Sean Fraser

[Housing, January 30th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, for years, the Conservative approach to policies that would actually help people was to prey on their anxieties rather than to advance ideas that would actually address them.

The member is supporting her leader's plan, which is going to build fewer homes than we are already on track to build. We have removed the GST from apartments to help bring down rent. She is campaigning on a commitment to put that GST back on for a lot of middle-class apartments, which would increase the cost of living. When it comes to affordable housing, we have put programs in place to support their construction. They have promised to cut it.

We are going to continue to put money on the table to build more homes. The Conservative's policies would drive up rent.

[Housing, January 30th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, with respect, my hon. colleague is simply trying to prey on the very real anxiety that families are feeling across this country. At the same time, she advances a plan that will build fewer homes than we are already on track to build.

We have removed the GST from homebuilding in this country. The Conservatives want to put it back on. We are investing directly in affordable housing. The Conservatives want to cut it. We have put a $4 billion fund on the table to reduce red tape with cities, and they have committed to doing away with that too.

We will get the homes built. They only stand in the way.

[Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, January 30th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we can welcome newcomers and build housing at the same time. That is why we negotiated a $1.8-billion contribution agreement with la belle province to build 23,000 housing units and 8,000 affordable housing units.

We are going to continue to work with our partners in Quebec to welcome newcomers who contribute essential skills to our economy and build houses at the same time.

[Housing, January 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is extraordinary that an anglophone from Nova Scotia has to stand in the House of Commons and explain that it is the federal government that must enter into agreements with the provinces, not the municipalities. This is important in Quebec.

We continue to make investments to build more affordable housing faster. I hope the Conservative Party will join us.

[Housing, January 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the Leader of the Opposition's solution is to say that mayors are incompetent. That is inappropriate under the circumstances.

We are investing to build affordable housing in la belle province. For example, we signed an agreement with Quebec to build 8,000 new affordable housing units. We continue to make very important and essential investments to build a lot of housing very quickly.

[Housing, January 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his work not just to secure $35.9 million for the City of Richmond but also for the thousands of homes that will be built as a result of the changes we are incentivizing.

We are putting federal money on the table to permanently change the way that cities build homes to create more density near the services, infrastructure and post-secondary education institutions that people need to do well in their communities. This program is creating hundreds of thousands of homes across the country, including in Richmond, and I once again want to thank my colleague and congratulate him on his important work.

[Housing, January 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we have a plan to build houses. In fact, we have a plan to build houses in real communities.

Let us take the hon. member's constituency as an example. She represents the good people of Kelowna. Not only have we put programs in place that supported affordable housing in her community, but we have also invested $31.5 million to change the way that homes get built permanently in Kelowna. This is going to add up to 20,000 new homes of stock in the city she represents.

On both the plan to change the way the city builds homes and this specific project, the member voted against the programs that fund them. I think we can rest our case.

[Housing, January 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, what the Conservatives dismiss as photo ops are binding agreements with cities that have led them to already change their rules to get more homes built.

What they dismiss as press conferences included a new measure this morning that is going to extend low-cost loans to colleges, universities and builders to help those young people find a home and free up supply in communities.

If the Conservatives are concerned with housing stats as the appropriate metric, I would point out that never once when the opposition leader was the housing minister did he get as many homes built as we did last year.

[Housing, January 29th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the opposition seems interested in drawing on the anxieties that people are experiencing, which are very real, when it comes to housing affordability in this country.

However, when we actually look at the plan the Conservatives are putting forward, it is clear they have no idea what they are talking about. Where we are reducing taxes for home builders, they want to put taxes back on. Where we are making investments to promote affordable housing, they plan on making cuts. In fact, the Conservatives want to do away with the housing accelerator fund, which has now created 30 agreements that will see half a million homes added over the next decade.

We will build the homes; they would make the cuts. Canadians can make their choice.

[Housing, December 12th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his advocacy to continue to invest in affordable housing, including co-operative housing. I would point him to the recent fall economic statement, which increased grant funding to co-operative housing by more than $300 million, and we will be rolling out a program worth more than $1.5 billion beginning early in the new year.

I do agree with him on one point of his question, however, which is the Conservatives' dedication to opposing funding for affordable housing. In fact, just last week, when they had an opportunity to put their position on the record in the chamber, they voted against supports for affordable housing. They voted against emergency transition shelters for women and children, and they voted against supports for veterans living through homelessness. It is the—