grant violated aboriginal rights and title. They also observe that there is a high risk of drinking water contamination due to industrial and human activity on these watersheds.

The petitioners call upon the government to work with first nations, all levels of government and private landowners to begin the process of bringing these community drinking watersheds under public ownership and control to maintain a secure source of drinking water into the future.

[Business of Supply, February 4th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, one of the ongoing issues we have had with the United States is the softwood lumber dispute. We have seen mills close across British Columbia as we export raw logs to American states. They are happy to take our raw logs, including those from the last of the old-growth forests that are being cut down, as the B.C. government continues to talk about protection but allows for the continued logging of these ancient forests.

I would like to know what the parliamentary secretary thinks we should be doing about the softwood lumber dispute and what the government's plan is to finally get this dispute settled.

[Housing, February 2nd, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate what the government is doing, but I believe that we need to be doing more. We need national standards to protect tenants with rent and vacancy controls. This should be tied to federal transfers to the provinces. Affordable housing created through the rental construction financing initiative should be protected with covenants so that it remains affordable. Foreign investments in residential real estate need to be heavily regulated or banned. The tax exemption for real estate investment trusts should be abolished and replaced with incentives to protect affordable rental housing.

Finally, I would challenge my hon. colleague to browse through some Canadian real estate listings and count how many times the words “investor alert” are applied to affordable properties. Canadians who are trying to buy affordable homes are competing directly with investors. This needs to end.

[Housing, February 2nd, 2021]

Madam Speaker, the government has enacted some positive measures through the national housing strategy. The act acknowledges that adequate housing is a fundamental human right affirmed in international law. This is important and should underpin every measure to address the affordable housing and homelessness crisis in Canada.

For decades the government shifted the responsibility for funding affordable housing onto the provinces and municipalities. It is good to see that changing, because there is no doubt that neglecting that responsibility worsened the current crisis. The housing and homelessness crisis is especially severe in Nanaimo—Ladysmith. Local agencies appreciate the funding sources, but more action is needed in the short and long term.

The forces driving the affordable housing crisis in Canada and around the world need to be addressed. Numerous reports reveal that Canada is an emerging tax haven for the world's ultrawealthy. Canadian real estate is a major vehicle for money laundering, with estimates that in 2018 alone $5.3 billion was laundered in British Columbia. Unregulated lenders, which are not required to report money laundering, accounted for $25 billion in residential mortgages in greater Toronto. These illicit activities have had a huge impact on home prices in Canada's major cities.

The government's amendments to the Canada Business Act are a welcome step toward closing tax evasion and money laundering loopholes, but much more needs to be done. The new registry for beneficial owners of privately held federally incorporated companies needs to be public and transparent. Corporate investment in residential real estate, and the financialization of housing, are distorting the market even further and making communities across Canada, both large and small, unaffordable.

In the 10 years following the 2008 market crash, $28 billion in housing in the Toronto area was acquired by corporate entities including numbered companies, hedge funds and real estate investment trusts. They went beyond traditional investments in multi-unit housing and started purchasing single-family homes as well. Many pension funds were heavily invested in real estate-backed investment packages. It is painful to realize that the workers paying into those pensions are being hurt by the unaffordable home prices and high rents that are the result of predatory real estate investment practices.

I often hear Liberal and Conservative members of the House bragging about how Canada is one of the most open jurisdictions when it comes to foreign direct investment. This is not something to brag about when it comes to the impact of foreign investment on housing affordability. We need stronger regulations to stop this free-for-all.

The increased price of housing drives up the cost of rent. Renters are often forced to move when the home they live in is sold and new landlords increase rent or engage in renovictions. Finding a new home with a comparable rent is often impossible. Transfers to the provinces should be contingent on stronger rental protections or national standards for rent and vacancy controls. The rental subsidy for low-income renters is a band-aid solution to help people with rising rents, when in reality it is a transfer of taxpayer dollars to private landlords who may be engaged in the predatory practices I have already outlined.

Affordable rental housing created through the rental construction financing initiative should have covenants in place to ensure the units remain affordable rather than allowing them to convert to market-rate housing in just 10 years. To guarantee long-term affordability, investing in non-profit and co-op housing needs to be the focus of the national housing strategy.

[Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020, February 2nd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I think we have been making the right investments. There have been some mistakes, but that is the nature of a changing pandemic.

I am quite confused by the Conservatives. On the one hand they want more spending to protect Canadians, but on the other hand they want cutbacks. I am not sure if they talked about this as a caucus or not.

We need to take bold action to protect Canadians during this pandemic to ensure that our small businesses survive and that Canadians pull through this healthy, safe and economically sound.

[Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020, February 2nd, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, we absolutely support all of those things. They have all been in our platform for many years. A guaranteed livable income is something the Greens have been putting forward for over a decade, and for universal pharmacare it is the same thing. Bold climate action is something we want.

I have actually signed on to a number of these private member's bills and motions, and I look forward to working with the hon. member to push the government to enact these bold changes for Canadians.